Bowdoin College Museum of Art |

Preview image of work. mahogany, Air Pump Finial 14447

2007.29

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Air Pump Finial

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Artists

Giovanni Battista Guelfi ; Simeon Skillin, Jr. (1756 – 1806) [formerly attributed to Artist Unidentified];

Title

Air Pump Finial

Creation Date

1782-1783

Century

late 18th century

Dimensions

9 3/4 in. x 6 in. x 2 1/2 in. (24.77 cm x 15.24 cm x 6.35 cm)

Object Type

implement/tool

Medium and Support

mahogany

Credit Line

Bequest of Mrs. Syliva E. Ross by exchange

Copyright

Public Domain

Accession Number

2007.29

During the Enlightenment, scientific achievement was one avenue by which Americans kept apace internationally. Wealthy amateur scientists commissioned costly instruments, such as this air pump, in order to conduct their own experiments and gain favorable notice of learned British and European societies. Used to demonstrate the properties of pneumatics or vacuum, this air pump arrived at Bowdoin in 1803. One of America’s finest instrument makers, John Prince advanced air pump design with this instrument. As founding president of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1780, James Bowdoin II included Prince’s research of his air pump among the Academy’s first published papers in 1785. Also noteworthy is the pump’s mahogany case with columns, frieze, and pediment creating the conceit of a temple of learning. A costly status symbol, the mahogany was extracted in the British West Indies, Honduras, Jamaica, and Cuba by “white cutters” who supervised indentured and enslaved Indigenous and African workers.