Thomas Ball

Life DatesJune 3 1819 – December 11 1911

Son of a house and sign painter; his father Thomas Ball, Sr. died when his son was twelve. Began as a painter of portrait miniatures, eventually turning to clay as a medium, and was gifted in that medium. Produced a number of monumental sculptures, including one of George Washington on a horse that is in the Public Garden in Boston, a bronze of Daneil Webster, and other notable figures of history. He first achieved notice for his sculpture of Jenny Lind, whom he saw on tour in 1850. Ball worked in Florence, Italy, for many years. He returned to America in the last years of his life, living in Montclair, New Jersey.