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Portrait Bust of the Marquis de Lafayette
Portrait Bust of the Marquis de Lafayette
Portrait Bust of the Marquis de Lafayette

Portrait Bust of the Marquis de Lafayette

Maker
Periodca. 1826
MediumCast iron
Dimensions13 × 7.75 × 5.25 in. (33 × 19.7 × 13.3 cm)
InscribedInscribed across the front of the base, "LAFAYETTE."
ClassificationsSculpture
Credit LineGift of William S. Holmes, 1945
Object number2035
DescriptionA realistic head and shoulders portrait bust of the Marquis de Lafayette in advanced age, featuring prominent nose, full cheeks, high arched eyebrows, and hair first combed back and then forward on the top of his head. He is wearing a wide-lapel jacket, with a suggestion of a ruffled shirt and collar seen at the neck. The bust is mounted on a round beaded pedestal, the top element of which has the name "Lafayette" cast into it. Three nails inserted in the original casting protrude from the back of his shoulders.
Curatorial RemarksThis cast iron portrait bust of Lafayette came from the Upper Freehold country estate of Samuel G. Wright known as Merino Hill. Wright (1781-1845) built an imposing new residence on the property in 1809 and 1810. It was subsequently adorned with many cast iron details such as ornamental fireplace jambs and backs, a number of which have his name cast into the design. Wright, a Philadelphia merchant, decided about 1820 to expand into the iron trade in Delaware and New Jersey. His principal investment was in a 26,000 acre tract near Lakehurst which included the derelict Federal Furnace and Forge. Wright restored the operation in 1826, renaming it Dover Furnace. He continued as ironmaster there for seven years. Wright obtained wooden patterns for his furnaces from leading Philadelphia carvers, including Robert Wellford and James H. Deas. Whoever produced the pattern for the bust of Lafayette captured a very accurate image of the Revolutionary war hero, whose triumphal sixteen month tour in America in 1824 and 1825 included nine days spent in Philadelphia. Numerous portraits, prints, and other memorabilia bearing Lafayette’s image were available as a source of the likeness. The bust bears the inscription “LAFAYETTE” across the front of the base. Several nails embedded in the back of the bust at the time of casting suggest that it was used as an ornament in a door pediment. The bust has formerly been attributed to the Atsion Iron Works in Burlington County. But given Wright’s involvement in the iron industry, it appears more likely that it was cast in one of his own furnaces. NotesThe Marquis de Lafayette (born Marie-Joseph Gilbert du Motier, 1757–1834) was a French aristocrat and military officer who joined the American Revolution as a volunteer at the age of nineteen. The youngest member of Washington’s staff at the Battle of Monmouth, he was courageous yet impetuous: when the battle-hardened General Lee told the Frenchman that the Americans were no match for the skilled British forces, Lafayette replied: “It may be so, general; but British soldiers have been beaten, and they may be again; at any rate, I am disposed to make the trial.” Lafayette’s participation in the Battle of Monmouth marked the beginning of his close friendship with George Washington, to whom he became an “adopted son.”
Collections
ProvenanceLent to MCHA on 10 June 1932 by Harry H. Wright, a great-grandson of Samuel G. Wright and then owner of Merino Hill; sold by Freehold antiques dealer Louis Richmond to Mrs. J. Amory Haskell and removed from the museum on 9 July 1938; returned as a loan to MCHA from Mrs. Haskell on 10 August 1938; returned to the Haskell estate on 17 April 1944 and sold for $80 in Part Four of the Haskell Sale at Parke-Bernet held 8 to 11 November 1944, lot 772; returned to MCHA as an anonymous gift on 24 February 1945.