Sculpture

Title:

New Hampshire Marine Memorial

Object Name:

Sculpture

Object ID:

2017.038

Creator:

Cosgrove, Alice (1909-1971)Artist

Place of Origin:

Concord, NH

Date:

circa 1955

Description:

Maquette (preliminary model) for New Hampshire Marine Memorial at Hampton Beach, NH, by Alice Cosgrove (1909-1971), Concord, NH, c. 1955. White plaster with tan paint. Figure of seated woman holding laurel wreath; head upturned. Three-tiered circular base. Middle tier has impressed lettering on front, "BREATHE SOFT YE WINDS"; and on back, "YE WAVES IN SILENCE REST".

Material:

Plaster

Dimensions:

H-17.4 Dia-8.1 inches

Provenance:

Model for the granite New Hampshire Marine Memorial at Hampton Beach, which was dedicated in 1957. Given to Mary Louise Hancock by the artist. According to Ms. Hancock, this is one of three copies of the model.

The model was used by sculptor Teodors Uzarins of Cambridge, MA, to make a life-size statue in clay at Caproni Galleries in Boston. The actual memorial is made of granite from the Swenson quarries in Concord, NH. It was carved by Vincenzo Andreani of Marr and Gordon Granite Works in Barre, VT. It is twelve feet high and six feet in diameter at the base.

The statue honors New Hampshire service members who died at sea in wartime. The words carved in its base were chosen by Alice Cosgrove, from the poem "An Epistle to a Lady" by John Gay, 1714. In describing the statue and those lost at sea, Alice Cosgrove said, "Reverently she lays a wreath upon the soft waters which embrace them. As she looks across the waters, she asks that the winds and waves be gentle, as a mother who covers her sleeping child at night."

Credit Line:

Bequest of Mary Louise Hancock

People:

Cosgrove, Alice (1909-1971)

Subjects:

Memorials, Statues, Laurel wreath, Maquettes, Modeling (Sculpture)