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Study for the Head of The Melvin Memorial

Founder Cast by John Williams American
1907; cast before 1914
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 774
This head is based on the angel figure in French’s "Melvin Memorial," erected in 1908 in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Concord, Massachusetts (a marble replica of the full figure is on view in the Charles Engelhard Court of the American Wing; 15.75). The practice of extracting parts from large monuments gained favor with sculptors attempting to create a market for small-scale bronzes around the turn of the century. French deliberately gave the masklike head an unfinished quality by leaving a seam line running vertically through the profile.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Study for the Head of The Melvin Memorial
  • Artist: Daniel Chester French (American, Exeter, New Hampshire 1850–1931 Stockbridge, Massachusetts)
  • Founder: Cast by John Williams (American, New York, ca. 1875–ca. 1953)
  • Date: 1907; cast before 1914
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Bronze
  • Dimensions: 18 x 10 3/8 x 11 3/4 in. (45.7 x 26.4 x 29.8 cm)
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Erving Wolf Foundation Gift, in memory of Diane R. Wolf, 1974
  • Object Number: 1974.324
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

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