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The Apple Cider Press

It was hard to miss Apples, the large ceramic installation in the sculpture garden of the de Young Museum in San Francisco.

But there’s another apple-related statue just outside of the de Young, which is in Golden Gate park.

Sculpture: The Apple Cider Press
The Apple Cider Press (Bronze, ca. 1994) Thomas Shields Clarke

This bronze work was created for the California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894.

It shows a dramatic muscular figure working the press while a child kneels to drink.

bronze apples, detail from sculpture of cider press
Apples in bronze.

Apparently a lot of people mistake this for a tribute to the Golden State’s wine industry. I did too, until I spotted the apples.

Click any photo for a closer look.

The name of the work is The Apple Cider Press, by Thomas Sheilds Clarke. By one account it was originally a drinking fountain with a metal cup on a chain.

The sculpture stands today in its original location in Golden Gate Park.

There’s more information, and many more photos, online.

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