Salem Women's
History and
Business Community
History and
Business Community
Sarah W. Symonds
Salem sites:
• Peabody Essex Museum
• John Ward House
• Hawthorne Hotel
Associated Salem women:
• Louisa Lander
• Peabody Essex Museum
• John Ward House
• Hawthorne Hotel
Associated Salem women:
• Louisa Lander
Sarah W. Symonds (1870–1965) was widely known for her figurines and bas relief plaques of historic sites throughout New England that “recall our colorful past.”1 The daughter of Lydia F. DaCosta and Lemuel W. Symonds, Sarah graduated from Emerson College in Boston “at a time when only a few courageous daughters of America were launching careers on their own,” according to a 1976 Antiques Journal article written during America’s Bicentennial.2
At first, she studied oratory, but Sarah soon determined that artistic modeling was where she excelled. It is thought that her inspiration was derived from another Salem woman sculptor, Louisa Lander. Sarah became quite successful and sought-after for her ivory-finished or painted molds in shades of tan and brown.
Sarah opened her first studio in the John Ward House. Her second studio was located at One Brown Street. A gift shop followed at the Hawthorne Hotel, and eventually there was a summer shop in nearby Marblehead. Sarah was a skillful marketer, and advertised and filled orders herself. Her artistic reputation established, Sarah also created a line of mementos for tourists, including incense burners, witch-stirred caldrons, door knockers, and paper weights.
It was said of her that “the merit of Sarah W. Symonds’ work is her choice of subject, her feeling for it, and the truth of her expression; she not only created but embalmed.”3 Sarah continued working well into her eightieth year, and enjoyed great celebrity late in her life.
Sources
1 Barbara White Morse, “The Bas Relief Plaques of Sarah W. Symonds,”
The Antiques Journal, Sept., 1976, 44.
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid., 46.
At first, she studied oratory, but Sarah soon determined that artistic modeling was where she excelled. It is thought that her inspiration was derived from another Salem woman sculptor, Louisa Lander. Sarah became quite successful and sought-after for her ivory-finished or painted molds in shades of tan and brown.
Sarah opened her first studio in the John Ward House. Her second studio was located at One Brown Street. A gift shop followed at the Hawthorne Hotel, and eventually there was a summer shop in nearby Marblehead. Sarah was a skillful marketer, and advertised and filled orders herself. Her artistic reputation established, Sarah also created a line of mementos for tourists, including incense burners, witch-stirred caldrons, door knockers, and paper weights.
It was said of her that “the merit of Sarah W. Symonds’ work is her choice of subject, her feeling for it, and the truth of her expression; she not only created but embalmed.”3 Sarah continued working well into her eightieth year, and enjoyed great celebrity late in her life.
Sources
1 Barbara White Morse, “The Bas Relief Plaques of Sarah W. Symonds,”
The Antiques Journal, Sept., 1976, 44.
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid., 46.
