George Washington
Artist unknown
c. 1875
Medium
Parian porcelain
Dimensions
H.: 36.2 cm (13 1/2 in.)
Classification
sculpture
Department
Arts of the Americas
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
78323
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
In the 19th century, small Parian figures that imitated full-size marble sculptures were often created in an effort to bring well-known works of art into the homes of America’s growing middle class. This statuette was modeled after Sir Francis Chantrey’s seven-foot Carrara marble statue of George Washington, which was installed in 1827 at the Massachusetts State House in Boston. Probably executed around the time of the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition, this noble, miniaturized figure of o...