Turtle Baby

About the Artwork

Parsons achieved renown through her garden sculptures of young children accompanied by animals, which one commentator praised for capturing “the happiness of just being alive.” In Turtle Baby, her most famous composition, the figure of the girl was modeled after her daughter. Conceived as a fountain, the sculpture has internal water conduits exiting the mouths of the four turtles circling its base.

Inscriptions

Signed on base: E. BARRETTO PARSONS COPYRIGHT

Exhibition history

The American Way in Sculpture 1890-1930. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 12-October 19, 1986). Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 7-September 8, 1991). The American Impressionists in the Garden. Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art, Nashville, TN (organizer) (March 13-September 6, 2010); Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, FL (September 24, 2010-January 3, 2011); Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati, OH (February 18-May 15, 2011).

Quick Overview

Artist: Edith Barretto Stevens Parsons (American, 1878–1956)
Date: c. 1910–16
Medium: bronze
Dimensions: Overall: 104.2 cm (41 in.)
Type: Sculpture
Classification: Sculpture
Department: American Painting and Sculpture
Credit line: Gift of Mrs. Henry A. Everett for the Dorothy Burnham Everett Memorial Collection
Accession no.: 1923.724

Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.