Corning Fountain rises 28 feet in bronze and granite in Bushnell Park. Designed by sculptor J. Massey Rhind and dedicated in 1899, the fountain was given to the city by John J. Corning in memory of his father, John Benton Corning (1811–1896), who once operated a grist mill on this very site. The work rises 28 feet, cast in bronze and set on granite, and presents a layered tableau of stylized Saukiog and Oneida figures crowned by a bronze stag—the hart that serves as Hartford’s emblem.
Around the lower basin are four bronze Saukiog braves: on the west side holding a spear, on the south wearing a feathered headdress and scanning the horizon, on the east raising a tomahawk, and on the north holding a peacepipe and lifting his hand in a gesture of peace. A center pedestal is surrounded by four bronze Oneida maidens, and an upper basin is topped by the bronze hart. Below the upper basin were four animal heads as water spouts—a catamount, a bear, a fox, and a beaver—which, as viewed Sept.
15, 2017, have been removed. Below the lower basin are four lion head spouts, and water flows over the edges of each tier. Follow the bronze braves circling below up past the Oneida maidens to the hart crowning the fountain's summit.