William Henry Rinehart papers
Scope and Contents
The William Henry Rinehart papers, 1858-1903, contain materials from sculptor William Henry Rinehart and from the trustees of his estate. A bound volume of correspondence contains letters to and from Rinehart and correspondence among his trustees, most notably William T. Walters, John W. Paine, and William H. Herriman. Additional papers of Rinehart's include his financial documents, receipts, journals, and sketchbooks. Papers related to Rinehart's estate, including a codicil to his will and various inventories and notes assembled by the estate's trustees, are also included.
Dates
- Creation: 1858-1892 and 1903
Creator
- Rinehart, William Henry, 1825-1874 (Person)
- Walters, W. T. (William Thompson), 1819-1894 (Person)
- Herriman, William H. (Person)
Language of Materials
The bulk of the materials are in English. Some estate documents and pages from Rinehart's notebook are in Italian. Several pages from Rinehart's journal are in French.
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for use at the Arthur Friedheim Library Archives of the Peabody Institute. Contact peabodyarchives@lists.jhu.edu for more information.
Conditions Governing Use
Single copies may be made for research purposes. Researchers are responsible for determining any copyright questions. It is not necessary to seek our permission as the owner of the physical work to publish or otherwise use public domain materials that we have made available for use, unless Johns Hopkins University holds the copyright. All requests for permission to publish or perform materials in this collection must be submitted in writing to the archivist of the Arthur Friedheim Library.
Biographical / Historical
William Henry Rinehart (1825-1874) was an American Neoclassical sculptor. Born in Carroll County, Maryland, Rinehart moved to Baltimore in the mid-1840s, studied art in the Maryland Institute, and landed a job at Baughman and Beven, the city's largest marble dealer and stone-cutting firm. For the opening of the Maryland Institute's new building in 1851, Rinehart exhibited his bas-relief modeled on the Teniers painting The Smokers and was awarded a gold medal for his work.
Rinehart came to the attention of William T. Walters while repairing a mantelpiece in Walters’ home. Walters developed a deep friendship with Rinehart and became his principal patron.
Rinehart sailed for Italy in 1855 and established a studio in Florence, where he would create the bas-reliefs Morning and Evening. In 1858 he took up residence in Rome, where his studio became a regular stopping place for visiting aristocrats and wealthy American tourists. During this period he completed his first major work, the bronze doors for the East Senate Portico of the U.S. Capitol.
In the years that followed, Rinehart produced some of his most famous works, including Hero (1866), Love Reconciled with Death for William T. Walters, Chief Justice Roger B. Taney (1867-1872) for the grounds of the Maryland State House in Annapolis, and Latona and Her Children -- Apollo and Diana (1871-1874). In 1873 Rinehart’s marble statue Clytie (1869-1870) became the first work acquired for the Peabody Institute's Gallery of Art, when it was gifted to the Institute by John McCoy. The Peabody Institute would later acquire several casts of Rinehart’s sculptures from his estate in 1879.
Rinehart lived and worked in Rome until his death in the autumn of 1874 while he was traveling in Switzerland. His trustees established the Rinehart Fund at the Peabody Institute, which provided scholarships for young artists to study in Paris and at the newly formed American Academy in Rome, and the Rinehart School for Sculptors at the Maryland Institute. The Peabody Institute and the Walters Art Gallery sponsored a major exhibition of Rinehart’s works in 1948.
(Adapted from local biographical sources and Marvin Chauncey Ross and Anna Wells Rutledge, A Catalogue of the Work of William Henry Rinehart, Maryland Sculptor, 1825-1874 [Baltimore: The Trustees of the Peabody Institute and The Walters Art Gallery, 1948].)
Extent
1.17 Cubic Feet (4 boxes)
Abstract
William Henry Rinehart (1825-1874) was a sculptor from Maryland whose estate led to the creation of the Rinehart Fund for artists, administered by the Peabody Institute. The William Henry Rinehart papers, 1858-1903, contain materials from Rinehart and from the trustees of his estate. A bound volume of correspondence contains letters to and from Rinehart and correspondence among his trustees, most notably William T. Walters, John W. Paine, and William H. Herriman. Additional papers of Rinehart's include his financial documents, receipts, journals, and sketchbooks. Papers related to Rinehart's estate, including a codicil to his will and various inventories and notes assembled by the estate's trustees, are also included.
Other Finding Aids
A detailed index of correspondence and other documents is available offline. Contact the Arthur Friedheim Library Archives for more information.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The specific acquisition information for this collection is unknown. It is possible that the bulk of the documents were acquired in the 1890s when the Peabody Institute began to administer the Rinehart Fund.
Existence and Location of Copies
The volume of correspondence and various estate papers were microfilmed by the Smithsonian Institute's Archives of American Art in 1984. Copies of the microfilm are available at the Arthur Friedheim Library and at the Archives of American Art.
Processing Information
The volume of correspondence was probably assembled by library staff of the Peabody Institute sometime before the 1980s. Other papers were probably processed by archives staff in the 1980s or 1990s. During reprocessing in 2023, Matt Testa rearranged and rehoused a few folders.
- Title
- Guide to the William Henry Rinehart papers
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Matt Testa
- Date
- 2023
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Peabody Archives Repository
Peabody Institute
1 E. Mount Vernon Place
Baltimore MD 21202 USA
peabodyarchives@lists.jhu.edu