St. James Court Fountain, (sculpture).

St. James Court Fountain, (sculpture).

Unknown (English), sculptor.

Petrucci, Fred, contractor.

Fine Arts Sculpture Centre, founder.

St. James Court Fountain, (sculpture).

Saint James Court Fountain, (sculpture).

Original ca. 1895. Recast 1974. Dedicated Sept. 14, 1975.

Fountain: bronze; Pool: granite.

A fountain consisting of a saucer-like bowl topped by a life-size nude female figure standing with proper right arm raised over her head holding drapery that extends behind her and across the front of her thighs. She stands in an open shell and is flanked by two seated cherubs who partially support her. Each cherub straddles a sphere and raises a conch shell horn to its mouth with one hand. The bottom of the fountain bowl is elaborately decorated with scrolls and swirls. Four children and two swans with wings spread, surround the fountain pedestal underneath the bowl. The children are partially nude and stand or sit on the pedestal base. The sides of the base are decorated with volutes. The fountain rests in a circular pool surrounded by a fence decorated with an intricate floral, vine, and scroll design.

Figure female -- Nude

Religion -- Angel

Object -- Other -- Shell

Object -- Flower

Object -- Musical Instrument -- Horn

Animal -- Bird -- Swan

Outdoor Sculpture -- Kentucky -- Louisville

Administered by St. James Court Association, 1402 St. James Court, Louisville, Kentucky 40208

Located St. James Court, In center, Louisville, Kentucky

The original fountain was cast in iron around 1895 in England. It was brought to Louisville in the 1890s by William Slaughter and installed as part of the St. James Court development. In 1974 the fountain was recast in bronze by the Fine Arts Sculpture Centre in Clarkston, Michigan, after the original cast iron fountain had badly deteriorated. IAS files contain a photocopy of the original cast iron fountain from Samuel W. Thomas and William Morgan's "Old Louisville: The Victorian Era," Louisville, KY: Courier-Journal & Times Data Courier, 1975, pg. 37. IAS files also contain an excerpt from "Cut, Cast, Carved," Louisville, KY: Altrusa Club, 1974, pg. 15 and a condition assessment from Venus Bronze Works, Inc., dated Nov. 8, 1990.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Kentucky survey, 1994.

National Park Service, American Monuments and Outdoor Sculpture Database, KY0048, 1989.

Altrusa Club of Louisville, "Cut, Cast, Carved," Louisville, KY: Chamber of Commerce, 1974, pg. 15.

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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