Gutzon Borglum (1867-1941) - Memorial Plaque

Normally I would not have purchased something like this - it does not fit within the scope of my collection, the condition is not all that good and the provenance is a little bit dicey. But I could not pass this up, given the low price, fame of the sculptor and uniqueness of the piece. Let's face it, how often does anyone get the opportunity to purchase a one of a kind work from one of America's most famous sculptors? Most people never even see something like this much less have the opportunity to own such a piece.

John Gutzon de la Mothe Borglum was already a famous sculptor by the time he began to carve the four presidents into Mt. Rushmore. He had already carved the head of Lincoln (now in the US Capitol crypt in Washington DC), sculpted statues of General Philip Sheridan (also in DC with a copy in Chicago as well) and had completed many monuments, including the statue of seated Abraham Lincoln, in the city of Newark, NJ. It is from one of these monuments that this plaque came.

This bronze plaque was created to commemorate the centennial of the adoption of the Newark city charter in 1936. It had been installed for many years on one of the many monuments that were sculpted by Borglum in that city (I'm told it was on the War Memorial). I can only assume that it was removed either to be repaired or replaced, but neither event happened. I purchased it from an antiques dealer who was helping liquidate the living estate of a very wealthy collector and hoarder who had owned it for many years. It is there that the provenance ends - this person has such a vast collection and is of such advanced age that how he acquired it has been lost to time. The condition is very weathered, with heavy oxidation and dirt coating the surface. There are five places on the plaque where the casting has holes (either from the casting being too thin, extra sand in the mold or the bronze not flowing properly). These holes had been patched over from the back with soldered on tabs of bronze. Two of these patches are missing, and this may be the reason it was removed. I can only assume that the original model was destroyed in the process of casting the bronze, or the foundry would have recast it and melted this one down. It does not show signs of having been pried off or removed by force, indeed aside from the weathering and missing patches it's in fine shape.

While not worth terribly much given the subject matter, this is a unique piece by a very famous sculptor. No one else has another!

Newark Charter Centennial Memorial Plaque by Gutzon Borglum, 1936

Newark Charter Centennial Memorial Plaque by Gutzon Borglum, 1936