Detail from Osborne Gates – The Fox and the Crow

Paul Manship, Detail from Osborne Gates--The Fox and the Crow, 1952, bronze, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Paul Manship, 1966.47.3
Copied Paul Manship, Detail from Osborne Gates--The Fox and the Crow, 1952, bronze, 40 1⁄8 x 41 1⁄2 x 2 in. (102.0 x 105.5 x 5.0 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Paul Manship, 1966.47.3

Artwork Details

Title
Detail from Osborne Gates – The Fox and the Crow
Artist
Date
1952
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
40 1⁄8 x 41 1⁄2 x 2 in. (102.0 x 105.5 x 5.0 cm)
Credit Line
Bequest of Paul Manship
Mediums
Mediums Description
bronze
Classifications
Keywords
  • Animal — fox
  • Animal — bird — crow
  • Literature — Aesop — Fox and Crow
Object Number
1966.47.3
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1966.47.3

Artwork Description

This bronze gate was one of six commissioned for the William Church Osborne Memorial Playground in Manhattan’s Central Park. Each panel shows a tale from Aesop’s Fables, a collection of ancient Greek stories that teach moral lessons to schoolchildren. In The Fox and the Crow, the fox flatters the bird in order to make her say "thank you" and drop a piece of cheese from her mouth. The fox immediately gobbles up the food and runs away, leaving the crow to "beware of flattery." Manship connected the animals by an unseen diagonal line stretching from the fox’s empty mouth to the crow's cheese. To communicate the story, however, he included a brief summary in the upper right-hand corner.