Jersey Jewel

Artist / Maker Norma Lyon (American, 1927 - 2011)

Foundry Polich Art Works (American (Rock Tavern, NY))

Date2006

MediumBronze cast

Dimensions69 1/2 x 95 x 32 in. (176.5 x 241.3 x 81.3 cm)

ClassificationsSculpture

Credit LineCommissioned by the Animal Science Department and the University Museums with funding from The Swiss Valley. Art in State Buildings Project for the Dairy Farm. In the Art on Campus Collection, University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

Object numberU2007.32

Status

On view

Collections

CultureAmerican

Label TextFrom the University Museums Collections Handbook, vol. 2, 2025: The 27-acre Iowa State University Dairy Farm is located south of campus with over 400 dairy cows on site. The farm opened in 2007, and for the new space, a bronze casting of Jersey Jewel was created. The sculpture depicts a Jersey cow, a breed common in dairy farming. Sculpted by Norma “Duffy” Lyon, this sculpture in bronze celebrated the legacy of Lyon as “the Butter Cow lady,” famous for her large-scale butter sculptures, especially cows, created for the annual Iowa State Fair from 1960 through her final work in 2006. Lyon, an alumnus of Iowa State University, studied animal science at Iowa State, because at the time women were discouraged from studying veterinary medicine. As a student, Lyon sculpted a horse from snow in front of her sorority. Sculptor and professor Christian Petersen took notice, and urged her to join his sculpting classes. Years later, Lyon paid tribute to Christian Petersen by sculpting The Gentle Doctor in butter for an Iowa State Fair display. Her sculptures of dairy cattle grace the Dairy Farm as both inspiration for visitors there and as a visual history of Animal Science’s alumni’s wide-reaching influence on the University and the state of Iowa.

Locations