  william rush (july 4, 1756 â january 17, 1833) was a u.s. neoclassical sculptor from philadelphia, pennsylvania. he is considered the first major american sculptor. rush was born in philadelphia, the fourth child of joseph rush, a ship's carpenter, and first wife, rebecca lincoln. as a teenager, he apprenticed three years with woodcarver edward cutbush, and soon surpassed his master in the art of carving of ships' figureheads in wood. he saw military service during the american revolution, as an officer in the militia. he opened his own wood carving business, and was in great demand when the u.s. navy began building ships on philadelphia. later in life, he took up sculpture. rush was one of the founders of the pennsylvania academy of the fine arts and taught sculpture there. he was also active in local politics, serving on the philadelphia city council for two decades. rush died in philadelphia in 1833, and is buried at the woodlands (philadelphia). ==united states navy== rush carved figureheads for four of the original six frigates of the united states navy:  (genius of the united states, 1796, whereabouts unknown),  (nature, 1797, whereabouts unknown),  (revolution, 1799, whereabouts unknown), and  (goddess of wisdom, 1799, whereabouts unknown). he designed the figurehead for a fifth original frigate,  (hercules, 1796, carved by john skillin, whereabouts unknown, replaced by a figurehead of andrew jackson 1848), and may have designed that for the sixth,  (george washington, 1800, carved by rush's former apprentice daniel n. train, whereabouts unknown).ralph sessions, "william rush and the american figurehead", the magazine antiques, 168:5 (nov. 2005), p. 150-51. he also carved figureheads for the u.s. navy frigates  (john adams, 1799, whereabouts unknown),  (hercules, 1799, burned 1804), and  (captain john smith, 1822, whereabouts unknown). and he carved figureheads for the gun-ships  (benjamin franklin, 1815, u.s. naval academy museum),  (christopher columbus, 1819, whereabouts unknown),  (sir walter raleigh, 1820, whereabouts unknown), and  (hercules, 1824â37, attributed to rush or his son john, whereabouts unknown).william rush, american sculptor, exhibition catalogue, pennsylvania academy of the fine arts, 1982, pp. 100-70. ==public sculpture== [[file:'fourth of july in center 
1756_births 1833_deaths American_sculptors Artists_from_Philadelphia,_Pennsylvania Burials_at_The_Woodlands_Cemetery Pennsylvania_Academy_of_the_Fine_Arts_faculty