Prints
c. 1793 Historic Engraved Print by Samuel Hill titled "A S.(outh) W.(est) View of the STATE HOUSE in Boston"
July, 1793 Federal Period, Engraved Print titled, "A S.W. View of the STATE HOUSE in Boston, Engraved by Samuel Hill (1766-1803), Framed, Very Fine.
The State House is one of the oldest buildings in Boston and it is must-see stop on the "Freedom Trail" in Boston. An important early Boston engraving. Two other examples are located in the Boston and New York Public Libraries. Our currently offered engraving is ready to hang on display. This 1793-Dated State House in Boston Engraved Print includes an active street scene with horses, carriages, wagons, people walking about, showing the masts of ships in the harbor at far background. Built in 1713, it was the seat of the Massachusetts General Court until 1798, and is one of the oldest public buildings in the United States. This image was issued in the periodical, "The Massachusetts Magazine", in July 1793. The image size measures 8" x 11.75" within the full plate size measures 9.5" x 12". This print has two vertical folds and a single faint horizontal fold beneath the building. There is some scattered tone at the lower margin and a small waterstain at extreme lower right corner which just touches within the image. Housed in a very old wooden frame that has actual wear which really adds to the character of this piece, with a period brass ring for hanging at top.
The Old State House is a historic building in Boston, Massachusetts, at the intersection of Washington and State Streets. Built in 1713, it was the seat of the Massachusetts General Court until 1798, and is one of the oldest public buildings in the United States.
One of the landmarks on Boston's Freedom Trail, it is the oldest surviving public building in Boston, and now serves as a history museum that, through 2019, was operated by the Bostonian Society until January 2020. On January 1, 2020, the Bostonian Society merged with the Old South Association in Boston to form Revolutionary Spaces. The Old State House was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960 and a Boston Landmark by the Boston Landmarks Commission in 1994.