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GC143.JPG

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Larkin Angel Cypress Lawn Memorial Park Colma, California This finely detailed and meticulously carved angel is the work of German born sculptor, Rupert Schmid (1864-1932). Schmid achieved fame as the creator of the Memorial Arch at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. He was also a director of the San Francisco Art Association and a sculpture instructor at the Mark Hopkins Institute of Art. For Thomas Larkin’s memorial at Cypress Lawn, Schmid sculpted an angel holding a feathered pen in one hand and a blank slate in the other hand. The angel is gazing at a cameo of Mr. Larkin. Thomas Oliver Larkin (1802-1858) was the United States’ first and last consul to California under Mexican rule. He was a prosperous merchant and an early California pioneer. Along with Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo he founded the town of Benicia, California, which was California’s first state capital. Larkin also introduced the style of architecture which is considered indigenous to California. It consists of a two story hipped roof building with wide overhanging second story balconies and is known as the Monterey Colonial Style. His memorial was constructed some time after his death and originally rested above his grave in San Francisco’s vast Laurel Hill Cemetery Complex. When San Francisco banished cemeteries in the early 20th century, Larkin’s remains and his angel were moved to Cypress Lawn, in Colma.