A very singular and curious production of art, was found some years since in the River Delaware, at Kensington supposed to have been intended to dive to the bottom of the River, perhaps during the war

Object Status:

Unlocated

Primary Source Reference:

Peale Museum Accessions Book, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, p. 7

Additional Source Text:

"The tube made of spiral wire covered with Leather, the remain[der] was distroyed by the neighbours, and nothing of the Dress remaining but some of the Hoops of iron."

United States Gazette (Philadelphia), 7 Feb 1806 adds: displayed "in the department with the Mammoth, &c."

Notes:

No exmple of a diving bell of this construction has been found. The Edinburgh Encyclopedia (Edinburgh, 1830) described and illustrated many other recent designs (vol. 8, pp. 11-21, plate supplement 1: plate 232), pictured here.

The donor may have been Philadelphia shoemaker Stephen Walters.