Monument to Israel Putnam, Esq., (sculpture).

Monument to Israel Putnam, Esq., (sculpture).

Gerhardt, Karl, 1853-1940, sculptor.

Henry-Bonnard Bronze Company, founder.

Monument to Israel Putnam, Esq., (sculpture).

1887. Copyrighted 1888. Dedicated June 14, 1888.

Digital Reference:

Sculpture: bronze; Base: gray granite.

Sculpture: approx. 144 x 96 x 48 in.; Base: approx. 156 x 250 x 150 in.

(Northwest side of base:) KARL GERHARDT/1887 (South side of sculpture's bronze base:) The Henry-Bonnard Bronze Co./N.Y. (Front and rear of base, on polished plaques:) If a Patriot,/remember the distinguished / and / gallant services/rendered thy country/by the Patriot who sleeps/beneath this marble;/if thou art honest, generous and worthy,/render a cheerful tribute of respect/to a man/whose generosity was singular,/whose honesty was proverbial;/who raised himself/to universal esteem and offices of/eminent distinction/by personal worth and a useful life. signed Founder's mark appears.

The monument consists of an equestrian portrait of General Israel Putnam holding his horse's reins with his proper left hand and pointing forward with his proper right index finger. He is dressed in his Revolutionary War uniform consisting of a tri-cornered hat, boots, knee breeches, and a jacket with fringed epaulets. A sword hangs from his proper left side. His horse walks with it proper left front leg raised. The sculpture rests on an oval base decorated around the top with a garland of oak leaves. On the north and south sides of the base are large plaques with inscriptions. Identical bronze wolf heads (the mascot of the Putnam family) were once located on the east and west sides of the base, but they were stolen in the early or mid 1980s.

Portrait male -- Putnam, Israel -- Full length

Occupation -- Military -- General

Occupation -- Farm

Dress -- Uniform -- Military Uniform

Outdoor Sculpture -- Connecticut -- Brooklyn

Administered by State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection, 79 Elm Street, Hartford, Connecticut 06106

Located 25 Canterbury Street, Brooklyn, Connecticut

The monument marks the grave of Major General Israel Putnam, 1718-1790, a Revolutionary War hero who was a farmer in Brooklyn, Connecticut. Putnam was originally buried in another location in Brooklyn, Connecticut, but when his gravesite was vandalized, citizens petitioned the General Assembly for funds to create a suitable monument. Gerhardt was commissioned to create the monument for $8,750 or $9,750. Putnam's remains were placed in a new metallic casket and reinterred within the new monument.

IAS files contain: an excerpt from the artist's contract; a copy of the dedication invitation; an excerpt from Richard M. Bayles' "History of Windham County, Connecticut," New York: W. W. Preston & Co., 1889, pg. 573-578; The Evening Post (Hartford, CT), July 10, 1886, March 3, 1887, March 22, 1887, June 15, 1888; The Week Times (Hartford, CT), Sept. 9, 1886; The Bulletin (Norwich, CT), Sept. 8, 1886; The Connecticut Post, Sept. 11, 1886. IAS files also contain a photocopied image of one of the wolf heads stolen from the base in the early or mid 1980s.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Connecticut survey, 1993.

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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