William Clark Noble Explained

Birth Date:	10 February 1858
Birth Place:	Gardiner, Maine, US
Death Place:	Washington, D.C., US
Spouse:	Emile Berlin Bleecker
Signature:	Signature of William Clark Noble (1858–1938).png

William Clark Noble (February 10, 1858  - May 10, 1938) was an American sculptor best known for his monuments.

Early life

Noble was born on February 10, 1858, in Gardiner, Maine. He was a son of Clark Noble, a ship’s captain, and Emma Freeman Noble, a descendant of Elder William Brewster, who came over on the Mayflower. After his father's death at sea, his mother, older brother, and infant Clark went to live on her father's farm in Richmond, Maine.^[1]

He studied with Horatio Greenough and Lorado Taft.^[2] Taft, in his History of American Sculpture, remarked that Noble was one of a group of sculptors who had, "made something of a specialty of military figures."^[3]

Career

Noble designed coinage for Guatemala and Panama.^[4] His Guatemalan quetzal (1925)^[5] and Panamanian balboa (1931)^[6] each exchanged for one US dollar. In 1924, Noble was selected by the Woman's Universal Alliance to create the Mothers' Memorial to be erected in Washington, D.C., in honor of motherhood and the world's great women.^[7]

He was a member of the National Arts Club and the National Sculpture Society.^[8]

"His best-known works include the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Newport, Rhode Island, and statues of Napoleon Bonaparte, Thomas Jefferson, and General 'Mad Anthony' Wayne for the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis."^[1]

Personal life

Noble was married three times, including his last marriage to the former Emile Berlin Bleecker. His son, William Clark Noble Jr., also became an artist.

Noble died on May 10, 1938, in Washington, D.C.^[9] He and his widow are buried in Mount Hope Cemetery in South Gardiner, Maine.^[10]

Selected works

• Reverend Charles T. Brooks Memorial (1884), Channing Memorial Church, Newport, Rhode Island.
  • Bas-relief portrait of Reverend Charles T. Brooks (1884), Redwood Library and Athenaeum, Newport, Rhode Island.^[11]
• Bust of John McCullough as Virginius (1888), McCullough grave, Mount Moriah Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, John Lackme, architect.^[12]
• Old Salt  - Bust of Captain James Logan (1890).^[13]
• Reverend William Ellery Channing (1892–93), Touro Park, Newport, Rhode Island.^[14]
• Joseph Jefferson Loving Cup (1895–96), New Orleans Museum of Art.^[15] Modeled in plaster by Noble, cast in silver by Gorham Manufacturing Company. Features three 10.5 in (26.7 cm) figures of Jefferson in the roles of Rip van Winkle, Dr. Pangloss, and Bob Acres.^[16] Auctioned at Sotheby's New York, 21 January 2011, Lot 127.^[17]
  • Statuette: Joseph Jefferson as Rip van Winkle .^[18] One of the figures from the loving cup.
• Lion and Eagle (1897–98), Commercial Cable Company Building, 20-22 Broad Street, Manhattan, New York City, George Edward Harding & Gooch, architects (demolished).^[19] The bronze figures stood upon piers at the 5th story of the building's façade.^[20] They represented England and the United States  - the two terminals of the Trans-Atlantic Telegraph Cable.
• Bishop Phillips Brooks Memorial (1898), Episcopal Church of the Incarnation, Manhattan, New York City.^[21] A full-length bronze bas-relief portrait with a glass mosaic background by Louis Comfort Tiffany.^{[22] [23]}
• General Anthony Wayne (plaster, 1904). Exhibited at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, St. Louis, Missouri.^[24] This and other larger-than-life statues of historical figures from the 1904 World's Fair decorated Pennsylvania Avenue during President Theodore Roosevelt's Inaugural parade, March 4, 1905.^[25]
• Monsignor Doane (1908), Doane Park, Newark, New Jersey.^{[26] [27]}
• Minerva or Lady of Wisdom (gilded copper, 1909), Maine State House dome, Augusta, Maine.^[28] The 15-foot (4.5 m) finial figure stands atop the lantern of the 185-foot (56.4 m) State House.^{[29] [30]}
• Lincoln the Candidate (Bust of Abraham Lincoln) (1909), private collection.^[31]
• Bas-relief portrait of Edward Everett Hale (1909), American Unitarian Association Library, Boston, Massachusetts.
• Bust of George Washington Carver (1910).^[32]
• Statuette: Honus Wagner (1910), Roman Bronze Works.^[33]
• Bas-relief portrait of Mary Baker Eddy (1913).^[34]
• Bas-relief portrait of Prime Minister David Lloyd George (1922).^[35]
• Portrait medallion of Charles William Eliot (1924), Fogg Museum, Harvard University.^[36] Diameter: 6 in (15.7 cm)

War memorials

• Newport Soldiers and Sailors Monument (1889–90), Congdon Park, Newport, Rhode Island.^{[37] [38]}
• General Josiah Porter (1902), Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx, New York City.^[39]
  • A replica is on the grounds of the New York State Capitol, Albany.
• 50th Pennsylvania Volunteer Reserve Infantry Monument (1904), Antietam Battlefield, Sharpsburg, Maryland.^[40] The statue is a posthumous portrait of General Benjamin C. Christ.^[41]
• 100th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry "Roundheads" Monument (1904), Antietam Battlefield, Sharpsburg, Maryland.^[42]
  • A replica (1917) is at the Civil War Monument, Danville National Cemetery, Danville, Illinois.^[43]
• Civil War Memorial (1906), Centre County Courthouse, Bellefonte, Pennsylvania.^[44]
• Governor Andrew Curtin (bronze, 1911–13), Pennsylvania State Memorial, Gettysburg Battlefield, Pennsylvania.^[45]
  • A replica was added to the Civil War Memorial, Bellefonte, Pennsylvania (Governor Curtin's home town).^[46]
  • A replica (1922) is at Governor Curtin Park, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.^[47]
• Bas-relief: In Flanders's Fields (1919), World War I Memorial, Riverview Congregational Church, South Gardiner, Maine.

External links

• • John Kelly, "A Mom-umental Failure", The Washington Post Magazine, May 11, 2008

Notes and References

1. Web site: W. Clark Noble . https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://americanart.si.edu/artist/w-clark-noble-3559. 2021-10-10 . americanart.si.edu . . 11 December 2019.
2. Opitz, Glenn B., Mantle Fielding's Dictionary of American Painters, Sculptors & Engravers, Apollo Books, Poughkeepsie, NY, 1988.
3. Taft, Lorado, The History of American Sculpture, The Macmillan Company, New York, 1925, p. 435.
4. "Works of sculptor W. Clark Noble placed on exhibition at 'Belcourt'", Newport Daily News, August 13, 1959, p. 16.
5. http://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces17255.html Guatemalan quetzal
6. http://www.ngccoin.com/price-guide/world/panama-balboa-km-13-1931-1947-cuid-6249-duid-22236 Panamanian Balboa
7. News: APPROVE MEMORIAL TO MOTHERHOOD; Committees Select Design by W. Clark Noble for Erection in Washington. . 11 December 2019 . . 6 July 1924.
8. Book: Third Exhibition of the National Sculpture Society in the Galleries of the American Fine Arts Society: From May 1st to May 21st Inclusive, 1898 . 1898 . . 54 . 11 December 2019 . en.
9. News: WILLIAM C. NOBLE, SCULPTOR, ARTIST; Creator of Statues Here and in Other Eastern Cities Dies in Washington at 80 DREW MODELS FOR COINS Designed Pieces for Panama and Guatemala--Planned J. P.Sousa Memorial . 11 December 2019 . . 12 May 1938.
10. News: Mrs. W. Clark Noble. . 11 December 2019 . . 2 April 1959.
11. http://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=144Y876566MY2.1569&profile=ariall&source=~!siartinventories&view=subscriptionsummary&uri=full=3100001~!357051~!10&ri=1&aspect=Keyword&menu=search&ipp=20&spp=20&staffonly=&term=Noble,+W.+Clark&index=.AW&uindex=&aspect=Keyword&menu=search&ri=1 Rev. Charles T. Brooks
12. William Winter, In Memory of John McCullough, (Philadelphia: Devinne Press, 1889), p. 46-51.
13. http://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/w-clark-noble-plaster-bust-old-salt-newport-statu-223-c-e585652a74 Old Salt
14. http://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=H4435U78K7751.4406&profile=ariall&source=~!siartinventories&view=subscriptionsummary&uri=full=3100001~!18137~!17&ri=6&aspect=Browse&menu=search&ipp=20&spp=20&staffonly=&term=Noble,+W.+Clark,[phone],+sculptor.&index=AUTHOR&uindex=&aspect=Browse&menu=search&ri=6 William Ellery Channing
15. https://noma.org/new-donations-to-new-orleans-museum-of-art-enrich-collection-for-the-next-century-an-editorial/ "New Donations to New Orleans Museum of Art,"
16. https://books.google.com/books?id=lHUoAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA3-PA42 "The Silversmith's Art in Its Highest Estate"
17. http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2011/important-americana-including-american-stoneware-assembled-by-mr-and-mrs-edwin-hochberg-n08710/lot.127.html Joseph Jefferson Presentation Cup
18. https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/13/53/9a/13539aad7cf0230eabacd55b2f181b98.jpg Joseph Jefferson as Rip van Winkle
19. https://books.google.com/books?id=M8g7AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA20&lpg=PA20 The Monumental News
20. http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51I1tWfj5KL.jpg Commercial Cable Company Building
21. https://books.google.com/books?id=NGVDAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA271&lpg=PA258 Phillips Brooks Memorial
22. Florence N. Levy, Art in New York, (New York: Art Service, 1922), p. 48.
23. Joshua Newton Perkins, History of the Parish of the Incarnation, New York City, 1852 - 1912, (Frank B. Howard Press, 1912), p.190. (Scroll down for a photo.)
24. David Rowland Francis, The Universal Exposition of 1904 (St. Louis, MO: Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company, 1913), p.204.
25. http://idnc.library.illinois.edu/cgi-bin/illinois?a=d&d=RIA19050222.1.6# "World's Fair Statuary"
26. http://www.newarkhistory.com/doane.html Monsignor Doane
27. http://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=H4435U78K7751.4406&profile=ariall&source=~!siartinventories&view=subscriptionsummary&uri=full=3100001~!2980~!16&ri=6&aspect=Browse&menu=search&ipp=20&spp=20&staffonly=&term=Noble,+W.+Clark,[phone],+sculptor.&index=AUTHOR&uindex=&aspect=Browse&menu=search&ri=6 Monsignor Doane
28. http://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=H4435U78K7751.4406&profile=ariall&source=~!siartinventories&view=subscriptionsummary&uri=full=3100001~!319847~!8&ri=6&aspect=Browse&menu=search&ipp=20&spp=20&staffonly=&term=Noble,+W.+Clark,[phone],+sculptor.&index=AUTHOR&uindex=&aspect=Browse&menu=search&ri=6 Minerva
29. https://books.google.com/books?id=hn4YAQAAIAAJ&pg=RA5-PA23&lpg=RA5-PA23 "The Statue on the State-House Dome"
30. http://tomforst.com/StateCaps/Maine/Me07077.jpg Minerva
31. http://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=14435G08X763B.4479&profile=ariall&source=~!siartinventories&view=subscriptionsummary&uri=full=3100001~!459255~!23&ri=1&aspect=Keyword&menu=search&ipp=20&spp=20&staffonly=&term=Noble,+W.+Clark&index=.AW&uindex=&aspect=Keyword&menu=search&ri=1 Lincoln the Candidate
32. http://image.invaluable.com/housePhotos/skinner/11/292111/H0013-L19369949.jpg George Washington Carver
33. http://image.invaluable.com/housePhotos/ChristiesEast/95/152395/H0340-L00487590.jpg Honus Wagner
34. The portrait appears on the cover of Myra B. Lord, Mary Baker Eddy: A Concise Story of Her Life & Works, (1918).
35. https://books.google.com/books?id=VPwaAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA9&lpg=RA1-PA9 Our World
36. http://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=H4435U78K7751.4406&profile=ariall&source=~!siartinventories&view=subscriptionsummary&uri=full=3100001~!327608~!9&ri=6&aspect=Browse&menu=search&ipp=20&spp=20&staffonly=&term=Noble,+W.+Clark,[phone],+sculptor.&index=AUTHOR&uindex=&aspect=Browse&menu=search&ri=6 Charles William Eliot
37. http://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=H4435U78K7751.4406&profile=ariall&source=~!siartinventories&view=subscriptionsummary&uri=full=3100001~!320782~!19&ri=6&aspect=Browse&menu=search&ipp=20&spp=20&staffonly=&term=Noble,+W.+Clark,[phone],+sculptor.&index=AUTHOR&uindex=&aspect=Browse&menu=search&ri=6 Newport Soldiers and Sailors Monument
38. http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/the-soldiers-and-sailors-monument-erected-high-res-stock-photography/95773833 Newport Soldiers and Sailors Monument
39. http://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/VanCortlandtPark/monuments/1212 General Josiah Porter
40. http://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=14435CA71808M.4436&profile=ariall&source=~!siartinventories&view=subscriptionsummary&uri=full=3100001~!21607~!18&ri=1&aspect=Keyword&menu=search&ipp=20&spp=20&staffonly=&term=Noble,+W.+Clark&index=.AW&uindex=&aspect=Keyword&menu=search&ri=1 50th PA Infantry Monument
41. http://www.hscl.cr.nps.gov/insidenps/report.asp?STATE=&PARK=&STRUCTURE=&SORT=&RECORDNO=474 50th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Monument
42. http://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=14435CA71808M.4436&profile=ariall&source=~!siartinventories&view=subscriptionsummary&uri=full=3100001~!21606~!24&ri=1&aspect=Keyword&menu=search&ipp=20&spp=20&staffonly=&term=Noble,+W.+Clark&index=.AW&uindex=&aspect=Keyword&menu=search&ri=1 100th PA Infantry Monument
43. http://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=1443U16K88M48.21&profile=ariall&source=~!siartinventories&view=subscriptionsummary&uri=full=3100001~!375892~!15&ri=1&aspect=Keyword&menu=search&ipp=20&spp=20&staffonly=&term=Noble,+W.+Clark&index=.AW&uindex=&aspect=Keyword&menu=search&ri=1 Danville Soldiers Monument
44. http://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=14435CA71808M.4436&profile=ariall&source=~!siartinventories&view=subscriptionsummary&uri=full=3100001~!340687~!25&ri=1&aspect=Keyword&menu=search&ipp=20&spp=20&staffonly=&term=Noble,+W.+Clark&index=.AW&uindex=&aspect=Keyword&menu=search&ri=1 Bellefonte Civil War Memorial
45. http://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=14435CA71808M.4436&profile=ariall&source=~!siartinventories&view=subscriptionsummary&uri=full=3100001~!11991~!2&ri=1&aspect=Keyword&menu=search&ipp=20&spp=20&staffonly=&term=Noble,+W.+Clark&index=.AW&uindex=&aspect=Keyword&menu=search&ri=1 Governor Curtin (Gettysburg)
46. http://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=14435CA71808M.4436&profile=ariall&source=~!siartinventories&view=subscriptionsummary&uri=full=3100001~!18136~!12&ri=1&aspect=Keyword&menu=search&ipp=20&spp=20&staffonly=&term=Noble,+W.+Clark&index=.AW&uindex=&aspect=Keyword&menu=search&ri=1 Governor Curtin (Bellefonte)
47. http://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=14435CA71808M.4436&profile=ariall&source=~!siartinventories&view=subscriptionsummary&uri=full=3100001~!339222~!14&ri=1&aspect=Keyword&menu=search&ipp=20&spp=20&staffonly=&term=Noble,+W.+Clark&index=.AW&uindex=&aspect=Keyword&menu=search&ri=1 Governor Curtin (Harrisburg)