Elephant Light Standards, 1936, (sculpture).

Elephant Light Standards, 1936, (sculpture).

McKim, Mead & White, architectural firm.

August Dackert and Company, fabricator.

Elephant Light Standards, 1936, (sculpture).

Originals: 1915. Recast 1936.

Digital Reference:

Sculpture: concrete; Base: concrete.

2 units. Sculpture: each approx. 10 ft. x 42 in. x 65 in.; Base: each approx. 60 x 45 x 70 in.

(On plaque on proper left side of base of proper right elephant:) PLAZA VINA DEL MAR/SAUSALITO, CALIFORNIA/3/5/60/DEDICATED TO/OUR SISTER CITY IN CHILE/THIS PLAQUE PRESENTED BY/THE SAUSALITO LIONS CLUB (On plaque on proper right side of base of proper left elephant:) VINA DEL MAR - CHILE/LA CIUDAD A MERNANA DE SAUSALITO/ABRIL 1982 unsigned

Pair of concrete elephants flank the entrance to a park. The elephants have trimmed tusks and have elaborate blankets draped over their backs. An ornate candelabra rises from the back of each elephant. Each candelabra has a series of nine electric lights. The elephants stand on rectangular pedestals with vertical panels classically decorated with bas-relief carvings. The pedestals stand on low, three-stepped bases.

Animal -- Elephant

Outdoor Sculpture -- California -- Sausalito

Coadministered by City of Sausalito, Department of Public Works, 420 Litho, Sausalito, California 94965

Coadministered by City of Sausalito, Office of the City Clerk, 420 Litho, Sausalito, California 94965

Located Plaza Vina del Mar, Bridgeway, El Portal & Park Street, Sausalito, California

The elephants are recastings of original sculptures which were designed as flagpole holders for the Panama Pacific International Exposition, held in San Francisco in 1915. The elephants were purchased by William Faville after the exposition closed and donated to the city of Sausalito. In 1935, the original elephants were damaged and in 1936 new castings of the original were made and the tops were modified from flagpoles into candelabras. Funds for the new castings, which cost $231.00, were provided by Mr. Faville. The new casts were fabricated by August Dackert and Company. IAS files contain copies of related article from Sausalito News, June 10, 1916; and copy of related excerpt from Jack Tracy's "Sausalito - Moments in Time: a Pictorial History of Sausalito's First Hundred Years, 1850-1950", pg. 116-117, 179. IAS files contain copies of related 1936 correspondence and invoices.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, California, San Francisco 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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