Bonhams 1793 : Felix de Weldon. (American, 1907-2003) The original plaster maquette bas-relief for a monumental memorial circa 1945-1950

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22 Feb 2013 13:00 EST New York
World War II: The Pacific Theater
Back to auction 21082

Felix de Weldon. (American, 1907-2003)
The original plaster maquette bas-relief for a monumental memorial
[Washington D.C.]; circa 1945-1950

The plaster maquette planned to be a memorial, but in fact incorporated as a brass plaque into the Monument on Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima Island erected in the 1950s.
11in. x 9.25in.

Sold for US$ 1,250 inc. premium

Footnotes

Exhibited:
The Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, New York, 1995-2007

Provenance:
The War Museum

The plaster maquette was intended to be a large memorial, annotated on the back by de Weldon 'enlarge 20 times', but in the end was used at this same size, cast in bronze and incorporated into the Marine monument erected on Mount Suribachi. Iwo Jima, a sovereign Japanese territory was occupied by the Americans 1945-1968. De Weldon eventually got his dream of making the bas-relief a memorial when he was approached in 1984 by an ex-naval man, Mr Pipping of Lakeland Florida, and was commissioned to do a large size version of this bas relief. It was cast in bronze and first displayed in 1988 by the roadside of interstate 4 between Tampa and Orlando, standing 11 x 9 feet (hence the note on the back enlarge 20 times!).

Category: Books / Books, Maps and Manuscripts

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