Use of original material requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact References Services for more information.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Edgar P. Richardson papers, 1814-1996, bulk 1921-1996. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Smithsonian Institution Collections Care and Preservation Fund.
Oration by Frederick Douglass, delivered on the occasion of the unveiling of the Freedmen's Monument in memory of Abraham Lincoln, in Lincoln Park, Washington, D.C., April 14th, 1876 With an appendix
Photographs, correspondence, printed material and a handwritten music score sheet relating to artists Thomas Ball and his son-in-law William Couper, compiled by Greta Couper for publications about Ball and Couper.
The majority of the collection is photographs of works of art by Thomas Ball and William Couper, including a CD of images. Additional photographs are of Ball, Couper, and family. Also included are copies of correspondence by William Couper and indexes and printed material relating to Ball and Couper compiled by Greta Couper, and a handwritten music score sheet by Thomas Ball.
Biographical / Historical:
Greta Couper is a writer and art historian in Los Angeles, California.
Provenance:
Donated 1988 and 2014 by Greta Couper, the great-great-granddaughter of Thomas Ball and the great-granddaughter of William Couper.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Art historians -- California -- Los Angeles Search this
Davis, Charles H. (Charles Harold), 1856-1933 Search this
Extent:
1 Microfilm reel (1 volume on 1 partial microfilm reel)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Microfilm reels
Scrapbooks
Autograph albums
Date:
1874-1932
Scope and Contents:
The microfilmed Thomas Ball guestbook/scrapbook includes signatures, poems, sketches, musical notations of European and American artists, writers, poets, musicians, and other dignitaries who visited Thomas Ball's studio or villa in Florence, Italy, Montclair, New Jersey, New York City, and Boston from 1874 to 1932. Among the many prominent signers are Ralph Waldo Emerson, Richard Wagner, Henry Longfellow, Franz Liszt, Christina Rossetti. An introduction by the lender, Ball's great great granddaughter, states that some insertions from earlier correspondence and later insertions from musicians visiting the family in Santa Barbara were added to the book.
Biographical / Historical:
Thomas Ball (1819-1911) was a sculptor, miniaturist, portrait painter, and musician in Boston, Massachusetts, Florence, Italy, and Montclair, New Jersey. His most well-known work is a statue of George Washington in the Boston Public Garden. Ball maintained a studio in Boston until he moved to Italy in 1854, where he studied sculpture. He made frequent visits to the United States, but remained an expatriate until 1897, when he moved to Montclair, New Jersey.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds the microfilmed Thomas Ball letter to Stilson Hutchins, 1888 March 30. The Massachusetts Historical Society holds the Thomas Ball letters, 1869-1882.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1988 by Greta Couper, Thomas Ball's great great grandaughter.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Ball writes to Hutchings [sic] of Washington, D.C. regarding Ball's proposed design for a statue of [Daniel] Webster to be erected in Washington. Ball argues for a figure dressed in classical garb, considering it more appropriate for the city than the contemporary costume of three other Webster statues Ball had done in other cities. Ball indicates that he has enclosed photographs for Hutchings to review.
In addition, Ball writes, "I only regret that we are too late to submit my design to Mr. Corcoran, the old friend of Mr. Webster, and of Art. I think he would have been pleased with it." In closing, Ball expresses hope "to have Congress make an appropriation for it. They do such things some times, and for less worthy objects."
Biographical / Historical:
Sculptor, miniature and portrait painter, and musician. Born in Charlestown, Mass., studied in Italy.
Provenance:
Donated 1955-1962 by Charles E. Feinberg. Feinberg was a long time friend and active donor to AAA.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.
The papers of William Couper date from 1872 through 1971 with the bulk of the material dated 1872 through 1908. The collection consists of 0.9 linear feet of letters, photographs, and printed material that document William Couper's career as a sculptor and his family life. Letters are from Couper and his wife to his parents, and to his brother John, discussing family matters, his art training, his travels, and his work in New York. There are also several letters from his father-in-law, sculptor Thomas Ball.
Scope and Content Note:
The William Couper papers span the years 1872 to 1971 with the bulk of the material dated 1872 to 1942, and measure 0.9 linear feet. They consist of letters, photographs, and printed material that document William Couper's career as a sculptor. Letters are from Couper and his wife to his parents, and to his brother John, discussing family matters, his art training, his travels, and his work in New York. There are also several letters from his father-in-law, sculptor Thomas Ball. An index of the letters and transcripts of approximately 70 of the letters were prepared by Couper's nephew Monroe Couper and are filed within the collection.
Also found within the papers are 0.4 linear feet of photographs of Couper and family members, his home in Florence, Italy, and a photograph album and unbound photographs of his art work. There are also clippings and 3 theater programs for productions in which William Couper performed.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into 3 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Letters, 1874-1908 (Box 1; 0.4 linear feet; reel 5883)
Series 2: Photographs, 1886-1887 (Box 2-3; 0.4 linear feet; reel 5883)
William Couper was born September 20, 1853 in Norfolk, Virginia, son of John Diedrich Couper and Euphania Monroe Couling Couper. He acquired an interest in sculpture from time spent at his father's company, Couper Marble Works.
After studying at the Cooper Institute in New York, Couper won a scholarship to the Royal Academy at Munich in 1875. Disliking the atmosphere in Munich, he took a place in the studio of Thomas Ball in Florence, Italy in the same year. Couper married Mr. Ball's daughter, Eliza Chickering Ball in 1878, and remained in Florence for over two decades, returning to New York to open a studio in 1897.
In 1901, Couper received a bronze medal at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo. His notable works include a series of thirteen heroic busts of scientists for the American Museum of Natural History, a relief sculpture for the Sailors' Memorial in Annapolis, a statue of Capt. John Smith at Jamestown, and a portrait bust of John D. Rockefeller.
Couper retired in 1913 and died later in 1942 in Easton, Maryland.
Provenance:
The William Couper papers were donated by the artist's nephew Monroe Couper to the Archives of American Art in 1992.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Patrons must use microfilm copy.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Correspondence, castings record, financial materials, photographs and printed materials relating primarily to the work of the Bronze Division of the Ames Manufacturing Company.
Professional and personal correspondence, chiefly of James Tyler Ames, with sculptors, architects, government officials, and colleagues, including his brother, Nathan Peabody Ames, Henry Kirke Brown, Randolph Rogers, and Thomas Ustick Walter. A castings record (16 p.) contains expenses and final prices of bronze castings, a printed list of "Bronze Works Executed by the Ames Manufacturing Company," and photographs of completed work. There are also an expense account for the Lincoln National Monument artillery and cavalry groups, lists of expenses relating to "Bronze Castings for Washington and his Horse," the (Benjamin) "Franklin Statue," and other works. Photographs are of works cast by the Ames Company and of unidentified works, of Ames' artisans, of a room in James Ames' house with framed medallions of Washington and Franklin on the wall, and of a head of Washington and a head of his horse in Thomas Ball's studio; reports by the architect of the Capitol extension, and the U.S. Art Commission (1860); Ames Company promotional items; a printed narrative of the incidents connected with the statue of Washington in Union Square by Henry Kirke Brown; and clippings relating to various statues.
Biographical / Historical:
The Ames Manufacturing Company, Chicopee, Massachusetts, was founded in 1835 by James Tyler Ames and his brother, Nathan Peabody Ames. The company manufactured small tools, cotton machinery, swords, cannons, and did casting of bells. It began manufacturing large bronze statuary circa 1850.
Provenance:
Donated 1986 by Malcolm Stearns, Jr., who purchased them from Parke Bernet, New York, in the 1960s. There are numerous notations on the backs of letters and photographs. It is not known who added this information.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.
