Eugene Field Memorial reliefs - Chicago, IL
Posted by: 
adgorn
N 41° 55.268 W 087° 37.930
16T E 447580 N 4641212
A hovering, delicately winged Lady atop a rectangular base with reliefs from scenes scenes from Eugene Field's children's poetry. Two sleeping children are nestled together at her feet.
Waymark Code: WM8TJ0
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 05/11/2010
Views: 3
Other titles for the sculpture - Dream Lady; Wynken, Blinken and Nod; Children's Monument to Eugene Field.
From Wikipedia: (
visit link)
"Eugene Field was an American writer, best known for his children's poetry and humorous essays. Born in St. Louis in 1850, he first started publishing poetry in 1879, when his poem "Christmas Treasures" appeared in A Little Book of Western Verse. Over a dozen volumes of poetry followed and he became well known for his light-hearted poems for children, perhaps the most famous of which is "Wynken, Blynken, and Nod." In 1883 Field moved to Chicago where he wrote a humorous newspaper column called Sharps and Flats for the Chicago Daily News."
From the Art Inventory site:
"The rectangular stone base which extends beyond the bronze figures carries relief panels on each side depicting scenes from Field's various poems. The left relief is a scene of children under a tree with a dog barking at a cat in the tree from "The Sugar-Plum Tree." The right relief is a scene of children sailing on the sea with fish, a moon and clouds in the sky from "Wynken, Blinken and Nod." There are child-height drinking fountains on the north and south ends of the base. Small rectangular reliefs appear above each of the fountains. On the south end is a scene of a girl on a galloping horse from "The Fly-Away Horse," and on the north end is a relief of a witch hovering over a bed in which a figure and a snake appear from "Seein' Things." The upper granite base is flanked by two granite benches which are positioned along the north and south sides of the lower platform base.
Dimensions: Angel figure: approx. 8 ft. x 40 in. x 3 ft.; Figures of children: approx. 4 ft. x 43 in. x 23 in.; Upper base: approx. 5 ft. 10 in. x 14 ft. 9 in. x 5 ft.; Lower platform base: approx. 1 ft. 6 in. x 34 in. x 22 ft.; Each bench: approx. 1 ft. 7 in. x 11 ft. 4 in. x 2 ft.
Inscription: (On upper base front left side:) Have you ever heard of the sugar plum tree/tis a marvel of great nenown/it blooms on the shore of the lollipop sea/in the garden of shut eye town. (On upper base front right side:) Wynken, Blinken and Nod one night/sailed off in a wooden shoe/sailed on a river of crystal light/into a sea of dew. (On back of base:) Erected in 1922 by/school children and/citizens aided by the/Benj. F. Ferguson Fund unsigned
The memorial was provided by public school children, citizens of Chicago and the B. F. Ferguson Monument Fund. Cost $35,000."