Early 20th Century Paul Herzel Polychrome Buccaneer Brass Bookends- a Pair

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Each piratical scoundrel measures 10 1/2" tall x 4" x 4". Sold as a pair.

The following is from Marc … Read more Each piratical scoundrel measures 10 1/2" tall x 4" x 4". Sold as a pair.

The following is from Marc Houseman, Museum Director, Washington Missouri Historical Society, Washington, Franklin County, Missouri.

Paul Herzel was born in Silesia, Germany in 1876. He died in May of 1956 at the City Hospital in New York City at the age of 79. When he was seven years old his family emigrated to the United States locating at St. Louis, Missouri. As a young boy, he began drawing, painting scenery along the Mississippi River, and modeling clay which he found along the river bank. His father died when Paul was 14 or 15, and he went to work as a machinist with the American Brake Company in St. Louis.

While working there, he also began to study painting at the St. Louis Art School at about age 22. During this time, he helped to establish the Brush and Pencil Club of St. Louis. Herzel became interested in the animals at the Forest Park Zoo in St. Louis and began making sketches, paintings, and models. When about 28 years of age, he went to Europe visiting art museums and copied Velasquez' paintings in Madrid. Returning to the United States, he located in New York and began the study of sculpture at the Beaux Arts Institute of Design.

There, he frequented the Central Park Zoo and continued the study of animal form and applied it to his work. Two of his paintings "Blesbok" and "White- tailed Gnu" were acquired by the New York Zoological Society. In addition to his art work, Herzel became involved in the Socialist Labor Party and served as their treasurer for twenty years. See less