Profile Bust of Olive Fessenden

1800

Not on view

John Christian Rauschner arrived in America from Frankfort, Germany, during the 1790s and by 1799 was residing in New York, where he was described as a "wax artist." Over the next decade he made several trips up and down the eastern seaboard, plying his trade by making wax portraits of various sitters. This portrait, executed in 1800, depicts Olive Parsons Fessenden, born in Kittery, Maine, in 1765. A portrait of the sitter's husband, Thomas Fessenden, is also in the collection, 50.187.65.

Artwork Details

Object Information

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Provenance

Title: Profile Bust of Olive Fessenden
Maker: John Christian Rauschner (German, Frankfurt 1760–after 1812)
Date: 1800
Medium: Wax, glass, wood
Dimensions: 10 1/2 x 9 3/4 in. (26.7 x 24.8 cm)
Credit Line: The Glenn Tilley Morse Collection, Bequest of Glenn Tilley Morse, 1950
Object Number: 50.187.64
Curatorial Department: The American Wing

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In the same medium

From the same time and place

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1750–70

Profile Bust of Benjamin Franklin

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Apotheosis of Friedrich Wilhelm II, King of Prussia (b. 1744, r. 1786–97), John Christian Rauschner German, Colored wax on painted slate, German — Apotheosis of Friedrich Wilhelm II, King of Prussia (b. 1744, r. 1786–97)
John Christian Rauschner
1794

Hunting Sword with Scabbard, Steel, bronze, gold, wood, leather, Saxon — Hunting Sword with Scabbard
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early 18th century

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