The Journal of San Diego History
SAN DIEGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY QUARTERLY
Spring 1973, Volume 19, Number 2
James E. Moss, Editor
Allen Hutchinson, described as “an itinerant sculptor” in an art encyclopedia, might be unknown today if it were not for the good fortune that his path fleetingly crossed that of another more famous Britisher, Robert Louis Stevenson. Today, works of Allen Hutchinson, sculptor, are found in only a few art galleries, although in prestigious ones. These include those which have in their collection a replica of Hutchinson’s bust of Robert Louis Stevenson, said to be the only one made from life. In addition, he is known for his fine racial studies made in Hawaii, Australia and New Zealand, some of which can still be seen in galleries and museums there. In San Diego Hutchinson should be remembered for the years he spent in the City as British Vice-Consul, and for a remarkably lifelike Memorial bust of Alonzo E. Horton, founder of the modern city of San Diego. The Horton bust, hidden away for years in a little-used storeroom at Serra Museum in San Diego’s Presidio Park, and only recently placed on exhibit, has called attention to this distinguished sculptor who once called San Diego his home.
Instead of remaining in London, where he was comfortably settled during the halcyon days of Victorian England, and where he could have expected to make a good living sculpturing the heads of famous persons who wanted to assure their immortality in marble, Hutchinson chose to travel to far away places where he could study at first hand the characteristics and cultures of American Indians and Polynesians, none of whom would be able to pay for his services.
Hutchinson was born in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, on January 8, 1855, the son of Reverend William P. Hutchinson and Caroline Allen Hutchinson. Reverend Hutchinson was Vicar of Blurton, Stoke-on-Trent, for 45 years, 1865 to 1910. His church, St. Bartholomew’s (Anglican) dates from about 1553, and still retains some of the original beams from the first Elizabethan structure. One of the prized possessions of the church today is the gold chalice used during the reign of Elizabeth I. The Hutchinson family lived in the old Blurton Vicarage, still standing beside the church, but now a private residence. Allen’s brother, Sanford William Hutchinson, two years his senior, succeeded their father as Vicar. The parents, Sanford, and a sister Florence, lived the rest of their lives at Blurton Vicarage. Another sister, Katherine How, was living in Oxford in the 1920’s. Hutchinson’s great-great grandfather, Thomas Hutchinson, was the last Colonial Governor of Massachusetts. Allen was the first of his family since the Revolution to come to the United States. Although he lived for many years in the United States, he never relinquished his British citizenship.
Family records indicate Hutchinson left home at an early age to join the British Navy. Perhaps this took him to distant places and interested him in other races and cultures. By the late 1870’s, however, he was back in London, a pupil of Lanteri, studying art and modeling. This led to his choice of a life work as sculptor and medalist. Success must have come rapidly, for in 1883 he exhibited for the first time at London’s Royal Academy and continued to exhibit there for the next three years. Some time during these years he also studied and exhibited in Paris, Berlin, Naples and Rome.
In 1886, prompted by his interest in racial types, Hutchinson began his travels to America and the South Seas which later caused him to be listed in the Encyclopedia of Australian Art as “an itinerant sculptor.” Certainly this is a fitting description, because from then on he would be almost continually on the move, perhaps searching for wealth and fame which for him proved to be elusive.
From England, Hutchinson went first to Canada to study the Indians of North America. He remained a year or more in northeastern Canada and then moved to British Columbia, where he established a studio. In 1888 he travelled to California, but remained there only a short time. From California he sailed westward to Hawaii, arriving in late 1888. In Honolulu he found himself one of a small group of artists recently arrived in the Islands. Among them were Joseph Strong and his wife, Isobel Osbourne Strong, whose mother, Fanny Van de Grift Osbourne, was married to Robert Louis Stevenson. The Strongs and their friend, Jules Tavernier, had maintained a studio in San Francisco where they were members of the Bohemian Club and prominent in art circles. Their friend, John D. Spreckels, son of Claus Spreckels, the Sugar King of Hawaii, had told them of the beauties of the Islands, which were just waiting to be discovered by artists, and had suggested they go to Honolulu.
The Strongs had moved to Honolulu in 1882, with Tavernier joining them soon after.
The Hawaiian Islands were going through tumultous times in the 1880’s, when control of the Islands by the Royalists was being challenged. The Strongs and their artist friends, including Hutchinson, found their sympathies with the Royalists, and soon they were accepted in the little coterie around King Kalakaua.
When Hutchinson arrived, he shared a studio with Tavernier in the Mclnerny Block. Tavernier, a Frenchman, was a fine landscape artist and collector of Indian relics. He died in May, 1889, and Joseph Strong and Hutchinson were among the pallbearers at his funeral on May 29th. Soon afterward, the Strongs left Honolulu for Sydney, Australia, to join Robert Louis Stevenson and his party, who were on their way to Samoa. Stevenson, his wife and mother, had arrived in Honolulu for their first visit on January 24, 1889, aboard their yacht Casco, and had left in June, 1889.
Because of his friendship with the Strongs, Hutchinson met the Stevensons during their visit, and it was during this time that King Kalakaua, who entertained the Stevensons and their friends, was prevailed upon to allow Hutchinson to make a life mask of him. The mask became the property of Stevenson, and hung on the wall of his home “Vailima” in Samoa.1 Hutchinson also was commissioned to make a bust of King Kalakaua in July, 1889. The “Wilcox Revolution” broke out while he was working on the lanai of Government House, and a bullet fired by a revolutionary hit the clay bust he was modeling.2
After the death of Tavernier, Hutchinson moved in with his friend Daniel Logan, Editor of the Honolulu Daily Bulletin. On February 22, 1890, the Bulletin carried a feature article about Hutchinson.
A small but appreciative audience assembled at the Y.M.C.A. hall last night to listen to the lecture by Allen Hutchinson, the sculptor . . . After an interesting account of the various methods of sculpture and of the different materials used, Mr. Hutchinson announced himself as ready to give an exhibition of off-hand skill in bust modeling . . . By common desire, Prof. W. T. Brigham took a seat on the platform to be “depicted.” . . . at length Prof. Brigham of the flesh stood reproduced in clay, natural and lifelike . . . The neat exhibition of skill by Mr. Hutchinson met with appreciative applause.
When Robert Louis Stevenson arrived for his second and last visit to Honolulu in September, 1893, Hutchinson, recognized in Honolulu as a promising young sculptor, was granted the privilege of sculpting a bust of the famous author. Hutchinson, in an article for Scribner’s Magazine, August, 1926, tells of the circumstances of his doing the bust.
It was in one of the rambling bungalows of Sans Souci, facing the surf, that Stevenson gave me sittings. He had come from Samoa for a change and seemed to enjoy it immensely inspite of chronic ill health . . . In 1893 Sans Souci was a rambling hostelry, nestled among the coconut and palm trees of Waikiki Beach. The guests occupied small bungalows, thatched-roof affairs about ten by twelve, the bed being the principal article of furniture. It was in one of these bungalows that Stevenson had established himself, propped up with pillows on the bed in his shirt-sleeves. His Samoan servant, whose principal occupation was to light his master’s cigarettes and keep flies moving, squatted on a mat beside him.
It was here that I established my turntable and bucket of clay while my subject entertained his visitors. I cannot say that he was a good sitter, as he was never still. Though Stevenson did not pose, he paid great attention to the work as it developed, and his constant criticisms as he got up from the bed to inspect it became disconcerting. I had to remonstrate vigorously, requesting him to return to the bed-in fact, to mind his own business, which consisted in entertaining his guests. This amused him greatly, but he obeyed.
The visitors were various, and I was amused at the way he entered into their idiosyncrasies. To stoical Scots with a rich brogue, there to visit their illustrious countryman, he spoke with a brogue, though his usual accent had no Scotch inflection; but he dearly loved a Scot, there is no doubt about that . . . He returned to Samoa almost immediately and I had my last sitting the day before he left.
At the same time that Hutchinson modeled the head of Stevenson, he made a cast of Stevenson’s right hand and wrist.
It was during these “sittings” that Stevenson wrote to his friend, Sidney Colvin:
Waikiki, Honolulu, H.I.
October 23d, 1893
I am being busted here by a party named Hutchinson. Seems good.
R.L.S.
Five days before writing the note, Stevenson had presented to Hutchinson a copy of the first American edition of his newly published book, David Balfour, and inscribed it, “Allen Hutchinson, from the author. Waikiki, Oct. 18, 1893.”3
Hutchinson was one of four pioneer artists who founded the Kilohana Art League of Honolulu, of which he became Secretary, in the early spring of 1894. The purpose of the society, which remained in existence until 1913, was to encourage art in Hawaii by giving young artists an opportunity to display their works. At the first exhibition on May 5, 1894, in the small back room of the art store at King Brothers on Hotel Street, Hutchinson exhibited ten of his works, one of which was his plaster bust of Stevenson, which was offered for sale for $35.00. It did not sell, however.
While the first exhibit was not a great financial success, Hutchinson and the Kilohana Art League were well received. A yellowed clipping from a Honolulu newspaper, without date, but reporting on an exhibition of the Art League, probably the one in May, 1894, carried the heading, “Fine Cast of President Dole Exhibited.”
That an exhibition of local artists should have the work of a sculptor among its exhibits gives a force that otherwise would be wanting. The more so when such work proclaims the touch of an artist and not the tyro.
Mr. Allen Hutchinson is no novice. His work has often adorned the Royal Academy. This year’s catalogue of the Royal Academy shows him to be an exhibitor there of work he has done here and forwarded for exhibition on a native heath. It has been of great interest and a lasting benefit to Hawaii to have a man of his capabilities located here.
The most striking piece of work Mr. Hutchinson shows is the portrait bust of President Dole. Hawaii is indeed fortunate to be able to have her men of note thus portrayed in lasting form . . . It is hoped Mr. Hutchinson will remain long in Hawaii.
In 1894 Hutchinson sent some of his works to London to be exhibited at the Royal Academy, including his “Head of a Chinaman,” a sculpture of a prominent Chinese doctor in Honolulu, which met with critical acclaim wherever it was exhibited.4
Early in 1895 Hutchinson returned to England to personally exhibit his clay bust of Stevenson at the New Gallery in London. The bust attracted considerable attention. Stevenson had died only six months before in Samoa, and the Hutchinson bust and Augustus Saint-Gaudens’ medallion were the only sculptured art made of him during his lifetime. After the close of this exhibition, Hutchinson stored the bust with his brother at Blurton Vicarage where it remained until 1926.5
In the summer of 1895 Hutchinson was commissioned by the Trustees of the Bishop Museum in Honolulu to make a bust of Charles R. Bishop, its founder, who then resided in San Francisco. While in San Francisco, Hutchinson engaged a room in a lodging house run by an attractive 39-year-old widow, Ella Florence Rutledge Ferric. Apparently it was love at first sight for Hutchinson, age 40, supposedly a confirmed bachelor. After a whirlwind courtship, the two were married on August 26. On October 2 they left San Francisco for Honolulu, accompanied by Mrs. Hutchinson’s fifteen-year-old daughter, Anna Ferrie. It was Anna (or “Nana” as she was affectionately called) who kept a careful diary of their travels and of her step-father’s activities for the next twenty years, until her own marriage in San Diego. She acted as Hutchinson’s secretary and assistant, and was closely associated with his professional work during those years.
The bust of Charles R. Bishop was unveiled in a ceremony at the Bishop Museum on Founder’s Day, December 19, 1895, with the sculptor’s proud wife and stepdaughter looking on.
By coincidence, while Hutchinson was in San Francisco, the widow of Robert Louis Stevenson, Fanny Stevenson, was also in that city, and on September 5, only a few days after Hutchinson’s marriage, she wrote him the following letter:
7 Montgomery Avenue
San Francisco, Cal.Dear Mr. Hutchinson:
I make bold to ask of you a very great favour; that you let me have a copy of the cast you made of Mr. Stevenson’s hand, and if you have them, the measurements you made of his head. I remember, that day at the hotel, how surprised I was that the measurements should have been so large, when his head looked so small. I hope that you have kept them. If you will kindly allow me to have these, and the cast of the hand, I shall be more grateful than I can say: and, of course, any expense must be at my cost.
We are at present living in San Francisco and are uncertain for how long we shall stay here; until next summer, at any rate. I do not know whether you have remained in the islands during these troublesome times, but if you have left, no doubt this note will follow you. You may be a happy Benedict by this time which I hope may be the case. If so, please present to her my regards, and believe me,
Yours most sincerely,
Fanny V. deG. Stevenson6
Sept. 5th, ’95
The letter was addressed “A. Hutchinson, Esq., Sculptor, Honolulu, Hawaii.” For some reason, Hutchinson did not receive the letter until October 3, 1899, four years later, while he was in Sydney, Australia. It is not known whether their paths ever crossed again, or whether Mrs. Stevenson ever secured from him the measurements of Stevenson’s head. It is believed that some time later she sought to buy the bust of Stevenson, but by that time it was packed away in England. Nor was she ever successful in acquiring the cast of Stevenson’s hand. It was still in Hutchinson’s possession when he was in Auckland, New Zealand. On August 12, 1901, there is an entry in Anna Ferrie’s diary, “Father and mother went to town. Shipped cast of Robert Louis Stevenson’s hand to Mr. Fred Smith, Halifax, England.” Evidently it was being shipped to England to be exhibited or offered for sale.7
Soon after his return to Honolulu with his new family, Hutchinson added a studio to his home on Alapai Street, and again actively engaged in sculpting busts of prominent people and modeling Hawaiian figures. In July, 1896, he was commissioned by Bishop Museum to do a series of six figures representing Hawaiian life and industry for a fee of $2,000. In addition, he was to do the bas relief designs on the pillars of a new annex to the Museum.
The Honolulu Hawaiian Star, on May 18, 1897, and the Honolulu Pacific Commercial Advertiser, on June 10, 1897, described in admiring terms the work Hutchinson was doing for the museum. On June 15, the Evening Bulletin, whose Editor was Daniel Logan, Hutchinson’s friend, praised the artist and reported his imminent departure:
Mr. Allen Hutchinson’s contemplated departure on the Steamer Aorangi takes from Honolulu an artist whose work has reflected great lustre upon this small capital city during his stay of eight years. He is the first sculptor of genuine standing in the world’s art circles to have taken up long residence here, and until just now it was hoped that he should permanently be identified with Honolulu. As he has decided otherwise, however, it is in order to assure him that he will be greatly missed. Besides his sculptured portraits of well known residents, Mr. Hutchinson executed works of great public interest while here. Among these the chief are the memorial bust of King Kalakaua and the bust of Robert Louis Stevenson, both from life studies, a series of Hawaiian types, the models of ancient Hawaiian life, for the Bishop Museum, and the capitals of the great extension shortly to be made to that institution . . .
Another tribute to Hutchinson appeared in the Honolulu Independent, June 15, and was entitled “Aloha to Allen Hutchinson, the Sculptor of Hawaiian Types.”
By the steamer Aorangi, Hawaii loses for years, if not forever, an artist whose works will be happy monuments of his conscientious labors.
Mr. Hutchinson during his eight years residence among us has devoted himself especially to an earnest study of the Hawaiian race from their physical and peculiarly characteristic features, and has modelled them, and carved them, sculpt them, sketched and photographed them, until the Bishop Museum would have a faithful representation of the race from Childhood to old age, and in many types, even if the last Hawaiian had passed away to the Hawaiian Valhalla. . .
Mr. Hutchinson leaves not only his works behind him as a remembrance, but the knowledge that he has rendered a lasting service to Hawaii and has personally made innumerable friends whose best wishes go with him and his amiable family.
According to Anna Ferrie’s diary, Hutchinson completed his work for the Bishop Museum on June 10th. He then sold his studio and household effects, auctioned many of his works, and moved the family into a hotel. Their departure was delayed because of the late arrival of their ship, but on June 26 the family left on the Aorangi for Sydney, Australia.
In Sydney, Hutchinson became a member of the Society of Artists and exhibited some of his works at their Art Exhibition in October. As a result he sold ten of his works to the National Gallery. The Trustees of the National Gallery were impressed with his ability and commissioned him to make a posthumous bust of Sir Alfred Stephen, the first President of the Trustees of the Gallery. Hutchinson’s bust was not well received, however, because it portrayed Stephen as an old man. In 1899 the family of Sir Stephen gave the Gallery another marble bust of Stephen made by Achille Simonetti which portrayed him as much younger than the Hutchinson bust. Simonetti’s bust replaced Hutchinson’s in the group on public view, and the Hutchinson bust was banished to the storeroom.8
While in Sydney, Hutchinson evidenced his continuing interest in Hawaii and its politics when he wrote a letter to the Editor of the Sydney Daily Telegraph protesting the newspaper’s contention that the Hawaiian people were pleased about the overthrow of the monarchy and the subsequent annexation by the United States. Hutchinson still was a “royalist” at heart, and went to the defense of the deposed Queen. His letter, published August 29, 1898, reads in part as follows:
To the Editor: I do not know how much your readers are interested in the doings at Hawaii. Probably very little, but for those who are . . . I think it is only fair that you allow one who is intimately acquainted with the islands to say a few words.
In the first place, let me state that I have never taken any part in any of the political concerns of the islands. I am, however, conversant with their past and present history. I have resided there during the overthrow of the Monarchy, and have watched the contending factions which have rent the country for many years. It has at length been annexed by the United States. All this is now a matter of history; but the conniving and scheming, the political trickery, and above all, the false statements of the successful party, are, perhaps, only known to those who have lived in their midst.
I feel constrained to protest against an article you quote from the Hawaiian Gazette of August 5th, and which you say “is of interest, as indicating the sentiment now prevailing in the islands.” The article . . . can only be characterized as unfair to an unfortunate woman who is now no longer able to defend herself. It may be sufficient for the purpose to say that the Hawaiian Gazette is merely one of many papers published in Honolulu and is the mouthpiece of a political faction which has been dubbed “the Family Compact.” They were the prime movers in the overthrow of the Monarchy, and have since occupied all the lucrative positions of the Government . . . The bearing of Queen Liliuokalani has always been dignified and courageous, and she is still the Sovereign in the hearts of her people, who are today discontented and sullen at the turn of events taken . . . In conclusion, let me say that I have no wish for publicity; but I feel, in the interests of the Hawaiian people, it is only fair to say that the article you have quoted does not represent ‘the sentiment now prevailing in the islands.’
Yours, etc. Allen Hutchinson
In 1899, the Australian Museum (not to be confused with the National Gallery), also in Sydney, commissioned Hutchinson to do four Hawaiian figures, “two poi and two tapa,” replicas of those made in Honolulu.9
Upon completion of the work for the Australian Museum, the Hutchinsons moved on to New Zealand in search for new models. They left by the Steamer Talune on October 18, 1899, and arrived in Auckland on the 23rd. A few days later, Hutchinson and his wife left for Te Kuiti, where he intended to study the Maoris. From Te Kuiti they went to Rotorua in the hot lake district of New Zealand, where Hutchinson made six Maori studies. They returned to Auckland in January, 1900, and the New Zealand Herald, February 28, 1900 reported the artist’s impressions of the Maori.
What struck me most forcibly was the close resemblance the Maoris bear to the Hawaiians and other Polynesian peoples. The older type of Maoris, however, seem to possess more virility than any of the South Sea Islanders, but speaking generally, their racial characteristics are identical. As to my impressions of the King Country, they are somewhat biased, no doubt by the fact that I struck Te Kuiti during a race meeting, and found that the Maoris were more deeply impressed in totalizator odds that in posing for posterity. I liked Rotorua, however. The natives there were somewhat shy as regards sitting, and seemed to think that my measurements and modelling might have serious consequences for themselves. I soon found however that a pecuniary inducement overcame both fears and scruples, and I got some really good subjects . . . Of course, my chief interest lies in the preservation of the racial types, and I am glad to say that I have obtained six samples in relief which I hope will form the nucleus of a large collection.
The New Zealand Illustrated Magazine, April, 1900, published an article by Hutchinson entitled “A Glimpse of the King Country,” illustrated with photographs of the six Maori figures in bas relief, in which he concluded:
The Maori, like all primitive people who come in contact with the white man, is rapidly losing his identity, and he will develop in course of time a different type of feature and character. Surely it is a privilege, while we yet have the opportunity, to hand down to posterity that which still remains, of what is most vigorous and noblest, in a race which has been called the noblest savage in the world!
Hutchinson continued to live in Auckland until early in 1902 where he established his reputation as a sculptor and became well known. On March 13, 1901, he was honored by a visit from Governor Ranfurly, who, according to Anna Ferrie’s Diary, was “very pleased with father’s work.” The next day, March 14, 1901, the New Zealand Herald reported:
The Governor . . . paid a visit during the afternoon to the studio of Mr. Allen Hutchinson, the English sculptor, residing at Mount Roskill, and was quite astonished with the class of work he saw there, especially with the model of a statue of Sir George Grey, in a sitting position. Lord Ranfurly was also much interested in the “Studies from Various Native Races.” His Excellency has paid visits to Storey’s studio in Rome, years ago, and saw no better work there. Lord Ranfurly states that on the return of Lady Ranfurly, and their re-visiting Auckland. Hutchinson’s studio is one of the first places to which he will take her. Her Ladyship has an extensive acquaintance with art, and is herself an artist.
In the Fall of 1901 Hutchinson decided he would try farming, and leased three-and-a-half acres on Mount le Grand Road, Mt. Roskill, where the family moved in October. This venture was of short duration, and a few months later the Hutchinsons decided to leave New Zealand and return to California.
On February 22, 1902, they left Auckland on the S. S. Ventura for San Francisco. The ship made a short stop in Honolulu and the Honolulu Evening Bulletin, reported on March 5:
Allen Hutchinson, the sculptor, who made the Hawaiian types in the Bishop Museum and did other works here, is travelling with his wife and daughter on board the Ventura. Mr. Hutchinson made flying calls on many old Friends during the vessel’s short stay in port.
The Ventura landed at San Francisco on March 12. For the next few days Mrs. Hutchinson and her daughter were busy visiting relatives and friends in San Francisco while Hutchinson toured the art galleries.
On March 21 the family left by train for St. Louis, Missouri, where plans were being made for a World’s Fair in 1904. Upon their arrival Hutchinson lost no time in making the acquaintance of local artists, and in visiting local art galleries, museums and the Missouri Historical Society. While in St. Louis he completed a bust of the artist Gottfried Lindauer, commissioned before he left New Zealand by H. E. Partridge of Auckland, and participated in the preparations for the Fair.10 The Los Angeles Times, on September 17, 1905, reported:
Like many other sculptors from all parts of the world, Mr. Hutchinson was attracted to St. Louis in 1902, and here he participated in much of the plastic decoration which adorned our great World’s Fair. Here he also exhibited by special request “A Mongolian Type” in the anthropological section. For this study, strong in its construction and exquisite in its perfection of detail, he received a bronze medal. This head had been previously exhibited in the Royal Academy, London, and in Berlin.
A picture accompanying the Times article was that of the “Mongolian Head,” the study made of the Chinese doctor in Honolulu.
After the close of the St. Louis World’s Fair, the Hutchinsons moved to Southern California, and by September, 1905, were settled in San Bernardino where Hutchinson had again set up a studio. Six months later, the Los Angeles Times, on March 18, 1906, again featured an article about Hutchinson.
Mr. Hutchinson has of late been helping the cause of art in Southern California by giving a course of free lectures and demonstrations to the colleges and clubs in his immediate neighborhood. At Pomona College he recently modeled the head of an Indian before the students, though on all the other occasions he selected his subject from the audience and modeled a portrait sketch. His large audiences have found Mr. Hutchinson’s demonstrations extremely interesting and instructive. A number of commissions in portraiture have resulted from them.
While staying at Claremont, modeling a bust of President Gates of Pomona College, Mr. Hutchinson had the pleasure of meeting, quite unexpectedly, Louis Saint-Gaudens, who is a brother of Augustus Saint-Gaudens. . .
Among the commissions that came to Mr. Hutchinson’s hands was a relief portrait of William Penn Rogers, a well-known orange grower of Highland.
Remaining in San Bernardino for about a year, the Hutchinsons moved again, this time to San Diego, where they arrived July 31, 1906. Soon they moved into a rented house at 1631 Fifth Street, where Hutchinson set up his studio and began getting acquainted in the town, which then could boast of a population of around 25,000. As a Britisher and distinguished artist, he soon met most of the prominent residents, and he, Mrs. Hutchinson and Anna were soon involved in the artistic and cultural activities of the growing city.
The San Diego Evening Tribune, November 6, 1906, announced the arrival of Hutchinson and the opening of his studio:
Allen Hutchinson, a sculptor of established reputation, has recently come to this city and intends to make his permanent home here . . . Mr. Hutchinson is well known as an exhibitor in the principal galleries of Europe. He came to this country to participate in the sculpture work on the St. Louis World’s Fair . . . Mr. Hutchinson will be a welcome addition to the artist coterie of this city, and his work will prove a substantial assistance toward the promotion of artistic culture which is so necessary a feature of the best civilization of any community. He has opened a studio on Fifth Street, between Cedar and Date, and has issued invitations to a private view of his work for Friday and Saturday of this week.
On December 13, Hutchinson invited members of the Art Association to meet at his home, where he gave a demonstration of clay modeling. This was an important enough event to justify the presence of a reporter from the San Diegan-Sun, who wrote on December 14:
Mr. Allen Hutchinson demonstrated before the Art Association last night at his studio to a packed audience . . .
Mr. Hutchinson prefaced his demonstration with a few remarks on the sympathy which should exist between devotees of music, painting, sculpture and the drama (and the value of cooperation between these various branches of the art) . . . Passing on to his own branch of art, he drew attention to the two methods of work, the round and relief. Of these two methods, relief sculpture is decidedly the most difficult.
Mr. Hutchinson then proceeded to select a subject from the audience to act as his model . . . A gentleman kindly consented and was duly seated on the modeling stand. There now began a vigorous manipulation of clay on a board placed on an easel . . . the process being watched with rapt attention. Slowly the features of the sitter appeared on the board, standing out in relief against the background. Mr. Hutchinson explained that in an exhibition of this kind the short time in which the work had to be executed obliged him to use large lumps of clay instead of small ones, the work of thirty hours having to be done in one. In the space of one hour a relief sketch of the model was produced.
The interest and attention displayed by the audience throughout the whole proceeding was not only a marked compliment to the artist but a credit to the art instinct of San Diego.
This article was followed by what appears to be a paid advertisement.
Studio 1631 Fifth St.
Day and Night Classes
On December 31, Hutchinson was appointed British Vice-Consul for San Diego by the British Consul-General in San Francisco, although the records of the Foreign Office in London show his official appointment was made on January 18, 1907.
The San Diegan-Sun on January 14 announced the appointment under its “City News” column: “The British Vice-Consulate of San Diego, which has been vacant since Demember through the death of Major Allen, has been filled by the appointment of Mr. Allen Hutchinson to the post. The office of the consulate for the present will be at 1631 Fifth Street.”
Hutchinson, in the few months he had been in San Diego, must have impressed himself favorably upon the local Britishers who recommended him for the appointment when the vacancy occurred. Hutchinson took his position seriously. He installed a large seal of the British Consulate on his front door and began organizing Britishers in San Diego into social and sports clubs.
Another meeting of the Art Association was reported in the San Diegan-Sun on February 16. The subject was “Municipal Art.” A “stirring address” by Hutchinson stressed that “Every growing city should make provision for an Art Museum. An Art Association needs a home, where lectures, art classes and a gallery of paintings and sculpture may be found. Mr. Hutchinson gave some of his experiences in art associations which he has helped to build up in Sydney, Australia, and Honolulu, and much enthusiasm was aroused by his earnest and magnetic address.” The article continued: “H. E. Mills led the discussion which followed and earnestly advocated taking steps to secure a building in the park. He said a very small tax would provide means for such a building. This he believed was a better way than to wait, looking for donations or some great legacy . . . [others] spoke on some topic of vital importance to the beauty and welfare of the city, such as good taste in laying out new additions. Twenty-five foot lots were voted a nuisance.”4
On November 9, Hutchinson founded the British Social Society and became its first President. It was to meet thereafter on the fourth Tuesday of each month at the San Diego Club House on Ninth, between D and E. On May 1, 1908, Hutchinson and a group of other Britishers organized the British Benevolent Society of San Diego, and sent out a call for members. A form letter explained the need for such an organization.
The directors beg to draw your attention to the serious need which exists in San Diego for the relief of sick and distressed Britishers, and of the increasing number of cases which, with the growth of the population, are thrown on the community . . .
A feature in the present state of affairs . . . is that many of our distressed countrymen and women are . . . relieved and assisted by American citizens. Though we are collectively numerous in San Diego and the surrounding country, we are as a body ineffective for any benevolent purpose, through want of organizations. Without wishing, therefore, to discourage help which is so much to the honor of these American citizens, we can at least express our appreciation of their generosity by showing that we are ready and willing to look after our own.
The chief aim of the directors of the Society will be to spend such funds, as are placed at their disposal, for the relief of sick and dying persons who have not the means of obtaining proper medical treatment. It is their particular wish that none of these funds shall in any way encourage mendicancy by the relief of ablebodied applicants.
It may not be generally known that aliens cannot claim relief from the local authorities, neither can they be admitted into the County Hospital. The burden of their relief must, therefore, rest either on individual generosity, or some benevolent institution.
The letter goes on to urge membership in the new organization. Dues were to be 50¢ per month. The plea for membership was signed by Allen Hutchinson, J. H. Bradshaw, Frank Turnbull, George Holmes, George Cooke, Dr. J. W. Shannon and Dr. W. A. Winship.
Other British organizations Hutchinson helped organize included the San Diego Cricket Club, of which he was President; the Sons of St. George, of which he was President and District Deputy Grand President; and the Sir Francis Drake Lodge of San Diego. Several of these organizations are still functioning, but the British Benevolent Society is not one of them, evidence that the need which brought it into being has long since ceased to exist.
In 1906 when Hutchinson arrived in San Diego, Alonzo E. Horton, the founder of the modern city of San Diego, was 92 years old, yet still hale and hearty. Learning that Hutchinson had made memorial busts of such famous personages as Robert Louis Stevenson, King Kalakaua, Governor Sanford Dole and Charles R. Bishop of Hawaii, and leading British statesmen, George W. Marston and other prominent San Diegans thought it would be a good idea to have Hutchinson make a bust of Horton as a memorial for the city. Horton went to Hutchinson’s studio for several sittings, during which Hutchinson was able to study his venerable subject who usually was genial but could on occasion be irrascible. As a result of these sittings, Hutchinson created a clay model ready to be cast in bronze. When completed, the bust remained in Hutchinson’s studio while efforts were made to raise $600, the amount needed to purchase it and have it cast in bronze.
Nearly two years passed. By then Norton was 94 and in failing health. In August, 1908, another attempt was made to secure subscriptions for the bust, and it was placed on display at the Bank of Commerce, at Fifth and E.
On August 16, an article appeared in the San Diego Union, under a photograph of Hutchinson taken in his studio surrounded by some of his works. The article described the bust and explained the purpose for which it was made:
So much interest has been displayed in the new portrait bust of “Father” Horton . . . that it is expected by those interested in acquiring it for the city that it will be an easy matter to secure, by voluntary public subscription, sufficient funds to purchase it and place it eventually in the new City Hall. Until the latter is built, however, it would probably rest temporarily in the Chamber of Commerce or Elk’s Hall . . . It is to be hoped that this community will have the artistic appreciation and foresight . . . to acquire this portrait of our earliest historical figure.
Apparently even this news article did not provide sufficient stimulus, so the committee circulated a letter imprinted with a photograph of the bust asking prominent San Diegans to contribute.
San Diego, December 24, 1908
Dear Sir:Quite a number of citizens, among them several artists who are familiar with the work of Allen Hutchinson, the sculptor, have become very much interested in his recently executed bust of A. E. Horton, the “Father” of San Diego. They believe that this is a most opportune time for the city to acquire a suitable memorial of its chief modern historical figure. Mr. Horton is so advanced in years that it is quite improbable that he will ever sit for another portrait, and, most fortunately, the character of Mr. Hutchinson’s bust renders this entirely unnecessary . . .
The undersigned have consented to act as a committee to obtain the necessary funds to purchase this bust and to provide a suitable place for it in the City Hall or some other public building. The sum necessary is six hundred dollars . . .
It is desired that the presentation to the City shall take place on New Year’s Day, 1909. Therefore, . . . the committee would thank you for as early a response as convenient . . .
Very respectfully,
John F. Forward, Mayor
Alice Klauber
George W. Marston
Horton died after a short illness on January 7, 1909, while the collection campaign was going on. It would seem that his death should have spurred the drive for funds, but evidently it did not. The list of subscribers reads like a Who’s Who of San Diego, all of the signers being prominent residents. The names included John F. Forward, A. Klauber, George W. Marston, Julius Wangenheim, Ralph Granger, D. C. Collier, and Louis J. Wilde, each of whom pledged $25.00. Those who subscribed lesser amounts included Philip Morse, Don M. Stewart, W. A. Sloane, R. V. Dodge, Ed Fletcher, George Burnham, Charles Hamilton, U. S. Grant, Jr., F. T. Scripps, and Hazard, Gould & Co., and J. Jessop & Sons. However, the total amount pledged was only $375.00.
George W. Marston later sorrowfully admitted the drive for funds had not been successful, and the matter was dropped. The bust remained at the Bank of Commerce for a time, but eventually found its way into the collections of the San Diego History Center.11
In 1911 Hutchinson purchased a small house at 1733 First Street, made some additions and alterations to provide a studio, and continued his active participation in the life of the city. It is not certain how Hutchinson supported himself and his family. Surely San Diego in those days was not a profitable place for a sculptor as evidence by the failure of the citizens to raise the $600 to purchase the Horton bust. His fees as vice-consul would have helped, but could not have been much. There is a possibility that he received money from his family in England. His mother, Caroline Hutchinson, died December 15, 1908, and his father, Reverend William Hutchinson, on July 8, 1910, only a few days before his 100th birthday. Reverend Hutchinson had been active to the last, the oldest clergyman in England engaged in active parochial work.
It is known from family letters that Hutchinson received funds from his brother in 1911 for the purchase of the house on First Street, probably a part of his inheritance. After that, Hutchinson received a life income from his father’s estate which greatly relieved his financial situation.
In the next few years, all the Hutchinsons were active in the social life of the community. Anna Ferrie Hutchinson frequently appeared as an actress in dramatic performances put on by the British Social Society and Mrs. Hutchinson often was the director of the play or musical. Mrs. Hutchinson was a member of the San Diego Club (now the San Diego Woman’s Club). The San Diego Union reported on October 26, 1913, that at the first meeting of the “Travel Section” of the club, “Mrs. Allen Hutchinson gave some very interesting and entertaining experiences from a long residence in the Islands a number of years ago, when they were much more Hawaiian than they are today.”
The British Social Club celebrated the Coronation of King George V in 1911, with a play, musical and a Union Jack Flag Drill, and for the next few years the Hutchinsons joined other local Britishers in celebrating the King’s official birthday each June.
The British Benevolent Society continued to function, at least while Hutchinson was Vice-Consul. Its Annual Report for 1911 showed a total of $277.32 expended for general relief. In 1914 the amount was $534.75.
As British Vice-Consul, Hutchinson frequently entertained distinguished British visitors to the community, and accompanied British dignitaries and military officers when they made their official calls on the Mayor of San Diego. It is probable that Hutchinson found most of his time taken up with official duties, and his work with the British societies, and spent less and less time in his studio as a sculptor.
Alice Rainford, San Diego florist, when interviewed in 1970, said she remembered Hutchinson as a tall, broadshouldered distinguished Englishman and outdoorsman, who loved flowers and was knowledgeable about horticulture. He often dropped into her flower shop on Fourth Street for a chat. She recalled having received a postcard from him from London on one of his trips back to England. This may have been at the time of his father’s death in 1910.
In 1913 San Diego was bubbling with excitement over the forthcoming Panama-California Exposition to be held in 1915. Since 1910, promoters had been busy planning for the event, which some observers believed to be far beyond the capabilities of a small town to accomplish on such a lavish scale as the planners envisioned. Recalling that Hutchinson had gone to St. Louis to participate in sculptural work on the buildings for its 1904 Fair, it would seem that Hutchinson should have been actively interested in the architectural plans for the San Diego Exposition. Surprisingly, there is no record of his taking any part in the San Diego Exposition. He did participate, however, in the Order of Panama’s 1913 Cabrillo celebration.
The Order of Panama was formed by a group of prominent San Diego businessmen as a means of promoting the 1915 Exposition. Their greatest activity was in the year 1913, during which projects were proposed that would stagger the imagination even today. Largely through the efforts of this organization, the Federal Government designated the site of the lighthouse on Point Loma and the few acres surrounding it as the Cabrillo National Monument. Ceremonies celebrating this event began with a lavish three-day Cabrillo celebration in September, and culminated in the dedication of the Monument in October. The Order of Panama commissioned Charles F. Lummis, noted California historian, to write an article commemorating Cabrillo’s landing at San Diego in 1542. The article revealed great plans of the Order to erect a 150 foot statue of Cabrillo on the site of the old Lighthouse, abandoned since 1891 and then in a state of ruin. One hundred copies of the Lummis article were printed in English, Spanish and Portuguese on expensive paper, and exquisitely illustrated with pen and ink drawings by artist Virginia Goodrich. These booklets are now treasured historic mementos. On the cover of the booklet is an embossed medallion portrait head of Cabrillo with the date 1542. Inside the medallion is the signature of Allen Hutchinson with the date 1913. This medallion was made from an original bas relief sculpture by Hutchinson, 15″ in diameter, sepia in tone.12
At the same time that Hutchinson made the bas relief medallion of Cabrillo for the Order of Panama, he also created a small model statuette showing Cabrillo standing atop a pedestal, arm outstretched, presumably pointing over the Pacific. On the pedestal was a bas relief medallion portraying Cabrillo’s ship. A photograph of the model was found among Hutchinson mementos. It is obvious that this model was made by Hutchinson in the hope he would be commissioned to do the 150 foot statue of Cabrillo as proposed by the Order of Panama. The commission was not forthcoming to Hutchinson or to anyone else. It was not until years later that the present statue of Cabrillo was erected on Point Loma, which does not by any means reach the height of 150 feet, and fortunately is not on the site of the old Lighthouse which has since been preserved and restored as an historical landmark.
The Panama-California International Exposition opened January 1, 1915, without any other known assistance from Hutchinson, although he must have watched with interest the building of the breathtakingly beautiful white Spanish Colonial buildings mushrooming in the heart of the vast wilderness that had been City Park. The buildings were profusely decorated with sculpture, in both bas relief and free form with which he was so familiar.
Mrs. Ella Hutchinson had not been well for several years, and died on June 26, 1915, at the age of 60. A few months before, on October 27, 1914, her daughter, Anna Ferric, had married Dr. Walter G. Oliver, a Veterinarian, and at that time the County Veterinarian and Livestock Inspector. Dr. Oliver later founded the Arizona Street Veterinary Hospital in San Diego which is still in business.13
With the consequent break-up of his family, Hutchinson was again free to move on to “greener pastures.” San Diego had been his home for ten years, longer than he had remained anywhere since he began his wandering around the world. Perhaps it was his wife and step-daughter who had kept him in San Diego for as long as this. Certainly, San Diego had not been kind to him professionally. However, his prestige as British Vice-Consul, and his prominence in the several British societies he helped to organize must have been satisfying and enjoyable, if not financially rewarding. On October 4, 1915, Hutchinson submitted his resignation as British Vice-Consul, and soon after sold his home and possessions and left San Diego. It is believed that upon leaving San Diego he went directly to New York City. It is known that in 1926 he maintained a studio at 25 Dongan Place, New York City.
In 1926 Hutchinson returned to England and brought the clay bust of Stevenson back with him to New York. It had been left at his brother’s home, Blurton Vicarage, Stokeon-Trent, since 1895. Hutchinson wrote about the bust in Scribner’s Magazine, August, 1926: “During a recent visit to England I exhumed it from a storeroom in my brother’s house where it had remained packed as it was returned after the close of the exhibition just 31 years ago. I can offer no reason why it has remained all these years stored away, further than that, though I have always intended to bring it into the light, I have procrastinated.”
On December 20, 1926, Hutchinson wrote to Anna Oliver, enclosing a copy of a form letter he was sending out soliciting orders for copies of the Stevenson head. The circular read:
25 Dongan Place
New York City, New YorkTo Whom it May Concern:
I am offering my life-size bronze head of Robert Louis Stevenson modelled from life, photogravures of which appear in the accompanying article, a reprint from Scribner’s Magazine, August, 1926. Though this article generally described the history of the work, I am adding a few details which brings it down to date.Since its exhibition in the New Gallery, London, 1895, it has been on view at Knoedler’s Galleries, New York, 1926, the National Academy of Design, New York, 1926, and Scribner & Sons, Fifth Avenue, New York, 1926.
It was my first intention to hold the original intact; but having received many letters of inquiry as to cost of replicas since my article appeared, I have decided to publish it in that form.
I now offer a replica in bronze identical with the original at $185.00. This price includes a polished marble base.
I guarantee these reproductions to be in every way equal to the original and executed by the finest bronze founders under my personal supervision.
Allen Hutchinson
The following April Hutchinson wrote to the President of the Stevenson Society of America, Colonel Walter Scott, offering to sell to him the original bronze head of Stevenson.
It is the first cast taken in bronze from the clay which I modelled from life in 1893. It is therefore only one bronze shrinkage less than life measurements. The replicas being of necessity two shrinkages less. I have intended to keep this original, but considering my age and the uncertainty of life, I would now gladly find a permanent home for it where its identity would be preserved for all time. With this purpose in view, I cannot think of a more appropriate resting place than the archives of your society.
As a result of this solicitation, Colonel Scott purchased the original Stevenson head for the Stevenson Society of America, and formal presentation was made at a meeting of the Society on August 27, 1927, at Saranac Lake, New York. The General Report of the Society for 1927 deals at length with the presentation, and quotes in their entirety the speeches made by Colonel Scott and Hutchinson.
President Scott said:
I am honored by the rare privilege of adding to the collection of R.L.S. mementos here at the shrine, the original bronze head of Stevenson, from which the working models of the replicas were cast . . . I am informed by him [Hutchinson] that the measurements were taken from life . . . We are indeed fortunate to have with us today one who actually lived with Stevenson thirty-four years ago, and of whom R.L.S. said on October 23, 1893, “I am being busted by a party named Hutchinson. Seems good.
I have much pleasure in presenting to you at this time the well-known sculptor and artist, Mr. Allen Hutchinson.
Mrs. Charles R. Erdman then unveiled the bronze and Mr. Hutchinson made the following address:
Mr. President and members of the Stevenson Society of America, I have listened to Colonel Scott, your president, and what he has said, and I noticed one thing which he seems to dwell upon and that was “I busted Mr. Stevenson.” I do not know how true that was literally, since it was but partially true. We did “bust” it a little . . . Before I met Stevenson 34 years ago, I was familiar with his writings and a great admirer of them so that it was a great inspiration to me when we happened to meet, that I was able to induce him to give me sittings . . .
I was at the time engaged on Polynesian types and following my profession in a general way. Naturally I was keen for a study of Stevenson and finding him amenable, I took up my quarters at the hotel. [Sans Souci on Waikiki Beach]
Our sittings began a few days after his arrival, with Stevenson reclining on a bed propped up with pillows in his sparsely furnished bungalow. Very much like the pose in Saint-Gaudens’ relief . . . He was considerate and arranged that I might work in the early morning before visitors arrived.
A long time has elapsed since then, yet my recollections are quite vivid. In the evening after dinner we smoked and talked on the lanai facing the surf . . .
Stevenson was a chronic invalid . . . which kept him always on the verge of collapse; under such a handicap his cheerfulness and optimism was remarkable. The Scotch Thistle Club asked him to address them and he undertook it against his doctor’s advice. They charged fifty cents admission and I remember Stevenson saying he had risked his life for a two-bob lecture. He gave them some ancient Scotch history about the wars of the clans, interspersed with humorous sentimentality eulogizing Sir Walter Scott, for he was of all things a most loyal Scot . . .
Following his speech, Hutchinson was made a Life Member of the Society. He was pleased and responded:
I can say to you that when I moulded that head of Stevenson, I had not the remotest idea what its future was going to be and it has taken more than a generation to compass it. I can assure you that there is no honor I could appreciate more than that one which has just been conferred upon me. It is entirely unlooked for and I feel myself undeserving but I do appreciate it most thoroughly and I do thank you with all my heart.
On September 15, Hutchinson wrote Anna Oliver to tell her the exciting details of his trip to Saranac Lake, and enclosed newspaper clippings. His letter was enthusiastic, “They gave me a great ovation” and “I was the only one in the gathering who knew Stevenson.” It did, however, end on a more troubled note, “My heart is none too strong and I get very short of breath at the slightest exertion. I have to be very careful of my diet, otherwise I was never better in by life.”
Apparently at least five copies of the Stevenson bust were made. In 1973 only four of the copies have been located. They are now owned by the Honolulu Academy of Arts, the National Portrait Gallery in London, the Beinecke Library at Yale University, and the Huntington Library, San Marino, California. The original is still the property of the Stevenson Society of the United States.
The heads when cast carried the following inscription: “Tusitala” Allen Hutchinson, Honolulu, 1893. On each of the copies there is a small letter “c,” indicating it is a copy of the original.
“Tusitala,” a Samoan word meaning “the Teller of Tales,” was the name given Stevenson by the Samoans after they had read the Samoan translation of his serial story, “The Bottle Imp.”
Hutchinson said of his Stevenson bust that he believed it was the only sculptured head in the round, and with the relief by Augustus Saint-Gaudens, is all that has been preserved in plastic art of the great author.
In the summer of 1928 Hutchinson left New York for London. Soon after arriving, he wrote to Anna Oliver:
25 Broadhurst Gardens,
London, N.W. 6
August 15th/28My dear Nana:
I am enjoying London greatly . . . It is so utterly different from N.Y. that comparisons are impossible, both have their peculiar advantages. What strikes me immediately are the clean streets and the neat houses of London . . . green parks, museums and galleries without end, and the uniformity of the population as to race. On the other hand they have no ice, bathrooms, or heating except of a most limited and inferior kind. We have just had a long spell of warm weather without ice or window screens, so I know what I am talking about . . .England is most beautiful and the countryside one vast garden. After forty years absence I can appreciate it as I never did before. While I am here I shall keep this address. It is a boarding house . . . The company I meet at breakfast is interesting. This is the only social life I have outside the people I meet in museums . . . I have tried to get into my old studio, now occupied by a painter, in Chelsea, but every time he is out and I am informed each time I go, by a lady sculptor who lives under him, that he is on the spree, but I intend to persevere . . .
You know of course that my income is only life tenure and goes to my sister or her heirs at my death. It is a wonderful provision in my old age and I am most fortunate as I could no longer earn a living.
Can you remember what those figures were I cast out for the Australian Museum? I left the molds duly crated at the museum. They are now of some value and I might exploit them to advantage if they are still there . . . The British Museum is interested and if they are still extant I may do some business with them. You know that Brigham and Dole are dead . . . I believe one of the figures I cast out in Sydney was the Bark Stripper, of this I am almost certain, but what the others were I cannot remember, either poi pounders or tappa beaters? The museum here is waiting to know. They could only be cast out under my immediate supervision and are worthless after my death.
The last letter from Hutchinson saved by Anna Oliver, is a sad one. Dated February 26, 1929, Hutchinson thanked her for the £ 8 16 she had sent him. He said his sister, Katherine, had come to his rescue financially. He commented that it is cheaper to be an invalid — when one is on a diet and cannot move around. He complained of the weather, cold, lack of heat and archaic plumbing. Since he was not acclimated when he arrived, he had caught cold, but was better now, with his breathing better and his heart acting up fairly well; “old age is not a desirable state under any conditions, with its multiple limitations. For my part, I am not yet anxious of senility . . . a state of being too awful to contemplate!” His sister came to visit him, but he did not encourage her visits because “they are of a proselyting order, as she is concerned about my soul.” She had sent a priest to visit him who looked “like the Pope,” and he asked her to “call him off.” He wrote, “My memory of San Diego is gradually fading. I think I remember Honolulu best of all . . . I have been in communication with the Bishop Museum re those molds . . . I am hardly fit yet to undertake their reconstruction and it would be quite expensive having them sent from Sydney. I find my memory is the worst feature of my mental poise. I certainly like London better than N.Y. It is infinitely more interesting. There is an excellent library close by. I go there to get warm. With love, Affectionately yours, Allen.”
Hutchinson died in London on July 28, 1929. He was blessed with a touch of genius. Today his works are to be found in art galleries and museums in Hawaii, England, Australia, New Zealand and the United States. A study of his career reveals that while the description “itinerant sculptor” is fitting in the sense that he travelled to various parts of the world to practice his art, the implications of the term do him an injustice. Allen Hutchinson was a talented sculptor whose works should be valued and his name remembered.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This biographical sketch was made possible through the courtesy of Audrey Oliver Guntermann, of Santa Barbara, California, who provided the author with a suitcase full of Hutchinson mementos saved by her mother, Anna Ferric Oliver, Hutchinson’s step-daughter. This Hutchinson Collection included a scrapbook of newspaper clippings, magazine articles and photographs of Hutchinson works, many catalogues of art exhibitions, and Anna Oliver’s diary. All quotations used in the text are from sources in this Hutchinson Collection. Mrs. Guntermann has now given the Stevenson memorabilia to The Silverado Museum, St. Helena, California, and the rest of the Hutchinson Collection to the Bishop Museum in Honolulu.
The author also gratefully acknowledges the courtesy of Rev. J. H. Spencer, Vicar of St. Bartholomew’s Church, Blurton, England, who opened the church in the evening to show the plaques memorializing Hutchinson’s father and brother who were Vicars of the church for many years. He also pointed out the Hutchinson graves in the churchyard, and the old Blurton Vicarage next door, where Allen Hutchinson was born.
Appreciation is expressed to Ernest Mehew, of Stanmore, England, who took the trouble to check the Probate Registry in London to verify the date and place of Hutchinson’s death.
Dr. Roger G. Rose of the Bishop Museum took time to show the author all of the Hutchinson sculpture now on display in the museum, and to furnish a catalogue list of the many Hutchinson works still owned by the museum.
Others who contributed information about Hutchinson, and assisted the author in locating works of Hutchinson still in existence, include: Carey C. Bliss, Huntington Library; John F. Delahand, Jr., President of the Stevenson Society of America, Saranac Lake, New York; Ross Fraser, Librarian, City of Auckland Art Gallery; Mrs. Fritz Hart, Honolulu Academy of Arts; Elizabeth C. Pope, The Australian Museum, Sydney; Ellen Shaffer, Curator, The Silverado Museum; Daniel Thomas, Curator, Art Gallery of New South Wales, and Marjorie G. Wynne, Research Librarian, Beinecke Library, Yale University.
The interest of all these persons, as well as several art historians in Honolulu, Australia and New Zealand, has made this effort worthwhile.
LIST OF KNOWN SCULPTURE BY ALLEN HUTCHINSON,
AND PRESENT OWNERS
| STEVENSON?Head of Robert Louis Stevenson, in bronze (Honolulu, 1893) |
||
| Original ? | Stevenson Society of the United States, Saranac Lake, New York |
|
| Copy ? | Beinecke Library, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut |
|
| Copy ? | Honolulu Academy of Arts | |
| Copy ? | Huntington Library, San Marino, California |
|
| Copy ? | National Portrait Gallery, London, England |
|
| Cast of Right Hand of Robert Louis Stevenson (Honolulu, 1893) |
Beinecke Library, Yale University | |
| AUSTRALIA | ||
| Tapa group (old woman, girl) | Polynesian Gallery | |
| Poi Group (man, boy) life-size figures, copies of ones made for the Bishop Museum | The Australian Museum Sydney, Australia |
|
| HAWAII | ||
| Bishop Museum, Honolulu ? The works of Hutchinson owned by the Bishop Museum are too numerous to list here. A partial list includes: | ||
|
||
| NEW ZEALAND | ||
| Bust of artist, Gottfried Lindauer (made in 1902, cast in bronze 1955) | City of Auckland Art Gallery Auckland, New Zealand |
|
| UNITED STATES | ||
| Life Mask of King Kalakaua (Honolulu, 1889) | Stevenson House Monterey, California | |
| Bust of Alonzo E. Horton (San Diego, 1906) |
San Diego History Center Serra Museum San Diego, California |
|
| Bas-Relief Medallion Head of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo (San Diego, 1913) |
Elizabeth C. MacPhail San Diego, California |
|
| Bas-Relief head of man (identity unknown) (San Diego, 1907) |
Bill Sullivan San Diego, California |
|
| Head of Indian “Hawkeye” (1894) | Audrey Oliver Guntermann Santa Barbara, California |
|
FOOTNOTES
1. The mask is now in the Stevenson House in Monterey, California, a gift from Isobel Strong Field in 1947.
2. Harold W. Kent, Charles Read Bishop, Man of Hawaii, (Palo Alto, Ca., Pacific Books, 1965) p. 212. That bust and a later “memorial” bust made after Kalakaua’s death are on display at Bishop Museum in Honolulu.
3. This book has been presented to the Silverado Museum, St. Helena, California, by Audrey Oliver Guntermann. The Museum preserves materials relating to Robert Louis Stevenson.
4. Photographs of the head have been found, but its present whereabouts, if it still exists, is unknown.
5. A photograph of the clay bust as it was exhibited at the New Gallery in 1895 is shown in Scribner’s The Book Buyer, June, 1897.
6. The original Fanny Stevenson letter is now owned by the Silverado Museum. Mrs. Stevenson’s amusing comment, “You may be a happy Benedict by this time” came only six days after Hutchinson’s marriage in San Francisco at 30 McAllister Street, only a few blocks from the address given in her letter.
7. The cast of the hand eventually was acquired by Edwin J. Beinecke, collector of Stevensoniana, and is now in the Beinecke Library, Yale University.
8. A photograph of the bust was shown in the Catalogue of the National Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 1899. It is still owned by the National Gallery.
9. The four figures, cast in plaster, are still on display in the Museum’s Polynesian Gallery. The records of the Museum show they were “cast from nature by Mr. Allen Hutchinson, and have been skillfully coloured by Miss Phyllis Clarke from living models.”
10. The bust was cast in bronze in 1955 and today is on exhibit in the City of Auckland Art Gallery.
11. A subscribers list may be found in the Collections of the San Diego History Center, Serra Museum and Library, San Diego. The Horton bust is currently on exhibit at the Museum.
12. The original bas relief sculpture found its way into a San Diego antique shop and was purchased by this writer, thus prompting the search for information about the sculptor and resulting in this biographical sketch.
13. The daughter of Anna Ferrie Oliver and Dr. Walter G. Oliver, Audrey Oliver Guntermann, who now lives in Santa Barbara, California, furnished most of the material for this biography which came from mementos of Hutchinson kept by her mother.
Mrs. Elizabeth C. MacPhail, a native San Diegan, is an attorney and a graduate of Balboa Law College, now United States International University. She is the author of a book, The Story of New San Diego and Its Founder Alonzo E. Horton, published in 1969, and articles relating to San Diego’s history which have appeared in previous issues of the Journal of San Diego History. As a member of the San Diego Historical Site Board, Mrs. MacPhail is engaged in efforts to document and identify San Diego’s historic sites.
