Hiram Powers, Henry Barrett Crosby, 1869 or 1870, plaster, 23 7⁄8 x 16 3⁄4 x 12 1⁄2 in. (60.7 x 42.7 x 31.8 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase in memory of Ralph Cross Johnson, 1968.155.63
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Artwork Details
- Title
- Henry Barrett Crosby
- Artist
- Date
- 1869 or 1870
- Location
- Dimensions
- 23 7⁄8 x 16 3⁄4 x 12 1⁄2 in. (60.7 x 42.7 x 31.8 cm)
- Credit Line
- Museum purchase in memory of Ralph Cross Johnson
- Mediums
- Mediums Description
- plaster
- Classifications
- Subjects
- Portrait male — Crosby, Henry Barrett — bust
- Study — sculpture model
- Dress — historic — classical dress
- Object Number
- 1968.155.63
Artwork Description
Henry Barrett Crosby was born in Brattleboro, Vermont, in 1815. He spent most of his life in Paterson, New Jersey, where he managed a firearms factory and later worked in the wholesale grocery business. When he died in 1910, he was considered Paterson’s most respected citizen for his devotion to local causes. Hiram Powers modeled this portrait in the late 1860s. When a marble replica was shipped to America about a year later, Crosby complained of a blemish on the forehead of the sculpture and insisted that he had been overcharged by Powers’s agent. It is unclear how the situation was resolved, but this example is typical of the disputes Powers was involved in throughout his career.
