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The Children of Prescott Hall Butler

1880–81; carved 1906–7
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 774
Saint-Gaudens modeled this portrait of Charles Stewart Butler (1876–1954) and Lawrence Smith Butler (1875–1954) as a surprise gift from the architect Stanford White to the boys’ father, Prescott Hall Butler, a New York lawyer. The brothers are dressed in Scottish Highland attire: jackets and pleated kilts, with sporrans hanging from their waists. The endless ribbon at the upper left is inscribed twice with a line from the first book of Virgil’s Aeneid: "DABIT DEVS HIS QVOQVE FINEM" (The god will bring an end to this, too). This carving was one of three portraits of children commissioned by the Metropolitan from Saint-Gaudens in 1905.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Children of Prescott Hall Butler
  • Artist: Augustus Saint-Gaudens (American, Dublin 1848–1907 Cornish, New Hampshire)
  • Carver: Carved by Piccirilli Brothers Marble Carving Studio (active 1893–1946)
  • Date: 1880–81; carved 1906–7
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Marble
  • Dimensions: 24 1/2 x 36 in., 161lb. (62.2 x 91.4 cm)
    Framed: 35 3/4 x 46 x 3 1/4 in. (90.8 x 116.8 x 8.3 cm)
  • Credit Line: Gift of Jacob H. Schiff, 1905
  • Object Number: 05.15.1
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Samuel Gray Ward, Augustus Saint-Gaudens American, Bronze, American
Samuel Gray Ward
Augustus Saint-Gaudens
1881, cast 1908
William Henry II and Cornelius Vanderbilt III, Augustus Saint-Gaudens American, Bronze, American
William Henry II and Cornelius Vanderbilt III
Augustus Saint-Gaudens
1882
The Children of Jacob H. Schiff, Augustus Saint-Gaudens American, Marble, American
The Children of Jacob H. Schiff
Augustus Saint-Gaudens
Piccirilli Brothers Marble Carving Studio
1884–85, carved 1906–7
Homer Schiff Saint-Gaudens, Augustus Saint-Gaudens American, Marble, American
Homer Schiff Saint-Gaudens
Augustus Saint-Gaudens
Piccirilli Brothers Marble Carving Studio
1882; carved 1906–7
Rodman de Kay Gilder, Augustus Saint-Gaudens American, Bronze, American
Rodman de Kay Gilder
Augustus Saint-Gaudens
1879, cast probably 1880

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