Patience Lovell Wright (1725-1786), “the Promethean Modeler,” was one of the first American sculptors who created life-size wax figures, often featuring actual clothing and glass eyes. In colonial America, molding tinted wax was a popular art form. Using wax was less prestigious than sculpting with bronze or stone. However, manufacturing was cheaper and gave sculptures a more lifelike quality. Wright had commissions for waxworks in both Philadelphia and New York City.
She began her career making figures out of dough for her children. After her husband died in 1769, she turned her hobby of sculpting faces out of wax into a full-time profession to support her family. After a fire at her waxworks in New York City, Wright moved to London in 1772. There, she gained fame for her wax figures of historical and contemporary figures, including members of British royalty, whom she liked to address by their first names.
During the American Revolutionary War, she supported the American cause by gathering intelligence among her wide circle of British friends and smuggling information to the Continental Army. She hid detailed reports of British war details inside wax busts.
Wright was a vegetarian and a Quaker known for being unconventional. Critics condemned her rustic American manners. She wore wooden clogs, kissed both men and women—considered improper—and equally greeted all classes, including royalty.
The only surviving sculpture is of Lord Chatham (William Pitts), displayed in Westminster Abbey in London, England. Regardless of her lack of recognition at the time of her death, Wright remains America’s first professional sculptor.
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