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One of the most readily recognizable features of
We are seeking the famous “Doughboy Statues”
created by E.M. Viquesney to document the history and contributions of this
Great American Sculptor. Viquesney created his Doughboy in response to a
national interest to honor those who died, were wounded, or served in the World
War. While he wanted to depict an American soldier in battle, he didn’t want
to depict excessive might or power by portraying a soldier charging or running
forward. Instead, he wanted to depict the "spirit" of the American
Doughboy’s determination to preserve freedom for their country and mankind. So
he portrayed a Doughboy striding firmly forward in an erect posture through
"no man’s land." Replications of E. M. Viquesney’s Spirit of
The American Doughboy are believed to be the focal points of over
ten-percent of the U. S. World War I memorials, exclusive of those memorials
that are merely plaques. Additionally, some believe that except for the Statue
of Liberty, Viquesney’s Doughboy replicas have collectively been seen by more
people than any sculpture in the U. S., even though many don’t realize they
have seen them.
One of the most readily recognizable features of
"Spirit of The American Doughboy" is his upwardly extended right arm
with a grenade in the upraised hand. The other feature is the two stumps at his
right front and left rear. His left arm extends downward and his left hand holds
a bayoneted 1903 Springfield rifle, pointed forward at about thigh height. He
wears a flat steel helmet, trousers bloused above the knee, and puttees (wrapped
leggings) below the knees, all of the type worn by Doughboys in World War I. He
wears a rectangular bedroll backpack with a bayonet scabbard on the side, a
square gas mask pouch on his chest, a cartridge belt, canteen, mess kit, and
first aid kit. Since he’s striding, rather than running or charging, his
leading left leg is straight. His right leg is bent and, while the right heel is
raised, the right sole is on the "ground." Barbed wire was originally
strung loosely around his feet and the stumps, but it’s been removed for
safety reasons from some Doughboys and is missing from others for other reasons.
The Great War
Society wrote: For
us today, and maybe for all Americans who will follow, the Doughboys
were the men America sent to France in the Great War, who licked Kaiser Bill and
fought to make the world safe for Democracy.
Doughboy as applied to the infantry of the
U.S. Army first appears, without any precedent that can be documented, in
accounts of the Mexican-American War of 1846-47.
When the Great War and America's entry into it came, the
usage of doughboy changed dramatically. It became generalized in
application, no longer limited to the infantry. All the army combat branches,
aviators, logistical support troops and even the U.S. Marines were individually
and collectively labeled doughboys.
The
exact number of versions of the work will probably never be determined, but it
is approaching 140, in 38 different states. One source, an old newsletter on the statues, says "several hundred
exist". Despite his prolific creativity, Viquesney who
lived from l876 to 1946, was not much of a businessman. He left no records of
his statues and sculptures, which included a World War II Soldier and a Civil
War Confederate soldier and smaller figures.
T.
Perry Wesley, retired editor of the Evening World in Spencer, Ind., wanted to
remind people of the importance of these
statues, especially of a World War I doughboy created by E.M. Viquesney, a
Spencer native. It was he who began the search in 1950, for these creations.
He's documented Viquesney statues in nearly 30 states, including California,
Washington, Florida and Maine, "from coast to coast and border to
border," as he puts it.
Also
being found are statues that bear the copyright mark of Walter Rylander (Viquesney's
business partner), and thus go unrecognized as Viquesney's work. Rylander owned
the rights to Viquesney's Doughboy for four years, from January 1922 up to
January 1926, and put his name on at least four statues; if there are any more
of them around, people need to be aware that they are indeed Viquesney
Doughboys, despite the name on the copyright. As an example, the Doughboy at St.
Bernard, OH, which has a Rylander copyright, is known locally as the Soldiers
and Sailors Monument, and its maker is listed in the Ohio Outdoor Sculpture
Inventory (OOSI) as Walter Rylander. The statue at Bolivar, MO, turned out to be
the fourth Viquesney Doughboy known to have a Rylander copyright.
Another
addition to the confusion of these statues is that some of the copper statues
made before 1934 are now known to have been manufactured by the
Friedley-Voshardt Company of Chicago, IL, and may have their logo on the
sculpture instead of Viquesney's name. One such example is Warren, OH. Others
known to have been made by Friedley-Voshardt are Ft. Worth, TX, and Garfield
Park, Chicago (now standing at Soldier Field).
So,
in short, if you see a WWI Doughboy statue and think, "Wow, that statue
looks just like Viquesney's Spirit of the American Doughboy, but the
maker's mark on it says "Walter Rylander" or "Friedley-Voshardt",
it's a Viquesney.
Do
not mistake John Paulding's work for Viquesney's . These will not be
accepted. John Paulding (1883 - 1935) created his own series of WWI Doughboy
statues, and when viewed from the front, they look very much like The Spirit
of the American Doughboy . Be sure to check the maker's mark, look for
"Cast by American Art Bronze Foundry" on the first line, and "J.
Paulding, Sc., © 1920 (or 1921) Chicago" on the second line; otherwise
look for a brace supporting the proper right foot free of the base, and no tree
stumps. The brace might be mistaken for some sort of misshapen tree stump, but
on Paulding Doughboys there's always just one of them. Most Viquesney Doughboys
have two tree stumps on the base (the rare stone version has one large tree
stump in back for support). The two tree stumps were Viquesney's
"hallmark" and are useful in identifying his metal Doughboy
statues".
Visit:
http://www.emmitsburg.net/archive_list/articles/history/stories/doughboy.htm
and http://www.orgsites.com/ca/emv-doughboy-searchers/_pgg1.php3
Another source for Doughboy information is:
http://doughboysearcher.tripod.com/