Itemized as "Shape 311" (Atterbury, p. 108), this parian figure of Daniel Webster is a slightly more diminutive portrait sculpture than the original created by the artist Thomas Ball (1819-1911) in 1852. Ball's portrait figure was designed as a competition entry for a monument to Webster in one of Boston's public parks. Although unsuccessful in his attempt, the model and its reproduction rights were sold to C.W. Nichols, who created this parian version. Ball's model of Webster was ultimately enlarged and presented to the City of New York where it was placed near the Mall in Central Park. Parian figures, whether portraits, classical scenes or genre groups, were often a decorative item in the aesthetically aware Victorian American home.