Aetna Rooster Fireback

This fireback was produced in the first of two Aetna Furnaces in New Jersey. Erected in 1766-67 by Charles Reed, this foundry probably cast the rooster fireback no later than 1775.

Located on the south branch of the Rancocas Creek in Burlington County, nineteen miles from Philadelphia, the furnace was near the present dam of the Medford Lakes community.

Popular as a decorative element in the late eighteenth century, the rooster had long been a symbol of victory.