A View from the Vault: Euphemia Walker Glover’s Kites Sculpture

By Jan Gardner Broske and Amanda Zehnder, Museums

“A View from the Vault” showcases some of the unique, notable or rare items that are a part of the Special Collections and Museums holdings at the University of Delaware. Each month, we highlight a different item and share interesting facts or intriguing histories about it. If you are interested in seeing any of the materials featured in person or want to learn more about anything showcased in the series, please contact Special Collections and Museums at AskSpec or AskMuseums.

Kites by Euphemia Walker Glover

Euphemia Walker Glover (United States, 20th century)
Kites
20th century, before 1970
Bronze
29.5 h (including base) x 24 w x 18.5 d inches
Museums Collections, Gift of the Burgess-Jastak Foundation

This sculpture draws the viewer in through its charming and elegant depiction of motion and tension as a girl flies a group of kites that are being pulled upwards by the imaginary, suggested wind. The diagonal lines produced by her rear leg, her outstretched arms and the kite strings convey dynamism as the kites appear to pull the small girl up with them. The visual sense of lightness and delicacy is a contradiction to the heaviness of the bronze medium.

Recently transferred from a donor’s house to the Museums Collections, this sculpture is an object with condition issues and minimal initial information about the artist or work of art. To process an object like this, Museums staff begins to research the artist along with details about the work, including title, possible date of production and provenance (the record of past ownership and past sales history). Staff may start with information provided in donor records, but research work expands from there. In this case, provenance information lets us know the sculpture has to have been produced before 1970.

Collection care planning is also essential with objects such as this one. As seen in the photographs, two kite pieces have become detached. Many museums avoid accepting collection objects with significant condition problems. Here, we often welcome objects that could become projects for students in the Department of Art Conservation in the future or we work with conservation consultants and colleagues to determine the best course of action for reattaching the loose pieces.

Thumbnail-sized images of copyrighted works are displayed under fair use. As a service to the public and the scholarly community, the Museums may make larger images of copyrighted works available in the online collection catalog. If you wish to use such images for commercial purposes, you must seek permission from the copyright holder.