| Artist | European, Italian? |
|---|---|
| Year | Unknown |
| Type | Marble, cast and wrought iron, steel, paint |
| Dimensions | 222 cm × 118 cm × 105 cm (87.5 in × 46.5 in × 41.5 in) |
| Location | Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana |
| Owner | Indianapolis Museum of Art |
Antique Wellhead is a European marble and iron wellhead located on the historic Oldfields estate on the campus of the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA), in Indianapolis, Indiana. Originally designed for the function of marking the well and keeping passersby from falling into it, this wellhead was reused as a garden feature. (See puteal for the classical ancestor of this wellhead type.)[1][2]
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This wellhead is carved from a single large block of stone and topped with a wrought iron overthrow; it sits on a simple step or base that was accessioned as part of the object but may not be original to it. The stone block is carved to resemble a colossal column capital with an entablature above it. At the base it is circular and rises to a wider diameter, then is topped by a squared section resembling an architectural frieze on all four sides. The lower zone of the capital is richly decorated with swag and foliage; this is separated from the upper zone by a simple horizontal band. The upper zone is divided into four sections by acanthus leaf sprays projecting out beneath the four corners of the squared block above it; between each cluster is a large circular medallion with a symbol on it. Those on the front and back sides show a fleur-de-lis, while the left and right sides display a heraldic heater shield with a bend gemel (a double diagonal stripe from the upper, proper right corner); the medallions with the shield are surrounded by trailing ribbons. The frieze is decorated with vertical, uniformly spaced glyphs, bordered on top and bottom by horizontal molded bands.
The center is hollowed out in a cylinder with a diameter of approximately 22 inches.
The overthrow stands on shafts made of extruded steel pipes, which are anchored to the wellhead with bolted feet. A crossbar of the same material supports the pulley system on a single, central hook. The overthrow is topped by two wrought bars meeting at the top to form a triangle; the crossbar and bars above are decorated with a series of cast iron fleurs-de-lis and curled strips of wrought iron. All of the exposed metal is painted black.
The step is made out of several rectangular blocks of limestone laid into an approximate square and joined with mortar.[2]
In 1930 the wellhead was purchased by a wealthy Indianapolis resident in 1930 from a family in New York City. In 1976 he donated the wellhead to the IMA along with Sundial, Boy With Spider. The IMA assigned the wellhead Accession Number 76.117.
This wellhead is representative of the type of wellhead used in Europe, notably in Venice, before the 20th century. Venetian wells gave residents access to cisterns of fresh water beneath the city, and the wellheads were often decorated with similar architectural and heraldic features.[3][4] When the wells became obsolete the wellheads were reused in European garden decoration. This wellhead was likely a functional piece in Europe, possibly Italy, and may have been imported to the United States to serve as decoration.
The shields illustrated on this wellhead could be studied for possible identification of the original owners or patrons of the well, though any paint that may have indicated the tincture is long gone, and the carving has eroded slightly.
It is likely that for practicality the stone step was built for the wellhead in the United States, rather than shipped from abroad. It may even have been created in Indiana after the wellhead was shipped from New York for the same reason. The step was definitely in use at the aforementioned Indianapolis residence and given to the IMA with the wellhead. The blocks would have been dismantled and re-mortared by the IMA upon installation.[2]
The wellhead was originally placed near the arbor of the orchard.[5] Over time the iron overthrow rusted until it no longer supported itself. In early 2009 the deteriorated piece was moved to the Grounds Barn, to be kept out of view until the IMA was prepared to restore it.
The overthrow, separated from the wellhead itself, is stored in the Grounds Barn. The dismantled step is stored near the wellhead; both are located outside the Barn. The pulley is missing.[2]
The sculpture is monitored and maintained by the IMA art conservation staff.[6] The wellhead gradually deteriorated due to natural weathering and is in need of restoration. The IMA has moved it into storage until it can be restored.[2]
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