Plaster Bust of Lord Byron
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, known as Lord Byron, was a British Romantic movement poet in the early 1800s. The town of Byron, Maine is named after him and was incorporated in 1833, nine years after his death. This bust dates to the Blaine family’s occupation of the house. MSM Unnumbered
Plaster Statue of Blaine
This plaster statuette from the late 1800s may represent a proposal for a statue of James G. Blaine, one that was not carried out.
MSM Unnumbered
Bust of James G. Blaine
Franklin Simmons
1878-1880
Maine-born sculptor Franklin Simmons was one of the country’s best-known sculptors when he carved this marble bust of James G. Blaine. Blaine commissioned it during his term as U.S. Senator. Simmons may have traveled to Maine when Blaine sat for the bust in 1878. According to a news article at the time, Simmons carved the bust in Rome, Italy, completing it in 1880. He reportedly pronounced it “the most perfect piece of workmanship” he ever modeled.
MSM79.40.38
Plaster Statue of Minerva
Minerva was the Roman goddess of wisdom. Plaster statuettes were popular items of décor in the late 1800s. Minerva has occupied her niche since the Blaine family lived in the house. The statuette was converted to an electric lamp when the Blaine House was remodeled in 1919-1920.
MSM 79.40.175
Glass Bust of Abraham Lincoln
Blaine respected Lincoln greatly. According to family tradition, Blaine bought this bust at the 1876 Centennial Exposition, and kept it on his desk the rest of his life. When Blaine’s daughter, Harriet Blaine Beale gave the house to the State, she distributed many of the household items to friends and family. She gave this to her cousin, Mary Owen Stinson Weston, who passed it on to her daughter. A benefactor bought it and gave it to First Lady Karen Baldacci, as a gift for the Blaine House.
MSM 2010.49.1
