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Photo, Print, Drawing George Mecke, Cabinet Maker and Upholsterer. Number 355, North Second Street, Nearly Opposite Tammany Street, Philadelphia.

About this Item

Title

  • George Mecke, Cabinet Maker and Upholsterer. Number 355, North Second Street, Nearly Opposite Tammany Street, Philadelphia.

Summary

  • This advertising print from 1846 shows the four-story storefront with decorative masonry of the cabinet maker and upholsterer George Mecke, located at 355 North Second Street, between Noble and Green Streets (later the 500 block), Philadelphia. A couple enters the showroom through the door on the left. Furniture, including a side table, chaise lounge, armoire, and rocker are visible at the entrances, display window, and within the store. A woman, in a shawl and holding a parasol, approaches the chairs displayed at the second entrance. She stands across from two clerks retrieving a chair from the cellar to be loaded onto a horse-drawn cart parked in the street that already contains a chest of drawers. Additional cabinetry is seen in the upper windows. The image also shows parts of the neighboring businesses, Dubois & Son's Confectionary at number 357, and P. Fries, watchmaker, at number 353. Mecke relocated to 355 North Second Street and was a neighbor to Dubois and Fries circa 1846. The print is by William H. Rease, the most prolific lithographer of advertising prints in Philadelphia during the 1840s and 1850s. Born in Pennsylvania circa 1818, Rease became active in his trade around 1844. Through the 1850s he mainly worked with printers Frederick Kuhl and Wagner & McGuigan in the production of advertising prints known for their portrayals of human details. Although Rease often collaborated with other lithographers, a listing in O'Brien's Business Directory indicates that by 1850 he had founded his own establishment at 17 South Fifth Street, north of Chestnut Street. After a partnership with Francis Schell that lasted from about 1853 to 1855, in 1855 he relocated his shop to the northeast corner of Fourth and Chestnut Streets, where, in addition to advertising prints, he produced certificates, views, maps, and maritime prints.

Names

  • Rease, William H., circa 1818-1893 Artist.

Created / Published

  • Philadelphia : Wagner & McGuigan, [1846-10 to 1847]

Headings

  • -  United States of America--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia
  • -  1846-10 to 1847
  • -  Advertising
  • -  Cabinetwork
  • -  Cities and towns
  • -  Clerks
  • -  Clock and watch making
  • -  Furniture industry
  • -  Lithographs
  • -  Merchants
  • -  Storefronts
  • -  Street scenes
  • -  Upholstery trade

Notes

  • -  Title devised, in English, by Library staff.
  • -  "Digital catalog number: POS 298"--Note extracted from World Digital Library.
  • -  Original resource extent: 1 print : lithograph ; 50 x 33 centimeters.
  • -  Original resource at: The Library Company of Philadelphia.
  • -  Content in English.
  • -  Description based on data extracted from World Digital Library, which may be extracted from partner institutions.

Medium

  • 1 online resource.

Source Collection

  • Philadelphia on Stone

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2021670245

Online Format

  • compressed data
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

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Credit Line: [Original Source citation], World Digital Library

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Rease, William H., Circa Artist. George Mecke, Cabinet Maker and Upholsterer. Number 355, North Second Street, Nearly Opposite Tammany Street, Philadelphia. Pennsylvania United States of America Philadelphia, 1846. [Philadelphia: Wagner & McGuigan, -10 to 1847] Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2021670245/.

APA citation style:

Rease, W. H. (1846) George Mecke, Cabinet Maker and Upholsterer. Number 355, North Second Street, Nearly Opposite Tammany Street, Philadelphia. Pennsylvania United States of America Philadelphia, 1846. [Philadelphia: Wagner & McGuigan, -10 to 1847] [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2021670245/.

MLA citation style:

Rease, William H., Circa Artist. George Mecke, Cabinet Maker and Upholsterer. Number 355, North Second Street, Nearly Opposite Tammany Street, Philadelphia. [Philadelphia: Wagner & McGuigan, -10 to 1847] Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2021670245/>.