The inscription "J. Bowers 1861" on the underside of the scroll was previously believed to relate to a ship carver of that name. It is more likely the name of a former owner, Jonathan Bowers (1825-1894), of Lowell, Massachusetts. In 1857, Bowers developed Willow Dale Park near Lowell, a lakeside retreat for boating, picnicking, and other pleasure activities. Bowers was a collector of ship carvings, which he displayed throughout the park. He is known to have purchased the figurehead of Andrew Jackson that once adorned the "Constitution" in 1861.

The Society purchased this bust from the Associated American Artists Corporation which arranged for the manufacture of 250 plaster copies of Davidson's original bust of ca. 1950.

Henry Kirke Brown modeled this marble while in Rome during the early years of his career. It is both an ideal conception in the neoclassical style of the period, and a portrait of a specific person, Maria Grazia, a well-known Italian artist's model with a scandalous and romantic past. Scholars have noted that the deep-set eyes close to the brow, the straight nose, the full lips and chin, and the compacted hair suggest the fifth century B.C. Greek ideal of beauty. The marble was distributed as a prize by the American Art-Union in 1849. The Art-Union offered its members a print of a work by an American artist and a chance to enter a drawing for American paintings and sculpture like this one. It was awarded to Peter M. Gillespy, whose descendants gave it to the Historical Society. In 1850, Brown cast a bronze of this bust which is now at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

The subject was born in Campbell, New York, the son of Thomas and Jane (White) Watson. He started his career as a salesman for the National Cash Register Company, and by 1908 had risen to the main office as general sales manager. Six years later he became president of the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company. In 1924 this company became the International Business Machines Corporation (IBM).