{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O176076"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O176076/"}},"images":null,"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O176076","accessionNumber":"1799-1892","objectType":"Model","titles":[{"title":"Equestrian statue for the Wellington Monument","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"This equestrian statue of Wellington was made by Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm in ca. 1885. The monument to Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington at Hyde Park Corner was unveiled on 21st December 1888 by the Prince of Wales. The monument had been commissioned as part of the re-design of Hyde Park Corner which had begun in 1883.\n\nArthur Wellesley (1769-1852), later the 1st Duke of Wellington, was Britain's greatest military commander. His brilliant tactics and leadership brought about major victories over the French in the Peninsular War of 1808-1814 and, most famously, at Waterloo on 18 June 1815. The Duke then became a politician (Prime Minister from 1828-1830) and distinguished elder statesman. In gratitude for his defeat of Napoleon, European sovereigns showered the Duke with spectacular gifts, notably paintings, porcelain and silver. These form the core of the art collection still at his London home, Apsley House on Hyde Park Corner. The house was originally designed by Robert Adam but was enlarged for the Duke by Benjamin Dean Wyatt. It was presented to the Nation with its contents in 1947, the family retaining apartments.\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":"Plaster model. Design for the equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington on the monument of Hyde Park Corner.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Boehm, Joseph Edgar (Sir)","id":"A6882"},"association":{"text":"sculptor","id":"x43862"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"plaster","id":"AAT14922"}],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"Plaster","categories":[{"text":"Sculpture","id":"THES48896"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"SCP","id":"THES48600"},"images":[],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"002","id":"THES398185"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Model","id":"AAT247279"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"England","id":"x28826"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1885","earliest":"1880-01-01","latest":"1889-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"137.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"including base","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Given by the executors of the late Sir J.E. Boehm, in 1892.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Model, plaster, Equestrian statue for the Wellington Monument, by Joseph Edgar Boehm, England, ca. 1885","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. 225"},{"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. 416. no. 274A. illus 156.","free":""},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Physick, J. <u>The Wellington Monument.</u> 1970. pp. 17-19"},{"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":"p. 212, cat. no. 310","free":""}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[{"text":"Wellington, Arthur Wellesley (1st Duke of)","id":"N2037"}],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"horse","id":"x30117"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["1799-1892"],"accessionNumberNum":"1799","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":1892,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-08-06","recordCreationDate":"2008-12-01","availableToBook":true}}