Object Record
Images
Metadata
Catalog Number |
58.S.22 |
Object Name |
Bust |
Title |
Bust of Thomas Jefferson |
Artist |
Houdon, Jean-Antoine |
Date |
ca. 1787 |
Description |
Plaster portrait bust on low, circular, columnar base. The subject has long hair, slightly curled over his ears, and tied in the back with a ribbon at the nape of his neck. He wears a vest, coat, and a pleated cravat with a ruffled jabot. Unsigned and undated. Inscribed, "T.J." on verso under shoulder. |
Label |
This plaster cast, owned by Philadelphia astronomer and surveyor David Rittenhouse, is one of only three known original copies of Jean-Antoine Houdon's marble bust of Thomas Jefferson (now at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston). Jefferson is believed to have ordered the casts for his friends. In the 18th and 19th centuries, learned men and societies collected and exchanged lighter-weight plaster busts to honor colleagues, both near and far. The bust-length format and the material, which mimicked marble, linked sitters to portrait traditions of ancient Greece and Rome. |
Medium |
Plaster |
Dimensions |
H-29.25 W-22 D-14 inches |
Credit line |
American Philosophical Society. Gift of Elizabeth Rittenhouse Sargent, 1811. |
Search Terms |
18th century eighteenth century sculpture Founding Father president |