Rafael Osona Auctions Annual Catalog 2020 | Page 32

70. COLLECTION OF POLYCHROME METAL FIRE INSURANCE MARKS, 18 th & 19 th Century, fire insurance marks
are metal plaques marked with the emblem of the insurance company which were affixed to the front of insured buildings as a guide
to the insurance company’s fire brigade. They showed that the building to which they were affixed was insured against fire—and that
if the building caught on fire, a private fire brigade would come to attempt to put it out. Twenty-four of thirty illustrated. Baltimore
Equitable Society -1794, 1868 Issue of the Fire Ass’n of Philadelphia, Hope Mutual Insurance Co. of Philadelphia – 1854, 1st Issue
of United Fireman’s Insurance Co. – 1860, Royal Exchange – 1720, Invicta Kenti, La Centrole – 1863, La Mutuelle A.M. De Valence,
Phenox, Gardian, Royal, Lancashire, County, Hartford County Mutual Fire Insurance Co.– 1831, National of Hartford, Hamburg-
Bremen Fire Ins. Co., La Centrale Fondee en 1863, La Fraternelle – Parisienne 1837, Aetna of Hartford. 800/1,200
Provenance: Property of a Lady, Nantucket
27 Rafael Osona Auctions