LOT 555
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Lot 555
EDITH BARRETTO STEVENS PARSONS (American 1878-1956)
Duck Baby- A fountain figure
Bronze with verdigris patina
Inscribed on base E. BARRETTO PARSONS and Roman Bronze Works N.Y.
Height 35 inches
Estimate:
$8,000 - 12,000
€ 5,600 - 8,400
Comparison:
For an identical example see: Bonham's Auctioneers New York sale of Tuesday, May 22, 2007 lot 02058 where sold for $48,000.00.
Edith Parsons was born in Halifax, Virginia. She studied at the Art Students league with Daniel Chester French and apprenticed with James Earle Fraser. Early on she won both scholarships as well as awards for her work. She sculpted figures for the 1902 St. Louis Exposition's Liberal Arts Building, and in 1908 showed her sculpture Earth Mother at the National Academy of Design. That same year, she married Howard Crosby Parsons, and built a studio on the top floor of their home.
Her work changed its subject matter as her own children were born and posed for her sculptures, often holding ducks, turtles and other creatures. Duck Baby, beginning a series of garden sculptures for which she is best known today, was the popular hit of the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition. The exposition handbook stated: "In the presence of so much that is weighty and powerful, the popularity of Duck Baby is a significant and touching indication of the world's hunger for what is cheerful and mirth-provoking." The same may be said of Turtle Baby and Frog Baby, which forms the centerpiece of the small works collection at Brookgreen Gardens, South Carolina.
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