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Lot 1208W
A patinated bronze bust of George Washington
after Houdon, cast by the National Fine Art Foundry and M.J. Power, New York
after Houdon, cast by the National Fine Art Foundry and M.J. Power, New York
26 October 2015, 10:00 EDT
New YorkSold for US$5,250 inc. premium
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A patinated bronze bust of George Washington
after Houdon, cast by the National Fine Art Foundry and M.J. Power, New York
after Houdon, cast by the National Fine Art Foundry and M.J. Power, New York
the left shoulder inscribed NAT'L FINE ART FOUNDRY / M.J.POWER FOUNDER. / N.Y.; the right shoulder inscribed HOUDON LIFE CAST.
height 24in (61cm); width at shoulders 12 3/4in (32.4cm); depth 9in (22.9cm)
height 24in (61cm); width at shoulders 12 3/4in (32.4cm); depth 9in (22.9cm)
Footnotes
Jean Antoine Houdon visited Mount Vernon for a week in 1785, during which time he made a plaster cast of the head and shoulders of George Washington. The cast remained at Mount Vernon until about 1850, when a mold was made from it and two subsequent bronzes were cast from that mold: one went to George Washington Parke Custis, the other going to Col. John F. Washington. The original cast was brought to New York during the winter of 1873-1874, during which time it received much critical acclaim.
Maurice J. Power made several bronze casts from this mold at his National Fine Art Foundry at 51 West 10th Street in New York.
For more information on the circumstances surrounding this casting, and some of the critical acclaim it received, see "The Houdon cast from life," The Spirit of '76, (March, 1895), pp. 129-130.