Smithsonian Institution National Zoological Park 3001 Connecticut Avenue, N.W Elephant House, over left entrance Washington District of Columbia 20008
Date:
1931-1937. Installed 1938
Notes:
Index of American Sculpture, University of Delaware, 1985
Goode, James M., "The Outdoor Sculpture of Washington, D.C., A Comprehensive Historical Guide," Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1974, pg. 116.
Save Outdoor Sculpture, District of Columbia survey, 1993.
Goode, James M., "Washington Sculpture: A Cultural History of Outdoor Sculpture in the Nation's Capitol," Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008, no. 2.17
Image on file.
Goode, James M., "The Outdoor Sculpture of Washington, D.C., A Comprehensive Historical Guide," Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1974, B-13.
Goode, James M., "Washington Sculpture: A Cultural History of Outdoor Sculpture in the Nation's Capitol," Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008, no. 2.17
(Carved below animals:) AMERICAN MASTODON WOOLLY MAMMOTH FOUR TUSKED MASTODON unsigned
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Summary:
A low relief of three prehistoric ancestors of the elephant family is installed over the left entrance to the Elephant House. Two of the animals are depicted in profile and one if facing front. In the center is a woolly mammoth facing front with its long tusks curled upward and its trunk hanging down. Flanking the woolly mammoth are two mastodons in profile. On the proper left of the mammoth is a Four Tusked Mastodon with its short tusks pointing downward and its trunk slightly raised. On the proper right of the mammoth is the American Mastodon with its long tusks raised and its trunk curled under. In the background are palm trees and evergreen trees.