William Ordway Partridge (1861-1930)

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Details

William Ordway Partridge (1861-1930)
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
inscribed 'W. Ordway Partridge/SC' and stamped twice 'S.KLABER&CO/FOUNDERS, N.Y.' (along the base)--inscribed 'Zoppo' (under the base)
bronze with red-brown patina
21 in. (53.3 cm.) high
Modeled in 1899; cast circa 1910.

Provenance

Private collection, Columbus, Ohio.
Acquired by the present owner from the above.

Literature

B.O. Flower, "The Soul of Man in Twentieth-Century Sculpture: A Study of Mr. Partridge's Portrait Busts," The Arena, vol. 39, 1908, pp. 3-14, a plaster example illustrated.
W.O. Partridge, The Works in Sculpture of William Ordway Partridge, New York, 1914, p. 62, a marble example illustrated.
L. Taft, The History of American Sculpture, New York, 1917, pp. 429-31, fig. 70, a plaster example illustrated.
M.P. Balge, William Ordway Partridge (1861-1930): American Critic and Sculptor, Ph.D. dissertation, University of Delaware, 1982, pp. 87-89, 120, 154, 333-34.

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Lot Essay

Henry Van Dyke, Tennyson's biographer and critic who owned a marble version of this bust, praised the present model, writing, "This head of Tennyson is the best portrait of the poet extant...This is essentially the head of the music-master of any age. The spirit's impatient, patient battle with the eternal drag of material things is written on these features. That Tennyson fought the battle well is known in his long life, his great work." ("The Soul of Man in Twentieth-Century Sculpture: A Study of Mr. Partridge's Portrait Busts," The Arena, p. 8) Another bronze example is in the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.

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