Bonhams 1793 : Rochette and Parzini The Iwo Jima Flag Raising maquette for the 7th War Loan Drive Statue circa April 1945] 46 x 18 x 33 in. (116.8 x 45.7 x 83.8 cm.), weight 200 lbs

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22 Feb 2013 13:00 EST New York
World War II: The Pacific Theater
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Rochette and Parzini
The Iwo Jima Flag Raising maquette for the 7th War Loan Drive Statue
[New York. circa April 1945]

The plaster maquette used to construct the Iwo Jima Flag Raising sculpture exhibited in Times Square for the opening of the 7th War Loan Drive on May 14th 1945, a week after VE day. The sculpture was fashioned by the famous New York firm of Rochette and Parzini in their 25th St studios, and used to scale up to the light-weight sculpture that toured the country with the three surviving flag raisers. Slight discoloration, some minor cracks and flaws, minor restoration.
46 x 18 x 33 in. (116.8 x 45.7 x 83.8 cm.), weight 200 lbs

Sold for US$ 25,000 inc. premium

Footnotes

This, the first version of the Flag Raising to be built after the de Weldon maquette, was paid for a committee for the Motion Picture Industry and predates the making of the de Weldon Monument by about 3 months. The form of the sculpture was based on The Rosenthal photograph, selected by the Treasury Department as their motif for the Loan Drive. The tour was an outrageous success coming so soon on the Victory in Europe. The three Iwo Jima flag raisers and the large 12 foot sculpture toured the country being mobbed everywhere they went, in the process raising some $156 billion (twice the projected budget and accounting for half the war debt). Rochette and Parzini an Italian/American firm had a prominent sculpturing business in New York in the early 20th century, and worked on many notable buildings in New York, working extensively for McKim, Mead and White.

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