City Hall's first sculpture of Justice was commissioned by its architects while the building was under construction. That figure, depicted without a blindfold, was the work of John Dixey, a sculptor trained in London, who received $310 for his work. The first Justice was carved of wood, and adorned the building until it was destroyed in 1858, when fireworks set off to celebrate the laying of the Atlantic cable started a fire on the roof of City Hall. As the roof and cupola burned, so did the statue of Justice, which dramatically crashed through the ceiling of City Hall and into the rotunda.
