Boldly conceived and richly ornamented, this striking sign was painted by William Rice, likely for Hart’s Inn in Berlin, Connecticut. Rice, a Massachusetts native, lived there with his wife and children before settling in Hartford, where he worked as a sign painter and dealer in art supplies until at least 1844. Rice frequently signed his work which was distinct and unlike many of his contemporaries. The practice not only asserted Rice’s authorship but likely enhanced his reputation and helped expand his clientele.

The Hart’s Inn sign features a dramatic spread-wing Federal eagle clutching an olive branch of peace in one talon and arrows of war in the other, set beneath a constellation of twenty-four stars and framed within an oval border. The star count corresponds to the number of states in the Union during the period in which the sign was produced. The inscription “Hart’s Inn” refers to the tavern operated by Jesse Hart in Berlin, Connecticut. In 1813, Hart purchased the building at “Boston Corners" and it burned down shortly afterwards. After rebuilding the tavern, Hart commissioned William Rice, who at the time was living nearby in Hartford, Connecticut as recorded in the 1820 United States Federal Census. Hart operated his tavern and also served the New Britain area as postmaster, maintaining a local post office on the premises. Upon his death in 1827, the inn was sold and the name changed to the Berlin Hotel. The sign was kept and descended through the Hart family to a direct descendant of its first owner.

The Hart family are direct descendants of Thomas Hooker (1586-1647), a colonial leader and known as "Connecticut's Founding Father". Hooker, together with Samuel Stone (1602-1663), founded the Connecticut colony by establishing the town of Hartford in 1636. Jesse Hart was also brother to Emma Hart Willard (1787-1870), who is remembered as an important female education activist by establishing the Troy Female Seminary in 1821, the first school in the country to provide young women with a college-level education.