Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/726123
than that of the much-admired deceased. Documents con- firm that Lassalle was in the shop as early as March of 1857, but whether he really executed Casali's work is unknown; Casali's death was unexpected, so illness would not have kept him from performing his duties. Lassalle was also able to secure letters from others on his behalf, and Meigs (per- haps with some reluctance or apprehension) hired him. He was given the pay of $5.00 a day, a dollar less than Casali, because Meigs found Casali to be "an artist of greater skill and taste than this one [Lassalle]" but believed that Lassalle might show himself to be a good manager with enough necessary knowledge to finish the work at hand. 21 Under Lassalle the shop averaged 17 workers in positions such as chaser (i.e., a worker with fine tools who "height- ens" surface details), founder, bronze filer, finisher, and laborer. Per Meigs's instructions at the time he was pro- moted, Lassalle regularly reported on the men hired and the work of the shop. A memo submitted by Lassalle and other supporting doc- umentation show that the shop was then casting a variety of functional objects, such as a bronze handrail for the House Chamber gallery, hot-air registers, hat and coat hooks, and keys for the south wing among other work. 22 However, the Capitol Bronze Shop was also still casting ornamentation and fine art sculpture, two of its most notable works being William Henry Rinehart's Indian Fountain and the bronze bust of Be shekee after Francis Vincenti. Rinehart's Indian Fountain was cast by the Bronze Shop for the extension of the General Post Office, for which Meigs also served as the supervising engineer. The fountain represents an Indian hold- ing a shell and directing his gaze toward the stream of water falling into the rocky pool he sits aside (fig. 8). In the fall of 1856, Meigs requested sketches from both Francis Vincenti, an Italian modeler and stonecutter, and George R. West, a painter, who were working at the Capitol, of a "small figure as a fountain…pouring water into a shell – or offering a cup of water." 23 Shortly after being called upon by William Henry Rinehart in early January 1857, Meigs suggested to Fig. 8. Indian Fountain for the General Post Office by William Rinehart (1858) 21 THE CAPITOL DOME