Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/726123
22 THE CAPITOL DOME the sculptor that he, too, should make a sketch for the fountain. 24 Rinehart did so and Meigs, pleased with what he saw, authorized Rine- hart to make a plaster model for the fountain. In November of that year Meigs paid Rinehart $250.00 for the fountain, which he described as "very good." 25 The fountain was being cast in the shop approximately three months later in 1858 and was installed in the courtyard of the General Post Office. 26 That same year Lassalle also cast the bronze bust Be sheekee (fig. 9). This sculpture is the only known work in the Capitol signed and dated by Lassalle. The bust is after the earlier marble bust of Be sheekee by Vincenti, for whom Be sheekee sat while on a trip to Washington as part of a del- egation to discuss treaties with the United States government; it was another work of art in which Meigs was engaged, for he suggested that it be carved in marble and placed in the Extension. 27 In all likelihood, Lassalle worked from Vincenti's clay or plaster model. Lassalle, who considered himself not just a shop foreman but also an art- ist, made changes to several details, specifically the tubes of the headdress, the tassels at the end of beads, and the folds and texture of the blanket. The most notable difference, however, is the addi- tion of the medallion placed around Be sheekee's neck. The medallion, reminiscent of an Indian peace medal, is inscribed and reads in part "...after nature by/F. Vincenti AD 1854 [sic] /Copied in Fig. 9. Be sheekee, Joseph Lassalle (1858) Fig. 10. Medallion from Be sheekee