Title
Bust of George Washington
Creator
Modeled by Isaac Broome and made by Ott & Brewer, Trenton, New Jersey
Date
1876-1880
Label
#309
Bust of George Washington
Modeled by Isaac Broome and made by Ott & Brewer, Trenton, New Jersey, 1876-1880
Made of Parian (Unglazed Porcelain)
Museum Purchase with Funds Provided by W. Groke Mickey
2018.1.1
In the 1810s, one foreign visitor noted that George Washington was revered and that “every American considers it his sacred duty to have a likeness in his home.” This remained true for much of the 19th century, especially around the 1876 centennial commemoration of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
This bust of George Washington was made for the centennial display of Ott & Brewer, one of the largest potteries in Trenton, New Jersey. The firm commissioned sculptor Isaac Broome to create busts of Washington, Lincoln and then-President Ulysses S. Grant. Broome probably based his bust of Washington on Gilbert Stuart’s 1796 “Athenaeum Portrait.” It was one of the most recognizable and widely distributed likenesses of Washington, especially after it was used on the 1869 dollar bill.
Broome’s work was praised by critics; after seeing their display, one wrote that “At Ott & Brewer’s also are to be discovered the first glimmering of what may be called an art, in the studio of Mr. Isaac Broome, an American artist of considerable repute and skill.”
The bust is made of Parian, an unglazed, white porcelain designed to imitate marble. Named after the Greek island of Paros, an important source of statuary marble, Parian was developed in England in the 1840s to create affordable sculpture that would appeal to the taste and pocketbooks of middle-class consumers. American potters began making Parian in the 1850s.
Bust of George Washington
Modeled by Isaac Broome and made by Ott & Brewer, Trenton, New Jersey, 1876-1880
Made of Parian (Unglazed Porcelain)
Museum Purchase with Funds Provided by W. Groke Mickey
2018.1.1
In the 1810s, one foreign visitor noted that George Washington was revered and that “every American considers it his sacred duty to have a likeness in his home.” This remained true for much of the 19th century, especially around the 1876 centennial commemoration of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
This bust of George Washington was made for the centennial display of Ott & Brewer, one of the largest potteries in Trenton, New Jersey. The firm commissioned sculptor Isaac Broome to create busts of Washington, Lincoln and then-President Ulysses S. Grant. Broome probably based his bust of Washington on Gilbert Stuart’s 1796 “Athenaeum Portrait.” It was one of the most recognizable and widely distributed likenesses of Washington, especially after it was used on the 1869 dollar bill.
Broome’s work was praised by critics; after seeing their display, one wrote that “At Ott & Brewer’s also are to be discovered the first glimmering of what may be called an art, in the studio of Mr. Isaac Broome, an American artist of considerable repute and skill.”
The bust is made of Parian, an unglazed, white porcelain designed to imitate marble. Named after the Greek island of Paros, an important source of statuary marble, Parian was developed in England in the 1840s to create affordable sculpture that would appeal to the taste and pocketbooks of middle-class consumers. American potters began making Parian in the 1850s.
Credit Line
Museum Purchase with Funds Provided by W. Groke Mickey
Citation
Modeled by Isaac Broome and made by Ott & Brewer, Trenton, New Jersey, “Bust of George Washington,” Museums at Washington and Lee University: Online Exhibits, accessed May 6, 2024, https://exhibits-museums.omeka.wlu.edu/items/show/249.