1898 Augustus Saint-Gaudens Bas-Relief Portrait Plaque. Bronze Foundry Cast, 22 x 18.8 cm. By Helen Farnsworth Mears. Baxter-214 (<em>The Beaux-Arts Medal in America</em>), Dryfhout page 14, C29 var. Uncirculated. Half-length study of the sculptor at age 50, facing left with the model of his famous equestrian statue of General William Tecumseh Sherman in the background. The sculptor is portrayed at the height of his powers in open coat, vest and bow tie, under a relief inscription <em>AVGVSTVS SAINT GAVDENS SCVLPTOR AETATIS L/ HELEN MEARS FECIT - PARIS MDCCCXCVIII</em>. At right base is the incuse inscription COPYRIGHTED 1916/ BY MARY MEARS , and GORHAM CO FOUNDERS/ QAJX is stamped along the bottom edge of the plaque. This is a rugged study that is one of the mere handful of Saint-Gaudens portraits known, finished only nine years before his death and seldom encountered on the numismatic market. Splendid deep gold patina accentuates the appeal of the rough-textured surfaces and irregular borders. The back bears four integral screw posts for mounting and an integral hanger. Helen Farnsworth Mears was born in Oshkosh, Wisconsin in 1876. She studied with sculptor Lorado Taft at the Art Institute of Chicago, and created her sculpture <em>The Genius of Wisconsin</em> for the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893. She went to New York City in 1894 for a year of intense study and work with the greatest American sculptor, Augustus Saint-Gaudens at the Art Students League, where she became one of his first female assistants. She proceeded to Paris study with Alexandre Charpentier, Collin and Merson at the Académie Vitti and under Puech at Académie Julien. Possibly her most notable achievement in Paris was this bas-relief of Saint-Gaudens, the design of which was executed while she was an assistant to Saint-Gaudens and working on his famous Sherman Monument that occupies the background of this plaque. In Barbara Baxter’s words, “Like many of Saint-Gaudens’ own portrait reliefs, this piece, with its lively, textured surface, has the feeling of a quick sketch, catching the subject in an intimate pose.” Mears returned to New York in 1898 and pursued an active career until her death in 1916. Her sister Mary did much to assure her artistic legacy, and it is she who had this plaque cast by Gorham after Helen’s death. A small number are known in private collections and museums, including an example with emerald green patina at the American Numismatic Society, an oversize (58.4x49.2 cm) bronze variant at the Baltimore Art Museum, and the abbreviated version that includes only the designs from the top edge down to Saint-Gaudens’ chest that is at the Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site. An example of the plaque in its entirety as offered here was one of the works exhibited by Helen Mears at the March 1910 <em>International Exhibition of Contemporary Medals</em> held by the American Numismatic Society. The plaque is one of only 7 different bas-relief or medallic portraits of Saint-Gaudens created both during his lifetime as well as posthumously, as enumerated in the description of the large size portrait plaque by John Flanagan of Saint-Gaudens also in this auction. We could not locate any recent auction sales of this plaque, though an online search located a circa 2016 offering of one of these plaques mounted on mahogany by sculpture dealer Conner-Rosenkranz.
