Description

This etching depicts a pastor and members of his congregation presenting church bells to be used as the raw material for weapons for the Confederacy. The officer who accepts the bells removes his hat in recognition of the reverence of the occasion. Slaves perform the work of lifting the bells and other materials. The slave to the left of the center of the sketch, with his long apron and muscular arms, has also doffed his hat. Among the other items that have been donated appear to be candlesticks and andirons. Volck's initials are evident in the lower left corner. It is interesting to note that this is one of the few sketches to which Volck put his own initials, AJV, in the lower left corner. Perhaps he believed that such subject matter would not be considered treasonous by Federal officials. Original etching one of thirty published in Volck's "Confederate War Etchings." Part of the Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection, courtesy of the Indiana State Museum