Samuel F. B. Morse

Artist / Maker Christian Petersen (Danish - American, 1885 - 1961)

Manufacturer Chas. M. Robbins Company (American, 1892 - 1963)

Date1912-1914

MediumPainted plaster

Dimensions6 1/2 dia. × 7/8 in. (16.5 × 2.2 cm)

ClassificationsSculpture

Credit LineGift of Mrs. Helen Nerney Shaw to Special Collections, Iowa State University Library. Transferred to University Museums. In the Christian Petersen Art Collection, Christian Petersen Art Museum, University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

Object numberUM99.52

Status

Not on view

Collections

CultureAmerican

Label TextFrom the University Museums Collections Handbook, vol. 2, 2025: Created between 1912 and 1914, Christian Petersen’s bas-relief of Samuel Morse (1791−1872) honors the artist and co-inventor of the Morse Code. The design portrays an older Morse with a full beard, wearing two medals on his chest. This design was featured in the Robbins Co. catalogue, formerly known as Chas. M. Robbins Co., Attleboro, Massachusetts, for several years as a commemorative medallion option. Morse was an American artist, inventor, and philanthropist. Most known for his improvement of the single-wire telegraph and as the co-inventor of the eponymous code used to transmit messages across long distances, Morse also had a successful career as an artist. He was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts, to a Calvinist pastor and educated at Philips Academy and Yale College where he used his talent in painting to support himself while attending lectures in theology and science. After graduating from Yale, Morse sailed to England to study at the Royal Academy in 1811. While his early works depict romantic mythological themes, such as Dying Hercules and Judgement of Jupiter, Morse became a successful portrait painter upon his return to the United States three years later. Between 1815 and 1825, he painted former President John Adams, sitting President James Monroe, and American Revolutionary War hero, Marquis de Lafayette. Morse was a founding member and president of the National Academy of Design and later taught painting and sculpture at the University of the City of New York (now New York University).

Published ReferencesAdvertised in the Robbins Co. catalogue The Robbins Company formerly the Chas. M. Robbins Co. (parts I-III) n.d. 1912 and after. Catalogue held in the Robbins Co. archives, Attleboro Area Industrial Museum, Attleboro, MA. Papers, SC, Box 2 f.9, pictured in catalogue for Wrought Iron and Bronze, Chicago.

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