Erastus Dow Palmer
Erastus Dow Palmer (April 2, 1817March 9, 1904) was an American sculptor.
Also recorded as Erastus D. Palmer · E. D. Palmer · Erasmus Dow Palmer · Erastus Palmer
Erastus Dow Palmer
Brady’s National Portrait Gallery, published by E. Anthony. · E. H. T. Anthony / Courtesy of the Jeffrey Kraus Collection · Courtesy of the Jeffrey Kraus Collection · Public domain
- Name
- Erastus Dow Palmer
- Born
- 2 April 1817
- Birthplace
- Pompey, New York, U.S.
- Died
- 9 March 1904
- Place of death
- Albany, New York, U.S.
- Field
- Sculpture
- Nationality
- United States.
- Occupation
- sculptor.
- Fields
- art of sculpture.
- Languages
- English.
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Erastus Dow Palmer (April 2, 1817March 9, 1904) was an American sculptor.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Erastus Dow Palmer. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q5385009 · wikipedia · Erastus Dow Palmer
In this article
Biography
Biography
Charles Calverley is recorded as having studied under Erastus Dow Palmer. The recorded working language is English. The field of work recorded is art of sculpture. Work by Erastus Dow Palmer is recorded in the collections of Minneapolis Institute of Art, Art Institute of Chicago, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum and J. Paul Getty Museum.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Erastus Dow Palmer • Birth Name — Erastus Dow Palmer • Born — 2 April 1817 • Birthplace — Pompey, New York, U.S. • Died — 9 March 1904 • Place of death — Albany, New York, U.S. • Field — Sculpture • Children — Walter Launt Palmer • Resting Place — Albany Rural Cemetery
Life
Life
Palmer was born in Pompey, New York on April 2, 1817. He was the second of nine children. He showed early artistic promise, and pursued his father's trade of carpentry. Palmer married Matilda Alton in 1839 and had a son, but both mother and child died soon after; he remarried, to Mary Jean Seamans, in 1840, and settled in Utica, New York. In his leisure moments as a carpenter Palmer started by carving portraits in cameo, and earned the encouragement of Thomas R. Walker, a local art patron in Utica, who introduced him to prominent artists in New York City.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1817
Erastus Dow Palmer born at Pompey.
1904
Erastus Dow Palmer died at Albany.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Pompey.
Birth place
Albany.
Death place
Sculpture
By 1849, Palmer had relocated to Albany with his family and had transitioned from cameo-cutting to large-scale sculpture. He worked in a primarily neoclassical style. Palmer mounted an exhibition of twelve of his sculptures, known as "the Palmer Marbles," at the National Academy of Design in 1856, aiding his rise to prominence. His major works include The White Captive (1858) in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Peace in Bondage (1863), Angel at the Sepulchre (1865), in Albany, New York, a bronze statue of Chancellor Robert R. Livingston (1874), in Statuary Hall, Capitol, Washington, D.C., and many portrait busts. Palmer died at his home in Albany on March 9, 1904, and is buried in Albany Rural Cemetery. Palmer admired the work of William Cullen Bryant, Asher B. Durand, and Frederic Edwin Church. Palmer was a friend of Church, and his work is represented in the collection at Olana, Church's home in Hudson, New York. The Albany Institute of History & Art also has significant holdings of Palmer's sculpture. Palmer's son, Walter Launt Palmer (1854–1932), was also an artist best known for his paintings of winter scenes. • Illustration — White Captive, Metropolitan Museum • Illustration — The White Captive by Erastus Dow Palmer, carved 1858-59, Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Context
Primary material
Context
The circumstances in which Erastus Dow Palmer stands.
Documents and archives
Primary material
Documents and archives
Institutional database
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q5385009: Erastus Dow Palmer
Scholarly · Wikimedia Foundation
reference work
- “Erastus Dow Palmer”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
Institutional database
Wikidata, structured authority record Q5385009: Erastus Dow PalmerWikimedia Foundation
Institutional witnessreference work
Secondary witness
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
Formation and teaching. Each of those relationships is stated by the authority record rather than inferred from style. Works and catalogued output.
The White Captive
1858 · Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Sculpture
6,174 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Ephraim KishonArtist
- Epigonus of PergamumArtist
- Erasmus GrasserArtist
- Erasmus Quellinus the ElderArtist
- Ercole FerrataArtist
- Ercole RosaArtist
- Erdmann EnckeArtist
- Erez IsraeliArtist
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Erastus Dow Palmer?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.