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Daniel Webster

1853
bronze
30 in. x 13 in. x 11 in. (76.2 cm x 33.02 cm x 27.94 cm)
Museum Purchase by Exchange, 1996.4

Thomas Ball
American
1819–1911

Thomas Ball advanced to the front ranks of American sculpture after giving up an undistinguished career as a painter. A native of Charlestown, Massachusetts, Ball worked as a silhouette cutter and miniaturist before attempting larger-scale historical compositions in the late 1840s. A frustrated love affair left the artist unable to paint, and in 1850 he begged a small quantity of clay from a sculptor friend to divert himself creatively. Ball was immediately taken by the possibilities of the medium, and during the following year he produced his first significant sculptural work, a small portrait bust of renowned singer Jenny Lind. The popularity of the subject as well as Ball's appealing naturalism led to a brisk sale of plaster copies, setting the artist firmly on a new path as a professional sculptor.

After winning acclaim for Jenny Lind, Ball applied himself to a life-size bust and then to a statuette of the orator and statesman Daniel Webster. Both were well received, and, encouraged by his latest success, the artist decided to follow in the footsteps of other well-known American sculptors who had gone to live in Italy. Settling in Florence in 1854, Ball joined the American art community there and spent the next several years working on commissions for portrait busts and experimenting with "ideal" compositions. In Boston by 1857, Ball remained there through the Civil War years before returning to Italy in 1865. While in America, the artist commenced his best-known work, a large equestrian statue of George Washington, which was eventually cast in bronze and unveiled in the Boston Public Gardens in 1869. Among Ball's other well-known public sculptures are the Emancipation Group (1874, Lincoln Park, Washington, DC), featuring Abraham Lincoln protecting a crouching slave, and monumental statues of Daniel Webster (1876, Central Park, New York City; 1885-86, State House grounds, Concord, NH). Later in life, Ball wrote an autobiography, My Three Score Years and Ten. He returned to the United States at the end of the century, spending the last years of his life with his daughter and her husband in Montclair, New Jersey. Ball died in 1911.

Ball had been an admirer of Daniel Webster long before he began his first portrayal of the celebrated orator, a life-size bust that brought the sculptor considerable acclaim. Although his only firsthand knowledge of the man had been a brief glimpse during a Boston parade, Ball managed (probably with the help of prints and photographs) to capture the animation and fiery expression that were Webster's trademarks. When Webster died only days after Ball's bust was complete, demand for reproductions soared, and the sculptor soon found himself contemplating a second version: a full-length statuette showing Webster in his characteristic speaking attitude. Completed in 1853, Ball's second Webster was also immensely popular; offered $ 500 for the statuette by art dealer C. W. Nichols, Ball sold the model and his rights, and only later realized, with regret, that he might have made ten times as much had he retained them. The statuette was subsequently cast in bronze by the Ames foundry in Chicopee, Massachusetts, and, along with a later statuette of Henry Clay (modeled 1858), has come to be recognized as the first volume edition of art bronzes made in the United States.

The Currier's Daniel Webster is one of the Ames bronzes, cast after Ball's original model. Fixed to a separate base unobtrusively marked with the name of the founder, the statuette portrays Webster in a standing pose, his right arm tucked into his coat as he gazes intently into the distance. Next to him appears a drapery-enfolded architectural element that serves as an impromptu podium. At its base are two books, perhaps a reference to Webster's numerous and frequently republished speeches. On the back side of the statuette, an inscription reads "T. Ball Sculpt. / Boston Mass. / 1853. Patent assigned to / C. W. Nichols."

Daniel Webster exemplifies the naturalistic approach employed by Ball and other American sculptors during the mid-nineteenth century. In contrast to the classical drapery, artful poses, and idealized physiognomy of the European Neoclassical tradition, American sculpture tended to be more objective in its aims. For his statuette of Webster, Ball did little to exaggerate the stature or charisma of the great orator. Instead, he portrays Webster in a comfortable stance wearing ordinary clothing. His coat and trousers are realistically wrinkled at the joints and across the chest, calling attention to the movement of the body underneath. Webster's face is freely modeled, and unlike the hard geometric forms that underlie the visages of much Neoclassical sculpture, it radiates a vitality suggestive of Webster's verve as a public speaker.

Born in 1782 in Salisbury (now Franklin), New Hampshire, Daniel Webster was a lawyer and politician who rose to prominence following his roles in the famous Supreme Court cases of Dartmouth College and McCulloch v. Maryland, both of 1819. A Federalist and later a Whig, Webster served in the U.S. House of Representatives as a member from New Hampshire and, subsequently, Massachusetts. In 1827 he was elected a senator of Massachusetts, a position he held for much of the remainder of his career. A major voice in Whig Party politics, Webster was put forth as a Whig candidate for president in 1836. When the Whigs defeated Martin van Buren in 1840, Webster was made secretary of state under William Henry Harrison. Webster also served as secretary of state under Millard Fillmore. He died in 1852.

Daniel Webster was purchased by the Currier Museum of Art in 1996.

VSD

REFERENCES

Wayne Craven. "The Early Sculptures of Thomas Ball." North Carolina Museum of Art Bulletin 5 (Fall 1964-Winter 1965): 3-12.

Ilene Susan Fort and Michael Quick. American Art: A Catalogue of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art Collection. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1991.

founder J. T. Ames Foundry
American

Thomas Ball advanced to the front ranks of American sculpture after giving up an undistinguished career as a painter. A native of Charlestown, Massachusetts, Ball worked as a silhouette cutter and miniaturist before attempting larger-scale historical compositions in the late 1840s. A frustrated love affair left the artist unable to paint, and in 1850 he begged a small quantity of clay from a sculptor friend to divert himself creatively. Ball was immediately taken by the possibilities of the medium, and during the following year he produced his first significant sculptural work, a small portrait bust of renowned singer Jenny Lind. The popularity of the subject as well as Ball's appealing naturalism led to a brisk sale of plaster copies, setting the artist firmly on a new path as a professional sculptor.

After winning acclaim for Jenny Lind, Ball applied himself to a life-size bust and then to a statuette of the orator and statesman Daniel Webster. Both were well received, and, encouraged by his latest success, the artist decided to follow in the footsteps of other well-known American sculptors who had gone to live in Italy. Settling in Florence in 1854, Ball joined the American art community there and spent the next several years working on commissions for portrait busts and experimenting with "ideal" compositions. In Boston by 1857, Ball remained there through the Civil War years before returning to Italy in 1865. While in America, the artist commenced his best-known work, a large equestrian statue of George Washington, which was eventually cast in bronze and unveiled in the Boston Public Gardens in 1869. Among Ball's other well-known public sculptures are the Emancipation Group (1874, Lincoln Park, Washington, DC), featuring Abraham Lincoln protecting a crouching slave, and monumental statues of Daniel Webster (1876, Central Park, New York City; 1885-86, State House grounds, Concord, NH). Later in life, Ball wrote an autobiography, My Three Score Years and Ten. He returned to the United States at the end of the century, spending the last years of his life with his daughter and her husband in Montclair, New Jersey. Ball died in 1911.

Ball had been an admirer of Daniel Webster long before he began his first portrayal of the celebrated orator, a life-size bust that brought the sculptor considerable acclaim. Although his only firsthand knowledge of the man had been a brief glimpse during a Boston parade, Ball managed (probably with the help of prints and photographs) to capture the animation and fiery expression that were Webster's trademarks. When Webster died only days after Ball's bust was complete, demand for reproductions soared, and the sculptor soon found himself contemplating a second version: a full-length statuette showing Webster in his characteristic speaking attitude. Completed in 1853, Ball's second Webster was also immensely popular; offered $ 500 for the statuette by art dealer C. W. Nichols, Ball sold the model and his rights, and only later realized, with regret, that he might have made ten times as much had he retained them. The statuette was subsequently cast in bronze by the Ames foundry in Chicopee, Massachusetts, and, along with a later statuette of Henry Clay (modeled 1858), has come to be recognized as the first volume edition of art bronzes made in the United States.

The Currier's Daniel Webster is one of the Ames bronzes, cast after Ball's original model. Fixed to a separate base unobtrusively marked with the name of the founder, the statuette portrays Webster in a standing pose, his right arm tucked into his coat as he gazes intently into the distance. Next to him appears a drapery-enfolded architectural element that serves as an impromptu podium. At its base are two books, perhaps a reference to Webster's numerous and frequently republished speeches. On the back side of the statuette, an inscription reads "T. Ball Sculpt. / Boston Mass. / 1853. Patent assigned to / C. W. Nichols."

Daniel Webster exemplifies the naturalistic approach employed by Ball and other American sculptors during the mid-nineteenth century. In contrast to the classical drapery, artful poses, and idealized physiognomy of the European Neoclassical tradition, American sculpture tended to be more objective in its aims. For his statuette of Webster, Ball did little to exaggerate the stature or charisma of the great orator. Instead, he portrays Webster in a comfortable stance wearing ordinary clothing. His coat and trousers are realistically wrinkled at the joints and across the chest, calling attention to the movement of the body underneath. Webster's face is freely modeled, and unlike the hard geometric forms that underlie the visages of much Neoclassical sculpture, it radiates a vitality suggestive of Webster's verve as a public speaker.

Born in 1782 in Salisbury (now Franklin), New Hampshire, Daniel Webster was a lawyer and politician who rose to prominence following his roles in the famous Supreme Court cases of Dartmouth College and McCulloch v. Maryland, both of 1819. A Federalist and later a Whig, Webster served in the U.S. House of Representatives as a member from New Hampshire and, subsequently, Massachusetts. In 1827 he was elected a senator of Massachusetts, a position he held for much of the remainder of his career. A major voice in Whig Party politics, Webster was put forth as a Whig candidate for president in 1836. When the Whigs defeated Martin van Buren in 1840, Webster was made secretary of state under William Henry Harrison. Webster also served as secretary of state under Millard Fillmore. He died in 1852.

Daniel Webster was purchased by the Currier Museum of Art in 1996.

VSD

REFERENCES

Wayne Craven. "The Early Sculptures of Thomas Ball." North Carolina Museum of Art Bulletin 5 (Fall 1964-Winter 1965): 3-12.

Ilene Susan Fort and Michael Quick. American Art: A Catalogue of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art Collection. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1991.


Exhibition
1997 Currier Gallery of Art, Manchester, NH, "What's New At The Currier: Recent Acquisitions to the Permanent Collection." Feb. 7 - March 31.

Provenance
Estate of Olga Grassia
Conner-Rosenkranz American Sculpture, New York, NY
Purchased by Currier Gallery of Art, 1996


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