biography of Pietro MEZZARA (1820-1883)

Birth place: France

Death place: France

Addresses: San Francisco, CA

Profession: Sculptor

Exhibited: Mechanics' Inst. Fair, San Fran., 1865 (gold med.), 1869 (gold med.), 1871 (gold med.)

Member: San Fran. AA (dir.)

Work: Lincoln Grammar Sch., San Fran.; State Capitol, Sacramento, CA; Masonic Temple, San Fran.; Mechanics' Pavilion façade

Comments: Of Italian ancestry, he began as a carver of cameos. In the early 1850s he immigrated to the U.S., and was producing lifelike portrait busts for the newly rich in his studio in San Francisco by 1857. He served on the founding committee for the San Francisco School of Design in 1874 and was an active board member until his return to France in 1880. Cf. Peter Mezzerer.

Sources: Hughes, Artists in California, 378.