Bowling Green, New York
Artist/Maker
Jafir
(United States, dates unknown) Date1930
Mediumetching
DimensionsSight: 10 7/8 x 6 7/8 in. (27.6 x 17.5 cm)
Sheet: 14 3/8 x 9 3/4 in. (36.5 x 24.8 cm)
ClassificationsVisual Works
Credit LineGift of Dr. David Klein
Object number61.124.000
DescriptionJafir's etching depicts one of Manhattan's most historically significant, if little known, sites. The green space located in lower Manhattan on the historic site of New York's earliest Dutch settlement was, indeed, used for bowling before the American Revolution. Originally, a gilded equestrian statue of England's hated George III stood on the green, and a fence enclosed the little park in order to inhibit the dumping of trash. The statue was hacked apart by colonists on July 9, 1776, the day the Declaration of Independence reached New York, and the fence was partially destroyed. During the 19th century the neighborhood was entirely commercialized, and in 1914 the subway was constructed under the land. Today, a repaired fence once again surrounds Bowling Green.
