2-888-144 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Great Seal of California, 1850. 'Around the bevel of the ring are represented thirty-one stars, being the number of the states of which the Union will consist, upon the admission of California. The foreground figure represents the goddess Minerva, having sprung full-grown from the brain of Jupiter. She is introduced as a type of the political birth of California, without having gone through the probation of a territory. At her feet crouches a grisly bear, feeding upon clusters from a grape-vine, which, with a sheaf of wheat, are emblematic of the peculiar characteristics of the country. A miner is engaged at work, with a rocker and bowl at his side, illustrating the golden wealth of the Sacramento, upon whose waters are seen shipping, typical of commercial greatness; and the snow-clad peaks of the Sierra Nevada make up the background...It was designed by Major R. S. Garnett, of the United States army'. From "Illustrated London News", 1850.