Janet Scudder (1869-1940)

'Tortoise Fountain'

Details

Janet Scudder (1869-1940)
'Tortoise Fountain'
inscribed 'JANET SCUDDER' (on the tortoise's shell)--inscribed 'ALEXIS·RUDIER/FONDEUR PARIS' (under the tortoise's proper back right foot)
bronze with greenish-brown patina
47 in. (119.4 cm.) high

Provenance

Livingstone Collection, Florida and Connecticut.
Private collection, by descent.
Acquired by the present owner from the above.

Literature

L. Mechlin, "Janet Scudder--Sculptor," The International Studio, 1910, pp. LXXXI-LXXXXVII, another example illustrated.
"Janet Scudder Tells Why So Few Women Are Sculptors," New York Times, 18 February 1912, another example illustrated.
J. Vale, "The Girl Who Sculpts for Rockefeller," New York Telegraph, vol. 81, no. 12, 1913.
A. Hall, "Fountains Designed by Janet Scudder," House Beautiful, June 1914, pp. 10-12, another example illustrated.
J. Scudder, Modeling My Life, New York, 1925, pp. 262-63, another example illustrated.
J. Conner, J. Rosenkranz, Rediscoveries in American Sculpture: Studio Works 1893-1939, Austin, Texas, 1989, pp. 155-56, 194, another example illustrated.

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Lot Essay

Inspired by the Renaissance works Janet Scudder encountered during her 1908 sojourn in Italy, 'Tortoise Fountain' is a dynamic example of the imaginative garden sculpture for which the artist is best known. While the present work is the full-size version, which the artist typically had cast in limited editions of 4, smaller casts of approximately 18 in. high are also known. Examples are in the collections of the Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, Maryland; Richmond Art Museum, Richmond, Indiana; and Brookgreen Gardens, Murrells Inlet, South Carolina.

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