Daniel Chester French’s “The Four Continents”
- Introduction
- Sculpting the Four Continents
- Description of Asia
- Description of America
- Description of Europe
- Description of Africa
Introduction
Cass Gilbert, by contract, had the power to help design and choose the sculptural decoration for the Custom House. In his competition drawings of September 1899, he had envisioned four monumental seated figures, set high on pedestals, adorning the Bowling Green façade. By the third design phase, the figures had expanded into small groups of sculpture. As he had done in 1898 for the State Capitol of Minnesota, Gilbert asked both Augustus Saint-Gaudens and Daniel Chester French, the two leading Beaux-Arts sculptors, to contribute sculpture. When Saint-Gaudens refused due to the limited time frame, Gilbert asked French to undertake the entire project and French accepted.
Sculpting the Four Continents
Daniel Chester French went through a series of complex steps to create the massive sculptures seen at Bowling Green today. He first made small 7-inch sketches, which were then molded into quarter-sized models, not required by the contract but which helped French refine his vision. Then half-scale models were made to be used as the basis for the final carving done in white Tennessee marble. For each step, the clay was cast in plaster, photographed, and shipped to both Supervising Architect of the Treasury Department, John Knox Taylor, and Gilbert for approval. French began the project in the early spring of 1903. Working alongside assistants, specifically Adolph Alexander Weinman, at both his studio and Chesterwood, he continued to enlarge his works, changing them in design and detail during each step. By November 1904, he had three half-sized models ready. All of them were completed in September 1905. By the end of April 1906, French held a reception at his studio to display the half-sized models and to honor the completion of this phase.
The Tennessee marble, specifically bought to carve the final sculptures, arrived at the Piccirilli Brothers’ New York City carving studio in June 1906, after the deadline for completion, due to the slow and faulty delivery of marble. The carvers worked quickly and by late October all four were completed. In January 1907, one year after the deadline, the Continents were set in place on their pedestals. It took a few weeks to assemble them because they had been carved in pieces, along with the need for last minute changes. America’s head was thought to be too large for her body once installed. By the end of March 1907, the sculptures were fully installed.
Compositional similarities link the four groups. The main figure in each is an idealized, seated young woman, whose features are typical of a given national group, race, or an amalgam of the continent. Each is flanked and backed by symbolic representations, some stereotypical of the time and some holding special meaning for French. Europe and America are portrayed as active, capable, and intelligent. The figure of Asia is passive and withdrawn, and that of Africa somnolent and untried. The groups are intended to be viewed from all sides, but are presented as if meant to be seen from the front. All of the supporting figures are smaller than the main figures. French’s Four Continents portray the politics, religions, and culture of the given continent.
Description of Asia
To the far left of the entrance sits the central figure of Asia, a young woman representing introspective philosophy. She appears calm; eyes closed holding several religious emblems: an image of Buddha, a scroll of the Buddhist wheel of law, a lotus flower with a snake coiled around its stem, and a small cross of Christianity. She is draped in robes, with many necklaces adorning her covered neck. At the figure’s bare feet rest three skulls. A tiger, primitive but submissive, shares equal weight with the three enslaved figures of ignorance, superstition, and overpopulation, represented by a young kneeling boy, an old bound man and an undraped mother and child.
Description of America
To the immediate left of the entrance rests not a continent, but instead the representation of the Western Hemisphere—both North and South America. The seated, alert young woman holds the torch of Liberty, while stalks of corn lie in her lap. The figure of Labor crouches at her side, setting in motion a winged wheel of Fortune. In his other hand, Labor holds mechanical tools of knowledge: a magnet and a prism. Although intended to represent the whole hemisphere, the sculpture does not reference other nations and cultures in a positive manner, and mainly portrays the prosperity of the United States.
Description of Europe
To the immediate right of the entrance sits the feminine figure ‘Europe,’ crowned on a majestic throne. Her left arm lies on a large book that is on top of a globe representing earth. The back of her throne represents the front of a ship and atop sits a Roman Imperial eagle and a bishops’ crozier, typifying the pagan power of Rome and the subsequent domination of Christianity. On the side of the throne are reliefs of academic quotations, located on the right from the frieze of the Parthenon and on the left from a second century bas-relief of a running youth. Behind the main female sits an old, scholarly woman reading a book.
Description of Africa
To the far right of the entrance sits ‘Africa,’ sleeping on a natural rock as opposed to a throne, portraying the continent as dark or slumbering. Her hair rests on her shoulder in a braid. The semi-nude Africa, covered only waist down, seems both primitive and classical. Her arms are supported by a battered sphinx and an African lion. A hooded figure sits behind Africa, with only her eyes visible.
