Item 317: Fountain, Bancroft Memorial Library, 1904

Printed in 1974 from glass plate negative no.A317. November 22, 1904. Image depicts a marble fountain feature on the south side of the library that includes a Greek goddess (Sybil) standing above an elaborately carved fountain. On both sides, the piece extends with a curved wall and attached bench. Flanking each end is an urn on a pedestal with an eagle seated at its base. A set of four marble steps descends to the lawn below. Sibyl was sculpted in 1903 by Waldo Story. The Bancroft library was donated to the town in 1898 by Joseph Bancroft, a Draper Company executive, in memory of his wife, Sylvia. The building was designed by Boston architect C. Howard Walker. It is constructed of Milford granite, and was modeled after Merton College Chapel at Oxford. See Item 316, in this folder, for a virtually identical image. See Box 12, Folder 3, Item 77, Item 78, and Box 3, Folder 2, Item 352 for broader views of the library building. Original photograph by the Draper Company. 25 x 20.25 cm.