Lot 208: Thomas Crawford (1813-1857), 1838-1855

Thomas Crawford (1813-1857), 1838-1855
George Washington
inscribed T.C.; plinth inscribed Washington
white marble
31½ in. high

Baltimore, Maryland, The Baltimore Museum of Art, The White Marmorean Flock: Neoclassical White Marble Sculpture in America, May to September 1969.

Ernest Harms, "The Real Features of George Washington," Art in America (December 1955), pp. 46-47.
Lenox Library, A Guide to the Paintings and Sculptures Exhibited to the Public (New York, 1887), p. 23.
Henry T. Tuckerman, The Character Portraits of Washington (New York, 1859), p. 81.

James Ward, (d. circa 1875), New York
James Lenox, New York, 1875
New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations
Sotheby's New York, November 30, 2005, lot 11

VARIOUS PROPERTIES

During his life, Thomas Crawford (1813-1857) became the preeminent sculptor of George Washington. According to Tuckerman, this particular bust, which he describes as "the latest and most triumphant attempt to embody and illustrate the features, forms and character of Washington in Statuary," caused Crawford's studio to receive many requests for copies (Henry T. Tuckerman, The Character and Portraits of Washington (New York, 1859), p. 81). It is believed that Crawford modeled this sculpture after Jean-Antoine Houdon's (1741-1828) portrait bust taken from life (Tuckerman, p. 46). While the two share a similar rendering and expression, there is a sense of refined subtleness on this example characteristic of Crawford's hand. Two other versions of this bust are in the collections of the New-York Historical Society and the Museum of Our National History, Lexington, Kentucky. Important public works by Crawford include Equestrian Washington (1850-1857), completed for the city of Richmond, Virginia, and a group of sculptures completed for the United States Capitol. These comprise the bronze doors of the Senate chamber (1855-1860), the pediment statuary above the Senate wing (1853-1863), and the figure of Liberty which graces the top of the dome (1855-1862).

This sculpture was first owned by the financier John Ward (d. circa 1875). President of the New York Stock Exchange from 1831 to 1834, John Ward was Crawford's uncle-in-law. Ward also owned Crawford's sculpture of his wife Louisa Ward Crawford (1846) and displayed it in his home at Number 8 Bond Street (now in the collection of the Museum of the City of New York; Sylvia Crane, White Silence (Miami, Florida, 1972), pp. 320, 329).