Summer, (sculpture).

Summer, (sculpture).

J. W. Fiske Iron Works, founder. (possibly by)

Scowden, Theodore R., engineer.

Bannon, Patrick, contractor.

Summer, (sculpture).

Flora, (sculpture).

Installed ca. 1893.

Digital Reference:

Approx. H. 6 ft. 6 in.

A standing female figure of Summer, or Flora. Her proper right hand is raised to her forehead, shielding her eyes. In her proper left arm she holds cut wheat against her side.

Mythology -- Classical -- Flora

Allegory -- Season -- Summer

Object -- Foliage -- Wheat

Outdoor Sculpture -- Kentucky -- Louisville

Architectural component

Administered by Louisville Water Company, 3005 Upper River Road, Louisville, Kentucky 40207

Located Louisville Visual Arts Association, 3005 Upper River Road, Louisville Water Tower balustrade, Louisville, Kentucky 40207

The sculpture was installed around 1893, atop a column surrounding the Louisville Water Tower. It replaces an earlier sculpture that was one of ten original pieces installed on the tower around 1860. The tower was designed by Water Company Chief Engineer Theodore R. Scowden. (For other sculptures see: IAS KY000202, KY000203, KY000204, KY000205, KY000206, KY000208, KY000209, KY000210). The original sculptures were a mix of Greek and Roman gods and goddesses. Eight were destroyed by an 1890 tornado, that also destroyed the water tower. In the early 1890s, a new cast iron water tower was built and replacement figures were added around 1893. Most of the replacement figures were ordered from J. W. Fiske Iron Works, and the figure of Summer may be from their "Illustrated Catalogue and Price List of Zinc Statuary, Animals, Etc.," entry no 231.

Contractor Patrick Bannon is responsible for placing the ten replacement sculptures on the tower for a sum of $1,650. Funding may have been provided by Michael Muldoon, founder of the Muldoon Monument Company, and son-in-law of James S. Lithgow, an original board member of the Louisville Water Company. Muldoon may also be responsible for selecting the replacement sculptures. In 1980, the figure of Flora fell during a thunderstorm and shattered. Between 1990 and 1993, the tower and sculptures were restored. The Water Tower is a National Historic Landmark.

IAS files contain a Louisville Water Company brochure, which lists name of sculpture as Flora. IAS files also contain an excerpt from Samuel W. Thomas' "Louisville Since the Twenties," Louisville, Kentucky: The Courier-Journal and the Louisville Times, 1978; and a related article from Southern Living Magazine (1993).

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Kentucky survey, 1995.

National Park Service, American Monuments and Outdoor Sculpture Database, KY0056, 1989.

Altrusa Club of Louisville, "Cut, Cast, Carved," Louisville, KY: Chamber of Commerce, 1974, pg. 18.

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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