Object Details
Artist
Harriet Hosmer, born Watertown, MA 1830-died Watertown, MA 1908
Luce Center Label
Harriet Hosmer created Puck out of financial necessity when her father could no longer support her in Rome. Literary themes were popular in the nineteenth century, and Hosmer chose the mischievous but adorable fairy from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Puck---or “my son,” as Hosmer called him---was an instant success with the aristocracy, including Albert Edward, the Prince of Wales and the crown princess of Germany, who, upon seeing the work, remarked, “Oh, Miss Hosmer, you have such talent for toes!”
Luce Object Quote
“I have another order for Puck; he has already brought me his weight in silver.” Harriet Hosmer, in Cornelia Crow Carr, ed., Harriet Hosmer: Letters and Memories, 1913
Credit Line
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. George Merrill
Date
modeled 1854, carved 1856
Object number
1918.3.5
Restrictions & Rights
CC0
Type
Sculpture
Medium
marble
Dimensions
30 1/2 x 16 5/8 x 19 5/8 in. (77.5 x 42.1 x 49.9 cm.)
See more items in
Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
Department
Painting and Sculpture
Data Source
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Topic
Fantasy\winged being
Figure male\child\nude
Literature\Shakespeare\Midsummer Night's Dream
Literature\character\Puck
Landscape\plant\mushroom
Link to Original Record
Record ID
saam_1918.3.5