XXII. Cleopatra’s Needles, New York

XXII. Cleopatra’s Needle, New York

i.Cleopatra’s Needle, 15-1/4”h., c. 1881, patinated bronze ii.Cleopatra’s Needle, 15-1/4”h., c. 1881, patinated lead, patinated bronze underside

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These very highly-realized models of the obelisk called Cleopatra’s Needle in New York’s Central Park were commissioned of Tiffany & Co, by Henry Gorringe, the Navy lieutenant commander engaged by tycoon William Vanderbilt (son of Commodore) in 1880, to retrieve the 200 ton monolith - a gift from Egyptian Khedive Ismael Pasha - from Alexandria. Gorringe overcame what now seem insurmountable obstacles in bringing the Needle to Gotham.

These reductions, often engraved with the names of those receiving them, were given to Gorringe to the range of influential New Yorkers, including politicians, businessmen, artists and others. The lead model offered here is inscribed “W. H. Hunt”, almost certainly for William Henry Hunt Secretary of the Navy under President Garfield. The bronze model is unengraved.

While the bronze example is unusual, that in lead is very highly so. We’ve located just a single other example, in the collection of the New-York Historical Society.

detail, base of lead model