Proud lions, patriotic eagles, and solemn bulls — not to mention prancing horses, majestic oak trees, and festive table settings — once graced the roadsides of America. Painted onto wooden signboards and hung outdoors, high above the heads of passers-by, tavern and inn signs served the primary function of outdoor advertising, helping people locate the places and services they needed.

Sign paintings also provided landmarks. Before the widespread introduction of street numbering systems, "at the sign of…" served to answer the question, "Where is it?"

Most importantly, tavern and inn signs put art on public display. In cities and towns, signs for competing businesses transformed everyday streetscapes into democratic, open-air galleries, with a common set of images accessible to the gaze of all citizens. Even in the most remote crossroads, a single inn or tavern sign might be found to delight both local residents and weary travelers.

Sign for the Temperance Hotel, 1826-1842. Plainfield and Colchester, Connecticut.

Surprisingly, this distinctively public art has long gone unnoticed. Lions & Eagles & Bulls: Early American Tavern & Inn Signs from The Connecticut Historical Society — drawn from the CHS’s collection, the largest of its kind in the nation — is the first nationally traveling exhibition focused exclusively on the art of early American inn signs. Through June 3, 2001, CHS showcases this elusive, yet everyday production of early American artists. The exhibition will then travel to four other venues between now and 2004, and is accompanied by a handsomely-illustrated catalogue published in association with Princeton University Press.

From antique-lovers to graphic designers, early-America novices to artists and advertisers, sign paintings can be appreciated today not only as artifacts from long-ago, but also as sources of inspiration for contemporary public and commercial art. In some cases, the designs, symbols, and shapes used in the signs are still part of what we identify as "American." In other cases, it is the spirit of invention evident in these signs — borrowing, reinterpreting, and adapting symbols and eye catching designs by the sign painters — that persists as an important attribute of American culture.

Sign for the Vernon Hotel, signed by William Rice, dated 1834. Vernon, Connecticut.

The exhibition begins with an introduction to the craft of sign making, with particular emphasis on William Rice (1777-1847), the most prolific sign painter known to have operated in the Northeast. He was not just a good painter, but also a shrewd businessman. By covering his signs with designs of lions and eagles, the effectively "branded" his craft. Soon his signs were featured on virtually every up-and-coming country inn west of Hartford, and especially along the Albany Turnpike from Hartford to Albany.

Travel and trade in early America grew with developments in transportation. During the 18^th century, inns were usually placed in river or seaport towns in heavily trafficked areas. By the end of the 18^th century, new turnpikes meant more traffic, which led to an increase in the number of inns established along interior highway routes. Lions & Eagles & Bulls features reproductions of primary and secondary research materials which complement information on stage travel and turnpikes in the 18^th and 19^th centuries.

Sign of the Pine Tree, 1768. Lisbon, Connecticut.

For some travelers or local residents, taverns and inns represented a meeting place for social and political activities. Many of the sign paintings conveyed hidden meanings, providing those "in the know" with markers of exclusive affiliation. The Sign of the Pine Tree, for example, combines a yellow sun over a pine tree, a common 18^th-century symbol of Liberty. This could be a coded reference to the ‘Sons of Liberty’, referring to an American resistance organization founded in the years preceding the American Revolution. Other signs feature masonic imagery, reproductions of lions from early print sources, and catchy phrases, such as "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush," which may have been a version of a "last stop for gas" highway sign.

Exhibition (continued)