Palmer, Erastus Dow

Palmer, Erastus Dow,

1817–1904, American sculptor, b. Pompey, N.Y., self-taught. A carpenter in his youth, he spent his leisure time cutting cameos. He progressed to carving bas-reliefs and then figures in the round, sculpted to conform with the classical ideal. His first full-length figure, The Indian Girl, and his most famous sculpture, The White Captive, are in the Metropolitan Museum.

Palmer, Erastus Dow

(1817–1904) sculptor; born in Pompey, N.Y. He began as a carpenter, moved to Utica, N.Y. (c. 1840), and settled in Albany (1846). He is known for his idealized marble sculptures, as in The White Captive (1859).