Artwork Highlight

An American Eagle

by

Harriet Whitney Frishmuth



Harriet W. Frishmuth (American, 1880-1980)

Spread Eagle, 1910

Bronze, brown patina

9 H. x 23 ¾ W. x 14 ½ D. inches

Signed on base: Copyrighted / Harriet Frishmuth

Stamped on base: 3 / GORHAM CO. FOUNDERS

Early in her career, while Harriet Frishmuth worked as an assistant in the studio of Gutzon Borglum, she experimented with modeling animals. This eagle composition from 1910 was her first commercial animal sculpture, one whose success led to a commission for a second eagle: a variant for Jacob Ruppert with raised wings that paralleled his Knickerbocker Beer logo. Ruppert ran a successful multigenerational brewery on New York's Upper East Side until 1965, and he was also known as the New York Yankees owner who "bought" Babe Ruth from the Red Sox in 1919.

Jacob Ruppert Brewery was in business from the mid-19th century until 1965. The company's logo featured an eagle with wings spread, much like Frishmuth's second model.

Frishmuth completed her series of eagles with a third version in 1914. Having proven her proficiency in modeling this American symbol, Frishmuth continued to develop her human figure sculptures, which she focused on for the rest of her exceptionally successful career of more than 40 years.

Spread Eagle on display at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts 106th Annual Exhibition, 1911. Credit: PAFA Archives

Where to find us this season

Join us for the annual Madison Avenue Fall Gallery Walk, Saturday, October 3rd. We will be open from 11am to 5pm.



Graham Shay will be exhibiting at the 63rd Annual Delaware Antiques Show, hosted by Winterthur Museum, Garden, and Library.

November 6–8 | A Collector’s Preview, November 5 | Chase Center | Wilmington, Delaware

GRAHAM SHAY 1857

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New York, NY 10065

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