Gorham casts
In the early 20th century (1908 or 1909), the Commonwealth of Virginia commissioned a new cast to be added to the National Statuary Hall Collection. It is now one of six state statues located in the United States Capitol rotunda in Washington, D.C.
In 1910 an act of the general Assembly of Virginia stated, "That the permission and authority of the State of Virginia be .... granted to the Gorham Manufacturing Company .... to make further copies or reproductions of the Houdon statue of George Washington from the molds now in possession of said company... belonging to the State of Virginia, for any National, State, Territorial, County of Municipal Government ...... for any university, college, school, library, art gallery, or other educational institution: for any patriotic society ..... related to the history and achievements of George Washington." Each copy was to be stamped with the great seal of Virginia and the phrase, "Copied from the original by Houdon..." Gorham was to pay the state $500 for every statue made. The Virginia legislature banned future taking of molds, and so the subsequent casts were made from existing molds.
The known locations of the Gorham casts include:
In 1910, the Virginia General Assembly presented a bronze copy to the people of France using the Gorham molds.
Springfield, Massachusetts
Jefferson Memorial Park, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1910
Oshkosh, Wisconsin, 1911
University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, dedicated 1913
The Art Institute of Chicago, 1917, originally placed in front of the museum, but in 1979 moved indoors, and presently in the Chicago City Hall
Trafalgar Square in London, 1921
Lima, Peru, dedicated July 4, 1922
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1922, first given to the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1922 and then moved to Washington Square in 1954
National Heritage Museum, Lexington, Massachusetts; cast 1924
Further copies were produced for the bicentennial of Washington's birth, and are located in:
Fair Oaks Park, Minneapolis, Minnesota, donated 1931, dedicated 1932, obtained by a local branch of the DAR, and toppled in November 2020.
Valley Forge National Historical Park, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania
Civic Center Plaza, Los Angeles, California; cast and presented 1933
City College of New York, 1931
Redwood Library and Athenaeum, Newport, Rhode Island. Dedicated 1932
Albany, New York, dedicated 1932
the quad at George Washington University, 1932
Maxwell School foyer at Syracuse University, 1937
