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Outdoor winter scene of a community building with American flag on roof and small crowd gathered at the entrance.

Written on the brown front wall of the building: "Union Volunteer Refreshment Saloon, below that on left: "Welcome to the brave volunteers", additional smaller text also written on right side. Two older women wearing long blue dresses and white aprons emerge with a basket. A man dressed in Union solider clothes, his back to us, stands on crutches, missing his right leg. A man in a top hat sits on a horse right of the door, another man interacts with him. There’s a group of three and a separate man and boy standing along the snowy sidewalk on the right.　

Gallery Text

The Union Volunteer Refreshment Saloon was an important site in Civil War–era Philadelphia. Located near the railroad that dispatched Northern troops south, this building offered hot meals to hundreds of thousands of Union troops headed to the front. Moran, who was best known as a marine painter, uses the tight brushwork he perfected to depict sails and rigging to carefully detail the men and women who volunteered at the saloon, and some of the soldiers—including the wounded man in the foreground—who took advantage of its services.

Painted in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War, this work is one of the many paintings and photographs produced to commemorate military heroes and the citizens who served the troops on the home front. The lengthy (and at points almost illegible inscription) calls attention to the work’s intended function as a memorial.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
2018.229
People
Edward Moran, American (1829 - 1901)
Title
Union Volunteer Refreshment Saloon
Classification
Paintings
Work Type
painting
Date
1865
Culture
American
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/362264

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
sight: 49.8 × 40.2 cm (19 5/8 × 15 13/16 in.)
frame: 78.3 × 68.5 cm (30 13/16 × 26 15/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription: lower left: Ed. Moran 1865.
  • inscription: painted on the saloon: UNION VOLUNTEER REFRESHMENT SALOON / WELCOME / THE BRAVE VOLUNEERS! / YOU COME AT OUR COUNTRY'S CALL, / THE UNION TO SAVE OR WITH IT FALL! / THE CITIZENS OF PHILADELPHIA / Invite you to their Hospitality & wish you God-Speed on / your mark to the Union Army of the Capitol. / BE BRAVE YOUR DEEDS FOR LIVERTY WILL NEVER DIE! / We will print your names in GOLD & ehshrine your glory in our hearts. / You have the prayers of all loyal honest hearts for your success in / arms - a safe return by you friends crowned with Honors & Glory /. A [illegible] Col[lec]tive in the History of that Country [illegible] defending against the / [illegible] traitors & rebels his name will be inscribed [illegible] / [illegible] pass down in the posterity of the Free in all future [illegible]
  • inscription: verso, center of canvas, black stencil: UNION / VOLUNTEER / REFRESHMENT / SALOON / PHILAD. / SAM.l B. FALES / 1861 1862 / [upside down:] PHILAD. / SALOON / REFRESHMENT / VOLUNTEER / UNION / SAM.l B. FALES.
  • inscription: verso, lower right of canvas, black ink: Ed Moran 1865
  • inscription: verso, lower center of frame, black stencil: SAM.l B. FALES 1861 1862
  • clipping: verso, upper center of frame, clipping with image of Union Volunteer Refreshment Saloon: [printed text:] View of the Union Volunteer Refreshment Saloon, Foot of Washington Street, [illegible text] / [handwritten, brown ink:] [illegible] 1863
  • inscription: verso of top stretcher, black stencil: 16 20
  • clipping: verso of frame, left side: [long newspaper clipping]
  • label: verso of frame, left side, handwritten, brown ink: Clafs [?] of Rev Dr. Eza and [illegible] / In the same as [illegible text]
  • inscription: verso, bottom stretcher, black stencil: SAM.l B. FALES
  • clipping: verso of frame, lower left: [unidentified newspaper clipping]
  • clipping: verso, lower left of frame: victory / Union / THE FAIR RECORD. / [label, handwritten text, brown ink:] [illegible text]
  • inscription: verso, right side of frame, black ink: Union Volunteer Refreshment Saloon1861 & 1862
  • clipping: verso, upper left of stretcher: 65 / [illegible text] subscribers, in money or views, 98 47 / $619 64 / [illegible text] cash on hand, / [illegible text] and frames on hand, / 28 21 / 32

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Samuel Bradford Fales, Philadelphia. Lou Emma Halliburton, circa 1880, by descent; to the Estate of Clive Bridgman, Providence, sold [through Thomas Colville Fine Art, LLC, Guilford CT]; to Harvard Art Museums, 2018

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Purchase through the generosity of Suzanne and Terrence Murray in honor of President Drew Gilpin Faust
Accession Year
2018
Object Number
2018.229
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
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Exhibition History

  • 32Q: 2100 19th Century, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 07/18/2019 - 03/20/2023
  • 32Q: 3620 University Study Gallery, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 09/02/2023 - 12/31/2023

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu