Daniel Webster
Thomas Ball
Modeled and cast 1853
Medium
Bronze
Dimensions
76.2 × 30.4 × 27.9 cm (30 × 12 × 11 in.)
Classification
sculpture
Department
Arts of the Americas
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
109442
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Thomas Ball modeled Daniel Webster prior to receiving his first formal training in sculpture. A Massachusetts native, Ball admired the great orator and was inspired to create this full-length statuette a year after Webster’s death. Despite the mid-19th-century taste for Neoclassicism, Ball rendered his figure with decided naturalism. Webster stands assuredly with his right hand tucked Napoleon-like into his lapel, yet Ball likewise portrayed the senator’s rumpled clothing and round waistline. A ...