The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, July 10, 1898, Page 17

IXTY-FIVE years ago, when the world was younger and, according to sons, fairer, purer, goodlier, godlier, ar 1togeth ter i ndrew Edwards cam ] ive in it 1y, Morton it to take his portion of its sweets and sours. t TC s urrounding his arrival were pr the family pr He w an who forsook his native sh and returned to London member of the ¥ it K gton Palace to tl the Third. Dying, he beq it for his gentlema down to h w, Morton / vy man of ing freeman of sperou ndscapes stock broking b d with the older Rothschild and out of which he f ed by heredity of the family gift it son. He gave freely to its cultivation. 3 irteen, zood old English fashion, at the s and at the expir of ) in the Lo and of their Royal Acz ions, and jer the famous Behnes, that modeler in ex d titles, Sir Thomas Lawrence of sculptors, gentle whose block came the grac heads of the larence, York and Cumberland, the . and her ) a the Duchess of and all the \d the wr Barons, Cour dames, damc and litt tion of all these great pe: ble, bronze and plaster, Morton Andrew jntinent like his great-grandfather before him t K s. He went first to the stud chill influence of the frigid teachings of the master of color in sculp- nd other painted gods, learhed the false marble and makes human the divinities of rs never quite recovered from the fever caught gs over Europe, and the fruits of thes Institut Socie xhib the Royal Academys, the , 1 th , so that while he worked abroad through Italy, F B m ria, Austria, Switzerland, Holland, Germany and S putation got home to London and made his coming a matter aportance. Ar even in the bosom of its own family and blood v, his father, who had patronized his son’s gift .ctfully in its brilliant young manhood, and invited it the paternal roof at 5 George Street, Hanover n Andr Jdwards had his first studio in London, m ou with him nd her fo Queen Victoria, was pleased to sit to him in the Royal bust—which may be seen any day at Windsor by any- of the Palace doors. And after his Royal Mamma . of Wales, in his uniform of the Tenth Hussars, to E s for a bust of himself to be exe- mple Hall. about in Court circles ‘and then mentioned Morning Post, the Art Student, the Art the the Telegraph and the Wales had expressed themselves as -ss and the spirited execution of the o Middle Temple Hall by Mortca An- invited the artist to a private audi- rethe gentle Princess and idol of the Eng- hand and accepted from him a min- as to grace the Middle Temple Hall, vy Morton Andrew Edwards was fairly the Army, the Navy, the Church, the ir ran like sheep to the doors of No. 5 George ence lish 1 jature in P then the f set in Lon State, the : for duplicates of the bust of H. R. H., Prince of Wales, th Hussars, for the Town Hall, Toronto, Canada, t Somerset House, for the Guards Club, Arts, London; orders came here for the >s of celebrities, dead and alive; for the busts, in marble and in bronze, of all sorts of compara- rsons who burned to figure in the fashion along with in his uniform for the Civil the Art Union heads, bust and full le figures and medallio tively insignific the titled and the g And perhaps in the flush of worldly success and the broad glare ,of swift popularity the artist slipped away from the old ideals the doubtful hopes and loving fears, the proud h the passionate desire, with which youth approaches the feet of ping Diana conceived in Rome slept on half modeled in her clay. £roup of joyous Bacchantes gathered dust on their plaster curls in a c er of the studlo. A hundred fancies born along the W the master's .feet have worn smooth, in the shadow of great work mong the gods of Gre d away to wait for the hour and the Inspiration, while good Queen Anne and John of Marlborough were finished in bronze for Blenheim Palace 1d after them the First larl of Stanhope in marble for Chevering Hall in Kent: and ° after him Dr. Talt, Archbishop of Canterbury, for Lambeth Pal. ace; a bronze of Thomas Clarkson, abolitionist, for Wisbeach Museum; a marble of Sir James Gordon, K. C. B., last Goy- ernor of Greenwich Hospital; and after these liken in bronze and marble, busts, full length figures and medallions, respectively, of Lord Chief Kelly; Lord Chief Justice Cockburn, Field M shal Lord Combermere, Gold Stick in Wait- ing, Colonel of First Life Guards and High Constable of the Tower; Dr. Jackson, Bishop of London; Lord Palmerston for Tivering Town Hall; the Right Honor- able W. E. Gladstone; Benjamin Dis- raell, Lord Beaconsfield; Cardinal Man- ning, John Bright, Chevalier Bronson, the Earl of “apar Fiferline, N. B.; the Duke of Wel- lington; nce Peel, Mr. Pea- body, Lord John Manners and Richard Cobden, Lord Lyndhurst; and some greater an r men, but all v, crowdi paying, fashionable folk in wonderfully fine uniforms and wigs and gowns who came in great coach to be modeled by Morton An- drew Edwards, or sent their card by por 1s men in livery, before whom Art ed away on sweet, bare feet and cume no more to No. 5 George Street, Hanover Square. About this time the “Illustrated News Of Trhe World And Drawing Room Portrait Gallery Of Eminent Person- ted its first page and a column or so JF its second to “a brief biography of the famous young sculp- Mr. Morton Andrew Edwards,” and an illustration of his studio, wherein the artist, sutrounded by his works of art—=the bust of H. R. H. in the center —was depicted in the act of receiving visitors in the frock coats and Paisley shawls of the period, while bloused ap- prentices worked in the background and a private sedretary scribbled bus- fly at his desk, doubtless answering the letters of distiaguished personages. And presently the studio at No. § FESS - SN DN “THE CENTRAL FIGURE WAS OF FORTUNE, WITH THE HORN-OF PLENTY AT = 4 George St Square, grew too small to hold the heads and busts and life-si of all who came to be modeled by Morton Andrew Edwards, he v cculptor built unto himself an atelier and a house of h ton, furnished it with the entire Behnes collection, then offe le and at a and with such other matte ment > suited to his taste and means, and after a few > and studio for twenty thou- s: nt in a more central part of Lon- t, Hanover \d pounds a nd le: do: he was elected a member of the Society of Arts. In 1862 he was ntors of the International bition in London; in nding the Sgciety of Sculpto became its Honorary In the same year he purchased and edited yme time contributed largely to its pages. In » continued to execute statues, busts, groups, to the number of many hundreds, exhibiting constantly at the Society itutes, the F Academies, the So- ciety of British Artists and the Tondon Internations and receiving in addi- tgon to la compe on for wor medals in gold, silver and bronze, prizes and honorable mentions innun In 6 he went on the Continent for a hereditary rheumatic trouble, aggravated by i ence. The Court Circular kepta journal of b voyage. Distinguished mages had to get t 1selves photographed wh.le he was abroad. They 2ged him with fresh orders on his return. He picked and chose among them, as was now his privilege to do, and refused more sitting than he 1 made one of the Gua 1864 he assiSted in fo health, which was broken by studio work. London deplored granted. In 1878 he married a beautiful Welsh girl and revived hi§ memories of Greek art. His sleeping Diana was finished and sent that year to the In- ternational hib! His Bacchanal group was taken from its corner, dusted and replaced, and a chaste and noble figure of Charity conceived, exe- cuted and sold to the Canadian Government to be placed in a public square. It was followed by several smaller s in marble, delicate, graceful, ten- der, humorous, appy, Tanagra-li Then came an Aphrodite in colored e shown at t val Academy and purchased by the De- tment of Sciences and Arts for the South Kensington Museum. At the Society 1 e he showed several statuettes in Parian of exquisite delicacy and a beautiful draped figure of a woman with a little child at her breast and a lamb at her feet, to which he gave no name and for which he would ac e. A figure of Hermione in tinted marble, exhibited at the Royal Acac of the following year, he also refus to sell. He had reached that heaven of the artist wherein he might p his best for himself. his health failed again and London society and London axhibitions knew him no more. Distinguished personages knocked hibitions knew him no more. Pistinguished personages knocked at his doors in vain. Morton Andrew Edwards had lost his taste for distin- guished persona . It is not recorded of him that hefounditagain until he came to California and modeled the features of Miss Jennie Flood. In the year 1886, James C. Flood erected in San Francisco two monuments to that w th which had made his name known in the land from which he wrested his possessions—one, a family resi- dence at the corner of Mason and California streets, and one, an office building, at the corner of Market and Fourth. At the suggestion of his architect, Augustus Laver, Mr. Flood de- cided to decorate his residence with ornamental urns and his office building with groups of statuary which should ade- quately represent his interests in the wheat, wine and gold products of the State. For the larger of the groups Mr. Laver suggested a central figure of Fortune, with the horn of Plenty at her feet, Bacchus to her right hand and Ceres to her left, and it was decided that the features of the sentral figure of Fortune should in some measure re- semble the features of Jennie, the only daughter of the house of Flood. At this time Morton Andrew Edwards was so- Journing in San Francisco. He had paused to tarry for a night on his way around the world and been advised by cable from England of the loss of his fortune, swept away by the failur e of certain companies in which it was invested. His letters of credit, amounting to a few thousand dollars, such of his personal belongings as his trunks car- ried, and what could be realized from the sale of his furniture and effects in London, represented all his assets. Hearing that statuary would be re- quired for the Flood dwelling and office building, he d on Augustus Laver, architect for J. s L. Fiood, and put in a bid to furnish it. Mr. Laver asked for some guarantee of ability. Unfor- tunately, Mr. Edwards had not a copy of “The London Illustrated News And Drawing Room Portrait Gallery Of Eminent Personages” in his pocket. He offered to submit designs in accordance with suggestions from Mr. Laver. These designs were finished, submitted and offered, and on the fourteenth of July, 1886, a contract was entered into between Conlin & Roberts, Metal Cor- nice contractors, parties of the first part, and Morton A. Edwards, party of the second part, whereby Morton A. Edwards did agree to design and exe- cute in clay and plaslcr, two groups of statuary, together with all the white metal castings that might be necessary for the proper execution of said two groups of statuary, and place the same in position with the necessary bolts, braces and fasternings on designated points of James C. Flood's building, then in course of erection at the south- west corner of Market and Fourth streets, in the City and County of San , Francisco, State of California—all of said work to be done to the entire sat- isfaction of the architect, Augustus Laver, and Conlin & Roberts, contrac- tors, for the sum of Three Thousand Four Hundred and Fifty ($3450) Dol- lars in United States Gold Coin, in pay- ments to be made as follows: First—On completion of group of three figures in clay and approved by the architect—S$300. Second—On compietion of first and second groups in plaster—$1000. Third—On "delivery of white metal casting at the building—$1000. Fourth—On setting of first group in position to satisfaction of architect— $500. Fifth—On setting of second group in position and completion of entire work and its acceptance by architect—$850. The above work to be completed on or before the 31st of December, 1886. This contract was regular in form, legal in expression, binding in particu- lar. On the strength of it Morton An- drew . Edwards invested :all the money he had in the necessary preparations for the work. Finding no studio in San Francisco large enough for the purposes of modeling on the heroic scale, he rented a stable in the vicinity of Lar- kin and California streets, and had the roof raised, fitted it with studio lights, purchased the requisite number of tons of clay and barrels of plaster, weights of iron and of zinc, ordered various ap- Continued on Page Twenty-slx.