Mark Twain Memorial Bust, (sculpture).

Mark Twain Memorial Bust, (sculpture).

Bringhurst, Robert Porter, 1855-1925, sculptor.

Curtright, T. A., contractor.

Gorham Manufacturing Company, founder.

Mark Twain Memorial Bust, (sculpture).

Mark Twain Monument, (sculpture).

Mark Twain Statue, (sculpture).

Installed July 20, 1914. Relocated June 16, 1964.

Digital Reference:

Bust: bronze; Pedestal: wood.

Bust: approx. 3 ft. 2 in. x 2 ft. 3 in. x 1 ft. 6 in.; Pedestal: approx. 4 ft. 6 in. x 2 ft. 9 in. x 2 ft. 9 in.

R. P. Bringhurst/St Louis Gorham Co Founders (Plaque on upper front of pedestal:) MARK TWAIN/BRONZE BUST BY R.P. BRINGHURST (1855-1925) signed Founder's mark appears.

Bust of writer Samuel L. Clemens (Mark Twain), depicted as a mature man, his head turned slightly to the proper left, wearing a coat and vest.

Portrait male -- Twain, Mark -- Bust

Occupation -- Writer -- Author

Administered by State of Missouri, Department of Natural Resources, Division of State Parks, Historic Sites Program, P. O. Box 176, Jefferson City, Missouri 65102

Located Mark Twain Birthplace State Historic Site, Florida, Missouri

Formerly located Mark Twain Memorial Shrine, Mark Twain State Park, Florida, Missouri

Formerly located Intersection of Main & Mill Streets, Florida, Missouri

Memorial commemorates writer Mark Twain, native son of Florida, Missouri. Soon after Twain's death in 1910, his boyhood friend, Colonel John L. Robards, led the effort to erect a memorial to him. The State of Missouri erected it at an estimated cost of $1,200, appropriated by the General Assembly March 27, 1911 with an amendment to the "Sosey" or "Mark Twain" bill. Memorial was originally intended to be placed in a park near the Twain birthplace, but the residents of the town were unable to acquire the land, and it was erected in the center of the town square, mounted upon a multitiered pedestal of Missouri red granite. A local stonemason was responsible for the original pedestal, and the memorial originally stood approximately ten feet high. T. A. Curtright of Paris, Missouri, was responsible for "setting the monument." Inscription on front of original pedestal read: MARK TWAIN/(bronze plaque:) IN THIS VILLAGE WAS BORN/NOVEMBER THIRTEENTH, 1835/MARK TWAIN/HE CHEERED AND COMFORTED/A TIRED WORLD/ERECTED BY THE STATE OF MISSOURI, 1913.

Installation was planned for 1913, but did not occur until July of 1914. With increased traffic over the years, the bust was knocked off its pedestal at least twice by accident, and in 1962, the Missouri General Assembly ordered it removed. It was relocated on June 16, 1964, placed atop a new wooden pedestal inside Mark Twain's birthplace, then called the Mark Twain Memorial Shrine (or Mark Twain Shrine, or Mark Twain Birthplace Memorial Shrine), in Mark Twain State Park. On October 11, 1966, the original granite pedestal was also moved onto Shrine property, sited outdoors at the location of Clemen's birthplace house.

IAS files contain excerpt from Sarah Guitar's "Missouri Historical Review, 1924-5," pg. 583-584; newspaper articles from the Monroe County Appeal, dated May 26, 1911 to Nov. 11, 1965; unpublished article from the Missouri Division of State Parks, Historic Sites Program; a Missouri State Park Board memorandum, dated Feb. 19, 1962, with a sketch for a proposed renovation of original monument area; press release from the Mark Twain Shrine, dated Oct. 14, 1966 and newspaper article from Enterprise (Missouri), Nov. 24, 1966.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Missouri survey, 1995.

Monroe County Appeal, July 31, 1914, pg. 1.

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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