Property from the Estate of TOM D. WHITE
William Couper (1853-1942)

Details
William Couper (1853-1942)

'Coming of Spring', A Marble Figure

signed 'Wm Couper' and 'Florence'
81in. (205.7cm.) high, including original carved wood pedestal
Provenance
Estate of J.J. Hagerman, Hagerman, New Mexico, circa 1920
Literature
G.E. Couper, An American Sculptor on the Grand Tour: The Life and Works of William Couper (1853-1941), Los Angeles, 1988, pp. 34, 40, 76, 97, fig. 64
L. Taft, The History of American Sculpture, New York, 1924, p. 418-424

Lot Essay

Couper exhibited the plaster model in Paris and London in 1885 and at Tiffany & Co. in New York in 1886.

Coming of Spring was described by a journalist writing for the Boston Transcript in 1884 as "a beautiful floating or flying figure, bearing a wreath of flowers. It has just been cast in plaster, and is for Tiffany of New York. The cutting in marble will take about two years. The exquisite nymph... is so delicate that one wonders if she touches the flowers and leaves over which she is being borne by a light zephyr."

The monumental marble is now in National Memorial Park, Falls Church, Virginia. The present one-half size reduction displays the virtuoso technique that exemplified Couper's work in Florence.