Philadelphia  

Sundial: 1016
State/Province:  Pennsylvania Country:  USA
Dial Type:  Horizontal Dial Condition:  Excellent
  Latitude and Longitude: 39° 57.145' N  75° 11.609' W
Location:
  • Blanche Levy Park West of S. 34th.
    Southwest corner of the Van Pelt - Dietrich Library Center off Woodland Walk.

    In a plaza in front of the Mark H. and Bernard Goldstein Undergraduate Student Center
 
Description:
  • In a small plaza is a beautiful bronze statue of Pan with Flute. The statue is 36 x 20 x 18 inches. His should is bent to hold a 12-inch bronze sundial. Along the edge of the dial are Roman hour marks from 5am to 7pm. "In 1938, Mrs. William Stansfield presented the bronze statue, “Pan with Sundial,” to the University in memory of her husband, an alum from the class of 1902. The work is by Philadelphia native Beatrice Fenton, a figurative sculptor and portraitist who studied at the School of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Fenton exhibited her work as the 11th member of the “Philadelphia Ten”—a group of women artists—as well as at the Art Institute of Chicago, the 1939 New York City World’s Fair and, in 1976, the Philadelphia Museum of Art. From 1942 to 1953, Fenton taught sculpture at the Moore Institute of Art.

    "Sometime after the sculpture was dedicated, the [sundial gnomon] was lost, but was replaced under the guidance of Jacqueline Jacovini, the University curator, who supervised the restoration of many campus sculptures in the 1990s."

    The plaza and positioning of Pan was done by the Class of 1972 on their 33rd reunion, creating the Reading Garden However, the placement of Pan and the dial is nearly 180 degrees off of north. This was probably done so that on entering the plaza you see Pan's face and flute.
 
General Information:Inscription:
  • Owner: University of Pennsylvania
  • "In loving memory of William Stansfield
    P.R.C.O P.A.G.O MUS & PA
    Tribute from his wife"

    On dial rim:
    "Such Harmony is Immortal in Souls
  • Designer: Beatice Fenton
  • Builder: Beatice Fenton
  • Construction Date: 1938
 
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Last Revised: 2021-08-14 15:52