Notes
This terra cotta bust was made from life sometime in 1788 by an Italian artist traveling in Virginia at the time. Originally a three-quarter-length bust, the entire piece from the neck down was missing before the PHMF acquired the bust.
In 1859, T. W. Walter of Washington, DC, wrote: "The distinguished patriot sat for it at the request of Judge Tyler, the father of ex-President Tyler, Mr. Madison, Judge Marshall, and other friends, during the session of the great Virginia Convention that adopted the Constitution of the United States. It was considered a perfect likeness, and is looked upon as invaluable by his family and friends, with whom it has remained ever since, and from whom I have received this information."
Patrick Miller Henry (1814–1873), a grandson to Patrick Henry by his son Nathaniel West Henry (1790–1851), supported Mr. Walter's description, writing in reply in October 1859: "I have seen the terra-cotta likeness of my grandfather, Patrick Henry, alluded to by Mr. Walter in the foregoing letter, and take pleasure in saying that he has given a correct history of it. I have seen the bronze copy of it, which has since been executed by Messrs. Warner, Miskey, and Merrill, and have no hesitation in saying that it is an exact copy of the original bust." Both Mr. Walter's and Mr. Henry's writings were published in "The True Patrick Henry" (1907) by George Morgan, pg. viii, where Morgan also says the bust was "executed by an Italian, who was travelling in Virginia in 1788."
Before being significantly damaged, the complete bust appears on page 122 of Morgan's biography. A close inspection of the image confirms that this is the clay original, and not one of the copies by Warner, Miskey, and Merrill.
On Patrick Henry's death, the bust became the property of his sister Elizabeth Henry Campbell Russell (1749–1825) who married General William Campbell (1745–1781); their daughter Sarah Buchanan Campbell Preston (1778–1846), wife of General Francis Preston (1765–1835), inherited it, and bequeathed it to her daughter, Sally Buchanan Preston Floyd (1802–1879), the wife of Governor John Buchanan Floyd (1806–1863). Since Sally Floyd had no children, the bust was left to her nephew, John Montgomery Preston (1838–1928), from whom it descended to Nelly Cummings Preston (1880–1966).
The PHMF purchased the bust from John C. Preston in September 1996.