William Rush

William Rush (July 4, 1756 – January 17, 1833) was a U.S. neoclassical sculptor from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is considered the first major American sculptor. Rush was born in Philadelphia, the fourth child of Joseph Rush, a ship's carpenter, and first wife, Rebecca Lincoln. As a teenager, he apprenticed three years with woodcarver Edward Cutbush, and soon surpassed his master in the art of carving of ships' figureheads in wood. He saw military service during the American Revolution, as an officer in the militia. He opened his own wood carving business, and was in great demand when the U.S. Navy began building ships on Philadelphia. Later in life, he took up sculpture. Rush was one of the founders of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and taught sculpture there. He was also active in local politics, serving on the Philadelphia City Council for two decades. Rush died in Philadelphia in 1833, and is buried at The Woodlands (Philadelphia).

Rush carved figureheads for four of the original six frigates of the United States Navy: USS United States (Genius of the United States, 1796, whereabouts unknown), USS Constellation (Nature, 1797, whereabouts unknown), USS Chesapeake (Revolution, 1799, whereabouts unknown), and USS Congress (Goddess of Wisdom, 1799, whereabouts unknown). He designed the figurehead for a fifth original frigate, USS Constitution (Hercules, 1796, carved by John Skillin, whereabouts unknown, replaced by a figurehead of Andrew Jackson 1848), and may have designed that for the sixth, USS President (George Washington, 1800, carved by Rush's former apprentice Daniel N. Train, whereabouts unknown).

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