Kate Fox, Medal

Anthony de Francisci, Kate Fox, Medal, 1947, gilded white metal, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Gilda Slate, 1966.110.53
Copied Anthony de Francisci, Kate Fox, Medal, 1947, gilded white metal, 4 12 in. (11.5 cm) diam., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Gilda Slate, 1966.110.53

Artwork Details

Title
Kate Fox, Medal
Date
1947
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
4 12 in. (11.5 cm) diam.
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. Gilda Slate
Mediums
Mediums Description
gilded white metal
Classifications
Keywords
  • Portrait female — Fox, Kate — bust
  • Portrait female — Fox, Kate — elderly
Object Number
1966.110.53

Artwork Description

Catherine “Kate” Fox (1836-1892) was one of the founders of spiritualism, a movement that swept America and Europe in the nineteenth century. When Kate was young, she and her sister Margaret claimed to have heard rapping noises in their Arcadia, New York, home. By the 1850s, spiritualist adherents on both sides of the Atlantic, including the famous newspaper editor Horace Greeley, were touting their communications with the deceased. Anthony de Francisci’s medal portrays Kate’s worn features as they may have appeared when the spiritualist fad was dying away. The movement lost credibility in the late 1880s when Kate’s alcoholism overtook her and Margaret confessed that their childhood experience had been a hoax played on their gullible mother.