City Hall Tower Sculptures

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Visit our  “Tour Destination: Philadelphia” page to see the entire walking tour of the first Philadelphia cluster of Save America’s Treasures sites.

City Hall Tower Sculptures--specifically the
bronze statues below the William Penn
statue and above the clocks.
Photo courtesy of the City of Philadelphia
and Conservation of Sculpture and
Objects, Inc.

City Hall Tower Sculptures

Broad Street and Market Street

Philadelphia, PA

Website:  Philadelphia City Hall Visitor Information

The Treasure:  Look beneath the famous statue of William Penn at the top of City Hall.  Approximately 100 feet below Penn (that’s only about a fifth of the way down the clock tower) are colossal bronze statues by Alexander Milne Calder.  They depict a Native American man with a dog, a Native American woman with a child, a Swedish woman with a lamb and a child, a Swedish man with a child, and bronze eagles. These statues are the treasure.

The City of Philadelphia's Public Art Program completed the restoration of these sculptures in early 2007 with the support of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, as well as generous funding support from Save America’s Treasures, The Pew Charitable Trusts, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Getty Foundation, and the City.

Accessibility:  The sculptures are situated on the clock tower of the building, approximately 400 feet above ground. They can be seen from the street level, but due to their great height, one cannot get close. Check the visitor information above for details on tours to explore all the treasures of City Hall.

The bronze Native American statue
midway through its restoration.
Photo courtesy of the City of Philadelphia
and Conservation of Sculpture and
Objects, Inc.

Notes:  The statue of William Penn at the top of City Hall is one of Philadelphia’s most iconic symbols. He’s in the record books, too, for being the tallest sculpture on top of any building in the world. The Penn statue is 37 feet tall and weighs 27 tons.

The eight bronze statues celebrated here for their Save America’s Treasures status are hardly less impressive. Installed in 1894, they are approximately 24 feet tall and weigh between 8 and 11 tons each. The eagles have a 15-foot wingspan and weight just over 3 tons.

These statues clearly demonstrate the vision and artistry of their sculptor, Alexander Milne Calder (1846-1923). But they are just the beginning of Calder’s contribution to City Hall. In all, Calder designed more than 250 relief and freestanding sculptures for the vast City Hall building, with the ambitious intent of expressing American ideals through history and allegory.

Notes from the Editor:  Working in Philadelphia, I’ve known for years about Billy Penn at the top of City Hall—famous for many years for setting a limit to the height of Philadelphia buildings (a “gentleman’s agreement” that was dropped in 1987 when Liberty Place exceeded the height of Penn’s hat). But all these other statues are delightful new discoveries for me.

I like Calder’s expansive approach to the statues near the top. William Penn gets top billing, but the next level of statues represent the people who were in Philadelphia before Penn and his fellow Englishmen arrived. Native Americans were here first. The Swedish were the first European settlers to make a home here between the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers. The animals—a dog, a lamb, and an eagle—are classic symbols of fidelity, gentleness, and majesty. Taken together with William Penn, these statues form a peaceable kingdom at the top of City Hall.

A worker scales the City Hall exterior.  Visible
City Hall Tower Sculptures include a bronze eagle
and a Swedish woman with a lamb and a child.
Photo courtesy of the City of Philadelphia and
Vertical Access, LLC.

Other Recommended Sites:  Alexander Milne Calder was the grandfather who emigrated from Scotland, studied art under Thomas Eakins, and snagged the prestigious commission to furnish City Hall with sculptures. His son Alexander Stirling Calder (1870-1945) carried the Calder name to even greater heights, receiving commissions to create monumental sculptures in Philadelphia and throughout the world. Then his son Alexander Calder (1898-1976) revolutionized the field of sculpture with his famous mobile sculptures.

Philadelphia is home to sculptures by all three Calders. In addition to the statues of City Hall, check out the sculptures of the Swann Memorial Fountain at the center of Logan Circle (surrounded by the Free Library of Philadelphia, the Franklin Institute, and the Academy of Natural Sciences) that were done by Alexander Stirling Calder. To see one of his son’s famous mobiles, visit the Philadelphia Museum of Art, stand at the foot of the great stairs leading to the second floor, and gaze up at Calder’s mobile sculpture “Ghost.” 

The Native American man statue, restored by Conservation of Sculpture
and Objects Studio, Inc. Project Director: Andrzej Dajnowski.
Photo courtesy of the City of Philadelphia and Conservation of Sculpture
and Objects, Inc.

Tour America's History Itinerary
Monday’s destination:  African American Museum in Philadelphia
Tuesday’s destination:  Cruiser Olympia (Independence Seaport Museum)
Wednesday’s destination:  Submarine Becuna (Independence Seaport Museum)

© 2011 Lee Price