A handwritten note dated May 4, 1977, stating that the bust of John Brown may have been stolen in 1952. There are no records on this, but it is likely the bust was simply misplaced.
Photograph of Brackett's bust of John Brown showing a 3D-printed plastic replacement nose. With the plastic nose, conservators were able to make a cast and then a new plaster nose. This photograph was taken in 2016 as the bust was being restored.
Attribution:
Brackett, Edward Augustus
Attribution Statement:
Image courtesy of the Tufts University Permanent Collection
Marble bust of George L. Stearns by Samuel Morse prior to its restoration in 2016. This bust was commissioned in 1879 by Mary Stearns, George's widow, to place in their home on their estate in Medford, Massachusetts.
Attribution:
Morse, Samuel
Attribution Statement:
Image courtesy of the Tufts University Permanent Collection
Photograph of Brackett's bust of John Brown showing damage to nose and eyebrow. This photograph was taken in May 2016 prior to the bust's complete restoration.
Attribution:
Brackett, Edward Augustus
Attribution Statement:
Image courtesy of the Tufts University Permanent Collection
Marble bust of Robert Gould Shaw sculpted by Edmonia Lewis, 1864. On the base it reads "Martyr for Freedom." About a hundred plaster copies of this bust were sold in 1864.
Attribution:
Lewis, Edmonia
Attribution Statement:
Image courtesy of the Museum of African American History, Boston and Nantucket, Massachusetts, USA
Cabinet card featuring the John Brown bust owned by Mary E. Stearns. This cabinet card was printed by Litchfield Studios in Arlington, MA. A handwritten note on the back of the card reads, "John Brown. From the Bust taken while awaiting Execution in the Virginia Prison, by order of Mrs. George L. Stearns, October 1859. This is the only marble Bust of the Martyr, at present writing - 1919 - in the world. It was only secured by the earnest entreaty of Mrs. Stearns, for whom, and his faithful friend Mr. Stearns, he cherished warm regard. E. A. Brackett, Sculptor."
Cabinet card featuring the John Brown bust owned by Mary E. Stearns. The photograph used for the card was printed by W. Shaw Warren of Cambridgeport, Cambridge, MA.
Attribution:
Warren, W. Shaw
Attribution Statement:
The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs, Photography Collection, The New York Public Library
A tech from 3D Printsmith 3D-scanning both the damaged bust of John Brown and an undamaged plaster copy from the Boston Athenaeum. This was done in order to prepare an exact, 3D-printed copy of the nose and eyebrow for the damaged bust. This photograph was taken in May 2016.
Attribution Statement:
Image courtesy of the Tufts University Permanent Collection
Card with the A. C. Russell woodcut of the bust of John Brown (by Edward A. Brackett) and a statement by Brown given to George L. Stearns in Medford, 1857: "Mr. Stearns, I consider the Golden Rule and the Declaration of Independence one and inseparable." On the reverse is a handwritten note that the bust was owned by Mrs. Mary Stearns regarding the bust's creation: Wood- cut of the Bust of John Brown in the possession of Mrs. Stearns - the only one in the world. It was taken by her order while awaiting execution in the Virginia Prison, October 1859."
Attribution Statement:
Image courtesy of the West Virginia State Archives, John Brown/Boyd B. Stutler Collection
Letter from Tufts College president Leonard Carmichael to George R. Sands & Son, a conservator in Cambridge, 1950. It was this letter that allowed Tufts University Art Registrar Laura McDonald to put two and two together and realize the noseless bust was that of John Brown. The letter reads, "Gentlemen: Tufts College has a marble bust of John Brown, sculptured by Edward A. Brackett. Some time ago in an accident the nose was broken on this bust. Would it be possible for someone in your organization using contemporary photographs of John Brown to prepare a new nose that could be cemented to the bust? If this is feasible, would you be willing to indicate the cost of your work? Very truly yours, Leonard Carmichael"
A list of objects to be delivered to Fine Arts Express by the Tufts University Gallery in September 1998. The first two in the list are the busts of John Brown and George L. Stearns, at that point identified only as "Bust of a bearded man" and "Bust of a man."
Attribution Statement:
Courtesy of the Tufts University Permanent Art Collection
Excerpts from the handwritten will of Mary E. Stearns, who died in December 1901. The excepts itemize a number of specific objects in her house that she would like to be donated to Tufts College after her sons are finished with them. The text reads, "Also to hold for the use and enjoyment of the said Henry during his life the following described articles of personal property situated in the house where I now reside namely: my tall "grandfather's clock" on the front stairway, the "highboy," the cabinet, the tripod table, the old English mirror, all the old-fashioned chairs which belonged to my deceased husband, the bust of John Brown, the bust of George L. Stearns, the bust of Beethoven, the bust of Emerson, the bust of Clytie, the Venus of Milo, and the several paintings painted by my old friend Christopher P. Cranch, excepting only the one hereinbefore given to Lenora Cranch Scott, said articles all to be kept, preserved and used by him during his life in the house where I now live and not elsewhere."
The busts of John Brown (by Edward A. Brackett) and George L. Stearns (by Samuel Morse) on display in the Tisch Library at Tufts University in 2017. Photograph taken August 16, 2017.
The busts of John Brown (by Edward A. Brackett) and George L. Stearns (by Samuel Morse) on display in the Tisch Library. Photograph taken August 16, 2017.