*HIRAM POWERS (1805-1873)

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

Details

*HIRAM POWERS (1805-1873)

'Diana', A White Marble Ideal Bust

signed 'H POWERS Sculp'
30in. (76.2cm.) high, including white marble socle

Provenance

Lady Dance, London (c. 1870)
S.R. Christie Miller, London
With Thomas Crowther and Son, London, 1937

Literature

W. Craven, Sculpture in America, New York, 1984 edition, p. 115
R. Wunder, Hiram Powers: Vermont Sculptor, 1805-1873, Newark, 1991, vol I, pp. 276, 283, 285, 316, 333, vol. II, pp. 131-134, 254, cat. no. 156, rep. no. 17, illus.

Exhibited

Los Angeles County Museum of Art (long term loan)

Lot Essay

Similar in composition to Powers' America, Diana was first executed in 1852 in response to an order placed in 1847 for a new ideal bust. Like Proserpine and The Greek Slave, the model was offered in two sizes, lifesize and two-thirds lifesize, which were priced accordingly.

According to Richard Wunder, the present bust may be the example ordered by Lewis Loyd of Bromley, Kent, England which was paid for and received in 1867 (vol II, pp. 133-134).