Other - Garden Ornaments

The grounds of the Belmont Estate were filled with garden ornaments such as cast iron and marble statues. Adelicia's curated collection featured popular 19th century images and themes related to geography, mythology and philosophy virtues.

Adelicia's elaborate collection has survived, in part. Due to the hazards of natural conditions and the statues' deterioration, all original statues have been removed from their original location and are now displayed indoors. The gardens, however, are not empty. Belmont University commissioned Nashville sculptor, Tony Novak, to complete the restoration. Using the original statues, Novak restored missing pieces, and recast the statues. These cast copies have been placed in their original location on Belmont's grounds.

In addition to these marble statues, cast iron garden ornaments were a fixture in American gardens by the 1850s. Its use ranged from decorative trims to summer houses, now known as gazebos. Urns and statuary were the most common cast iron found in gardens and public parks. Adelicia supplemented her Italian marble statue collection with a variety of cast iron statues. The marble statues were all of people while the cast iron statues, with four known exceptions, featured animals. She used both marble and cast iron for urns.

It is extremely difficult to attribute unsigned pieces of iron due multiple companies producing identical pieces. Not only were there large manufacturers in New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore, nearly every city of every size had an iron foundry. Nashville and Clarksville, Tennessee, were no exceptions.

What survives on the grounds today is the most remarkable collection of 19th century estate cast iron remaining in the United States. When viewing the collection, the Original Location refers to the location of the statue during the time of Adelicia Acklen. Location of the Original refers to existing location of the 19th-century original statue.