*HIRAM POWERS (1805-1873)

PROPERTY OF THE LATE J. PAUL GETTY AND THE J. PAUL GETTY MUSEUM Lot 46 may be exempt from sales tax, as set forth in the Sales Tax Notice at the front of this catalogue.

Details

*HIRAM POWERS (1805-1873)

'Hope', A White Marble Portrait Bust

signed H POWERS Sculp.
28¼in. (71.8cm.) high, including white marble socle

Provenance

S.R. Christie Miller, London
With Thomas Crowther and Son, London, 1937

Literature

W. Craven, Sculpture in America, 1984 edition, p. 122
R. Wunder, Hiram Powers: Vermont Sculptor, 1805-1873, Newark, 1991, vol I, p. 329, vol. II, pp. 177-179, cat. no. 206, rep. no. 11, illus.

Exhibited

Los Angeles County Museum of Art (long-term loan)

Lot Essay

In 1866, Powers was commissioned by an American gentleman to create two new ideal busts of the sculptor's own choosing. Powers decided to portray the Heavenly Graces and he persuaded his patron to increase the order to three busts--Faith, Hope and Charity. Hope was the first of the three completed.

According to Richard Wunder, the present bust may be the example ordered by Lewis Loyd, Bromley, Kent, England in 1867. (vol II, pp. 178-179)