JAMES HENRY HASELTINE | BUST OF A YOUNG WOMAN, POSSIBLY LUCRETIA

Private collection, Denmark, since circa 1950;

the present owner

James Henry Haseltine came from a large, artistic Philadelphia family; the sculptor Herbert Haseltine was his nephew. He spent time in Paris before arriving in Rome in 1857 in the tradition of other American Neo-classicists such as Hiram Powers. On the outbreak of the Civil War he returned to Philadelphia and enlisted. As a Major with the 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment (also known as the Rush's Lancers) he participated in numerous battles including, most famously, Gettysburg in 1863. Shortly after the end of War in 1867, he returned to Rome where he set up a workshop and devoted himself to his passion for sculpture. He remained there until his death in 1907.

Haseltine became a member of the Union League of Philadelphia, founded in 1862, and it was his fellow League members who gave him the commission of a monument to soldiers and sailors lost in the war. He completed the monument, undoubtedly the sculptor's masterpiece, back in his Roman studio in 1867. The 72 inch figure of America Honoring her Fallen Brave now stands in the Union League of Philidelphia Club. A small number of reductions in bust form are known today, including one now in the Manchester Public Art Library and another that was offered for sale at Sotheby'’s London, 16 November 2006, lot 10 (£33,600).

Haseltines exhibited numerous works at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition: not only America Honoring Her Fallen Brave, but also Spring Flowers, Captivity and Lucretia. In these and, indeed, many other works from his oeuvre one can observe a harmonious juxtaposition between the reserved calm, nobility and poetic poignance of the protagonists along with a very high attention to detail and great precision in the handling of the tools.

These characteristics are perceptible on the present bust: it displays a subtle, natural, beauty but also an expression of deep sobriety. In terms of its composition there can be no doubt that America Honoring Her fallen Brave would have served as a compositional prototype and, while her identity does not appear to be entirely obvious, it is possible that given her downturned, solemn gaze and exposed breast she may be the aforementioned Lucretia.

RELATED LITERATURE

G. B. Opitz, Dictionary of American Sculptors, 1984, p. 174.