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Preparedness

Founder Cast by Griffoul American
1915–16, cast 1916
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 774
Bartlett was said to have begun this statuette of an American eagle the day after the sinking of the Lusitania on May 7, 1915. The artist was an advocate of the preparedness movement, in which increasing numbers of Americans favored military preparation for World War I. “Preparedness”, modeled by early 1916, is the most overt proclamation among Bartlett’s works of his sympathies with the Allied cause. The stately, but loosely modeled bird is perched atop a rounded mass with a shield in front and a banner imprinted “Preparedness.” By April 1916, Bartlett had received a number of orders for bronze replicas. Casts were produced both in Newark, New Jersey, as in the case of the Metropolitan’s bronze, and in Paris.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Preparedness
  • Artist: Paul Wayland Bartlett (American, New Haven, Connecticut 1865–1925 Paris)
  • Founder: Cast by Griffoul (American, Newark, New Jersey)
  • Date: 1915–16, cast 1916
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Bronze
  • Dimensions: 12 1/2 x 4 1/4 x 4 1/2 in. (31.8 x 10.8 x 11.4 cm)
  • Credit Line: Gift of Thomas Henry Russell and Frederic Newlin Price, 1925
  • Object Number: 25.72
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

More Artwork

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Bear Cub Grooming, Paul Wayland Bartlett American, Bronze, American
Bear Cub Grooming
Paul Wayland Bartlett
1887; cast ca. 1900 (by 1925)
Bohemian Bear Tamer, Paul Wayland Bartlett American, Bronze, American
Bohemian Bear Tamer
Paul Wayland Bartlett
E. Gruet
1885–87, cast 1888
Clinton Ogilvie, Paul Wayland Bartlett American, Marble, American
Clinton Ogilvie
Paul Wayland Bartlett
Piccirilli Brothers Marble Carving Studio
1919, carved 1920
Standing Torso of a Woman, Paul Wayland Bartlett American, Bronze, American
Standing Torso of a Woman
Paul Wayland Bartlett
ca. 1894–95; cast ca. 1909
Seated Torso of a Woman, Paul Wayland Bartlett American, Bronze, American
Seated Torso of a Woman
Paul Wayland Bartlett
ca. 1895; cast ca. 1909

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