Elephant Fountain

Swedish-born Carl Milles was a preeminent artist during the first half of the 20th century. Originally trained as a woodworker, Milles was known for creating expressive sculptural figures and large-scale fountains. He worked for a period as an assistant in the studio of Auguste Rodin, the famed French sculptor known for such iconic works as The Thinker, before becoming internationally sought after in his own right. Some of Milles’s public works reside in St. Louis, Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, and New York City, and even in nearby Worcester, Massachusetts.

Milles worked in clay, stone, wood, and bronze, finding inspiration in ancient mythology and Swedish history. In the course of his career, he created multiple sculptures of elephants. Elephant Fountain, although modeled by Milles in 1948, was not cast until its discovery in the artist’s studio after his death in 1955.

The work was a gift to the university from the Class of 1915, presented in June 1965 during their fiftieth reunion. The class chose the sculpture not only for its connections to Tufts’ mascot, Jumbo the Elephant, but also as an homage to the university’s eighth president, Nils Yngve Wessell, who was of Swedish descent. In 1966, the fountain was placed in the courtyard of Wessell Library, which has since been renovated and renamed Tisch Library. Wessell would later give Tufts another Milles sculpture, titled Man and Pegasus, which today is located in the lobby of Tisch Library.

Milles designed Elephant Fountain to shower the youth on the elephant’s back with water from its trunk. Plagued by constant leaking, the fountain had its copper tubing removed and was repurposed as sculpture. Today, it resides across from the entrance to the library, greeting passing students.

Image: Carl Milles, Elephant Fountain, 1948. Bronze. Tufts University Permanent Collection: Gift of the Class of 1915, AI 31855.