James Gibson Powers

Media - 1968.155.110 - SAAM-1968.155.110_1 - 61259
Copied Hiram Powers, James Gibson Powers, modeled ca. 1838?, plaster, 11 146 145 58 in. (28.716.014.4 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase in memory of Ralph Cross Johnson, 1968.155.110
Free to use

Artwork Details

Title
James Gibson Powers
Artist
Date
modeled ca. 1838?
Dimensions
11 146 145 58 in. (28.716.014.4 cm)
Credit Line
Museum purchase in memory of Ralph Cross Johnson
Mediums
Mediums Description
plaster
Classifications
Keywords
  • Study — sculpture model
  • Portrait male — Powers, James Gibson — child
  • Portrait male — Powers, James Gibson — head
Object Number
1968.155.110

Artwork Description

James (Jimmy) Gibson Powers was Hiram Powers’s first child. He died from a brain tumor in 1838, when he was only four years old. Shortly after the boy died, Powers took a cast of his son’s face to preserve his likeness and perhaps use as a model for a bust. Some of the child’s eyelashes, eyebrows, and hair are embedded in the plaster, making the tragedy of his death real to viewers of this piece more than a century later.

Audio