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Lot 70

BELA LYON PRATT
(1867-1917)
Bronze Relief Portrait of Alexander Agassiz, 1911

19 August 2025, 12:00 EDT
Skinner Marlborough, Massachusetts

US$7,000 - US$9,000

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BELA LYON PRATT (1867-1917)

Bronze Relief Portrait of Alexander Agassiz, 1911
incised signature "B L Pratt / [1]911" at lower right; cast inscriptions "AMICIS ∙ AMICOR ∙" across top and "1835 / ALEXANDER / AGASSIZ / 1910" in the laurel wreath at upper left.
cast bronze
21 7/8 x 17 x 3/4 in.

Footnotes

Provenance
Estate of Daniel Meyer Friedenberg (1923-2011), Curator Emeritus of Coins and Medals at the Jewish Museum, New York, New York.
New England Auction Company, Danbury, Connecticut (20 November 2011), Lot 11.

Note
Alexander Agassiz (1835-1910) was born in Switzerland, the son of prominent natural scientist Louis Agassiz (1807-73). In 1849, he joined his father in the United States, where the elder Agassiz served as a professor of zoology and geology at Harvard University. Alexander received two degrees from Harvard and supported his father's work at the University's Museum of Comparative Zoology. Elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 1862, Alexander went on to serve as the President of that society from 1894-1903. His most significant contributions to geology and engineering were as a managing investor in the Calumet and Hecla Mining Company, which became a leading supplier in the global market for copper by the 1870s. This commemorative plaque, based on a carte-de-visite taken circa 1900, was cast shortly after Agassiz's death on board the RMS Adriatic in 1910. A slightly smaller version is in the collection of Harvard Art Museums (acc. no. B33), and a reduced scale medal is in the Yale University Art Gallery (acc. no. 2013.86.33), where the artist Bela Lyon Pratt received his B.F.A. in 1899.

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