Edward Bates, (sculpture).

Edward Bates, (sculpture).

MacDonald, James Wilson Alexander, 1824-1908, sculptor.

Ames Manufacturing Company, founder.

Edward Bates, (sculpture).

1871. Dedicated June 24, 1876.

Digital Reference:

Figure: bronze with black patina; Base: red granite; Medallions: bronze.

Figure: approx. 10 x 3 1/2 x 2 1/2 ft.; Base: approx. 10 x 5 x 5 ft.; Medallions: each approx. 24 x 18 in.

(On proper left side of bronze plinth, towards the front:) J. Wilson Macdonald/1871 Sculptor (On proper left side of bronze plinth, towards the rear:) Ames Foundry/Chicopee Mass. (On front of base, raised:) BATES signed Founder's mark appears.

Standing figure of Attorney General Edward Bates. He wears a beard and a long coat. His proper right arm is held in front of him, slightly bent at the elbow, slightly raised. His proper left arm is down at his side. In his proper left hand is a book, held in an open position with his index finger. The spine of the book is resting on a low geometric pedestal or column. At the base of the column stands an eagle. On the front of the column, near the top, is a circular medallion bearing what may be the seal of Missouri. The figure stands on a red granite base, constructed in several sections. The base is accentuated with geometric designs, and has polished panels, contrasting with more matte areas. On all four faces of the base, approximately 6 ft. up from the bottom of the base, are four bronze, oval medallions with profile portrait reliefs of prominent St. Louis men: James Buchanan Eads, an engineer, is depicted on the front of the base; Governor Hamilton R. Gamble, on the proper left side of base; Charles Gibson, a lawyer, on the back of the base; and Senator Henry S. Geyer on the proper left side of the base.

Portrait male -- Bates, Edward -- Full length

Portrait male -- Eads, James Buchanan -- Head

Occupation -- Industry -- Engineering

Portrait male -- Gamble, Hamilton R. -- Head

Occupation -- Political -- Governor

Portrait male -- Gibson, Charles -- Head

Occupation -- Law -- Lawyer

Portrait male -- Geyer, Henry S. -- Head

Occupation -- Political -- Senator

Animal -- Bird -- Eagle

Outdoor Sculpture -- Missouri -- St. Louis

Administered by City of St. Louis, Department of Parks, Recreation, and Forestry, 5600 Clayton Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63110

Located Forest Park, Intersection of Fine Arts and Lagoon Drives, St. Louis, Missouri

Formerly located Forest Park, Southeast Entrance, Near Kingshighway and Oakland, St. Louis, Missouri

Funded by St. Louis County, the Bates Association, and Forest Park Commissioners. Cost $13,000. This monument was originally intended for Lafayette Park, but the sculptor's bill had not been paid; Forest Park Commissioners paid the balance due, and the monument was dedicated concurrently with the official dedication of Forest Park. The medallions on the base were added at a later date. Originally located at the southeast entrance to the park, the monument was moved in the 1930s when Highway 40 was expanded.

IAS files contain copies of articles from St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 14, 1934, and St. Louis Globe-Democrat, n.d., which discuss the need to move the sculpture because of highway expansion; and St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 1, 1972, which provides biographical information about Edward Bates and the four men depicted in the medallions on the base. IAS files also contain transcription of nearby granite marker commemorating the centennial of Forest Park; copy of article from St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Oct. 22, 1978; and unpublished 1969 mayor's report, "Public Art - St. Louis."

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Missouri, St. Louis survey, 1993.

McCue, George, "Sculpture City: St. Louis," New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1988.

Loughlin, Caroline, and Catherine Anderson, "Forest Park," Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press, 1986.

Index of American Sculpture, University of Delaware, 1985.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Oct. 22, 1978.

Coyle, Elinor, "St. Louis/Portrait of a River City," St. Louis: Folkestone Press, 1977, pg. 122-123.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 1, 1972.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 14, 1934.

Moore, Merl M., Jr., 1994.

Daily Evening Bulletin (San Francisco), Aug. 10, 1872, 1:3.

McCue, George, "Sculpture City: St. Louis," New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1988, pg. 34.

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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