‘Folk Art On Fire’ At The Fenimore Art Museum

Cooperstown, N.Y.

:Fire! Fire! Fire! What pulse does not quicken at the sound of the alarm? Heads turn and progress halts as firefighters race to a blaze. Whether it is the allure of danger and drama or the heroes who fight it, the attraction is irresistible.

Now comes the exhibition "Folk Art on Fire," on view at the Fenimore Art Museum through December, that explores the folk art interpretations of colonial firefighters and firefighting in America. It, too, is a head turner.

Fire and firefighting bespeak bravery and heroics, brotherhood and sacrifice, as well as high competition, and the celebration of these elements plays out in virtually every object on view in the exhibition.

The 70 objects encompassing "Folk Art on Fire" include a representation of the tools of firefighting, articles commissioned by fire companies and, perhaps the most interesting, the implements and parade regalia that were oftentimes the work of the firefighters themselves. The material is drawn from several collections, including that of the Fenimore and from the Mercer Museum in Doylestown, Penn. Items from the Robert and Katherine Booth collection, many of which were featured in the loan exhibit at the 2004 Philadelphia Antiques Show, are also on view.

Firefighting in colonial America was a volunteer effort, a tradition that widely continues today. (According to the National Volunteer Fire Council, of the 1.5 million firefighters in the United States, 85 percent are volunteers.)

Membership cuts across all social lines and has included such lights as Presidents George Washington, James Buchanan and Millard Fillmore, and hoards of other political luminaries. Boss Tweed got his start with a fire company in New York City, and by 1865, New York had more than 100 volunteer fire companies.

Fire was a constant peril in the colonies where thatched roofs, wooden chimneys and close quarters prevailed. One year after the founding of Jamestown in 1607, fire destroyed all the houses and most of the provisions in the settlement. Three years after the pilgrims arrived in Plymouth, fire destroyed seven dwellings and nearly extinguished that settlement. Boston, settled in 1630, enacted its first fire prevention measure the next year when the city banned thatched roofs and wooden chimneys. A fire in 1653 destroyed one-third of the town.