Clasped Hands of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning - Hosmer

We just learned about the statue of Doctor John Witherspoon by American sculptor William Couper.

Another American sculpture is Clasped Hands of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning made by Harriet Hosmer in 1853 in Washington D.C.

Harriet Hosmer was known as the first professional female sculptor.
During her time women were not allowed to go to art school, so she had to get private lessons to learn.
After she grew up she moved to Italy where she met a lot of other famous artists.

Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning were both very famous poets back in the 1800s, and they lived in Rome Italy.
Harriet Hosmer met them and saw how they were in love with each other, so she made a sculpture of their hands together.

Harriet had to work very hard to be good at art because many people did not think women could or should be artists.

After she was successful, she told people: "I honor every woman who has strength enough to step outside the beaten path when she feels that her walk lies in another; strength enough to stand up and be laughed at, if necessary.".


(from: wikipedia - )


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: George Washington - Horatio Greenough

Doctor John Witherspoon - Couper

We just learned about the Statue of Charles Sumner by Thomas Ball.

Another famous American sculpture is the statue of Doctor John Witherspoon by William Couper, at Washington DC in 1909 AD.

John Witherspoon was a minister in the Presbyterian church, and one of the people that signed the famous Declaration of Independence.

The sculptor William Couper grew up in Virginia, and then went to Munich Germany and Florence Italy to learn from some of the famous sculptors in Europe for 22 years.

He married Eliza Chickering Ball, who was the daughter of another famous American sculptor named Thomas Ball.


(from: wikipedia - doctor john witherspoon)


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Statue of Charles Sumner - Thomas Ball

We just learned about the The Rescue - Horatio Greenough.

Another famous American statue is the Statue of Charles Sumner made by Thomas Ball in 1878 in Boston Massachusetts.

Charles Sumner was a politician who fought against slavery in America.

The sculptor Thomas Ball started off in music, singing and playing the violin.
Later he started painting, and then he moved to Florence Italy to study art.
He stayed there for a while and would make sculptures and have them sent back to America.


(from: wikipedia - statue of charles sumner (boston))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Noh Masks

The Rescue - Horatio Greenough

We just learned about the Statue of Freedom by Thomas Crawford.

Another famous American sculpture is The Rescue by Horatio Greenough in 1850, built to be by the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C.

In the early years of America, there were many wars between the American settlers and the Native Americans.

This statue shows a scared American pioneer woman holding her child, and a Native American warrior holding a tomahawk.
A large pioneer man is holding on to the Native American to keep him from attacking the woman, but also trying not to hurt the Native American.

In those days people were afraid of Native Americans and thought they were just savages that only wanted to kill Americans and did not know anything about the world like books or science or church.

So this statue was a way to show that the powerful Americans would come in and stop the Natives from killing people, and also help teach them how to be smart and good like Americans.

After the wars with the Native Americans were over, people looked at this statue again and did not like it anymore, because people felt differently about the past.

Many Native Americans were killed in the wars, and all of the land was taken over by Americans.
So when people looked at this statue they saw it as an American being cruel to the Native Americans.

In 1958 the statue was removed from the Capitol and put into storage, and later on in 1976 when it was being moved it was dropped and broken into many pieces.


(from: wikipedia - the rescue (statue))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: The Great Buddha of Kmakura

Statue of Freedom - Thomas Crawford

We just learned about the Benjamin Franklin by Hiram Powers.

Another famous American sculpture is the Statue of Freedom by Thomas Crawford in 1857 AD.

This is a 20 foot tall bronze statue of a woman holding a sword, a wreath for victory and the shield of the United States.
She has a helmet with stars on it and an eagle's head with feathers.

The statue is on top of the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C.


(from: wikipedia - statue of freedom)


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Benjamin Franklin - Hiram Powers

We just learned about the Water Nymph and Bitterna.

Another work of American sculpture is the sculpture of Benjamin Franklin by Hiram Powers.

Hiram grew up in Vermont and Ohio, where he learned how to do some sculpture.
When he grew up he moved to Washington D.C. to get better jobs and get noticed for his sculpture, and made sculptures of some of the American heroes like Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin.

Most of the very famous sculptors of that time were living in Italy, where there were a lot more places to make the art, and it was also a lot easier to get the marble and other things he needed to use.

So Powers moved to Florence, Italy and would make some sculptures there and send them back to America.


(from: wikipedia - hiram powers)


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Water Nymph and Bitterna - William Rush

We just learned about the Chacmool statue of the person laying down.

Let's learn about some sculpture from America long ago.

In the early 1800s there were not a lot of famous sculptures until William Rush came along.

His first famous sculpture was the Water Nymph and Bittern.

In the city of Philadelphia Pennsylvania, there was a river called the Schuylkill River that brought water into the city.
William Rush was asked to make a fountain for the city, so he made one of a woman and called her the water nymph, to be like a spirit that was living in the river that brought water to the city.
A bittern is a type of bird that lived around the river.


(from: wikipedia - william rush and his model)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Amitabha Triad of Jōdo-ji - Kaikei

Chacmool

We just learned about the art pattern of Xicalcoliuhqui.

Another ancient Mesoamerican work of art is the Chacmool.

These are sculptures of warriors on their backs, propped up on their elbows with their knees bent and their head turned.
They have a bowl on their stomach, and many people believe these were used to offer sacrifices to mythological gods for fallen warriors.



(from: wikipedia - chacmool)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Six Patriarchs of Hossō - Kōkei

Xicalcoliuhqui

We just learned about the San Martin Pajapan Monument I.

Another type of Mesoamerican art is Xicalcoliuhqui.

This word means "twisted gourd" and is something that is seen on a lot of art from the Mesoamerican areas from long ago.

It is made up of some small steps that are then connected to a spiral.
Ancient sculptures and paintings used this on buildings, clothing or other works of art.


(from: wikipedia - xicalcoliuhqui)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Byodoin Amitaabha - Jōchō

San Martín Pajapan Monument 1

We just learned about the Toltec Atlantean figures from Tula.

Another ancient sculpture from Mesoamerica is the San Martín Pajapan Monument 1.

This is another sculpture made by the Olmec people from ancient Mexico, carved some time before 1000 BC.

It is made out of basalt rock, and was found on the top of the San Martin Pajapan volcano in the Mexican state of Veracruz.

The statue is of a young ruler who is bent over and lifting a large bar from the ground.
People think this bar was meant to be for the world tree, and the sculpture was meant to show the earthly world connecting with the spiritual worlds above and below.


(from: wikipedia - )


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Tōdai-ji Nio Guardian Agyō - Unkei

Toltec Atlantean figures from Tula

We just learned about the Montezuma's Headdress.

Another famous Mesoamerican ancient sculpture is the Toltec Atlantean figures from Tula.

These are four big statues that used to be pillars that held up a roof for a building.
They are called atlantean figures, because they look kind of like sculptures of Atlas holding up the world that were found in Europe long ago.

The sculptures are in the town of Tula in the state of Hidalgo in Mexico.
No one knows for sure when they were built, but people think it was around 750 AD, by the Toltec people who lived there.

The statues are over 15 feet tall, have butterfly shaped armor, sun shields, feathered helmets, and spears.
They were warriors that were meant to serve the mythical Quetzalcoatl from ancient times in Mexico.


(from: wikipedia - atlantean figures)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Asura at Kōfuku-ji temple

Montezuma's Headdress

We just learned about the Teocalli of the Sacred War.

Another ancient mesoamerican work of art is Montezuma's Headdress.

This is a crown made of feathers sewn together, and decorated with some gold plates.
It is about 46 inches tall and 69 inches wide.
There are feathers from four birds: the cotinga amabilis, the roseate spoonbill, the squirrel cuckoo, and the quetzal.

Most of the feathers on the headdress are from the quetzal
.

(from: wikipedia - montezuma's headdress)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Kongōrikishi

Teocalli of the Sacred War

We just learned about the ancient sculpture of The Wrestler.

Another ancient Mesoamerican work of art is the Teocalli of the Sacred War.

This is a stone sculpture that looks like a miniature sized Aztec temple.
Some people believe this was built to be a throne for the ruler of the Aztecs in the 1500s.


(from: wikipedia - teocalli of the sacred war)


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The Wrestler

We just learned about the Were-Jaguar Sculpture.

Another ancient Mesoamerican sculpture is The Wrestler.

This is a sculpture of a sitting man, made out of an igneous rock called basalt.

The man has his arms out and bent, and one leg forward and one leg back.
Because he looks like he is moving, some people thought it looked like he was getting ready to wrestle.
Historians don't think he was actually supposed to be a wrestler, but maybe someone doing a special ceremony.

This statue doesn't have special markings to say when it was made, so people are not really sure if it was made around 400 BC or around 1500 BC!

It was found in the Mexico state of Veracruz in 1933.


(from: wikipedia - the wrestler (sculpture))


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Were-Jaguar Sculpture

We just learned about the Aztec Sun Stone.

Another ancient Mesoamerican sculpture is the Were-Jaguar Sculpture.

Some time before 600 BC in the area of Mexico there were a bunch of sculptures created that showed people that seemed to be part jaguar and part human.
Kind of like a werewolf, but with a jaguar so they called it a were-jaguar.

People these days are not really sure what this meant back then, if it was something worshipped by people long ago or if it was some old story, but there are a bunch of these were-jaguar sculptures.

One of them is very famous, and is called the Las Limas figure.
It is about 22 inches tall and shows a person holding a little were-jaguar baby.
The statue is made of greenstone, which means it was made from one of the many greenish rocks found in the area, like omphacite or olivine.

Were-jaguar sculptures had a dip in the top middle of their head, almond shaped eyes with round irises, a frowning mouth with the upper lip lifted up, and gums with no teeth.



(from: wikipedia - werejaguar)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Haniwa

Aztec Sun Stone

We just learned about the La Mojarra Stela 1.

Another famous Mesoamerican sculpture is the Aztec Sun Stone, made some time around 1500 AD in Mexico.

This stone is about over 11 feet wide, and over 3 feet thick.

The design of the stone is split up into a few different parts.

The very middle is a sculpture of a face that people think was the sun god that the people believed in.
Around the face are four squares representing symbols for past times. The jaguar, wind, rain and water.

The first circle around that is a type of calendar, with different parts of the year shown as symbols like crocodiles, monkeys or dogs.

The second circle has sculptures of arches, feathers, and different lines that people think are for the suns rays.

The last circle on the outside has two big serpents meeting face to face, that have flame carvings all over their bodies.

(from: wikipedia - aztec sun stone)


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La Mojarra Stela 1

We just learned about the Double Headed Serpent.

Another ancient sculpture from Mesoamerica is the La Mojarra Stela 1 made some time before 200 AD, in Veracruz Mexico.

We've learned before that a stele or stela is a tall stone or wooden slab that has carvings and usually writings on it, to honor someone that died, someone winning a battle, or an important set of words that people need to remember.

This stela is a carving of an warrior in a costume, and it has some writing on it about the warrior.


(from: wikipedia - la mojarra stela 1)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Eight Nested Relic Boxes

Double Headed Serpent

We just learned about the Serpent Labret with Articulated Tongue jewelry worn by Aztec people in their lip.

Another sculpture from ancient America is the Double Headed Serpent, made around 1500 AD in what is now Mexico.

The sculpture is a wavy snake with a head on either end.
It is made out of wood, turquoise, pine resin, shells and other things.
On the inside it is a wooden snake sculpture, and then turquoise stones were broken into tiny pieces and glued to the wooden body using pine resin.
It has holes for eyes, and some sticky beeswax in it so people think there might have been jewels for eyes before they fell out.
This was a sculpture made by the ancient Aztecs.


(from: wikipedia - double-headed serpent)


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Serpent Labret with Articulated Tongue

We just learned about the Olmec Colossal Heads.

Another ancient art from the ancient Americas is the Serpent Labret with Articulated Tongue.

This is a type of jewelry that was worn in someone's pierced lower lip.
The snake would stick out, and the tongue would even move when they moved their head.
In the place now known as Mexico there were people called the Aztecs that would sometimes pierce their lips and wear things in their mouth like that.

It's made of gold, copper and silver, and was made long ago, some time around 1400 AD.



(from: wikipedia - serpent labret with articulated tongue)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Nestorian Stele

Olmec Colossal Heads

We just learned about the Nubian Pyramids in Africa.

Another group of ancient sculptures are the Olmec Colossal Heads.

These are in the states of Veracruz and Tabasco, in Mexico.
They were made thousands of years ago, by the Olmec people who lived in that area long ago.

Archeologists have found 17 different heads built in the area, and all of them, from 4 feet to 11 feet tall.
Because they are so big and heavy, people think that these heads must have been made to honor rulers like kings or queens from those days.



(from: wikipedia - olmec colossal heads)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: He Zun