Henry Northey Hooper
| Henry Northey Hooper | |
|---|---|
Hooper in 1843
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| Born |
July 16, 1799 Manchester-by-the-Sea |
| Died | September 19, 1865 (aged 66) Roxbury, Boston |
| Occupation | Merchant |
Henry Northey Hooper (1799 – 1865) was a preeminent 19th-century American manufacturer and merchant of decorative lighting, Civil War artillery, and bells and chimes. He was a Boston politician and foundry owner and in his firm he cast the first life-size bronze statue in the United States.
Born in Manchester, Massachusetts to Captain William and Sally Northey Hooper, he descended from a line of Northey silversmiths of Salem, Gloucester, and Manchester, MA, and the Hooper family of ship masters. Hooper initially produced nautical equipment, in which field he was educated and worked until 1825.
He was an apprentice of Paul Revere in the latter’s Boston foundry. He later purchased the foundry and established Henry N. Hooper & Co. to produce lamps and lighting fixtures, bells, and by 1862, artillery for the Union Army.
Hooper was probably best known as a manufacturer of fine decorative lighting fixtures, including chandeliers, girandoles, Argand lamps, and other cast and gilt bronze lighting. He was commissioned by the U.S. Congress to manufacture a massive chandelier for the Hall of the House of Representatives, which was hung in December, 1840. The lighted 13-foot diameter, whale-oil burning fixture, weighing 7,500 lb, was described by witnesses as “exceedingly beautiful and extremely brilliant” and “without exception, the largest, most elegant, and splendid chandelier we ever beheld.” At a cost of $4,000, it featured over 10,000 cut glass pieces and 78 burners, with all of its visible metal parts finished in gold.
However, only a day after its first lighting, the massive chandelier fell to the floor owing to a defective suspension chain, destroying several desks and chairs and itself in the process. One person was injured, but fortunately Congress was not in session. A committee investigating the incident exonerated Hooper of blame, and the chandelier ultimately was replaced with a gas model.
Other chandeliers of Hooper's are displayed in the library of the Longfellow House–Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site and are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art collections, while specimens of his Rococo Revival candelabras, Argand lamps, and candlesticks survive in private collections. Replicas of his solar chandeliers have recently been commissioned.
Hooper was also well known for his highly prized bells and chimes dating from 1838. His many clients included the City of San Francisco fire department and the Monhegan, ME, lighthouse, whose bell, now on display at the Monhegan Museum, became the subject of the Jamie Wyeth painting, “Bronze Age”.
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