Child with Calla Lily Leaves, (sculpture).

Child with Calla Lily Leaves, (sculpture).

Whitney, Anne, 1821-1915, sculptor.

Child with Calla Lily Leaves, (sculpture).

Child with Calla Lilly Leaves, (sculpture).

Lambert Fountain, (sculpture).

Original 1893. 1903. Rededicated Sept. 1995.

Sculpture: bronze; Basin: concrete aggregate

Sculpture: approx. H. 7 ft. 6 in.

(On front of bronze fountain basin:) IN MEMORIAM/CATHERINE PORTER LAMBERT/MDCCCXVII - MCM signed

The bronze fountain sculpture consists of a small winged cherub perched atop a mass of calla lilies growing up from the middle of a shallow bronze basin. Water pours into the shallow bronze basin from a calla lily that is draped over the cherub's head. The cherub reaches up with both hands to hold the calla lily on his head. The interior of the bronze basin is decorated with a relief pattern of calla lily leaves. Below the bronze basin is a large circular concrete basin. The fountain is installed in the middle of a triangular traffic island.

Religion -- Angel

Landscape -- Plant -- Lily

Homage -- Lambert, Catherine Porter

Outdoor Sculpture -- Massachusetts -- West Newton

Administered by City of Newton, Parks & Recreation, 70 Crescent Street, Newton, Massachusetts 02166

Located Highland, Valentine, & Chestnut Streets, West Newton, Massachusetts

The fountain was commissioned by Marianne Porter in memory of her sister Catherine Porter Lambert (1817-1900). In 1991 vandals toppled the sculpture breaking the cherub's wings and several leaves. The Parks and Recreation Department stored the top part of the sculpture while local residents raised funds for the repairs. The new parts were molded by Skylight Studios and were cast by Paul King Foundry. Vandals have struck the fountain in the past, braking off many of the leaves. A small faun was once at the base, but it has disappeared.

The fountain is a replica of an earlier one Anne Whitney first exhibited at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago as part of the exhibit of architect Sophia Hayden. Following the exhibition, the artist donated the fountain to the City of Boston and it was placed in Franklin Park in 1894. Later it was moved to Jamaica Way near the Children's Museum, but by 1932 the original fountain was reported missing. IAS files contain an article from the Newton Graphic (April 29, 1993), pg. 3-4. Additional information is available at the Jackson Homestead, Anne Whitney vertical files.

Index of American Sculpture, University of Delaware, 1985

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Massachusetts survey, 1997.

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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