Douglas Tilden

Douglas Tilden (May 1, 1860 – August 5, 1935) was an American sculptor. He was deaf from a bout of scarlet fever at the age of four and attended the California School for the Deaf in Berkeley, California. He sculpted many statues that are located today throughout San Francisco, Berkeley, and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Early life Douglas Tilden was born on May 1, 1860, to Dr. William Peregrine Tilden and Catherine Maria Hecox Tilden in Chico, California. When he was four, he lost his hearing and speech after a severe bout of scarlet fever.

quote=On going home for a vacation I was shown a plaster copy of one of the Flamingo boys. It had been modeled by my twelve year old brother. My first sensation was that of surprise and admiration. The art of creating with clay a harmonious and beautiful something was a mystery to me, and it was explained for my benefit. I looked long at the chubby face which hung on the wall, and I asked myself 'Could I do the same?' — — Douglas Tilden, on the genesis of his interest in sculpture, aged 23 He moved with the School to a location near the University of California, Berkeley campus at what is now the Clark Kerr Campus student residence in 1869 and graduated in 1879. Bear Hunt had been exhibited at the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago, and the California School for the Deaf paid for its transport to San Francisco afterwards and tried to collect the cost from Tilden, who responded by proposing to melt the sculpture down for its copper to cover the cost. This was followed by The Tired Boxer (exhibited at the Salon Paris in 1890), The Young Acrobat (Salon 1891), The Bear Hunt (Salon 1892), and The Football Players (Salon 1893).

He was a member of the National Sculpture Society. The incident had been exaggerated by a household servant. Tilden had returned home early and, forgetting his key, had entered the house through an open window. The servant, who had been recently hired and believed this to be uncharacteristic of his employer, locked Tilden in his room, and Tilden attempted to alert others that he was trapped by hammering on the door. The frightened servant then called for the police, who took Tilden away to a mental hospital.

Between 1915, when he contributed Modern Civilization, a frieze for the Panama–Pacific Exposition of 1915, and 1925, when he began work on the unfinished The Bridges, Tilden lost interest in creating art. The Tired Boxer Smaller version made by Tiffany & Co. of the life-size sculpture purchased by and displayed in Olympic Club, which was destroyed in 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire.

Bear Hunt AKA The Bear Hunters. A statue of a bear protecting her cub and wrestling with two Native Americans.

The Football Players One of the first permanent artworks on the University of California, Berkeley campus. San Francisco Mayor Phelan had purchased a casting of The Football Players and announced that it would be awarded to the college which won the Big Game two consecutive seasons. After Cal defeated Stanford in 1898 and 1899, the monument was dedicated on 12 May 1900.

Admission Day Part of a monument commemorating the admission of California into the United States.

Spanish–American War Soldier's Monument Commemorating the volunteers from Oregon who fought in the Spanish–American War.

Stephen M. White Originally installed in Los Angeles at City Hall. Received contemporary criticism as "topheavy" with a "vehement gesture".

Personal life

On June 9, 1896, Tilden was married to Elizabeth "Bessie" Cole, a former student of his, also deaf. Although the union produced two children, a daughter Gladys (born January 5, 1900) and a son Willoughby Lee (born September 4, 1903), it was not to prove to be a happy one. Over the years Mrs. Tilden was subject to "melancholia spells" which, among other things, placed a large amount of pressure on the relationship. They separated and Mrs. Tilden, who for years had managed their properties, rented out his studio to a theater group, forcing Tilden to do his sculpting in a shed.

As they grew farther apart Tilden's lawyer wrote: "Furthermore, the wife (Bessie) has knowledge of indiscressions in the personal conduct of Mr. Tilden which would deprive him of any capacity to stand in court, as we say, "with clean hands." Mr. Tilden claims that Mrs. Tilden has been indiscrete ." The couple separated in 1918, and Bessie subsequently filed for divorce in 1924, which was finalized in 1926. He was survived by his daughter, Gladys Tilden, who had a notable career in the fashion industry prior to World War II. She researched the lives of her father and Eliza Farnham, first female matron of Sing Sing Prison. In 1988, suffering from Alzheimer's disease, she become a ward of Alameda County in 1988 and she died in 1989. Her papers are housed in the Bancroft Library

In 2017, the Tilden Hotel at Taylor & O'Farrell in San Francisco was renamed to honor Douglas Tilden; it originally opened as the Linden Hotel in 1928 and was renamed almost immediately to the Hotel Mark Twain.