Demeter/Ceres - Fredericksburg VA - Smithsonian Art Inventory Sculptures on Waymarking.com

The sculpture of Demeter/Ceres stands at the visitors entrance to Chatham Manor across the Rappahannock River from Fredericksburg, VA. The entrance leads directly into the gardens. Demeter is the Greek goddess of agriculture and Ceres is her Roman counterpart.

Demeter/Ceres or Woman with Scythe and Grain is cast in concrete from c. 1930 and stands atop a concrete base. The sculptor is unknown. Demeter or Ceres is barefooted with her left leg straight and her right leg slightly bent behind her. She is looking off to her right, and holds a scythe in her right hand at her waist and a sheaf of grain in her left hand at chest-level. She is dressed in a long flowing garment. There are no inscriptions.

Demeter/Ceres faces the gate to Chatham and the gardens so approaching visitors will encounter her back view. The sculpture stands in a small grassy island in the middle of the slate walkway.

Chatham Manor was originally built in the late 1700s. It went through several owners and changes, including devastating damage during the Civil War, over the next 150 years until the 1920s when Daniel and Helen Devore bought the property and began its restoration. They hired a landscape architect who extensively used statuary on the grounds, most notably in the gardens as accents and to draw visitors along the paths.¹ Demeter/Ceres originally stood in the front of Chatham, but was moved to its current location when the subsequent owners donated a marble statue of Diana that stood here to the Virginia Museum of Fine Art in Richmond, VA.²

Today, the National Park Service owns the property. Although changes have been made to the original, ornate landscaping, some of the sculptures from the Devore years still remain, including Demeter/Ceres. Chatham is open daily from 9 AM to 4:30 PM. Admission is free.

¹ Gardens lost in time « HORTUS 2
² Chatham a landscape introduction, pg. 94

TITLE: Demeter/Ceres ARTIST(S): Unknown DATE: c. 1930 MEDIUM: Concrete CONTROL NUMBER: IAS VA000054 Direct Link to the Individual Listing in the Smithsonian Art Inventory: [Web Link] PHYSICAL LOCATION: At the visitors entrance to Chatham: 120 Chatham Lane Fredericksburg, VA 22405 DIFFERENCES NOTED BETWEEN THE INVENTORY LISTING AND YOUR OBSERVATIONS AND RESEARCH: If this is the original statue installed by the Devores, it is probably from several years earlier than 1930. If it is a replacement by the NPS duplicating some of the originals sold in auction, it would be from the 1980s. The source for the originals and replacements was Kenneth Lynch & Sons.

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Date Logged Log   08/18/2014 chrissyml visited it