biographie de William FORSHEY (c.1820-?)

Birth place: Ohio

Addresses: New Orleans, arrived c.1847

Profession: Sculptor

Comments: Worked in wood and ivory while in Ohio. He is reputed to have carved a friend's likeness out of a billiard ball in 1847. In 1850 he exhibited a marble piece, The Offering of Innocence," that was said to be the first full-length statue in marble in Louisiana. He modeled busts in 1852 that were to be reproduced in marble in Italy during a trip he planned for later that year. He was listed as a sculptor in the 1851-52 directories, but from 1854 on he listed as a surveyor.

Sources: G&W; Delgado-WPA cites Commercial Bulletin, Nov. 21, 1850, and Courier, Dec. 12, 1850; New Orleans CD 1851-55. More recently, see Encyclopaedia of New Orleans Artists 140-41 for a list of contemporary news articles."