JANUARY FINE ESTATES CHARLESTON SC
Lot 134:
Description
Antique 1896 Fine Fire Etched Wood Panel Coat of Arms by James William Fosdick (American, 1858–1937). Measures 22"x29.5"x3". Weight 16 lbs. American artist and writer J. William Fosdick born 1858 in Charlestown, Masssachusetts learned about pyrography, when still a boy, thanks to two ‘poker-paintings’ by Ball Hughes acquired by his father. When he showed interest in how they were done and started experimenting himself, Ball Hughes’ widow Eliza (Wright) Ball Hughes invited him to her house in Dorchester, Massachusetts, and instructed him on what she knew about her late husband’s technique. As a young man, he studied first at the Museum of Fine Arts School in Boston and later at the Academie Julian in Paris from 1881–1888. In 1884, he interrupted his studies in Paris to take his first commission for the American architectural firm of McKim, Mead, and White. That first commission came as the result of a reference from Eliza Ball Hughe. His principal works are The Veneration of Saint Jeanne d’Arc, National Gallery of Fine Arts, Washington, Evans Collection. The 14 Stations of the Cross, Church Immaculate Conception, Waterbury, Connecticut. Reredos, Church of Saint Joan of Arc, Jackson Heights, Long Island Grand gold medal for mural decoration, “The Field of the Cloth of Gold, ” Atlanta Expedition Secretary National Society Mural Painters. President American Alumni of Julian Academy (Paris). J. William Fosdicks work can be found in The Smithsonian American Art Museum, Pennsylvania Academy Fine Arts, Saint Louis Museum and many others.
Condition: good
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