''Four Continents'' is the collective name of four sculptures by
Daniel Chester French
Daniel Chester French (April 20, 1850 – October 7, 1931) was an American sculptor of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, best known for his 1874 sculpture ''The Minute Man'' in Concord, Massachusetts, and his 1920 monume ...
, installed outside the
Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House
The Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House (originally the New York Custom House) is a government building, museum, and former custom house at 1 Bowling Green, near the southern end of Manhattan in New York City, United States. Designed by Cas ...
at
Bowling Green
A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls.
Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep on ...
in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
, New York City. French performed the commissions with associate
Adolph A. Weinman.
[; ; ]
Description and history
The work was made of marble
and sculpted by the
Piccirilli Brothers
The Piccirilli brothers were an Italian family of renowned marble carvers and sculptors who carved many of the most significant marble sculptures in the United States, including Daniel Chester French’s colossal ''Abraham Lincoln'' (1920) in the ...
,
[; ] with each sculptural group costing $13,500 ().
The sculptures were first shown to the public in 1905.
From east to west, the statues depict larger-than-life-size
personification
Personification occurs when a thing or abstraction is represented as a person, in literature or art, as a type of anthropomorphic metaphor. The type of personification discussed here excludes passing literary effects such as "Shadows hold their b ...
s of Asia, America, Europe, and Africa.
The primary figures are female, but there are also auxiliary human figures flanking each primary figure. In addition, Asia's figure is paired with a tiger, and Africa's figure is paired with a lion.
Gallery
File:Sculpture "Asia" at main entrance to Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House, New York, New York LCCN2010720093.tif, ''Asia''
File:Sculpture "America" at main entrance to Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House, New York, New York LCCN2010720091.tif, ''America''
File:New York City, May 2014 - 044.JPG, ''Europe''
File:Sculpture "Africa" at main entrance to Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House, New York, New York LCCN2010720095.tif, ''Africa''
See also
*
Public sculptures by Daniel Chester French
Daniel Chester French (1850–1931) was an American sculptor who was active in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. He was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, to Anne Richardson French and Henry Flagg French on April 20, 1850. His father, a polyma ...
References
External links
*
* ''The Four Continents'' at Waymarking
AfricaAmericaAsiaEurope
Allegorical sculptures in New York City
Bowling Green (New York City)
Financial District, Manhattan
Marble sculptures in the United States
Outdoor sculptures in Manhattan
Sculptures by Daniel Chester French
Sculptures carved by the Piccirilli Brothers
Sculptures of lions
Sculptures of women in New York City
Statues in New York City
Tigers in art
Personifications of continents
Skulls in art
1900s sculptures
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