INAUGURAL BALUSTRADE
This gold-painted iron railing graced the balcony of Federal Hall in New York City, where George Washington took the president’s oath of office in 1789. Thirteen arrows, distinct yet united, form the centerpiece of the ornate balustrade. Frenchman Pierre l’Enfant designed it for the inauguration, symbolically turning the much older building into the home of the new federal Congress. © Collection of the New-York Historical Society. Gift of the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York.