THE NATIONAL BRONZE PICTURE GALLERY

Portrait Medallion of Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant.

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 National Bronze Picture Gallery. 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." 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.

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 Capitol's Statuary Hall.

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.

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.

To read the lot descriptions, see:
1865 Portrait Medallion of Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant. By Franklin B. Simmons. Bronze. Choice Extremely Fine. (https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/lots/view/3-RELU9/1865-portrait-medallion-of-lieutenant-general-ulysses-s-grant-by-franklin-b-simmons-bronze-choice-extremely-fine)
1865 Portrait Medallion of Major General Philip Henry Sheridan. By Franklin B. Simmons. Bronze. Choice Extremely Fine. (https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/lots/view/3-RELUI/1865-portrait-medallion-of-major-general-philip-henry-sheridan-by-franklin-b-simmons-bronze-choice-extremely-fine)

William H. Seward, Abner Doubleday

Wall-mounted medallions of Abner Doubleday, Ulysses S. Grant, and William H. Seward

The Union League of Philadelphia

I am not aware of any write-up on these medals, but have no doubt it exists somewhere, possibly in the third annual report of the Union League of Philadelphia. Here are links for a few things that might be of interest.

There was an article on the sculptor, Franklin Simmons in The International Studio in 1905, vol. 25 There is no mention of the plaques, but other work is shown. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044039107198&view=1up&seq=350

A few other links
https://www.spellmangallery.com/artists/franklin-w-simmons

American Sculpture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Vol. I, A Catalogue of Works by Artists Born Before 1865, edited by Thayer Tolles, pp. 179-181

This consists of two volumes, and they are fantastic. It has a brief mention of the plaques.

There are several works by Simmons, including two plaques, in the collection of the Bowdoin College Museum of Art.
https://artmuseum.bowdoin.edu/objects-1/thumbnails?records=40&query=mfs%20all%20%22franklin%20simmons%22&sort=0

For more information, see:
Large medallion with relief of William Henry Seward profile in wooden frame (https://ulheritagecenter.pastperfectonline.com/webobject/C269FCE4-9980-4C3A-9BE2-857487915465)
Large medallion with relief of Abner Doubleday profile in wooden frame. (https://ulheritagecenter.pastperfectonline.com/webobject/30FACF0E-4F90-4757-BED0-449368301343)
https://www.unionleague.org/

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web