Provenance Private collection, Houston. Hart Galleries, Houston. Purchased from the above by private collector, New York, October 28, 1990. Thence by descent to current owner, New York.
Harriet Whitney Frishmuth was born in Philadelphia but spent much of her early life in Europe. She first explored her interest in sculpture in Switzerland, and at the age of 19 studied art in Paris. One of her earliest influences was the work of Auguste Rodin, whom she briefly studied under. She exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1903 and assisted sculptor Cuno von Uechtritz-Steinkirch on several of his monuments in Berlin. Her career gaining momentum, Frishmuth came to New York and studied at the Art Students League. In about 1908 she set up a studio of her own; her early works include portraits and small functional objects produced by the Gorham Company, like the present set of bookends.
There has been renewed interest in Frishmuth's works, particularly her figural bronzes, due to recent scholarship exploring Frishmuth's likely romantic relationship with her model, ballet dancer Desha Delteil.
