1736 Original & Reproduction

The bucket on the left is an excellent example of one of the earliest forms of fire bucket. The shape and construction of the bucket is of an early English style of shape and construction. The heraldic crest of 3 lozenges upon a light blue ground is unknown to me but is most likely of English origin and may a device belonging to an institution or town as opposed to being a family crest. The numerals of the date 1736 are to be found divided in the 4 quadrants surrounding the crest.
The interior of the original as well as my reproduction are coated with a pea green paint. This was done in the period to give them a certain amount of waterproofing. Fire buckets were not intended to hold water all of the time, the interior coating were only there to avoid the leather from becoming waterlogged during the fire fighting event. Even buckets lined with pitch, (a thickened form of pine tar) were subject to leaking.

Flying Mercury "before & after"

This is an advert that I ran in the year-end supplement of the 2008 Maine Antiques Digest showing an excellent example of how a hard-worn fire bucket can be brought back with expert attention. All of the restoration work I preform is reversible, following guidelines as prescribed by modern museum standards.
I did not in-paint every area of paint loss because much of the charm of antiquities is found in the time-worn patina..."Less-is-More" in this case. The handle on this bucket is original, but required re-attachment. A missing or detached handle is a very common condition with original buckets but I have developed a method that can invisibly restore the handles back to a visually perfect and functional condition.

This Flying Mercury fire bucket is dated 1846 and was most likely made in the Boston area. Mercury is the ancient pagan patron of Merchants and Tradesmen dating back to Roman times. Most likely "J. B. Curwen", the buckets original owner, was a Bostonian businessman that belonged to an organized fire fighting club. Pictorial fire buckets such as this are often referred to as, "Parade Buckets". During the 19th century, fire club members were known to participate in the frequent parades, carrying emblems of social fraternities such as flags, banners and fire buckets. Fire Clubs, before the formal institution of professional fire departments were important social clubs in the period as are Rotary and Fraternal clubs today.

Inaugural Eagle 2009

© Steven M. Lalioff 2010

I created this in honor of the American Presidential election of 2008. The bucket shape is based upon an 18th century fire bucket and the painting is inspired by one of the earliest known forms of American eagles, circa 1790's.

I very much enjoy the challenge of making an exact reproduction, but I enjoy even more creating new designs "appropriations" that are of my own. My goal is to make all of the elements logical to the period, as if it was the fire bucket that "could have been".

Every fire bucket that leaves my studio is carved or stamped indelibly on the bottom identifying it as a contemporary product of my studio. My best quality buckets are marked, "S. Lalioff" under my name is a round stamp with my initials "SL" followed by the year of creation in roman numerals. My more simple creations have just my initials followed by the round stamp and the current date in Arabic numerals.