Sundial, (sculpture).

Sundial, (sculpture).

Calder, Alexander Stirling, 1870-1945, sculptor.

Queen and Company, founder.

Sundial, (sculpture).

1903. Dedicated 1905. Copyrighted 1906.

Digital Reference:

Figures and sundial table: Tennessee marble; sundial plate: bronze.

Figures and table: approx. H. 56 1/2 in. (including sundial plate) Diam. 50 in. ; Base: approx. H. 6 in. Diam. 78 in.

(Base, edge:) Copyright 1906 by/Alex Stirling Calder. (Sundial plate:) queen & Co./makers. Philadelphia (Circular plaque, top of sundial:) Fairmount Park Art Association/Presented 1905 (On top of base is an unreadable emblem) (Letters of an inscription are partially visible on top of the base.) Founder's mark appears.

Sundial table supported by four seated female figures grouped in a circle. The females represent the Seasons. Spring holds a rose. Summer is decorated with poppies. Autumn bears grapes. Winter carries a branch of pine. Each holds aloft an apple bough, a suggestion of the full opulence of the year. Each season turns her head to face toward the next season. The signs of the Zodiac decorate the outer edge of the sundial table.

Figure group -- Female

Allegory -- Season -- Winter

Allegory -- Season -- Spring

Allegory -- Season -- Summer

Allegory -- Season -- Autumn

Object -- Foliage -- Apple Blossom

Object -- Flower -- Rose

Object -- Flower -- Poppy

Object -- Fruit -- Grape

Object -- Foliage -- Pine

Emblem -- Zodiac

Outdoor Sculpture -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia

Administered by City of Philadelphia, Fairmount Park Commission, Memorial Hall, West Park, P. O. Box 21601, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19131

Located Fairmount Park, Horticultural Center, west side of park, Belmont Avenue & North Horticultural Drive, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The sundial was initiated by the Fairmount Park Association and was a gift of Mrs. Charles P. Turner. The SOS! survey cover sheet notes that the current custodian for the piece is the Fairmount Park Commission and that conservation is the responsibility of the Fairmount Park Art Association. Although the Fairmount Park Art Association publication noted that the phrase "Watch therefore for ye know not what hour your hour doth come" was inscribed on the piece, the SOS! volunteer could not find this inscription.

Index of American Sculpture, University of Delaware, 1985

City of Philadelphia, 1973.

National Park Service, American Monuments and Outdoor Sculpture Database, PA5001, 1989.

Fairmount Park Art Assoc., "Sculpture of a City: Philadelphia's Treasures in Bronze & Stone," NY: Walker Publ., 1974, pg. 217.

Bach, Penny Balkin, "Public Art in Philadelphia," Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1992, pg. 210.

Monumental News, July 1919, pg. 452.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia survey, 1993.

Monumental News, July 1919, pg. 452.

Fairmount Park Art Assoc., "Sculpture of a City: Philadelphia's Treasures in Bronze & Stone," NY: Walker Publ., 1974, pg. 217.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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