Samuel James Kitson
Encyclopedia
John William Kitson
John William Kitson was an English-born architectural sculptor.-Early life:Kitson, the third child and the first born son of John McWhire and Emma Jaggar Kitson was born in 1846 in Berry Brow Huddersfield West Yorkshire England. He was sent to London at the age of 14 as an apprentice to learn the...
he became more active in his Boston Studio where his younger brother Henry Hudson Kitson
Henry Hudson Kitson
Sir Henry Hudson Kitson, often known as H. H. Kitson, American sculptor, born in Huddersfield, England on April 9, 1865 and died at Tyringham, Massachusetts, on June 26, 1947...
joined him. This information is provided by his great grand-niece.
Samuel James Kitson was born in Berry Brow Huddersfield, West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, in 1848 to John McWhire and Emma Jaggar Kitson, the fourth child and second son. He was a most promising artist and attracted a benefactor who provided funds for his continuing education. He studied in Rome Italy 1870-1873 and received two gold awards. After completing his studies he established a studio in Italy where his first partons (English gentlemen) found him. Due to the presence of his older brother William in NYC, Ellin & Kitson
Ellin & Kitson
Ellin & Kitson partnership was formed in New York City by two English Sculptors from Yorkshire England in early 1879. Prior to this date they were working as Robert Ellin Company. They advertised their business as ARCHITECTURAL SCULPTORS concentrating on churches.The elder was Robert Ellin born...
, his brother's firm whose emphasis was the decoration of churches, commercial buildings and fine residences Samuel relocated to NYC about 1878 and began to receive private commissions as well as employment with Ellin & Kitson.
While most of Samuel's work was not as public as his younger brother Henry Hudson Kitson
Henry Hudson Kitson
Sir Henry Hudson Kitson, often known as H. H. Kitson, American sculptor, born in Huddersfield, England on April 9, 1865 and died at Tyringham, Massachusetts, on June 26, 1947...
it is quite extensive. Some of his works are as follows: most of the statuary of the William Kissam Vanderbilt
William Kissam Vanderbilt
William Kissam Vanderbilt was a member of the prominent American Vanderbilt family. He managed railroads and was a horse breeder.-Biography:...
House, New York City; the north frieze of the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch
Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch
The Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch is a notable memorial to the American Civil War located in Hartford, Connecticut. It was the first permanent triumphal arch in America, and honors the 4,000 Hartford citizens who served in the war, and the 400 who died for the Union.The arch's first conception...
, Bushnell Park
Bushnell Park
Bushnell Park in Hartford, Connecticut is the oldest publicly funded park in the United States. It was conceived by the Reverend Horace Bushnell in the mid-1850s at a time when the need for open public spaces was just starting to be recognized....
, Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...
; Orestes Brownson Memorial, Fordham University
Fordham University
Fordham University is a private, nonprofit, coeducational research university in the United States, with three campuses in and around New York City. It was founded by the Roman Catholic Diocese of New York in 1841 as St...
, the Bronx; Henry W. Longfellow 1879 Vassall-Craigie-Longfellow House
Longfellow National Historic Site
The Longfellow House–Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site, also known as the Vassall-Craigie-Longfellow House and, until December 2010, Longfellow National Historic Site, is a historic site located at 105 Brattle Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts. For almost fifty years, it was the...
, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
; Exterior reliefs on Samuel Tilden Home (Now the National Arts League in Gramercy Park) Statues of Mary and of the Sacred Heart Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church W 71st St. New York City. In Boston he completed many portrait statuary of catholic bishops as well as a portrait of Governor (General) Butler.
In 2007 a marble statue "SAPPHO" was sold by Christie's NYC for $20,000 and on September 24, 2008 Kitson's first commission circa 1874 Rome RACHAEL was sold by Christie's London for $12,753.
He was married to Anne Meredith of Boston. They had no surviving children and are both buried at Woodlawn
Woodlawn, Bronx
Woodlawn is a neighborhood at the very north end of the borough of the Bronx in New York City. Unlike some neighborhoods in New York City, its boundaries are fairly well-defined, as it is bounded by McLean Avenue to the north, which is approximately the New York City / Westchester County line, the...
next to his brother John William Kitson.