Figure: bronze with black patina; Base: red granite; Medallions: bronze
Type:
Sculptures-Medallion
Sculptures-Outdoor Sculpture
Sculptures
Owner/Location:
Administered by City of St. Louis Department of Parks, Recreation, and Forestry 5600 Clayton Avenue St. Louis Missouri 63110
Located Forest Park Intersection of Fine Arts and Lagoon Drives St. Louis Missouri
Date:
1871. Dedicated June 24, 1876
Notes:
Save Outdoor Sculpture, Missouri, St. Louis survey, 1993.
McCue, George, "Sculpture City: St. Louis," New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1988.
Loughlin, Caroline, and Catherine Anderson, "Forest Park," Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press, 1986.
Index of American Sculpture, University of Delaware, 1985.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Oct. 22, 1978.
Coyle, Elinor, "St. Louis/Portrait of a River City," St. Louis: Folkestone Press, 1977, pg. 122-123.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 1, 1972.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 14, 1934.
Moore, Merl M., Jr., 1994.
Daily Evening Bulletin (San Francisco), Aug. 10, 1872, 1:3.
Image on file.
McCue, George, "Sculpture City: St. Louis," New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1988, pg. 34.
(On proper left side of bronze plinth, towards the front:) J. Wilson Macdonald/1871 Sculptor (On proper left side of bronze plinth, towards the rear:) Ames Foundry/Chicopee Mass. (On front of base, raised:) BATES signed Founder's mark appears.
The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.
Summary:
Standing figure of Attorney General Edward Bates. He wears a beard and a long coat. His proper right arm is held in front of him, slightly bent at the elbow, slightly raised. His proper left arm is down at his side. In his proper left hand is a book, held in an open position with his index finger. The spine of the book is resting on a low geometric pedestal or column. At the base of the column stands an eagle. On the front of the column, near the top, is a circular medallion bearing what may be the seal of Missouri. The figure stands on a red granite base, constructed in several sections. The base is accentuated with geometric designs, and has polished panels, contrasting with more matte areas. On all four faces of the base, approximately 6 ft. up from the bottom of the base, are four bronze, oval medallions with profile portrait reliefs of prominent St. Louis men: James Buchanan Eads, an engineer, is depicted on the front of the base; Governor Hamilton R. Gamble, on the proper left side of base; Charles Gibson, a lawyer, on the back of the base; and Senator Henry S. Geyer on the proper left side of the base.
