Shakespearean actor Edward Loomis Davenport (1815-1877) began his career in 1835. However by 1875, “he was out of the fashion so long that until a far-sighted management engaged him to play the part of Brutus during the famous run of Julius Caesar at Booth’s Theatre, he was only known to the younger generation of theatre-goers, when known at all, as Miss Fanny Davenport’s father!”—Harper’s Magazine
Davenport played Brutus to Lawrence Barrett’s Cassius for 222 performances, performing over a year on Broadway and then, on tour all along the east coast. A special celebration was held March 22, 1876, for which this bust may have been sculpted.
To see one of Davenport’s personal prompt copies, see: John Howard Payne (1781-1852), Brutus, or, The Fall of Tarquin (London: T. Rodwell, 1819). ThX TC023 Box 104.
