Tennyson's Princess
About the sculpture
William Couper based Tennyson’s Princess on the main character in Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s poem of 1847. The story tells of Princess Ida, who at first shuns marriage to establish a university for women, but later falls in love and marries a prince. Ida’s pursuit of an education instead of marriage was not widely accepted in the nineteenth century, and, two years after Couper modeled this piece, Gilbert and Sullivan wrote a musical satire based on Tennyson’s poem. Couper carved tobacco leaves around the bottom part of the sculpture, perhaps in honor of his home state of Virginia.
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Particulars
- Accession number
- 1918.5.26
