American Eagle Pin

Description

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is home to one of the best-known works in American art, the monumental canvas Washington Crossing the Delaware by Emanuel Leutze (American, 1816–1868). Our patriotic pin is based on the eagle crest on the painting's frame recreated from a vintage photograph by Eli Wilner & Company, New York, for The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

24K gold overlay, made with SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS. Polished finish. 1 1/2''L x 1 3/4''W.

Art History

For the rehanging of the magnificent Washington Crossing the Delaware in the American Wing, a large and stately gilded frame was painstakingly re-created from a recently discovered 1864 photograph of the painting. The photograph shows the canvas displayed in a dramatic frame replete with patriotic regalia, including a crest several feet across crowned by a spread-winged eagle. The splendid new frame, gilded with 12,500 leaves of gold, features a hand-carved eagle crest and ornamental shields. Today the gilded American eagle with its sweeping wings again provides a fitting emblem for the drama of Washington’s crossing.