Q. David Bowers
Given below are biographical sketches of sculptors, sculptresses, engravers, and others who prepared designs for United States commemorative coins, as well as individuals whose work in other media (sculpture, medals, etc.) was adapted by engravers for use on commemoratives. Individuals who prepared sketches, proposals, etc., that were not used, at least in part, on finished coins are not listed here.
AITKEN, Robert I.
Robert Ingersoll Aitken was born in San Francisco on May 8, 1878, the son of Charles Hamilton and Katherine Sophia (Higgins) Aitken. He was educated in local public schools, after which he studied sculpture and art at the Mark Hopkins Institute and under Arthur F. Matthews and Douglas Tilden. He also studied for a brief time in Paris. At the age of 19 he set up his own studio in San Francisco, where he became well known for his civic sculptures including McKinley monuments erected in Golden Gate Park (San Francisco) and St. Helena, California, and a monument erected in Union Square, San Francisco, to commemorate Admiral Dewey's naval victory at Manila Bay in the Spanish-American War. The last-named work was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake.
In 1907 he moved his studio to New York City (his address in 1915 was 510 Park Avenue and his address in 1935 was 227 West 13th Street), where he worked for many years and engaged in many sculpture projects including numerous commissions for portrait busts. Aitken's work was exhibited prominently at the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition, where his epic sculptures of Fire, Water, Earth and Air created much attention. International Studio commented concerning the artist's work: "He has injected much personal charm, shown the grandeur of life, along with the physical perfection of man and womanhood in their alluring quality of youth, and the figures pulsate with life."
In World War I he served in Europe as an infantry captain. He was a member of many organizations, including the American Federation of Arts, Circle of Friends of the Medallion, Bohemian Club (San Francisco), and the Lambs Club (New York City).
The sculptor created the West Pediment on the U.S. Supreme Court Building (Washington, D. C), a work which included images of former chief justices John Marshall, Charles Evans Hughes, and William Howard Taft; the architect of the building, Cass Gilbert; and of the artist himself. His friezes for the Gallery of Fine Arts (Columbus, Ohio) took six years to complete, were dedicated in 1937, and depicted 68 masters in the field of painting and sculpture. For display in Binghamton, New York he created the Spanish-American War Monument, for the University of Virginia he sculpted the George Rogers Clark Monument, and for the Hall of Fame in New York City he produced busts of Thomas Jefferson, Daniel Webster, Benjamin Franklin, and Henry Clay.
The artist also created the South Pennsylvania Avenue entrance to the National Archives Building (Washington, D.C.), fountains illustrating the arts and sciences for the Missouri State Capitol, the General Hann Memorial for the Arlington National Cemetery, an equestrian statue of Gen. O.O. Howard for Gettysburg National Park, and a monument to Robert Burns for St. Louis. To Aitken goes the credit for creating the motif of America's largest commemorative coins, the large $50 gold pieces produced in connection with the same event.
Aitken was elected an associate at the National Academy of Design, New York City, in 1909, an academician in 1914, and vice-president 1929-1933. He was a member of the facility from 1919 to 1934.
In 1908 he married Lole Louise Ligny of Paris, a union which ended in divorce. The couple had one child, Lole Francine Aitken. He later married Joan Louise Bruning, with whom he had a son, Bruce Aitken. Robert L. Aitken died at his home, 44 Washington Mews, New York City, on January 3, 1949, and was survived by his wife.
Commemorative credits: 1915-S Panama-Pacific $50 gold coins (two varieties), 1921 Missouri Centennial half dollars, 1935-1936 San Diego half dollar.
BARBER, Charles E.
Charles E. Barber was born in London on November 16, 1840, the son of William and Anna May (Coultart) Barber. Coming to America with his family in response to an invitation for his father to work at the Philadelphia Mint in 1865, Charles joined the Engraving Department of the Mint as assistant to his father in 1869. At the time his father was chief engraver, having succeeded James B. Longacre in the post. Following the death of his father in 1879, Charles E. Barber was named chief engraver. He designed many medals, plaques, and pattern coins but is best remembered by numismatists for his 1879 Flowing Hair $4 stella, 1883 Liberty Head nickel, and the dime, quarter dollar, and half dollar of 1892 (the 1892 coinage types having the doubtful distinction of perhaps being the most criticized designs in the history of coin production in America).
In 1905 the government sent Barber on a tour of European mints to study the procedures in use there. Upon his return to Philadelphia he implemented many changes that resulted in the Medal Department of the Mint's being one of the world's finest facilities.
On March 4, 1875, he married Martha E. Jones. The union produced one child, Edith (married William T. Moseley of Wilmington , Delaware). Martha died in 1898, and on December 3, 1902, Barber married Caroline Gaston. Charles E. Barber remained chief engraver until his death on February 18, 1917, after which he was succeeded in the post by George T. Morgan.
Commemorative credits: 1892-1893 Columbian half dollar (obverse), 1893 Isabella quarter (possibly using ideas from a sketch by Kenyon Cox), 1900 Lafayette silver dollar (copying the obverse from an 1881 medal by Peter L. Krider; the reverse depicted an equestrian statue of Lafayette by Paul Wayland Bartlett), 1903-dated Louisiana Purchase Exposition gold dollars (Jefferson and McKinley portraits, the former copied from a medal by John Reich, 1904-1905 Lewis and Clark Exposition gold dollar, 1915-S Panama-Pacific half dollar (obverse and possibly the reverse), 1915-S Panama-Pacific $2.50 gold (obverse), 1916- 1917 McKinley gold dollar (obverse).