Login My List - 0 Help
	Search   Search Images   About

Keyword Browse Combined Highlights Search History All Catalogs

Search:  Artist BrowseTitle BrowseSubject BrowseObject Type Browse Owner Browse       Refine Search     > You are only searching: Art Inventories

More Smithsonian Searches     Who else has...     Witt, John,     Figure male -- Child     Animal -- Rabbit     Animal -- Squirrel     Animal -- Reptile     Animal -- Reptile     Animal -- Amphibian     Animal -- Bird     Animal -- Bird     Animal -- Bird     Animal -- Bird     Animal -- Bird     Animal -- Fish     Animal -- Insect     Animal -- Insect     Animal -- Insect     Literature -- Seneca     Recreation -- Sport & Play     Object -- Foliage     Object -- Foliage     Object -- Foliage     Landscape -- Tree     Allegory -- Time     Outdoor Sculpture -- Virginia -- Ashland     Relief     Sundial     Sculpture

Birthrite, (sculpture). Artist:  Witt, John, 1934- , sculptor. Title:  Birthrite, (sculpture). Other Titles:  Fitzgerald Sundial, (sculpture). Dates:  1983. Dedicated Nov. 3, 1984. Medium:  Sculpture: bronze; Base: granite. Dimensions:  Sculpture: approx. H. 4 ft.; Base: approx. H. 2 ft. x Diam. 8 ft. Inscription:  J. Witt '83 (On top of sundial:) OMNIA ALIENA SUNT, TEMPUS TANTUM NOSTRUM EST SENECA (On top of sundial, below sycamore leaves:) Always with the first to fall/To dry and curl up in a hollow ball/Be warm here in the brief winter sun/And all year long, leaf within leaf. (Around the top of the sundial:) BOWERED 'NEATH THE OAKS AND MAPLES, BEAUTIFUL TO VIEW, STANDS OUR NOBLE ALMA MATER RANDOLPH-MACON TRUE. Lift THE CHORUS. SPEED IT ONWARD NEVER LET IT FALL. HAIL TO THEE OUR ALMA MATER RANDOLPH-MACON HAIL! (Top of sundial is also inscribed with a history of the college) signed Description:  On the top of the sundial a boy sits drawing with a stick in the sand. He holds the stick in his proper left hand which he rests on his knee. He supports himself with his proper right hand. The stick becomes a gnomon for the sundial. The top of the sundial is divided into four sections, three of which illustrate the history of the college and one of which illustrates the future of the college. Also illustrated on the top of the sundial are symbols of the sun and moon, a tortoise and a hare, tools used to make a sundial; a lily pad with a frog catching a dragon fly, sycamore leaves, and an allegorical scene of a boy fishing, a book; diagrams of the college, a rabbit, a skillpot, a squirrel, a black snake, a blue-tailed skink, junkos, a hummingbird, a sparrow, crows, a cardinal, honey bees, and butterflies. There are also dogwood, acorns, oak trees, maple leaves, catkins, honeysuckle, trumpet-vine, morning glories and holly with holly berries. Subject:  Figure male -- Child -- Full length Animal -- Rabbit Animal -- Squirrel Animal -- Reptile -- Snake Animal -- Reptile -- Turtle Animal -- Amphibian -- Frog Animal -- Bird -- Duck Animal -- Bird -- Sparrow Animal -- Bird -- Crow Animal -- Bird -- Hummingbird Animal -- Bird -- Cardinal Animal -- Fish Animal -- Insect -- Butterfly Animal -- Insect -- Bee Animal -- Insect -- Dragonfly Literature -- Seneca Recreation -- Sport & Play -- Fishing Object -- Foliage -- Dogwood Object -- Foliage -- Sycamore Object -- Foliage -- Maple Landscape -- Tree -- Oak Tree Allegory -- Time Object Type:  Outdoor Sculpture -- Virginia -- Ashland Relief Sundial Sculpture Owner:  Administered by Randolph Macon College, Public Relations Office, P. O. Box 5005, Ashland, Virginia 23005 Located Randolph Macon College, Caroline & Calhoun Streets, near entrance to Science Center, Ashland, Virginia Remarks:  The sundial was named after Harriet Fitzgerald, director of the Abingdon Square Painters in New York and former member of the college's Board of Trustees. An anonymous donor provided the funding. The sculpture was conceived to show the balance between the arts and sciences as found under the best circumstances in an educational center for the liberal arts. The sculpture was created in honor of the college's sesquicentennial. The Latin quotation inscribed on the sundial is from Seneca and translates as: "Nothing is ours, except time." IAS files contain transcription of all of the inscriptions on the top of the sundial, a Randolph-Macon College press release announcing the installation of the sculpture, a copy of the dedication program, a copy of the artist's statement, and diagrams of the sculpture. The inscription on a nearby plaque reads: BIRTHRITE by JACK WITT 1984/THE FITZGERALD SUNDIAL/IN MEMORY OF/HARRIET FITZGERALD/1904-1984/FOUNDER OF/THE ABINGDON SQUARE PAINTERS/ARTIST, LECTURER, TRUSTEE. References:  Save Outdoor Sculpture, Virginia survey, 1995. Illustration:  Image on file. Note:  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. Repository:  Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012 Control Number:  IAS VA000431   Copy/Holding information Smithsonian AmericanArt Museum Control Number   Inventory of American Sculpture VA000431 Add Copy to MyList Format: HTMLPlain textDelimited Subject:   Email to:

Horizon Information Portal 3.25_9382

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