Repost: RCC Half Cent and Saint Gaudens (36 pics)

Hopefully this will be easier to read and the links will be clickable for
everyone:

INTRODUCTION

I had planned a day trip, a drive from southern Connecticut to the Green
Mountains of Vermont, for Sunday October 17th. When I discussed my plans with a
client and friend he gave me two tourist maps....one for Vermont and one for
New Hampshire.

The night before I left I was studying both maps planning my route for the next
day’s trip when I noticed one of the featured attractions on the New
Hampshire map was the Saint Gaudens National Historic Site. It was close enough
to where I would have to leave Interstate 91 to cut over to the Green Mountains
that I figured it might be worth a quick look. I spent a half hour there on the
17th and decided it would be a great place to take the RCC half cent so I could
finally send it on to the next host after keeping the thing for far too
long....about a year and a half (shame on me).

So the following Saturday, October 23rd, I ventured north again planning to
spend a couple of hours at the Site before cutting over to New Hampshire’s
White Mountains and Mt. Washington.

THE RCC HALF CENT VISITS SAINT GAUDENS

To get to the Saint Gaudens National Historic Site most will travel north on
Interstate 91 along the Vermont side of the Connecticut River which forms the
border between Vermont and New Hampshire. You will exit at Windor, Vermont and
cross the Connecticut River to Cornish, New Hampshire via the Windsor covered
bridge:

http://members.aol.com/flip1948/SaintGaudens/sg001.jpg

At 450 feet this is the longest two-span covered bridge in the world. The sign
above the entrance to the bridge reads “Walk Your Horses Or Pay Two Dollar
Fine�.

After exiting the bridge you will turn left onto New Hampshire Route 12A and
drive about 2-1/2 miles to the entrance road to the Saint Gaudens Site. A long
and winding uphill drive will take you to the main parking area which has space
for perhaps 30 cars. Just prior to reaching the main parking area there is a
field to handle overflow parking and another sign indicates a handicap parking
area further up the drive.

After exiting your car you will stop at a ticket booth at the edge of the
parking lot where a friendly Park Service employee will take your $5 admission
fee, offer you brochures, a pass for the scheduled guided tours and explain the
main features of the site. The admission fee is only for persons over 16 and
the receipt is good for 7 days so I got two stops for the price of one.

Walking across the drive towards the house you will first encounter the sign
announcing your arrival at the site. The RCC half cent decided to stop here for
it’s first pictu

http://members.aol.com/flip1948/SaintGaudens/sg002.jpg

After snapping this picture I quickly headed for the visitor’s center and
it’s restrooms to answer nature’s call (actually she was screaming). The
visitor’s center is manned by more friendly Park Service employees and
contains a gift shop....which I skipped.

Leaving the visitor’s center I headed back for the main house:
http://members.aol.com/flip1948/SaintGaudens/sg003.jpg

The house was originally built in 1800 as an Inn and known locally as
Huggin’s Folly. After first renting the house for a time, Saint Gaudens
purchased it as a summer home in 1885 and renamed it Aspet in honor of his
father’s birthplace in France. The large thornless honeylocust in front of
the house was planted by Saint Gaudens in 1886 and is now 110 feet tall.

To the left of the picture of the house (in the background) you can see a
portion of the Little Studio:
http://members.aol.com/flip1948/SaintGaudens/sg004.jpg

This studio was converted from a barn and was where Saint Gaudens worked. His
assistants worked in a much larger studio that was destroyed by fire, rebuilt
and destroyed by fire once again in 1944. In order to view the inside of this
building you must take one of the guided tours. One of these tours was
scheduled to start only minutes after I left. I wish I had stuck around a
little longer as I later learned it contains more of his works, including a
half size version of his Diana sculpture. The tour also gets you into the house
which still contains it’s original furnishings.

At the rear of the house is the formal garden:
http://members.aol.com/flip1948/SaintGaudens/sg005.jpg

From the garden you can view Mt. Ascutney across the Connecticut River in
Vermont:
http://members.aol.com/flip1948/SaintGaudens/sg006.jpg

To the left of the garden (when facing the rear of the house) is a small statue
of Hermes:
http://members.aol.com/flip1948/SaintGaudens/sg007.jpg

While the nudity caused the half cent to blush, it still asked to be
photographed with Hermes:
http://members.aol.com/flip1948/SaintGaudens/sg008.jpg

A bit flushed, the half cent then decided to rest on this bench at the rear of
the garden. The bench is embellished with twin plaster busts quite similar to
the Liberty that adorns the Saint Gaudens cent (more on that later):

http://members.aol.com/flip1948/SaintGaudens/sg009.jpg

To the right of the garden, next to the Little Studio, is the Pan Fountain.
While the half cent agreed to pose for a pic, it was a bit nervous at being so
close to the water when it saw the coins that had been tossed into the fountain
by other visitors:

http://members.aol.com/flip1948/SaintGaudens/sg010.jpg

Next we headed towards the “galleries� and stopped for the half cent to
pose at the foot of the copy of the Farragut monument. The original, Saint
Gaudens’ first major public commission, is in New York City. However, the
base shown in this picture is the original sandstone base. The New York statue
now sits on a granite replica installed in 1934 after the original began to
deteriorate. This pic was taken with a 16mm full-frame fisheye lens (resulting
in the curved steps). The lens has a 180 degree field of view and incredible
depth of field...I was only a couple of feet from the lower step when I took
the pic. I have to be cautious when using this lens as a slight tilt downward
will result in my feet entering the pictu

http://members.aol.com/flip1948/SaintGaudens/sg011.jpg

To the left of the Farragut monument enclosure is the Picture Gallery. This
gallery houses works by various artists. I took a quick look inside and saw
small modern sculptures that didn’t interest me much so I moved on (time was
precious). However, I did stop long enough to take a pic of the half cent with
this bronze plaque for Henry W. Maxwell next to the entrance to the Picture
Gallery:

http://members.aol.com/flip1948/SaintGaudens/sg012.jpg

Between the Pciture Gallery and my ultimate destination, the New Glallery, is
an atrium. The walkways at the sides of the atrium feature various busts and
bas relief pieces. In the center of the atrium is a reflecting pool complete
with spitting guilded frog. At the far end of the atrium is a 4’x8’ guilded
bronze version of Saint Gaudens’ Amor Caritas. Here is a pic taken with the
full-frame fisheye lens:

http://members.aol.com/flip1948/SaintGaudens/sg013.jpg

The half cent thought this would be a good place for another pic so I placed
him in the crook of the tree branch visible in the wide shot. This was also
taken with the full-frame fisheye lens:

http://members.aol.com/flip1948/SaintGaudens/sg014.jpg

Here is a closer view of the same pic. I cropped into the center of the slide
and scanned at a higher resolution:

http://members.aol.com/flip1948/SaintGaudens/sg015.jpg

Next we entered the New Gallery. Here is an interior shot also taken with the
fisheye lens
http://members.aol.com/flip1948/SaintGaudens/sg016.jpg

At the left of this pic is a plaster copy of the moument Saint Gaudens did
honoring Robert Louis Stevenson. I couldn’t get a heads-on pic of this piece
due to the display case in the middle of the floor. At the far end of the room
is a copy of The Puritan, Saint Gaudens also did another piece titled The
Pilgrim which was a variation of this sculpture. The next pic shows the half
cent at the foot of The Puritan:

http://members.aol.com/flip1948/SaintGaudens/sg024.jpg

Just to my left when I took the wide shot of the gallery is a bust of William
Tecumseh Sherman. Saint Gaudens also did a large piece featuring Sherman on
horseback behind a winged Victory that resides at the 59th Street entrance to
Central Park in New York. Here is the half cent with the bust:

http://members.aol.com/flip1948/SaintGaudens/sg026.jpg

Directly behind me in the wide shot was a small model of Saint Gaudens’
second version of Diana. The original was intended to be a weathervane atop
Madison Square Garden. The next pic shows the half cent with the model:

http://members.aol.com/flip1948/SaintGaudens/sg025.jpg

THE PLASTERS

The items in the New Gallery of most interest to coin colectors are contained
in display cases visible on the right side of the wide shot....the original
plasters for the coins designed by Saint Gaudens. But first a word about the
pictures of these plasters. These pictures wre taken in available light and
hand held with relatively slow film. As such I was shooting at slow shutter
speeds with the lens apertures wide open resulting in very little depth of
field...especially in those shots taken with my 50mm f/1.4 lens. As a result in
some of the shots the half cent will be out of focus.

Here is the half cent with the plaster for the $20 Gold piece obverse:
http://members.aol.com/flip1948/SaintGaudens/sg017.jpg

Here is the half cent with the plaster for the $20 Gold piece reverse:
http://members.aol.com/flip1948/SaintGaudens/sg018.jpg

Here is the half cent with the plaster for the $10 Gold piece obverse:
http://members.aol.com/flip1948/SaintGaudens/sg019.jpg

Here is the half cent with the plaster for the $10 Gold piece reverse:
http://members.aol.com/flip1948/SaintGaudens/sg020.jpg

Apparently, St. Gaudens considered using the $10 reverse on the $20 gold piece
as well (the half cent was AWOL for this picture):

http://members.aol.com/flip1948/SaintGaudens/sg021.jpg

Not all collectors are aware that Saint Gaudens also designed a one cent piece.
We can probably blame Abe Lincoln for the fact that these were never produced.
Here is the half cent with the plaster for the one cent obverse (nice Liberty):

http://members.aol.com/flip1948/SaintGaudens/sg022.jpg

And here is the one cent reverse with the half cent AWOL once again:
http://members.aol.com/flip1948/SaintGaudens/sg023.jpg

Also exhibited are actual examples of the $10 and $20 gold pieces as well as
the Buffalo nickel, the Mercury dime and the Walking Liberty half dollar. The
reason these coins are exhibited is that the coins’ designers, James Earle
Fraser and Adolph Weinman both worked as assistants to Saint Gaudens.

FINISHING THE TOUR OF THE NEW GALLERY

A side door in the New Gallery leads you outside to a bust of Abraham Lincoln.
Saint Gaudens also did two large monuments of Lincoln....one a seated Lincoln
and the other a standing Lincoln. Here is a full shot of the bust on it’s
pedestal:

http://members.aol.com/flip1948/SaintGaudens/sg027.jpg

And here’s a close-up with the half cent:
http://members.aol.com/flip1948/SaintGaudens/sg028.jpg

Also out of view, to my left, when I took the wide shot of the gallery interior
was this display case containing sketches and models used in the design of the
Shaw Memorial:

http://members.aol.com/flip1948/SaintGaudens/sg029.jpg

This memorial was commisiioned by the family of Robert Gould Shaw, chosen by
the Massachusetts Governor to command the first African American regiment
raised in the north during the Civil War. Saint Gaudens’ first sketches for
an equestrian statue were rejected by the Shaw family as a treatment too grand
for a colonel. He then decided to
depict Shaw with his men; these soldiers assumed a greater importance as work
on the monument progressed. Shaw was played by Matthew Broderick in the movie
“Glory� co-starring Denzel Washington whose role earned him an Oscar as
best supporting actor. A reproduction cast from the original plaster mold is at
the Saint Gaudens site:

http://members.aol.com/flip1948/SaintGaudens/sg030.jpg

Here is a closer shot with the half cent:
http://members.aol.com/flip1948/SaintGaudens/sg031.jpg

Next we have a shot of a copy of the Saint Gaudens’ sculpture for the grave
of the wife of historian Henry Adams:

http://members.aol.com/flip1948/SaintGaudens/sg032.jpg

and a closer shot with the half cent:
http://members.aol.com/flip1948/SaintGaudens/sg033.jpg

Finally we move on to the “Temple�:
http://members.aol.com/flip1948/SaintGaudens/sg034.jpg

This marble monument was modeled after a wooden version used as part of the set
for a play staged by Saint Gaudens’ assistants. The marble version was carved
in 1914 (seven years after Saint Gaudens’ death) and contains the ashes of
Saint Gaudens, his wife, his son, his brother and his brother’s wife. Here is
a closer shot with the half cent:

http://members.aol.com/flip1948/SaintGaudens/sg035.jpg

and closer still:
http://members.aol.com/flip1948/SaintGaudens/sg036.jpg

CONCLUSION

Well, that pretty much wraps up my two hour stay. I’ll be going back next
spring.

If I remember correctly, the entire estate consists of 150 acres and there is
much I didn’t see. In addition to the aforementioned guided tours there are a
couple of hiking trails and a small building called the Ravine Studio. This
studio is used by the resident sculptor and according to the friendly Park
Service employee, you can stop by and watch him work or chat with him. The site
is apparently open year round, but full access to all of the exhibits only
occurs from early may through the end of October.

For more information you can visit their website at:
http://www.sgnhs.org/saga.html

A birdseye rendering of the site:
http://www.sgnhs.org/BIRDSEYE.jpg

A smaller version of the birdseye rendering with numbered points of interest
and links:
http://www.sgnhs.org/virtual.html



++++++++++
Phil DeMayo - always here for my fellow Stooge
When bidding online always sit on your helmet
Just say NO to counterfeits

Well I tried.

The formatting is better, but I still don't understand why the links don't show
up as clickable here on AOL...they always have in the past.
++++++++++
Phil DeMayo - always here for my fellow Stooge
When bidding online always sit on your helmet
Just say NO to counterfeits

Phil DeMayo wrote:
Well I tried.

The formatting is better, but I still don't understand why the links don't show
up as clickable here on AOL...they always have in the past.
++++++++++
Phil DeMayo - always here for my fellow Stooge
When bidding online always sit on your helmet
Just say NO to counterfeits

Phil...they are clickable for me. No probs. (i'm using Mozilla)

Ian

From: ulsion (Phil DeMayo)

contains a gift shop....which I skipped.



Oh you should have gone in. While they have the usual high-priced souveniers
(but not as much as you'd might expect) they also have some very interesting
books. You can also get a 12 page 8 1/2" x 11" brochure on the double eagle
for all of a $1.95.

They have (or at least had 2 years ago) a concert series during the summer.
Brass quartets, string groups and the like.

Well, that pretty much wraps up my two hour stay. I’ll be going back next
spring.

I'd you'd like to make an RCC event of it, post here when you have plans. I'm
about an hour's drive away and Don B lives not far from there as well.
--
mark

ustion (mark) wrote:

From: ulsion (Phil DeMayo)
Well, that pretty much wraps up my two hour stay. I’ll be going back next
spring.

I'd you'd like to make an RCC event of it, post here when you have plans. I'm
about an hour's drive away and Don B lives not far from there as well.

Hmm...that sounds like a plan. I'll keep you informed.

++++++++++
Phil DeMayo - always here for my fellow Stooge
When bidding online always sit on your helmet
Just say NO to counterfeits

I'm about four hours' drive. If there's an RCC event at the St. Gaudens
Museum, I'll be there.

Jerry

(From Phil):

Well, that pretty much wraps up my two hour stay. I’ll be going back next
spring.

(From Mark):

I'd you'd like to make an RCC event of it, post here when you have plans. I'm
about an hour's drive away and Don B lives not far from there as well.
--
mark

haw wrote:

I'm about four hours' drive. If there's an RCC event at the St. Gaudens
Museum, I'll be there.

This is turning into a spring party.

Like me, you get to cross the covered bridge.


++++++++++
Phil DeMayo - always here for my fellow Stooge
When bidding online always sit on your helmet
Just say NO to counterfeits

On 04 Dec 2004 01:29:28 GMT, ustion (mark) wrote:

From: ulsion (Phil DeMayo)

contains a gift shop....which I skipped.



Oh you should have gone in. While they have the usual high-priced souveniers
(but not as much as you'd might expect) they also have some very interesting
books. You can also get a 12 page 8 1/2" x 11" brochure on the double eagle
for all of a $1.95.

They have (or at least had 2 years ago) a concert series during the summer.
Brass quartets, string groups and the like.

Well, that pretty much wraps up my two hour stay. I’ll be going back next
spring.

I'd you'd like to make an RCC event of it, post here when you have plans. I'm
about an hour's drive away and Don B lives not far from there as well.

Those were my exact thoughts - meet up with Phil when he comes up this way again
Give me a shout Phil when you plan your northerly excursion.

Don

Brainstorm: when you have an inspiration that's all wet.