Cupids Making Music, (sculpture).

Cupids Making Music, (sculpture).

Bitter, Karl, 1867-1915, sculptor. (attributed to)

Bouchardon, Edme, 1698-1762, sculptor. (copy after)

Cupids Making Music, (sculpture).

Digital Reference:

Relief: Carrara marble; Base: brick.

Relief: approx. H. 2 ft. 6 in. x W. 6 ft.

A relief plaque of five nude cupids frolicking around an urn that rests on a pedestal. A branch of leaves rests on the pedestal. The center cupid is standing and holds a wreath in his proper right hand and a lyre in the crook of his proper left arm. He faces two cupids to his proper right who are sitting and holding an open book which rests on a pile of books. One of the two cupids to the proper left of the center cupid kneels and holds a tablet with his proper left hand on his proper left knee. An open scroll rests on the ground at his feet. He writes on the tablet with his proper right hand. The cupid next to him stands behind the tablet and raises both hands to his temples. Behind the cherubs is a plant or tree. The relief is enclosed by brickwork.

Mythology -- Classical -- Cupid

Object -- Other -- Vase

Object -- Written Matter -- Book

Object -- Other -- Wreath

Object -- Written Matter -- Scroll

Object -- Musical Instrument -- Lyre

Outdoor Sculpture -- Kansas -- Mission Hills

Architectural component

Administered by City of Mission Hills, Council, 6300 State Line, Mission Hills, Kansas 66208

Located 63rd Street & Indian Lane, Mission Hills, Kansas

Formerly in the collection of Vanderbilt, Cornelius, Fifth Avenue & 57th Street, New York, New York

The relief is styled after the works of the 17th century French artist Edme Bouchardon. The relief plaque formerly decorated the entrance foyer of the New York mansion of Cornelius Vanderbilt III. The plaque, and its companion, "Cupids Making Garlands" (see IAS KS000514), were custom-created for the home, which was built around 1880 and razed in 1928. The relief was obtained and installed by the J. C. Nichols Company. Beginning in the 1920s, developer J. C. Nichols, and later his son, Miller Nichols, installed sculptures in the Country Club district of Mission Hills. The sculptures were given to local homes' associations. It was Nichols' plan to create an urban neighborhood with country estate charms in classical European style. Since that time, the city has taken over the upkeep of the sculptures. IAS files contain an excerpt from "The Outdoor Art of the Country Club District," Kansas City, MO: J. C. Nichols Company, May 1978, which lists the relief on pg. 10-11. IAS files contain a related excerpt from the booklet, "Mission Hills, Kansas," 1990.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Kansas survey, 1995.

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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