NEWBURYPORT — The folk art statue of William Pitt has finally found its permanent home at the Museum of Old Newbury in Newburyport.
Pitt’s wooden likeness, previously owned by the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, had been on loan to the local museum since 1994.
Bethany Groff Dorau, Executive Director of the Museum of Old Newbury, calls the piece a “one-of-a-kind example of early American outdoor sculpture,” and says, “I’m so grateful to the Smithsonian for trusting us with it.”
Although the 9-foot likeness of Pitt on its pedestal has been in Newburyport since Bill Clinton was president, its future was always unclear.
“It became an icon of the museum, but it could have been withdrawn at any moment,” Groff Dorau said.
From the time Groff Dorau arrived at the Museum of Old Newbury as executive director, she repeatedly asked the Smithsonian for a transfer of permanent ownership, feeling that the statue belonged in the local museum. Ever attempt was rebuffed.
Recently, however, Groff Dorau received a message from one of the Smithsonian’s collections staff indicating that they were prepared to consider deaccessioning the piece. Groff Dorau has now received the deed of transfer, and is thrilled to know that Pitt will remain permanently on the landing of the Museum of Old Newbury, greeting visitors with his British finery and bemused smile.
The provenance of the Pitt statue provides a glimpse into the weirdly fascinating world of Lord Timothy Dexter (1747-1806), who commissioned the figure. Dexter was an eccentric local merchant who made his home in a flamboyantly adorned and decorated manse on Newburyport’s High Street.
Uneducated but financially shrewd, Dexter spent much of his adult life aspiring – mostly unsuccessfully – to impress and be embraced by local society’s upper class. In a further attempt to join the ranks of the upper crust, Dexter bestowed upon himself the title of “Lord,” in spite of having no claim to royalty of any kind.
Dexter made his fortune after marrying a wealthy widow and engaging in risky, speculative enterprises. He bought up depreciated Continental currency after too much was printed and was then discontinued after the Revolutionary War. His gamble paid off in 1790, when the U.S. Constitution provided that all Continental money could be traded in for bonds. His other harebrained schemes, dubious though they may have been, made him richer, due in no small part to luck. He literally sold coal to Newcastle, not grasping the utter foolishness of the endeavor, but his timing proved impeccable when there was a coal strike and his supply of the stuff was in high demand, according to museum records.
Dexter bought the Federal-style mansion at 201 High St. in 1798, and proceeded to turn it into a local curiosity. The book “Famous Colonial Houses” references Dexter’s work on the structure: “He took a square colonial house of straight and dignified proportions, polished it with bright paint, and set gilt balls and railings and minarets upon its roof, till from the sea it looked like Christmas gone mad.”
Dexter also turned his attention to the outside of the house, commissioning local woodcarver Joseph Wilson to help create an exhibition of around 40 monumental figures on pedestals surrounding the main structure. Dexter hoped these figures, meant to honor his heroes, would impress the townspeople. He also managed a display of colossal self-aggrandizement when he erected a statue of himself inscribed with the words, “I am the first in the east, the first in the west, and the greatest philosopher in the known world.” It didn’t hurt that his spectacle drew additional tourists to the town where Dexter owned shares in roads and bridges.
While it’s not entirely clear if Dexter’s Pitt statue was meant to honor William Pitt the Elder or Pitt the Younger, it’s generally assumed to be an homage to Pitt the Elder, a British Whig statesman, the 1st Earl of Chatham, and a two-time prime minister of Great Britain (1756-61, and 1766-68). The source of Dexter’s admiration for Pitt remains a mystery, but Groff Dorau speculates that Pitt’s belief that “what you do with your life is more important than your bloodline” may have resonated with the man of humble origins but grand aspirations.
When Dexter died in 1806, the statues fell into disrepair and many were sold. Folk art collector Edna Little Greenwood donated the Pitt statue to the Smithsonian in 1951. Damaged by rot and carpenter ants and filled with concrete, the statue was subsequently restored and displayed in the Smithsonian’s Life in Early America Exhibition Hall, according to museum records.
Groff Dorau hopes that the permanent acquisition of the Pitt statue will reignite interest in the Timothy Dexter collection.
“We’re a world-class museum. I would love people to have their curiosity piqued and to learn more about Dexter,” she said.
The Museum of Old Newbury, located at 98 High St., Newburyport, preserves and interprets the history of “Old Newbury,” including Newbury, Newburyport, and West Newbury from European settlement to the present. The museum runs regular season tours from May to October.