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Title
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The Four Continents
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Description
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Four statues are situated outside the entrance of the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House in New York City. These sculptures, representing Africa, America, Asia, and Europe, are crafted from Tennessee marble and depict women holding instruments that symbolize their respective continents. The European figure portrays a mature woman seated on a throne, adorned with a crown. She wears a Greek-style gown and a breastplate, with the throne featuring imagery of the Parthenon, and her hand resting on a ship’s prow. Behind her, the throne’s back right displays three prows forming the heads of a lion, an eagle, and a bear. The woman's left arm rests on an open book placed on a globe. Behind her stands another hooded figure, an elderly woman symbolizing History, holding a skull and a scroll. The Asian figure is depicted as a tranquil woman, with eyes closed, dressed in robes suggesting Buddhist faith. A small Buddha statue sits in her lap, and she holds a lotus flower entwined with snakes. She sits on a throne supported by skulls, with a tiger to her right and three figures to her left: a young boy in prayer, a man with hands tied behind his back and bowing forward, and a woman carrying a baby behind the main figure. Additionally, behind the Asian figure, there is a cross symbolizing the birth of Christianity on the continent. The African figure is a nude woman seated on a stone throne, with a lion beneath her left arm, set against Egyptian motifs. To her right is the Great Sphinx of Giza, with a hooded figure behind her. The American figure is a young woman holding a torch of liberty in her hand. Progress is symbolized by a kneeling man under America's robe. Corn stocks sit on her lap as she rises from an Aztec carved throne. An eagle and cacti are positioned on her right, and a Native American man stands behind her, observing her embodiment of progress.
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Coordinates
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1 Bowling Green, New York, NY 10004
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Location
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Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House, New York City, New York
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Note
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The design was executed by Daniel Chester French prior to the Piccirilli brothers' carving of the statues. The sculptures were exhibited to the public in 1905 before their installation in 1907. There are current debates of the appropriateness of these statues and if they should be removed.
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Abstract
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Four Tennessee marble sculptures representing the major continents of the world are positioned in front of the U.S. Custom House in New York City. The Piccirilli brothers executed the carving of the Four Continents, based on a design by Daniel Chester French, in 1907. America, Africa, Asia, and Europe continue to oversee the streets of New York over a century later.
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Creator
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Orazio Piccirilli|232|Piccirilli Brothers|246
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Date
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1907
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Medium
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Tennessee Marble
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Subject
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Africa|America|Asia|Europe
