Corning Fountain, Bushnell Park, Hartford CT

Corning Fountain is a fountain with sculpture located in

Bushnell Park Bushnell Park in Hartford, Connecticut is the oldest publicly funded park in the United States. It was conceived by the Reverend Horace Bushnell in the mid-1850s at a time when the need for open public spaces was just starting to be recognized. ...

, Hartford, Connecticut. The two-tiered fountain was designed by sculptor

J. Massey Rhind John Massey Rhind (9 July 1860 – 1 January 1936) was a Scottish-American sculptor. Among Rhind's better known works is the marble statue of Dr. Crawford W. Long located in the National Statuary Hall Collection in Washington D.C. (1926). E ...

and dedicated in 1899. It was given to the city by John J. Corning in memory of his father, John Benton Corning (1811–1896), a Hartford businessman who operated a grist mill on the site. It is 28 feet tall, made of bronze and

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

, and features stylized

Saukiog The Saukiog tribe (sometimes spelled Sickaog or Suckiaug) was a Native American people who lived in the Hartford, Connecticut vicinity circa the early 17th century. The Saukiog spoke an Algonquian dialect and were part of the Algonquian confede ...

and Oneida Indians topped with the figure of a stag (hart) as Hartford's emblem. The fountain features four bronze Saukiog braves around the lower basin, a center pedestal surrounded by four bronze Oneida maidens, and an upper basin topped by a bronze hart. The Saukiog braves are: (west side) holding a spear; (south side) wearing a feathered headdress and scanning the horizon; (east side) raising a tomahawk; (north side) holding a peacepipe and lifting his hand in a gesture of peace. Below the upper basin are four animal heads as water spouts (a catamount, a bear, a fox, and a beaver). As viewed Sept. 15, 2017 these have been removed. Below the lower basin are four lion heads, which arealso water spouts. Water flows over the edges of each tier and into a large concrete basin at the base of the fountain. The text on the bronze plaque in front of the base reads, "THIS FOUNTAIN IS / ERECTED AS A TRIBUTE / TO THE MEMORY OF JOHN B. CORNING BY HIS SON / JOHN J. CORNING 1899." Image:Corning Fountain, Hartford CT - general view.JPG Image:Corning Fountain, Hartford CT - brave view.JPG Image:Corning Fountain, Hartford CT - top.JPG

References

Smithsonian Institution

Bushnell Park Foundation

{{Hartford, Connecticut Buildings and structures in Hartford, Connecticut Fountains in Connecticut Tourist attractions in Hartford, Connecticut

See also

References