Skip to main content
Menu Collections
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Franklin D. Roosevelt Sphinx Sculpture
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.

Franklin D. Roosevelt Sphinx Sculpture

Object numberMO 1941.12.40
Name Sculpture
Maker (American, 1876 - 1959)
Date1939
Mediumpapier-maché, wood, paint
Dimensionsoverall (face: 40" long; depth includes protruding cigarette) H 98 in x W 72 in x D 55 in (248.9 cm x 182.9 cm x 139.7 cm )
DescriptionA very large papier-mâché head of FDR resembling the Egyptian Sphinx. The entire piece is made to look as if constructed and carved from stone. The Sphinx's head is a caricature-style portrait of FDR and includes his pince-nez glasses. A cigarette in cigarette holder protrudes from the mouth.
Label TextThis eight-foot-tall papier-mâché sculpture of FDR as the Great Sphinx of Giza was created as a humorous commentary on the President's prolonged refusal to say whether he would run for an unprecedented third term in 1940. The sculpture was the centerpiece for a satirical skit at the annual winter dinner of the Gridiron Club (an organization of Washington press correspondents founded in 1885) on December 9, 1939. Roosevelt attended the dinner as guest of honor.

The Sphinx sculpture was designed and constructed by James D. Preston, former superintendent of the Senate Press Gallery. FDR was so delighted with the sculpture he had it shipped to the Roosevelt Library, where it was put on display in 1941. It is on display in the A THIRD TERM? exhibit in the Museum’s NEW DEAL gallery.

Additional Details
Custodial History NoteDeposited at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum by Franklin D. Roosevelt on October 3, 1940. It was donated as a bequest of FDR to the Library in 1947.
Credit LineEstate of Franklin D. Roosevelt
National Archives Catalog CollectionFranklin D. Roosevelt Library Museum Collection (National Archives Identifier 735948)
National Archives Catalog SeriesGift Items and Commemorative Artifacts (National Archives Identifier 782690)
Use Restriction StatusUnrestrictedCopyrightReproduction or other use of these holdings or images thereof is unrestricted.
Collections
Exposé
Related Links
YouTube video featuring Supervisory Curator Herman Eberhardt discussing the Franklin D. Roosevelt Sphinx sculpture: "The Museum Collection at Home: FDR Sphinx Sculpture"