ID: Captain_Ball’s_Fountain_a_2019

Class: fountains • sculpture (visual works) • public art

Work Type: fountains [AAT ID: 300006179]

Title: Captain Ball’s Fountain, Warwick (Mass.) | Title Type: preferred

Title: Warwick public drinking fountain | Title Type: alternate

Creator display: Designed by Henry F. Jenks (American, 1842-1920);

Manufacturers: H. F. Jenks Co., Inc.  (American, established 19th century)  

Role: designer [AAT ID: 300025190] | Jenks, Henry F. (Henry Francis), 1822-1909 [KSU-NA ID 258011]

Role: manufacturer [AAT ID: 300025230] | H.F. Jenks Co., Inc. [KSU-NA ID: 24689]

Creation date: created in late 19th century, installed in Warwick Massachusetts in 1900

            Earliest: 1865; Latest: 1900

Subject: drinking fountains [LCSH URI: https://lccn.loc.gov/sh85039584] • watering troughs [LCSH URI: https://lccn.loc.gov/sh00000535] • sculpture (visual works) [AAT ID: 300047090] • public art [AAT ID: 300056501] • victorian [AAT ID: 300021232] • jamb figures [AAT ID: 300184811]• mascarons [AAT ID: 300248591] • Jenks, Henry F. (Henry Francis), 1837-1904 [KSU-NA ID 258011]• Ball, David 1822-1909 [KSU-NA ID: 25799] • Warwick (Mass.) [LCSH URI: https://lccn.loc.gov/n85184165]

Style: Victorian [AAT ID: 300021232]

Current location: Warwick (Massachusetts, United States) [TGN ID: 2050824]

Creation Location: Pawtucket (Rhode Island, United States) [TGN ID: 2095048]

Measurements display: Approximately 213 x 145 cm

Value: 213; Unit: cm; Type: height

Value: 145; Unit: cm; Type: diameter

Materials and techniques display: cast iron

            Material: cast iron [AAT ID: 300011004]

            Technique: casting (process) [AAT ID: 300053104]

Inscription display: Cast on inscription plate beneath bowl: Henry F, Jenks Pawtucket R.I. On other side of column: 1900. Patent number beneath date is difficult to read with years of accumulated paint.

Inscription Type: casting (process)

Inscription Location: lower column

Conservation and Treatment History display: Fountain was last painted in 2019. Also work was done in 2019 to repair a part under the fountain.

Description: The Captain Ball Fountain is an ornate Victorian cast iron drinking fountain designed by Henry F. Jenks and manufactured by the Henry F. Jenks Co. of Pawtucket, Rhode Island. It stands by the Common in the center of Warwick, Massachusetts. It was donated to the town in 1900 by Julia B. Thayer of Keene, New Hampshire. Described as a fountain “for man or beast”, it is the largest H. F. Jenks fountain made in this style. It provides a constant flow of water. The center of the basin contains a jamb from which 4 mythical aquatic figures spout water. An extra fish head appears at the end of a "jug filler"pipe, which was installed in 1984. The water from the spouts are for human consumption, although the two drinking cups once attached have been removed. The upper basin acts as a horse trough and designed to be at a sufficient height for horses to drink from without the driver being obliged to uncheck them. The base offers an annular channel for use as a small animal trough. The fountain is painted green with white accents.

Description source: H.F. Jenks Co. (1900). Drinking fountains: for horses : for people. Pawtucket,R.I.: H.F. Jenks Co. [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/102483697/Home]

Description source: Memorial Drinking Fountains.(2018, August 7). Jenks Iron Works Foundry. [https://memorialdrinkingfountains.wordpress.com/tag/jenks-iron-works-foundry/]

Description source: Morse, Charles A., (1963). Warwick, Massachusetts: Biography of a town. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Dresser, Chapman & Grimes.  [http://www.warwickma.org/documents/books/hawes_morse.pdf]

Description source: Warwick’s New Fountain: The generous gift of Mrs. E. C Thayer of Keene.     (1900, July 7).  Gazette & Courier, p. 8. [https://newspaperarchive.com/us/ma/greenfield/greenfield-gazette-and-courier/]

Related Images: [ID KSU_IMG_en001] en001 (view facing northwest) • [https://photos.mycapture.com/RCDR/REMOTES/28164211E.jpg] en002 (contemporary view with Warwick Free Library in the background) • [ID KSU_IMG_en003] en003 (pen and ink drawing) • [ID KSU_IMG_en004] en004 (detail view of plate when erected) • [ID KSU_IMG_en007] en007 (detail view of plate with cast of woman) • [ID KSU_IMG_en008] en008 (detail view of plate with patent date) • [ID KSU_IMG_en010] en010 (detail view of upper section with aquatic creatures) • [ID KSU_IMG_en015] en015 (view of an old iron water trough) • [ID KSU_IMG_en017] en017 (view facing east, 1920s) • [ID KSU_IMG_en019] en019 (view facing north, 1920s) • [ID KSU_IMG_en021] en021 (view facing north, Baptist church) • [ID KSU_IMG_en022] en022 (view facing north, 1979 after repair) • [http://www.old-maps.com/ma/ma_Franklin_Overlays/franklin_50s/24_WWK_FINALS_50_DPI/View] en023 (view of Walling map of Warwick dated 1858, locations of residencies of two D. Balls)