Young Mother

Maker Bessie Potter Vonnoh (American, 1872 - 1955)

Collections

American Sculpture

ClassificationsSCULPTURE

Date1896

Mediumplaster

Dimensions21 1/2 × 12 × 18 in. (54.6 × 30.5 × 45.7 cm.)

Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. Gift of MaryLou and George Boone

Status

Not on view

Label TextBoth a work of art in itself and an essential component of the casting process, this plaster version of Young Mother is from the Roman Bronze Works, the New York foundry that used it in creating bronze versions of the sculpture. During this period, sculptors typically modeled their works in clay, which was then cast into plaster; it was from this plaster version that the final bronze was made. The artist would carefully finish the plaster prior to casting, since every detail would be faithfully reproduced in the bronze. The original clay model was generally destroyed in the process of casting, leaving the plaster as the form closest to the hand of the sculptor. At the foundry, the plaster received a protective coating of shellac, which gives the piece its rich, warm color. Vonnoh exhibited a plaster Young Mother at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1896-97 and at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1898.

Object number2007.9