Painting, Gilbert and Bennett
Herald of Freedom (associated with)
circa 1985 (Earliest/Latest dates)
Acrylic, Canvas
19 7/8" H
1 1/2" D
X
29 7/8" L
Acrylic on canvas painting of five buildings at the Gilbert and Bennett Wire Mill and waterfall from the mill pond in Georgetown, Connecticut. Includes several distant homes on a ridge in the background. Painting is signed "D. Hyde" in lower left corner for Wilton artist Dorothy Hyde. Gilbert and Bennett was begun by Charlotte Birchard and her husband Benjamin Gilbert, a tanner from Weston. Using horsehair from the Asahel Raymond III's tannery in Wilton, they began weaving sieves, for sifting flour and meal, in their home in Georgetown in 1818. In 1834 they acquired the land on Old Mill Road where they could use the waterpower from the pond on Sasqua Trail to run machines which could run the hair picking machine and hair rope twisters now used to help make the sieves. In 1848 and 1852 more land in the neighborhood was purchased as the business expanded. Gilbert & Bennett was the first to create woven wire products in America as well as making wire netting and fencing later on. The company was a major employer in the area until it closed in 1991. The painting was owned by longtime Wilton residents Judy and Hal Higby prior to its donation.
2023.5.1