1865 Portrait Medallion of Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant. By Franklin B. Simmons. Bronze. Choice Extremely Fine. Approximately 28 inches overall; bronze, 22 inches. Marked on the truncation: U.S. GRANT LIEUT GEN 1865 at left, and WM MILLER & CO METALLISTS / PROVIDENCE RI / F SIMMONS SCULP, at right, in three lines. Marked on the back of the truncation, PATENT / APPLIED FOR. These are all in individual letter punches. The bronze is constructed of two parts, the portrait bust which was individually cast and then screw-mounted to the bronze or copper back panel. The bronze is lightly patinated, but generally golden and reddish brown, with circular brush-stroke like rings around the surface of the panel. Beautifully housed in the original circular walnut frame, with plain gilt fillet. The fillet is cracked and separated in a few places, likely the result of contraction of the material, but it is all present and the breaks have little effect on the impressive appearance overall. The frame is glossy, with an attractive mahogany tone. Just a few relatively minor surface marks are noted on the wood, while a minor oxidation spot is seen below the bust.<p>An incredibly impressive and historic large size work that is both beautifully produced and preserved. While our images are the best we can offer in the formats available, both this and the Sheridan medallion offered in the next lot are rather stunning in person. An example of this plaque remains in the collection of the Union League of Philadelphia, but it is framed with two other medallions of the series in a large rectangular wood frame. The framing style seen here matches others in the Union League holdings, but there were at least two of the U.S. Grant castings produced by the foundry. Unfortunately we have no further history on this particular piece, other than the clear fact that it has been a mate to the Sheridan plaque offered below on some shared historical path since 1865.<p>Grant was promoted to Lieutenant General on March 2, 1864, and placed in control of the entire Union Army, a degree of rank only used previously for George Washington during the American Revolution. On July 25, 1866, Grants rank was changed to General of the Army of the United States, the first person to carry that title. After Grants promotion to Lieutenant General, he was stationed near Washington D.C., which would have provided opportunities for him to sit for Simmons in Washington for this bronze. More than any other two men, Grant and Philip Sheridan are credited with the victories that led to the April 1865 surrender of General Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Court House Virginia, so it is perhaps this detail that ties together these two particular examples from the National Bronze Picture Gallery.<p><p><p><strong>The National Bronze Picture Gallery</strong><p>This series of substantial bronze portraits was conceived by William H. Miller, owner of William H. Miller & Sons Foundry, in Providence, Rhode Island. In 1864, as the Civil War raged, Miller commissioned Maine sculptor, Franklin B. Simmons to produce a series of bronze portrait reliefs featuring Abraham Lincoln, his cabinet, and significant Union generals. Simmons moved to Washington D.C. to work on the project, reportedly drawing from life all or most of the distinguished persons he would eventually fashion into bronze. Most accounts suggest the series was 24 portraits, though the Union League of Philadelphia website gives the number as 31. The complete series was finished in 1865, and was titled the <em>National Bronze Picture Gallery. </em>Again according to the Union League, the series of portraits was "exhibited in several northern cities including New York City, Chicago and Philadelphia, where the medallions were displayed at the Great Fair in Honor of the Soldiers and Sailors Home held at the Academy of Music between October 23 and November 4, 1865<em>." </em>The two pieces offered here are from this impressive series, and make clear that Simmons skill was substantial. As per the marks on these pieces, the castings themselves were almost certainly done at the Miller foundry.<p>Franklin B. Simmons was an accomplished sculptor of portraits and life-size figures, born in 1839 near Lewiston, Maine where he grew up. He studied painting for a short time under John Bradley Hudson, Jr., but later shifted his focus to sculpture, which he found much more to his liking. He expanded his skill in sculpture under the tutelage of John Adams Jackson, in Boston, before returning to Lewiston, where he opened his first studio. While in Washington for the work on this series, Simmons sculpted a marble bust of William Tecumseh Sherman, now in the collection of the San Francisco Museum of Art. After completing his work in Washington, Simmons returned to Maine where he accomplished the first life-size portrait statue in the state, that of Union Major General and son of Maine, Hiram Berry, who had been killed in battle at Chancellorsville. He was commissioned by the state of Rhode Island to create another life-size figure, that of Providence Plantations founder, Roger Williams, which is displayed in the United States Capitols Statuary Hall.<p>Having taken an interest in classical sculpture, he relocated to Rome in 1868, where he largely lived out the rest of his life, with occasional return trips to the United States. He died there in 1913. Many of the bronzes from the National Bronze Picture Gallery are owned by the Union League of Philadelphia, to which they were donated or sold (accounts vary) in the 1860s by William H. Miller. Other works by him are in the Portland Museum of Art, United States Naval Academy, Washington Memorial Chapel at Valley Forge, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and other institutions. Several works, in addition to the Roger Williams marble, can be found at the United States Capitol Complex.<p>The works of the National Bronze Picture Gallery owned by the Union League of Philadelphia are as follows: Abraham Lincoln, Salmon P. Chase, William H. Seward, Christopher C. Augur, Nathanial P. Banks, Ambrose Burnside, Benjamin F. Butler, Abner Doubleday, Ulysses S. Grant; Winfield S. Hancock; Joseph Hooker, George Gordon Meade, Alexander S. Webb, Horatio Gouverneur Wright and John Grubb Parke.
