John Quincy Adams Ward

Lewis I. Sharp, New York (acquired in 1983)

Wolf Family Collection No. 0856 (acquired from the above on July 17, 1986)

Lewis I. Sharp, John Quincy Adams Ward: Dean of American Sculpture, with a Catalogue Raisonné, Newark, 1985, no. 68.3, p. 209, illustrated

Although the Marquis de Lafayette was only 19 years old when he came to the American colonies from France to assist in the Revolutionary War, he was known for the rest of his life as an American hero. Having outfitted his own ship for the journey and spent more than $200,000 of his own money supporting the war efforts, Lafayette was awarded land in the United States as a token of appreciation. He later made two triumphal tours of the country, one in 1784 and another in 1824-25. Here, John Quincy Adam Ward's depiction of Lafayette hails from this second tour of the United States, when Lafayette was 64 years old.