Miner's Statue, (sculpture).

Miner's Statue, (sculpture).

Lion, Henry, 1900-1966, sculptor.

Roman Bronze Works, founder.

Miner's Statue, (sculpture).

Daniel O. McCarthy Pioneer Fountain, (sculpture).

Forty-Niner, (sculpture).

Forty-Niner Fountain, (sculpture).

Pioneer, (sculpture).

Pioneer of '49, (sculpture).

1924-1925. Dedicated 1927.

Digital Reference:

Sculpture: bronze; Base: stone.

Sculpture: approx. 8 1/2 x 7 1/3 x 4 ft.; Base: approx. H. 19 in. x W. 30 in.

THIS FOUNTAIN IS A/MEMORIAL/TO THE GALLANT PIONEERS OF '49/OF WHOM DANIEL O. MCCARTHY, PATRIOT,/MINER, LEADER, WAS AN OUTSTANDING/EXAMPLE./HE WAS BORN RALEIGH, N.C., AUGUST 24, 1830./DIED LOS ANGELES, AUGUST 13, 1919./THROUGH HIS NEWSPAPER "THE AMERICAN FLAG" SAN FRANCISCO, HE HELPED PRESERVE CALIFORNIA/TO THE UNION. THIS LONG, USEFUL LIFE IS A HERITAGE/OF WHICH THE GOLDEN STATE IS JUSTLY PROUD./DEDICATED BY/RAMONA PARLOR 109 NSGW (At base of sculpture, between the miner's feet:) HENRY LION/1924'25 (copyright symbol) signed

A young gold miner stands atop a boulder, holding a pan for mining gold. He looks down at the pan, held in both hands at his waist. He is dressed in a shirt with rolled-up sleeves, slacks and boots. The sculpture is mounted on a stone boulder.

Figure male -- Full length

Homage -- McCarthy, Daniel O.

Occupation -- Industry -- Mining

Outdoor Sculpture -- California -- Los Angeles

Administered by City of Los Angeles, Cultural Affairs Department, Public Art Division, 433 South Spring Street, 10th floor, Los Angeles, California 90013

Located Carthay Circle, San Vicente Boulevard & McCarthy Vista, Los Angeles, California

The sculpture is dedicated to the men of the first gold rush and to Daniel O. McCarthy (1830-1910), a 49'er, who later became a publisher. The Carthay Center, a real estate subdivision of the 1920s is named after him. The sculpture was commissioned for the Carthay Circle Theater (now torn down). The memorial was one of a series of memorials commissioned by Harvey McCarthy, president of Carthay Center Holding Company, in conjunction with Ramona Parlor of the Native Sons of the Golden West. The sculpture was donated by J. Harvey McCarthy and was dedicated in 1927.

IAS files contain related excerpts from Merrill A. Reed's "Historical Statues and Monuments in California;" Nancy Dustin Wall Moure, "Painting & Sculpture in Los Angeles, 1900-1945, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1980, pg. 40; Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors' "Los Angeles: A Guide to the City and its Environs," Hastings House, NY: 1941, 1951, and article from Los Angeles Times, March 1, 1936. IAS files also contain an article from Time (June 23, 2008): pg. 115 describing how thieves cut the statue in half and attempted to sell the bronze to a scrap yard for $900. The owner of the scrap yard notified authorities and the thieves were charged.

Index of American Sculpture, University of Delaware, 1985.

Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, 1976.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, California survey, 1994.

Glenn Wharton and Associates, Inc., 1998.

Reed, Merrill A., "Historical Statues and Monuments in California," #46.

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

Control Number:

Horizon Information Portal 3.25_9382

Powered by SirsiDynix

About | © 2020 Smithsonian | Terms of Use | Privacy | Contact

SIRIS - Smithsonian Institution Research Information System