Court of Neptune Fountain
United States historic place / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Court of Neptune Fountain is a fountain adorned with bronze sculptures made by Roland Hinton Perry and Albert Weinert in the late 1890s. Jerome Connor may have assisted in their manufacture. The architects for the project, which was completed in 1898, included John L. Smithmeyer, Paul J. Pelz, and Edward Pearce Casey, while the founding was completed by the Henry-Bonnard Bronze Company. The fountain is located on the west side of the Thomas Jefferson Building, the main building for the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. The project took three years to complete.
Court of Neptune Fountain | |
Location | Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C. |
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Coordinates | 38.888681°N 77.005770°W / 38.888681; -77.005770 |
Built | 1898 |
Architect | Roland Hinton Perry, Albert Weinert (sculptors) John L. Smithmeyer, Paul J. Pelz, Edward Pearce Casey (architects) Henry-Bonnard Bronze Company (founder) |
NRHP reference No. | 66000000 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | December 21, 1965 |
Designated DCIHS | November 8, 1964 |
The granite semi-circular fountain includes multiple bronze sculptures, including Neptune, his Tritons, and naiads. Neptune and both naiads are in granite niches that serve as the retaining wall for Neptune Plaza, which is between the fountain and main entrance to the building. Other bronze sculptures in the fountain are frogs, turtles, and a sea serpent. Each of these spout water, as do the Tritons with conch shells. Art critic Charles Henry Caffin described it as being the most ornate fountain in the U.S. at that time.
The fountain has been cleaned and restored on many occasions, sometimes to repair the sculptures, and other times to clean the basin and niches. As part of the Thomas Jefferson Building, it is a contributing property to the building's designation as a National Historic Landmark. The building is also listed on the District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites.