Cyrus Cobb (August 6, 1834 - January 29, 1903) was an American lawyer, sculptor, poet and musician.

Early years and education

Cyrus Cobb, twin brother of

Darius Cobb Darius Cobb (August 6, 1834 – April 23, 1919) was a noted American painter. Cobb was considered to be one of America's best painters during his lifetime, as well as a painter of society portraits, landscape, religious themes and historical cos ...

, the painter, was the son of Rev. Sylvanus Cobb, Universalist clergyman, and

Eunice Hale Waite Cobb Eunice Hale Cobb (, Waite; January 27, 1803 – May 2, 1880) was an American writer, public speaker, and activist. She was born in Kennebunk, Maine in 1803 and she married Rev. Sylvanus Cobb in Hallowell, Maine in 1822. She was a devoted and effic ...

, the writer. He was born in

Malden, Massachusetts Malden is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the time of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 66,263 people. History Malden, a hilly woodland area north of the Mystic River, was settled by Puritans in 1640 on la ...

, August 6, 1834. He was educated at the public schools, one of which was the Lyman School in

East Boston East Boston, nicknamed Eastie, is a neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts annexed by the city of Boston in 1637. Neighboring communities include Winthrop, Revere, and Chelsea. It is separated from the Boston neighborhood of Charlestown and do ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. He studied art in America, declining to go to Europe for the purpose lest he should thus lose sympathy with American ideals. He studied law in

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

Career

Cobb served in the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, and afterward wrote a book entitled, ''The Veteran of the Grand Army'', in vindication of the

Grand Army of the Republic The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army (United States Army), Union Navy (U.S. Navy), and the Marines who served in the American Civil War. It was founded in 1866 in Decatur, Il ...

, of which he was a devoted member. Cobb was admitted to the Suffolk bar in June 1873, and practiced law for six years. In 1879, he devoted himself to sculpture, and produced a number of important works, both portrait busts and monumental statuary. Among them were a heroic statue of Abbott Lawrence and a bust of Theodore Parker. His colossal head of ''The Celtic Bard'', his

bas relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

of ''Prospero and Miranda'', and his bust of General Butler, placed him in the front ranks of his profession. His design for the soldier's monument (1869) in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

was selected from 40 or more submitted to N. J. Bradlee, the noted architect, as incomparably the best. Cobb also painted several pictures. His best-known painting is ''Warren at the Old South'', painted in 1880, though his portraits of Dr. A. P. Peabody and John Appreton were esteemed. He was an accomplished musician and was frequently heard at concerts. He also wrote a series of sonnets on the Masters of Art, which were published.

Personal life

He married Emma Lillie, while his twin brother, Darius, married her sister, Laura M. Lillie. He and Emma had five children. She died . Cobb died at

Allston Allston is an officially recognized neighborhood within the City of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was named after the American painter and poet Washington Allston. It comprises the land covered by the zip code 02134. For the most part ...

, Massachusetts, on January 29, 1903.

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cobb, Cyrus 1834 births 1903 deaths 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century American sculptors 19th-century male artists 19th-century American writers 19th-century American musicians People from Malden, Massachusetts American twins Cobb family