Coal Picking Tables
Item
Title
Coal Picking Tables
Creator
Esther Topp Edmonds
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1893-1954 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1893-1954 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Date
1930
Materials
oil on canvas
Measurements
20 x 24 in.
Description
Wildwood in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, was one of the first fully mechanized coal mines in the United States. Machine-cut, unsorted material was sent from the mine to the tipple where it was mechanically screened and separated into impurities, crushed coal, and lump coal. Lump coal was loaded onto picking tables—paired, vibrating conveyor belts lit from above by lamps on adjustable arms. Inspectors manned the tables to examine the coal and to detect and remove substandard material. Not allowed into the coal works, Edmonds used a small black and white photograph published in a coal trade magazine as reference material for her painting of the tables in operation.
Edmonds, a graduate of Cornell University and Associate Professor at the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, was honored with a one-man show by the Carnegie Institute in 1945.
Edmonds, a graduate of Cornell University and Associate Professor at the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, was honored with a one-man show by the Carnegie Institute in 1945.
Identifier
EMS080
Rights
These images are posted publicly for non-profit educational uses, excluding printed publication. Other uses may not be permitted. For additional information about usage rights or to request permission to use an image contact museum@ems.psu.edu