John Lowell

Artist

John Frazee (American 1790–1852)

Date

1834–1835

Medium

Marble

Dimensions

25 5/16 x 21 1/4 x 12 1/2 in. (64.3 x 54 x 31.8 cm)

Inscription

Inscribed on reverse: JOHN LOWELL,/BY FRAZEE, 1834.

Credit Line

Gift of several subscribers, 1835

Object Number

UH9

John Marshall

Artist

John Frazee (American 1790–1852)

Date

1834–1835

Medium

Marble

Dimensions

26 5/16 x 22 3/16 x 16 7/16 in. (66.8 x 56.3 x 41.8 cm)

Description

John Frazee established his career in New York City, first as a stonecutter, then as an architect, and finally as a sculptor. Largely self-taught and without benefit of European training, he showed a remarkable talent for modeling the human figure and became well-versed in the visual vocabulary of neoclassicism.

Despite his residency in New York, Frazee’s most important early support came from the Boston Athenæum, which eventually ordered seven busts of local and national luminaries from him, including this one of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall. Although a Virginian, Marshall was much admired in Boston, particularly among those who retained their federalist sentiments into the Jacksonian era. Here, Frazee blends the naturalism and the exuberance of the human face with the trappings of the classical world. This strategy dignifies the sitter by aligning him with the presumed high ideals of the Greco-Roman world while grounding him firmly in the pragmatism for which Americans were known.

Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson for the Boston Athenæum.

Inscription

Inscribed on base: PRESENTED/TO THE BOSTON ATHENAEUM/BY THOS H. PERKINS.

Credit Line

Gift of Thomas Handasyd Perkins, 1835

Object Number

UH76

Nathaniel Bowditch

Artist

John Frazee (American 1790–1852)

Date

1833

Medium

Marble

Dimensions

23 1/8 x 19 3/4 x 12 1/8 in. (58.7 x 50.2 x 30.8 cm)

Inscription

Inscribed on reverse: N. BOWDITCH LLD/BY FRAZEE, 1833.

Credit Line

Gift of several subscribers, 1835

Object Number

UH75

William Prescott

Artist

John Frazee (American 1790–1852)

Date

1834

Medium

Marble

Dimensions

25 3/8 x 21 1/4 x 10 7/16 in. (64.4 x 54 x 26.5 cm)

Description

Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson for the Boston Athenæum

Inscription

Inscribed on reverse: WM. PRESCOTT, BY FRAZEE, 1834.

Credit Line

Gift of several subscribers, 1836

Object Number

UH73

Thomas Handasyd Perkins

Artist

John Frazee (American 1790–1852)

Date

1834–1835

Medium

Marble

Dimensions

24 15/16 x 22 5/16 x 12 1/8 in. (63.3 x 56.7 x 30.8 cm)

Description
Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson for the Boston Athenæum
Inscription

Inscribed on reverse: THOS H. PERKINS.,/BY FRAZEE.

Credit Line

Gift of several subscribers, 1835

Object Number

UH6

Joseph Story

Artist

John Frazee (American 1790–1852)

Date

1834–1835

Medium

Marble

Dimensions

25 13/16 x 21 5/16 x 10 15/16 in. (65.5 x 54.2 x 27.8 cm)

Description

Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson for the Boston Athenæum

Inscription

Inscribed on the reverse: JOSEPH STORY/BY FRAZEE,/1834.

Credit Line

Gift of several subscribers, 1836

Object Number

UH5

Daniel Webster

Artist

John Frazee (American 1790–1852)

Date

1833–1834

Medium

Marble

Dimensions

26 x 23 5/8 x 13 9/16 in. (66 x 60 x 34.5 cm)

Description
Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson for the Boston Athenæum
Inscription

Inscribed on the reverse: HON. DANIEL WEBSTER./BY FRAZEE, 1833.

Credit Line

Gift of several subscribers, 1835

Object Number

UH3

Bridge Tablet

Artist

John Frazee (American 1790–1852)

Date

1808

Medium

Stone

Dimensions

12 x 22 1/2 x 4 in. (30.5 x 57.2 x 10.2 cm)

Inscription

Inscribed: “Cut by John Frazee / Built 1808 / By. Wm. Laurence”

Credit Line

Gift of Edna and Linea Harvey in loving memory of Steven C. B. Harvey, 1998

Object Number

UH208