The Story of the Oysterman at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum By Anke Van Wagenberg, PhD

 The sculpture of the Oysterman today takes centerstage in front of the newest CBMM building. Many may be unfamiliar with the story behind the sculpture, or its “provenance,” as we call the history of ownership of an artwork. 

A few years back, when I was still Senior Curator at the Academy Art Museum (AAM) in Easton, MD, I frequently surveyed and reorganized the storage of its modest collection. In the courtyard stood the Oysterman. an impressive sculpture by Kenneth Herlihy, a talented sculptor living and working at the time in Rock Hall, MD, not far from Chestertown. The AAM sculpture was placed on the north side of the courtyard, surrounded by shrubbery and the tongs were overgrown; the waterman was placed in such a way that he seemed to be staring into the ground. The AAM was planning to reconstruct the courtyard, and the sculptures were to be reinstalled. And next the Oysterman disappeared into the basement storage while reconsidering new placement post-construction.
I contacted the artist Ken Herlihy (1929 – 2021). The Massachusetts-born Herhily had graduated from Harvard College Harvard Business School and made a career as fund manager in Philadelphia, before moving to Georgetown, MD, where he worked as a sculptor in marble and bronze.
Bronze is not an easy art medium, and the technique to create a sculpture in bronze is complex. The oldest method that is still in use is called lost-wax casting (also known by the French term cire perdue), see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronze_sculpture. The mold an artist creates in bronze casting can be re-used and as such the artist can make a small number of multiples, each considered an original. Herlihy became quite accomplished in bronze; he worked with John Phillips Foundry of Phillips Casting in Germantown, PA. (see Ken Herlihy’s Sculptures by John T. Guthrie, produced by Chestertown RiverArts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gf81NdK__xA )

Ken Herlihy made his Oysterman which – since 1996 – stands as a landmark in Rock Hall, the town he called home for so long. It stands as a monument to the oystermen that were so important to the area. Herlihy modeled his bronze sculpture after a real living person: Captain Stanley Vanant, who was an oysterman and boat builder for 81 years. Kate Livie dedicated an article to him, “A Kent County Boatbuilder of Chesapeake’s Golden Age” (The Chesapeake Log, Winter 2023).
Herhily’s CBMM Oysterman, proudly dedicated to the watermen of the Chesapeake Bay is shown bent over his oyster tongs with oyster shells scattered at his feet. It was made in 1989 and measures 16 x 5 x 4 feet. After consideration and consultation with the artist, who had donated the sculpture to the AAM, the artwork was transferred to the CBMM in 2021, a much better and fitting home, where it serves as a tribute to the watermen of the Chesapeake Bay.

Anke Van Wagenberg, PhD, is Senior Curator & Head of International Collaborations at the American Federation of Arts in New York and lives in Talbot County, MD.