Nov 25, 2014 - Sale 2368

Sale 2368 - Lot 223

Price Realized: $ 1,820
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,200 - $ 1,800
(NEW YORK CITY.) Statue of Liberty, American Committee Model. Bronzed statue, with the detachable pedestal nickel-silvered, together 11 3/4 inches tall, 3 inches square at the base; minimal wear. [New York, 1885]

Additional Details

These scale models were sold by the New York-based American Committee of the Statue of Liberty to raise funds for the erection of the statue. First offered in April 1885, a six-inch model sold for a dollar, while this twelve-inch version brought $5.00. The advertising circular (not included here) exhorted: "Every American citizen should feel proud to donate to the Pedestal Fund and own a model in token of their subscription . . . in this great work."
At the bottom of the detached statue are the words "American Committee Model," and at the top of the base are the patent dates of 5 November 1878 and 18 February 1879. Lightly inscribed onto Lady Liberty's tablet is the date "4th July 1776." Provoyeur & Hargrove, Liberty: The French-American Statue in Art and History, pages 163-5, 296.