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Help ID symbol/coat-of-arms (?) on Waterman 1920's 0554


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#1 david i

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Posted 28 August 2011 - 11:42 PM

Greetings.

I'm putting together my first Vacumania update in several months. One pen is a gem Waterman 0554 (broad flex stub nib). Has a metal/enamel(?) symbol attached above the clip.

Can anyone ID this thing for me? If so... please do.

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Thanks

David


David R. Isaacson MD. Website: VACUMANIA.com for quality old pens with full warranty.
Email: isaacson@frontiernet.net

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#2 matt

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Posted 29 August 2011 - 05:12 PM

kneeling figures supporting a globe w/ an eagle on top....

New York Life Insurance Co?

Searching for "kneeling figures supporting globe" found this reference to the Clock Tower Building, the former headquarters of the New York Life Insurance Co at 346 Broadway, NYC, built in 1894:

http://www.placematters.net/node/1753

"346 Broadway’s overall composition, or at least that of the Broadway end, is thus imbued with a somewhat sculptural quality, an impression that was originally reinforced by Philip Martiny’s original tower-topping metal group of four kneeling male figures supporting a globe surmounted by an eagle. "

However, in searching for New York Life ads, the earliest I found was 1939. The logo in that ad appears to be an eagle tending a nest w/ two eaglets.

#3 BrianMcQueen

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Posted 29 August 2011 - 11:37 PM

I did some more research into the building. I could only find one picture of the sculpture, as it is now missing. It disappeared around 1948 and nobody is really sure where it went. However, this picture and the description of the sculpture make it seem like it could very well be the same. The eagle looks dead on, and there is a banner across the middle. The building was erected for New York Life, and the sculpture was added shortly after the completion of the building.

"The sculpture on top was of four crouching figures of Atlas, each one 11 feet tall, stood atop the four corners of the clock tower. On their shoulders rested a hollow globe, 15 feet in diameter, laced by a latitudinal and longitudinal network. On top of the globe was a 7-foot-tall eagle, its wings spread. Within the globe was a solid sphere, 7 feet in diameter. The sculptor was Philip Martiny, a student of Augustus Saint-Gaudens."
(From http://infotrue.com/tournyls1.html)

This is very descriptive of the logo you have on your pen, right down to the solid sphere in the middle.

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New York Life no longer occupies this building, and it is now simply known as 346 Broadway or the Clock Tower Building.

#4 david i

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Posted 30 August 2011 - 02:14 AM

Thanks Gents.

Thus demonstrates the purpose of the Board :)

If either of you grabs this one from the update going online in few minutes, $20 discount in place ;)

-d
David R. Isaacson MD. Website: VACUMANIA.com for quality old pens with full warranty.
Email: isaacson@frontiernet.net

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#5 BrianMcQueen

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Posted 30 August 2011 - 03:28 AM

You're quite welcome, David!

Maybe you should try to market it to some executive at New York Life ;)




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