Elbridge Gerry

By Government Printing Office

Book Id: WPLBN0000082177
Format Type: PDF eBook:
File Size: 0.4 MB
Reproduction Date: 2005

Title:	Elbridge Gerry
Author:	Government Printing Office
Volume:
Language:	English
Subject:	Government publications, Legislation., Economic & political studies
Collections:	Government Library Collection, Government Printing Office
Historic Publication Date:
Publisher:	Government Printing Office


Citation APA MLA Chicago Printing Office, B. G. (n.d.). Elbridge Gerry. Retrieved from https://self.gutenberg.org/

Description
Government Reference Publication

Excerpt
Excerpt: The bust of Vice President Elbridge Gerry was among the second group of works ordered by the Senate as part of the Vice Presidential Bust Collection for the Senate Chamber. The commission was initially offered to sculptor Thomas Ball, who turned it down because of prior commitments. Herbert Adams-now considered one of the great American sculptors of the late 19th century-was then approached. In his early thirties at the time, he was already recognized for portrait busts, with honorable mentions awarded to him at the 1888 French Salon and at the 1889 Universal Exposition. Though born in Vermont, Adams was a longtime Massachusetts resident. He thus suited the Senate’s effort to secure sculptors from vice presidents’ home states. Adams accepted the commission, creating first a clay model and then a plaster cast that was translated into marble in Paris and finished by the artist at his studio. The completed bust was placed in the Senate Chamber in July 1892. The portrait is, of course, posthumous, but it is logical to assume that Adams intended to depict Gerry as vice president-that is, between the ages of 68 and 70. If the sculptor knew that Gerry was in very poor health during his tenure (with a shrunken, skeletal appearance, according to a contemporary), Adams understandably ignored that fact. Despite his decrepitude, Gerry loved society, and his charm and fine manners made him a favorite of the capital’s hostesses, Dolley Madison among them. Indeed, by most accounts his “relentless socializing” contributed to his debility.

Table of Contents
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