A routine gardening project in San Francisco turned into a historical mystery when a local landscape contractor found a 150-pound limestone sculpture buried deep beneath his backyard. Greg Gatwood, 65, was digging in the garden of his Russian Hill home in May when his shovel struck a hard object. Expecting an old wooden fence post footing, he cleared the soil with a pickaxe and discovered a carved limestone bust showing a woman with broad facial features. The sculpture measures 22 inches wide, 18 inches high, and 10 inches deep. It shows a woman’s head and neck rising from a solid rectangular base. Months after finding it, Gatwood and his partner, professional painter Judy Gittelsohn, have spoken with dozens of historians, curators, and art experts, but the sculptor’s identity remains unknown.
Unearthing a stone treasure in a domestic garden
In an interview with NBC Bay Area’s Raj Mathai, Gatwood said the discovery was unlike anything he had experienced during decades of landscape work. “It’s exciting,” Gatwood tells NBC Bay Area’s Raj Mathai. “It’s probably the most exciting thing I’ve ever dug up in a yard, and I’ve dug up a lot of things over the years.” After the discovery, Gittelsohn began contacting local art institutions, historical societies, and independent experts. She shared photographs and details of the sculpture in an effort to identify its creator. “I have spoken to close to 50 people, and nobody knows anything about it,” Gittelsohn tells the San Francisco Chronicle’s Sam Whiting. “It was done by someone with a sophisticated skill level. It was not created by a hobbyist.” Museum experts say identifying the artist without a signature or historical records will be extremely difficult. Ken Middlebrook, curator of collections at the nonprofit History San Jose organization, explained the challenge to KTVU’s Jesse Gary. “It is a treasure that they just found,” Ken Middlebrook tells KTVU’s Jesse Gary. “The difficulty will be trying to identify who made it.”
Discovery and investigation timeline
Pre-1948: Russian Hill property remains an undeveloped lotMay 2026: Greg Gatwood discovers the 150-pound limestone bustMay to August 2026: Couple consults about 50 experts and explores possible links to Ralph StackpolePresent: Bust prepared for display on a custom garden pedestal
Proximity to historical art institutions
The location of the couple’s home may provide important clues about the sculpture’s history. Before the current two-story house was built in 1948, the property was an open lot. Across the street stood a building that housed the sculpture department of the California School of Fine Arts. The institution later became known as the San Francisco Art Institute before permanently closing in 2022. Gittelsohn believes the bust has features that may connect it to Ralph Stackpole, an influential American sculptor and muralist who taught at the institute for nearly two decades. Stackpole moved to San Francisco in 1901 and became known for major civic art projects. He carved the large Art Deco stone figures outside the Pacific Coast Stock Exchange building and painted frescoes inside Coit Tower as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal art programs.
Candidate artist styles
• Ralph Stackpole: Major San Francisco sculptor, former CSFA teacher, known for broad faces and flattened noses• Adaline Kent: Stackpole student and collaborator who lived in the Russian Hill area• Helen Phillips: Stackpole student active in California sculpture during the mid-20th century• Court of Pacifica Sculptors: Group of 20 artists commissioned for the 1939 World’s FairGittelsohn sees similarities between the buried bust and sculptures made by artists connected to Stackpole. “His disciples, his students, created this similar look of the flattened nose and broad face,” she tells NBC Bay Area.Property sits vacant as an empty lot1910s to 1930s: Stackpole teaches sculpture across the street1939: Golden Gate International Exposition displays Pacific Unity works1948: Two-story home is built on the propertyMay 2026: Shovel strikes the buried 150-pound limestone sculpture
Possible links to the 1939 World’s Fair
Historian Anne Schnoebelen, vice president of the board of directors at the Treasure Island Museum in San Francisco, believes the sculpture could be connected to the 1939 to 1940 Golden Gate International Exposition on Treasure Island. Schnoebelen told the Los Angeles Times that Stackpole designed the main 80-foot statue of the goddess Pacifica for the fair’s Court of Pacifica. The statue was surrounded by 20 smaller “Pacific Unity” sculptures made by artists from the region. Two of Stackpole’s students, Adaline Kent and Helen Phillips, also lived nearby and created artwork during that period. “It looks like it could’ve been one of the faces made for the Court of Pacifica, but we don’t know,” Schnoebelen tells the Los Angeles Times’ Summer Lin. Schnoebelen also suggested that the sculpture may have been buried deliberately. “It could have been somebody who didn’t like the way it turned out, or maybe Stackpole didn’t like it,” she tells the San Francisco Chronicle. “There is a reason somebody buried it, and maybe they don’t want people talking about it.” Gatwood has a different theory. He believes the sculpture may have once been displayed in the garden before becoming buried under years of soil and neglect. “Perhaps it was given to someone in this house, and it was displayed in the yard and the yard kind of fell into disuse and became overgrown, and maybe the statue fell off a wooden pedestal,” he tells NBC Bay Area. “Most antiquities are dug up because they were once prized and displayed, and then things happened.”
Bust specifications and origin
• Weight: Approximately 150 pounds (68 kg)• Dimensions: 22 inches wide x 18 inches high x 10 inches deep• Material: Carved limestone• Discovery date: May 2026• Current location: Private Russian Hill residence, San FranciscoGatwood is now building a dedicated pedestal to display the limestone bust in his garden. “I’ve always thought every yard deserves a nice piece of garden art,” Gatwood tells the Times. “This will be displayed in a special way in our yard. I hope to share the photos of our yard when it’s completed with the statue beautifully placed.” Unless future records or a hidden signature reveal the sculpture’s true creator, the couple plans to keep the mysterious carving in their Russian Hill garden.
