{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O117018"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O117018/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AC2299/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AC2299/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AC2299","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O117018/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O117018","accessionNumber":"1778-1892","objectType":"Bust","titles":[{"title":"Prof. Henry Smith","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"This bust was made by Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm and represents Professor Henry John Stephen Smith. Smith (1826-1883) was Professor of Geometry at Oxford University from 1861 until his death. A marble bust by Boehm dating from 1883 is at the University Museum in Oxford. Smith is shown in academic robes. This model is one of four busts of Smith included in the Boehm bequest of 1892.\n\nBoehm (1834-1890) was an English sculptor and medallist born in Austrian, as the youngest son of Joseph Daniel Boehm (1794–1865), a court medallist and director of the Imperial Mint at Vienna. From 1848 to 1851 Joseph Edgar attended Leigh’s art academy (later Heatherley’s) in London and drew the Parthenon marbles in the British Museum. On his return to Vienna he enrolled at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste. Around 1858–9 he visited Italy, where he developed a lasting admiration for early Renaissance sculpture. From 1859 to 1862 he worked in Paris and was influenced by the work of Paul Gayrard (1807–1855). Boehm settled in London in 1862 where he befriended John Leech and John Everett Millais, both of whom he portrayed in statuettes in 1863. A statuette of William Makepeace Thackeray (1864) led to an edition of 70 plaster casts. Boehm frequently worked in terracotta, a material common in French sculpture but less familiar in English. Queen Victoria’s admiration of Boehm’s statuettes led to an association with the royal family that lasted from 1869 until his death. Most of Boehm’s works are portrait busts. Boehm was immensely prolific: some 360 different works are documented. He was a highly consistent sculptor, rarely deviating from his brand of realism. He was modest about his immense popularity and aware of his imaginative shortcomings (cit.: M. Stocker: 'Boehm, Joseph Edgar').","physicalDescription":"The sitter Smith is depicted in acacemic robes. ","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Joseph Edgar Boehm","id":"N4599"},"association":{"text":"sculptors","id":"AAT25181"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"plaster","id":"AAT14922"}],"techniques":[{"text":"casting","id":"AAT53104"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Plaster ","categories":[{"text":"Sculpture","id":"THES48896"},{"text":"Portraits","id":"THES48906"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"SCP","id":"THES48600"},"images":["2006AC2299"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"003","id":"THES340874"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Bust","id":"AAT47457"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"England","id":"x28826"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1883","earliest":"1883-01-01","latest":"1883-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"67.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"61","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"36","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Weight","value":"26.5","unit":"kg","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Given by the executors of the late Sir J. E. Boehm in 1892. ","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Bust, plaster model, of Professor Henry J.S. Smith, by Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm, England, 1883","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"<u>List of Objects in the Art Division South Kensington Museum acquired during the Year 1892. Arranged according to the dates of acquisition, with appendix and indices.</u> London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1893, pp. 223"},{"reference":{"text":"Bilbey, Diane and Trusted, Marjorie, British Sculpture 1470-2000: A Concise Catalogue of the Collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum. London: V&A Publications, 2002","id":"AUTH401363"},"details":"pp. 209, cat. no. 304","free":""},{"reference":{"text":"Stocker, M., Royalist and Realist: The Life and Work of Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm. New York and London: Garland Publishing, 1988.","id":"AUTH403171"},"details":"pp. 414, no. 250A","free":""},{"reference":{"text":"Wilson, David, The rediscovered Mr Gladstone goes home: A bust of the statesman by Joseph Edgar Boehm. The British Art Journal, 7(3), 2006, pp.14-28.","id":"AUTH401364"},"details":"note 47, pp. 27","free":""}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[{"text":"Smith, Henry","id":"AUTH320672"}],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["1778-1892"],"accessionNumberNum":"1778","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":1892,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-11-13","recordCreationDate":"2005-09-26","availableToBook":true}}