Winged Sphinx Bookend

The design of this Winged Sphinx bookend was taken from the winged sphinxes that are incorporated into the design of the Carrara Marble benches along the broad walkway leading to Whitehall, as well as the four Carrara Marble benches in its Grand Hall.  Historically, Winged Sphinxes have always guarded the walkways to Temples to Apollo, where the nine Muses of arts and literature live and from which the word museum is derived.  Facing the rising sun, featuring six large Doric columns, with lion heads gracing its massive bronze doors, and surrounded by untamed nature, or bacchanalian grounds - all attributes of a Temple to Apollo, Whitehall's architectural design and grounds are a literal reference to a Temple to Apollo, a domicile for the Muses. In the purest sense of the word, Whitehall was built as a museum.