Rare Marble Bust by America’s First-Known Female Sculptor Discovered in English Garden

A rare marble sculpture, made by a pioneering 19th-century artist and feminist, was discovered by auctioneers in the garden of a home in the Cotswolds in England. It is expected to fetch up to £18,000 ($24,300) at auction.

The 1854 bust by American neoclassical sculptor Harriet Goodhue Hosmer depicts Daphne, Apollo’s first love in Greek mythology, with her chest exposed as she glances solemnly downward. On the back, the marble is inscribed with the artist’s name, along with the Latin phrase “Me Fecit Roma” (or “Rome made me” in English).

The piece was covered in lichen and had been mistaken for a garden ornament for the last seven decades until it was discovered by Thomas Jenner-Fust, director of Chorley’s Auctioneers, during a house evaluation in the Cotswolds.

Born in Massachusetts in 1830, Hosmer is considered the first professional female sculptor in the United States, though she spent much of her career in Rome. There, even though the field was dominated by male artists, Hosmer became internationally renowned for her art practice. She was also openly gay at a time when same-sex relationships were widely condemned and sometimes illegal.

“She was somebody who was exceptional—a real trailblazer and a feminist icon,” Jenner-Fust told the BBC.

The bust, considered Hosmer’s debut sculpture, is one of only a small handful made, with three verified marble iterations on display in museums across the US. The family believes this version was purchased at auction by an ancestor in the mid-1900s, though its provenance remains uncertain.

The homeowners were “quite surprised” and had been “blinded by familiarity” after so many years with the statue, Jenner-Fust added. “They had no idea it was marble, no idea who it was by, and no idea it was so valuable.”

The statue will hit the auction block at Chorley’s Auctioneers in Gloucester at a later date.