(Merman Fountain), (sculpture).

(Merman Fountain), (sculpture).

Unknown (French), sculptor.

(Merman Fountain), (sculpture).

Fountain: metal, possibly bronze; Base: brick; Basin: brick and stone.

Fountain: approx. 6 ft. 4 in. x 4 ft. 3 in. x 4 ft. 3 in.; Base: approx. H. 2 ft. 3 in. x Diam. 2 ft.; Basin: approx. H. 1 ft. 6 in. x Diam. 8 ft.

A fountain on a circular brick base in the center of a brick-lined basin with a stone curbing. At the top of the fountain sits a merman with a nude upper body and a scale-covered lower body that ends with two scaly lower limbs and flippers. He wears a wreath of cattails on his head and a shell on a necklace. He holds a horn to his mouth with his proper right hand. A turtle rests in front of the merman. The merman is placed atop a wide upper basin shaped in a leaf-like design with a rippled edge. The upper basin rests on a pedestal decorated with cattails, rushes, vines, and other plants. At the front of the pedestal, a frog looks out from under a lily pad. Perched above the frog on a vine is a small bird that stares down at it. At the rear of the pedestal, a fish is found under a lily pad and a small bird perched in the foliage stares down at it. On the side of pedestal stands a heron-like bird with long legs and a long beak. On other side of the pedestal, stands another heron-like bird with its wings partly raised and its proper left foot placed on the back of a small turtle.

Literature -- Character -- Mermaid

Animal -- Amphibian -- Frog

Animal -- Bird -- Heron

Animal -- Reptile -- Turtle

Object -- Foliage -- Cattail

Object -- Foliage -- Lily

Outdoor Sculpture -- New Hampshire -- North Hampton

Fuller Foundation, 10 Willow Avenue, Fuller Gardens, North Hampton, New Hampshire 03862

The fountain was purchased and installed in the gardens by Governor Alvan T. Fuller sometime between the 1920s and 1950s. Fuller Gardens was the summer home of former Massachusetts Governor, Alvan T. Fisher. The fountain pool and base were rebuilt in the 1950s. IAS files contain a brochure on the Fuller Gardens.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, New Hampshire survey, 1993.

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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