Lotta's Fountain - San Francisco, CA - Smithsonian Art Inventory Sculptures on Waymarking.com

The fountain dates back to the late 1800s. It survived the 1906 Earthquake. The fountain sits in a traffic island at the corner of Kearny and Market Sts. The inventory describes it as a: "Cast iron fountain featuring an eight-foot column topped with an ornate light fixture. Mounted on the base of the column is a bronze relief plaque featuring a bust portrait of Luisa Tetrazzini, shown in proper left profile. The middle section is decorated with floral embellishments and two relief medallions depicting scenes of San Francisco. One of the medallions depicts a schooner ship. The second medallion depicts gold rush miners digging for gold. A third symbolizing agriculture was replaced in 1916 with a plaque that reads, "Reconstructed by the Path-of-Gold Festival Committee October 4-5, 1916. Below the medallions, on all four corners of the fountain, are lion's heads. Four semicircular fountain basins jut out from the sides of the fountain near the base, each basin with a spigot in the form of a griffin's head. Originally, there were tin cups chained next to each basin, but they no longer exist. The fountain rests on a granite base.

The fountain was given to the city by Vaudeville performer Lotta Crabtree, a native of San Francisco, grateful to the city where her career was launched. The fountain was ordered from a catalog out of Philadelphia. The fountain was originally painted brown to look like bronze, and was originally sited at 3rd, Market and Kearny, but was relocated a short distance during the 1974 Market Street renovation. In 1911, the relief plaque by Patigian was added to the fountain to commemorate the Dec. 24, 1910 performance at that spot by Italian opera singer Luisa Tetrazzini to an estimated crowd of 250,000. In 1916, the eight foot column was added to the fountain by the Path of Gold Committee to equal the height of the new lights along Market Street. The fountain, which survived the 1906 earthquake, has become an annual gathering place for earthquake survivors every April 18th. In 1954 a car damaged the fountain, and in 1974, the fountain was renovated and painted as part of the Market Street beautification program."

TITLE: Lotta's Fountain ARTIST(S): Unknown (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), fabricator. Patigian, Haig, 1876-1950, sculptor. DATE: 1875. Dedicated Sept. 9, 1875. Plaque installed 1911. Column added 1916. Relocated 1974. MEDIUM: Fountain: cast iron, painted; Relief plaque: bronze; Base: granite. CONTROL NUMBER: IAS CA001725 Direct Link to the Individual Listing in the Smithsonian Art Inventory: [Web Link] PHYSICAL LOCATION: Corner of Kearny and Market DIFFERENCES NOTED BETWEEN THE INVENTORY LISTING AND YOUR OBSERVATIONS AND RESEARCH: None

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