Harriet Whitney Frishmuth 1880 - 1980

Private Collection, Cincinnati, Ohio, by 1950s
By descent in the family to the present owner, 1994 (her niece)

Beatrice Gilman Proske, Brookgreen Gardens Sculpture, Murrell's Inlet, South Carolina, 1968 ed., p. 224
Charles N. Aronson, Sculpted Hyacinths, New York, 1973, pp. 26, 107-109, 206, illustration of another example
Janis Conner and Joel Rosenkranz, Rediscoveries in American Sculpture: Studio Works 1893-1939, Austin, 1989, p. 410-41, p. 37, illustration of another example
Dick Kagan, "Sentinels of the Garden," Art at Auction, April 1996, p. 67
Janis Conner, Leah Rosenblatt Lehmbeck, Thayer Tolles, Captured Motion: The Sculpture of Harriet Whitney Frishmuth, A Catalogue of Works, New York, 2006, pp. 28-9, 37-8, 48, 66, 86, 200, 277, illustration of another example p. 236 

Good condition, plumbed as a fountain, repaired crack to left ankle, evidence of corrosion to hands and hair, repatinated.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Thayer Tolles writes: "Modeled in 1917, Joy of the Waters epitomizes Frishmuth's new vibrant expression of the female form in self-assured abandon. The sculpture was the collective brainchild of Frishmuth and Desha [Delteil], evidence that models often inspired Frishmuth's creative direction and decisions, Apparently one day when they were in the Sniffen Court studio, Frishmuth asked Desha what she would do if she were 'standing barefoot on a rock and a little cold ripple hit [her] foot,' Desha's leaping pose, struck in reaction to this imagined splash of water was the genesis for Joy" (Captured Motion: The Sculpture of Harriet Whitney Frishmuth, A Catalogue of Works, p. 28). Though Desha provided the inspiration, Janette Ransome was the model for Joy of the Waters, which was first cast in 1920.