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Thomas Crawford

Morning Star

Description

Maker

Thomas Crawford (American, 1814-1857)

Title

Morning Star

Year

1856

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

white marble

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of Mrs. C. Oliver Iselin

Object Number

42.299

Type

Projects & Publications

Publications

Articles

Teaching a Stone to Talk

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Making It In America
Oct 11, 2013 – Feb 09, 2014

Label copy

Morning Star combines the mythological and astrological identities of Venus and personifies love, beauty, and fertility. Gowned in clinging drapery, the goddess rises from the sea and lifts one arm to shield her eyes from the sun. The star on her forehead is emblematic of the planet Venus, which shines brightest at daybreak and sunset.

Crawford was the first American sculptor to settle permanently in Rome, where he studied antique and live models. The majority of his sculptures, whether private commissions or public monuments, were intended for American audiences; this included Morning Star, which was owned by the coal, iron, and banking investor Adrian Georg Iselin.

Thomas Crawford brought a block of marble to life, beginning with a model made as a map for use throughout the carving process. Dimensions and scale were transferred to the stone using measuring instruments. Then, with masterly blows of mallet to chisel, stone was removed to release the figure inside. Chisels have been the same for hundreds of years: point chisel for form, toothed chisel for shaping, flat chisel and rasp for finishing.

With a conscious play of light and dark, Crawford turned stone into something fluid. The lift of the figure’s fingers and the drapery that surrounds her head and defines her body add to this lightness, as if she were moving.

Tracy Mahaffey, stone carver

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This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Thomas Crawford (American, 1814-1857)
Morning Star, 1856
Marble
Gift of Mrs. C. Oliver Iselin 42.299

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