Download our app and ask your own questions during your visit. Here are some that others have asked.

How was this statue of Robert Fulton brought into the museum?

That statue was originally part of the facade of the Fulton Ferry Building, at the end of Fulton Street on the Brooklyn waterfront. In 1935, it was moved to Fulton Park.

Due to the materials (the statue is made of zinc), it would not have been able to stand up to the outdoor weather. A bronze replica was created to stand in the Park, and it's still there today.

This sculpture, once it was removed from the Park, was loaned to the Museum of the City of New York by the City. In 2010, the Museum of the City of New York gave it to the Brooklyn Museum.

It has quite a history!

Oh wow!!

When the statue moved to Fulton Park it had an inscription reading: "FULTON / ERECTED IN MEMORY OF ROBERT FULTON / FATHER OF THE STEAMBOAT / AT FULTON FERRY HOUSE OCTOBER 13, 1872 / RELOCATED AT FULTON PARK NOVEMBER 14, 1930 / BY THE SOCIETY OF OLD BROOKLYNITES"

Fulton's ferry service connected Brooklyn to Manhattan during its operations in the nineteenth century, so he was seen as an important historical person in the area! That ferry ran until 1926.

Why is this sculpture so big?

This statue shows the American engineer Robert Fulton with a model of his boat the Nassau, the first steam-powered ferry to operate between Manhattan and Brooklyn. This sculpture once stood in a niche on the upper story of the Ferry Terminal on the Brooklyn waterfront. It is large so that he could be seen from below and from a distance, as one arrived in Brooklyn!

There’s a smaller version of this sculpture of Robert Fulton in Fulton Park on Fulton St between Stuyvesant and Lewis Aves—is it from the same era? Who commissioned the original?

The version in the park is a replica of this one, it was made later. This sculpture is made of zinc which was beginning to weather outdoors so a more durable bronze copy was made.

This version is from 1872, the copy was made at some point in the 20th century.

Thank you!

Is this statue one piece? How did you get it into the museum?!

To my knowledge, he is all one piece!

Like with most museums, we have loading docks and a freight elevator, not accessible to the public, for moving very large and heavy artworks!

Have you seen the granite sarcophagus on the third floor yet? It's so heavy the floor had to be reinforced!

I will take a look thanks! I’m a collections manager, so always interested in how objects get in and out.

Is this who Fulton st is named after?

Yes it is! This statue was originally made for the Fulton Ferry Terminal in Brooklyn (which explains the boat, an invention of Fulton's) and was later moved to Fulton Park before coming to the Museum.

¿Quién es?

El es Robert Fulton. Inventó barcos de vapor que transportaban personas entre Brooklyn y Manhattan, revolucionando el transporte en Nueva York.

Statue of Robert Fulton

American Art

The Conservator's Eye

This statue portrays the American engineer and inventor Robert Fulton (1765–1815) with a model of his boat the Nassau, the first steam-powered ferry to operate between Manhattan and Brooklyn.

This sculpture is cast from zinc, a gray metal, which can be seen in areas where the paint has worn away. Pieces made of zinc can be joined by soldering, because of the metal’s low melting point. Using zinc to cast a sculpture in sections was easier, faster, and less expensive than using other traditional materials, such as bronze, which required casting the sculpture in one piece.

ARTIST Caspar Buberl, American, born Bohemia, 1834–1899

MANUFACTURER M. J. Seelig & Company, founded 1851

MEDIUM Zinc, paint, lead-tin solder, plaster (repairs)

DATES 1872

DIMENSIONS height: 126 in., 2500 lb. (320 cm, 1133.99kg)

MARKINGS Foundry mark inscribed in cursive on the left front self-base: "M.J. Seelig & c/Founder"

SIGNATURE Inscribed in cursive on the proper right self-base near the front corner : "C. Buberl / Sculptor"

COLLECTIONS American Art

ACCESSION NUMBER 2010.21

CREDIT LINE Gift of the Museum of the City of New York

EXHIBITIONS

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view

RECORD COMPLETENESS

Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.