Object of the Month

Longfellow House - Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site has a large museum collection consisting of thousands of objects, many of which are not regularly displayed in the house's furnished exhibit rooms. Every month, an object will be featured on this page, providing a look at an unusual piece from the collection.

 

Bust of George Washington, after Jean-Antoine Houdon's 1785 original sculpture.

NPS

On April 17, 1844, a new piece of sculpture arrived at Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s home. His wife Fanny wrote in her journal “Washington’s bust, by Houdon, arrived from London! a cast that is – It has rather a heavy, sleepy look; but what massive strength of feature, & what a noble, dome-like head. It is strange to see this senseless clay looking forth into the room which its original once occupied so familiarly.”

The bust’s addition to the home’s furnishings was a tangible manifestation of the Longfellows’ desire to honor the former occupant of the Brattle Street mansion. Washington’s association with the house was a point of pride for Henry and Fanny, as demonstrated in a September 4, 1843 letter in which Fanny wrote to a friend “We have got to love so much this old house with its fine views & associations (Washington slept where I am now writing) that I think Father will buy it for us to abide in always.” After the bust’s arrival at the house, it was placed on the landing of the front stairway, where it would be visible to all who entered the house through the front door.

The bust is a plaster cast of a 1785 original sculpture by Jean-Antoine Houdon. Houdon, who had already established a reputation in Europe as a sculptor, traveled to the United States in 1785 to take up a commission from Virginia Governor Benjamin Harrison to create a statue of Washington to be installed in the Virginia State Capitol. Houdon spent two weeks accompanying and observing Washington, during which time he made a life mask of plaster, and a clay bust that was completed on the Mount Vernon estate and kept there by Washington. A life-sized marble statue was ultimately produced and installed in the Virginia Capitol in 1796 to fulfill the commission.

Henry W. Longfellow’s copy features classically inspired drapery around Washington’s shoulders and chest. It was one of many variations produced during the mid-nineteenth century for wealthy home owners. In addition to differing manners of dress, copies were created in marble, plaster (such as this one), or bronze, and came in a wide array of sizes. As evidenced by Fanny Longfellow’s 1844 journal entry, the bust came from London, which by then had several small companies creating copies of famous sculptures. American firms, such as the Caproni Company, did not start offering the same variety or quality of such items until later in the nineteenth century.

The Longfellow copy of Houdon’s Washington bust remained on the front stairs until 1877, when Henry moved it down to the first-floor front hall to make room for another furnishing. Henry wrote to his friend George Washington Greene to explain the change “When you come to Cambridge, you will find George Washington brought down from his station on the stairs, and standing in the hall below, where he can be better seen.” The bust remains there today.

 

View past Objects of the Month.