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2022.701.1, Sculpture
Bust of Millard Fillmore Dewey (1845-1916)
2022.701.1, Sculpture

Bust of Millard Fillmore Dewey (1845-1916)

Date1847
Artist Asa Ames (1823 - 1851)
OriginAmerica, New York, Evans
MediumPaint on tulip poplar (est), internal iron hardware
DimensionsOverall: 14 1/2 × 14 5/16 × 6 11/16in. (36.8 × 36.3 × 17cm)
Credit LineBequest of Vivian F. Greene
Object number2022.701.1
DescriptionBust length wooden sculpture of a young boy wearing a white shirt with blue belt. He has short brown hair, brown eyes and rosy cheeks.
Label TextMillard Dewey was just 2 years old when his uncle, Asa Ames, carved this bust length likeness. That same year, Ames carved several other members of the Dewey family. Millard’s bust descended through the family of his son, George, until it was recently given to Colonial Williamsburg.

Although Ames was only 27 years old when he died, he had already established himself as a wood carver. In his short career, he completed at least 12 surviving figural sculptures including 3 full size statues of children. One of these full-size renderings, the portrait of Amanda Armstrong, is on view in the Wilson Family Gallery.

Provenance1847, subject's parents Abner Dewy [1809-1893] and Emeline Ames Dewey [1813-1883] (Evans, New York); by 1893 by inheritence to the subject, Millard Fillmore Dewey [1845-1916] (Evans, New York); 1916 by inheritence to his son, George Mosher Dewey [1871-1917] and wife Nellie D. Greene [1874-1919] (Evan, New York); date unknown by inheritence to her niece, Vivian F. Greene [1925-2021] (Erie County, New York) who left the sculpture to The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, Virginia) in her will.