Full Breakdown
San Francisco Couple Unearths Mysterious 150-Pound Stone Sculpture
8/13/2026, 11:34:20 AM
Discovery in a Russian Hill Backyard
While grading their yard on Russian Hill, Greg Gatwood uncovered a rectangular stone slab he first thought was concrete. The 150-pound limestone piece, about 2 feet wide, 9 inches thick, and buried roughly 2 feet beneath the soil, revealed an intricately carved face when turned over. Gatwood’s partner, artist Judy Gittelsohn, recognized the workmanship as “masterful” and immediately began researching its possible origins.
Context: Ralph Stackpole and San Francisco’s Sculptural Legacy
Ralph Stackpole (d. 1973) was a prominent San Francisco sculptor who taught at the California School of Fine Arts—now the San Francisco Art Institute—and created public works such as the statue at the former Pacific Stock Exchange and reliefs on Coit Tower. His studio was located near the couple’s home, and many of his students continued his tradition of figurative stone carving in the mid-20th century.
Expert Opinions and Attribution Challenges
Ken Middlebrook, curator of collections at History San Jose, called the find “a treasure” but noted the difficulty of confirming authorship without documentation. Bruce Marwick of the Sacramento Art Deco Society warned that labeling the piece a Stackpole work is “going out on a limb.” Both experts agree that, absent a signature or provenance, the sculpture could instead be the work of one of Stackpole’s students, a scenario Gittelsohn finds plausible.
Verbatim Quotes
- “I was doing a little grading and I came across what I thought was a piece of concrete, rectangular, and I thought, I’ll just pop it out and throw it to the side,” — Greg Gatwood
- “It is a treasure that they just found,” — Ken Middlebrook, curator of collections at History San Jose
- “One of them said, ‘That looks like a Stackpole,’” — Judy Gittelsohn
- “It's going out on a limb to call this a Ralph Stackpole piece,” — Bruce Marwick
Future Investigation
Gatwood and Gittelsohn are not planning to sell the sculpture. Instead, they are consulting additional art historians and local experts to trace its provenance while keeping the piece as the focal point of their newly renovated garden. The couple hopes that further research will clarify whether the work belongs to Stackpole, a student, or remains an anonymous artifact of San Francisco’s layered artistic past.
