CERTIFICATES

 

James F. Queen, Columbia Hose Co. of Philadelphia (Philadelphia: P. S. Duval Son & Co., lith., ca. 1865). Crayon lithograph, tinted with one stone.

 

Membership and award certificates with intricate designs and ornamentation provided lithographers with some of their most profitable work. By the 1860s work for volunteer firefighting companies formed a large segment of these commissions. James Queen, lithographer of this example, was a member of a fire company himself. Given the frequent fires at the major lithographic establishments, including that of Duval (the printer of the above), Wagner & McGuigan, Sinclair, and Rosenthal, it is no wonder such a mutually beneficial relationship formed between the vocations.

 

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