‘Anybody can do sculpture, it is purely mechanical’: Harriet G. Hosmer and the relation between sculpture, reproduction and machine invention

Abstract

This article examines the work of Harriet Goodhue Hosmer, focusing on her unique approach to sculpture in the context of evolving ideologies and technological advances in the nineteenth century. The various facets of her life and career, shaped by the collaborative nature of sculpture making in this period, shed light on her identity as both a sculptor and inventor. Hosmer’s work and aspirations to be a harbinger of a new status for women that celebrated female strength and power can be seen against the backdrop of several nineteenth-century freedom movements, but also the emergence of spiritualism in the United States. Exploring invention, authorship and reproduction and revealing the processes of making sculpture in different sizes and materials, this article also incorporates notions of gender by discussing Hosmer and her goal of creating surrogates and machine inventions, considering the mutual interaction of body and technology. Hosmer’s success and her dedication to inventions is drawn out alongside the challenges she faced as a female sculptor in a male-dominated field. Drawing on Gilbert Simondon’s insights into invention, the article suggests that Hosmer’s commitment to invention and the ownership of her creations not only established her as a professional inventor, but also secured her an enduring place in the history of art and science.