Fountain Square Park Fountain, (sculpture).

Fountain Square Park Fountain, (sculpture).

J.L. Mott Iron Works, founder.

Canova, Antonio, 1757-1822, sculptor. (copy after)

Robinson Iron, founder.

Fountain Square Park Fountain, (sculpture).

Hebe Fountain, (sculpture).

Fountain with Boy and Swan Base, (sculpture).

Boys with Shell Jets and Canova's Hebe, (sculpture).

Installed May 1881. Dedicated May 1882. Recast 1987.

Digital Reference:

Cast iron with zinc alloy figures and concrete pedestal.

(At bottom of the main shaft, a plaque lists the mayor and city commissioners in office when the 1882 fountain was installed) unsigned

A fountain with two graduated bowls. Hebe, the Greek goddess of Youth, tops the fountain. She holds a ewer from which water flows. On the top bowl, four cherubs shoot water from horns into the relfecting pool. The central shaft is decorated with 4 boys (2 sitting, 2 standing), 3 swans, and lily pads. The undersides of the bowls are decorated with vegetation motifs. The entire fountain is painted black. All water falls into a reflecting pool at the fountain's base. The reflecting pool is surrounded by a small brick parapet topped by a wrought iron fence.

Mythology -- Classical -- Hebe

Animal -- Bird -- Swan

Object -- Other -- Shell

Outdoor Sculpture -- Kentucky -- Bowling Green

Administered by City of Bowling Green, Bowling Green Beautification Commission, 611 Raven, Bowling Green, Kentucky 42101

Located Fountain Square Park, Bowling Green, Kentucky 42101

The fountain was purchased by City Trustees in 1881 for an estimated $2,500 to $3,000, as a replacement for a deteriorating limestone fountain erected in 1872 (IAS record 73261386). The replacement fountain was purchased from J.L. Mott, catalog entry no. 65 Fountain Boy with Swan Base. The figure of Hebe atop the fountain is a copy after Canova.

The fountain underwent restoration efforts in the mid-1970s, which included glass-bead peening. Newspaper accounts indicate that some parts (the statues and ornamental bowls) may have been recast at that time and other parts replicated by a Louisville foundry. The pedestal and fountain pools were modified. In 1987, the statue of Hebe crumbled and fell from its underpinnings and the fountain was vandalized. The Robinson Iron Company did extensive restoration and recasting of the fountain in 1987.

Nearby plaque reads: Hebe Fountain/Original Foundry/J.L. Mott Ironworks/New York, NY/1881 Restored by/Robinson Iron Corp./Alexander City, AL/1987 (followed by name of Mayor and Commissioners, and Beautification commission members and staff names).

IAS files contain related newsclippings from Park City Daily News (Bowling Green, KY), Dec. 19, 1974, pg. 1; Sept. 6, 1987, pg. 2B; and Sept. 18, 1988. IAS files also contain related excerpt from Jonthan Jeffrey's "A Stroll Around Fountain Square," Bowling Green, KY: Landmark Association, 1992, pg. 1-4. For related reading see Minutes of the Bowling Green City Commission, on file at Western Kentucky University, Kentucky Library, vertical files. Some of the metal fountain pieces not used in the restoration are in the collection of the Kentucky Museum at Western Kentucky University (Bowling Green, KY).

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Kentucky survey, 1994.

Joyce, Elwin G., Mrs., 1988.

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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