A Biographer's Blog

On March 27 at 2:o0 PM, I will giving the Women’s History Month talk at the Larchmont Historical Society. (It is free to members and $5 for non-members) I’m particularly excited about this as Larchmont is home to Hosmer’s fountain The Mermaid’s Cradle.  Louisa, Lady Ashburton, first ordered this fountain for her garden in  her home, Melchet Court, located in Hampshire, England.  Ashburton was Hosmer’s great love, who she referred to as her wife or her “sposa,” and she was also an important patron for the artist. I believe the face of the mermaid is meant to be a portrait of Asbhurton, and the fountain, in which a mermaid holds her infant in her tail, is a tribute to Ashburton’s fierce love for her daughter, Maysie.  Helena Flint, whose father had helped establish Larchmont as a summer colony, saw the work while visiting Hosmer’s studio in Rome.  Larchmont had recently incorporated into a village, and Flint thought the fountain would be the perfect centerpiece for the village park.   The village in fact redesigned the park and renamed it Fountain Square.  Hosmer’s work became a symbol of the town and was often featured on postcards.  A few years ago, I purchased one on E-Bay.  Below see a slideshow of the postcard, some snaps I took of the fountain when I visited a few years ago, and a portrait of Ashburton.

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