Puck

Harriet Hosmer, born Watertown, MA 1830-died Watertown, MA 1908 · modeled 1854, carved 1856

Harriet Hosmer created Puck out of financial necessity when her father could no longer support her in Rome. Literary themes were popular in the nineteenth century, and Hosmer chose the mischievous but adorable fairy from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Puck---or “my son,” as Hosmer called him---was an instant success with the aristocracy, including Albert Edward, the Prince of Wales and the crown princess of Germany, who, upon seeing the work, remarked, “Oh, Miss Hosmer, you have such talent for toes!”