Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm, 1st Baronet, RA (Vienna, 6 July 1834 – 12 December 1890) was a medallist and sculptor, best known for the Jubilee head of Queen Victoria on coinage, and the statue of the Duke of Wellington at Hyde Park Corner.
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Boehm was born in Vienna of Hungarian parentage. His father was director of the imperial mint in Vienna. After studying the plastic art in Italy and at Paris, he worked for a few years as a medallist in Vienna.[1] In 1856, he was presented with the Austrian Imperial Prize for Sculpture, the start of his distinguished career.
After a further period of study in England, he was so successful as an exhibitor at the 1862 International Exhibition that he decided to devote more time to portrait busts and statuettes, chiefly equestrian.[1] He came to live in England in 1862 and became a British subject three years later. A colossal statue of Queen Victoria, executed in marble (1869) for Windsor Castle, and the monument of the duke of Kent in St George's chapel, were his earliest great works, and so entirely to the taste of his royal patrons that he rose rapidly in favour with the court.[1] He became a member of the ARA in 1878, was appointed sculptor in ordinary in 1881 and was elected to the Royal Academy in 1882. In 1889 he was created a Baronet, of Wetherby Gardens in the Parish of St Mary Abbots, Kensington, in the County of London.[2]
In 1887, he designed and executed the model for the dies for a series of coin, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the queen's reign. The coins are signed J.E.B. below the shoulder. This design was severely criticized by his peers as well as the public. It was replaced in 1893.[3] The coins depicted the royal arms in the order of the garter on the reverse. As a result, the sixpences were frequently gilded and passed off as gold half sovereigns. Therefore, the sixpence reverted to its standard design.
A speciality of his was the portrait bust, many examples of which are in the National Portrait Gallery. During his career he was commissioned frequently by the Royal Family and members of the aristocracy to sculpt for their parks and gardens. His most important works include 'St George and the Dragon', which can be found outside the State Library of Victoria, and Francis Drake. Works by Boehm are at Balmoral and Dalmeny. His large equine statue at Dalmeny was commissioned by Baron Mayer Amschel de Rothschild for his new mansion, Mentmore Towers, in the 1860s.
There are many statues by Boehm in London. In St Paul's Cathedral is his memorial statue to General Charles George Gordon. At Hyde Park Corner a large equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington dominates the area. Other statues can be found in Fleet Street, the Temple Bar and Embankment Gardens. On the death of Dean Stanley, Boehm was commissioned to execute his sarcophagus in Westminster Abbey. Among his ideal subjects, the “Herdsman and Bull” is notable.[1]
Boehm's most famous pupil was the Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, daughter of Queen Victoria. Princess Louise was at his house, at 76 Fulham Road in London, when Boehm died suddenly on 12 December 1890, provoking press speculation about an unsubstantiated sexual relationship between the two.[4] Their friendly relationship is attested by a 21-volume set of The Plays of Shakspeare, which Princess Louise gave to the sculptor in 1875. (The set, published by F. C. & J. Rivingston et al. in 1813, was later purchased by Armistead Peter, Jr. from the London bookseller Thomas Thorp and is now located at "Tudor Place," the erstwhile estate of Peter's family in Georgetown, Washington, D.C.)
| Baronetage of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| New creation | Baronet (of Wetherby Gardens) 1889–1890 |
Succeeded by Edgar Collin Boehm-Boteler |