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Maker(s):Gilbert, Sir Alfred
Culture:British (1854-1934)
Title:An Offering to Hymen
Date Made:ca. 1886 model
Type:Sculpture
Materials:Bronze
Place Made:Europe
Measurements:Overall: 11 1/4 in x 2 3/8 in x 3 1/4 in; 28.6 cm x 6 cm x 8.3 cm
Accession Number:  MH 1985.24
Credit Line:Gift of Nicolette Wernick
Museum Collection:  Mount Holyoke College Art Museum
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Label Text:
The awkward uncertainty of adolescence is emphasized in this small sculpture by a prominent member of the New Sculpture movement in England. Poised at the brink of adulthood, the figure holds out her offerings to Hymen—the ancient Greek god of marriage. A branch of hawthorn is presented in her right hand while her left contains a miniature statue of Anteros—the god of reciprocal love. Gilbert’s piece is contextualized by the expectations of the Victorian era, a time when early marriage was common if not expected. This sculpture asks you to share the uncertainty of a young girl venturing into adulthood and to consider the uneasiness that accompanies her transition. What conflicts or outside forces might she face in the future?

-Eva Fahey (Class of 2017), University of Massachusetts Amherst
A Very Long Engagement: Nineteenth-Century Sculpture and Its Afterlives (July 29, 2017 - May 27, 2018)

Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=MH+1985.24

Research on objects in the collections, including provenance, is ongoing and may be incomplete. If you have additional information or would like to learn more about a particular object, please email fc-museums-web@fivecolleges.edu.

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