The Monumental Bronze Company of Bridgeport, Connecticut was a monumental mason firm specializing in the production of white bronze (zinc) monumental masonry, active between 1875 and 1912 with subsidiaries throughout the United States (Des Moines, Iowa, Detroit, Michigan, Chicago, Illinois[1]), and Canada.
There were a number of American companies in the 1880s that through their catalogs sold zinc ornaments nationwide, such as “urns, eagles, civic ornaments, architectural details, and even cigar store Indians.” Mullins of Salem, Ohio was the most prominent but only Monumental Bronze purveyed it in grave markers.[2]
A popular white bronze model was the "Infantryman" that was used in the 1880s by many American towns, to commemorate those who served in the Civil War.
In the late 1800s, the company sold two versions of a Civil War soldier memorial, with nearly identical designs. The Union model had "U.S." (United States) on the belt buckle, while the Confederate model had "C.S." (Confederate States).[3]
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Lewis County Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument, 1883, Lowville, New York
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Grissom, Carol A., Zinc Sculpture in America: 1850-1950, University of Delaware Press, Newark, 2009 p. 510
- ^ Richard E. Meyer, ed. “Cemeteries and Graveyards: Voices of American Culture.” (Logan, Utah: Utah State University Press, 1992). “Monumental Bronze: A Representative American Company” by Barbara Rotundo, p.263-292.
- ^ Fisher, Marc (August 18, 2017). "Why those Confederate soldier statues look a lot like their Union counterparts". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2017-08-19. Retrieved 2017-08-19.
- Zinc sculptures on Smithsonian Institution website
- Monumental Bronze Company on the Connecticut Historical Society website