A marble bust that had stood for decades in the garden of an English home was recognised during a property valuation. The family who owned it did not know who had made it and had not realised that it was carved from marble.
The sculpture, around 70 centimetres high, represents Daphne, the mythological figure transformed into a tree while fleeing Apollo. The back carries a signature and the inscription Me Fecit Romae. The Chorley’s auction catalogue attributes the work to American sculptor Harriet Goodhue Hosmer and dates it to 1854.
Before the sale, the bust underwent professional surface cleaning. Lichen and algae were removed and the marble was protected, but the treatment did not amount to full restoration. Cracks, small chips and traces of its long exposure outdoors remain visible.
Hosmer worked in Rome and was among the American women sculptors active there during the nineteenth century. Her Daphne has been compared with Oenone, her first commissioned work, but the auction catalogue does not identify Daphne as her debut or present that interpretation as established fact.
The bust was offered at auction in September 2026 and remained unsold. Beyond its commercial outcome, its history points to a less visible aspect of conservation: an object can remain physically present while the knowledge needed to identify its maker, material and history gradually disappears.
