An award winning silversmith

 

The subject of today's blog struck gold (or silver as the case may be) by not by getting his hands dirty digging for the elusive objects but  by making elaborate pieces of art from the precious metals. Once again, surprisingly,  today's subject lies in an unmarked grave in the Cemetery.


JULIUS HOGARTH (HOUGAARD)


Julius Hogarth was born on 24 December 1820 in Copenhagen, Denmark, the son of Jorgen Hougaard and his wife Charlotte. Julius showed artistic qualities at an early age and trained under the Danish neo-classical sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen. By 1840, Hougaard was listed as a Goldsmith and was residing in the household of Jorgen Dalhoff, Danish Royal Goldsmith and his family. He married Christiane Galle on 18 November 1842 at Trinitatis Church, Copenhagen; they had one son but later divorced. Census records show in 1850 Julius was recorded as an engraver and teacher at the Technical and Metalwork Institute in Copenhagen.


Hougaard arrived in Sydney on the César Godeffroy in December 1852; Conrad Erichsen, a Norwegian engraver, was another passenger.  Both tried and failed to make their fortunes on the goldfields and fell back on their strengths becoming silversmiths and jewellers in Sydney. By March 1854 Julius had Anglicised his name and Hogarth, Erichsen & Co., Jewellers and Watchmakers, was in business in George Street.  Talented artists, both created small sculptures in gold and silver of miners and Indigenous people.  Together they created "Australiana" in precious metals.


One piece, the "Ricketty Dick"  statuette, was displayed in the 1855 Paris Universal Exhibition, alongside another statuette of similar design in gold, and two gold statuettes of gold diggers . Hogarth was awarded a bronze medal for his entry. It was inspired by Warrah Warrah, an Indigenous man who was also known as Ricketty Dick. His popular name related to arthritis, or some other disease of the lower limbs, which finally crippled him. Warrah Warrah set up a permanent camp on a dry patch of land at the Rose Bay swamps and was the subject of many paintings.


Statue of "Ricketty Dick" 1855 - collection of MAAS  


In 1856 Hogarth was naturalized.  On 18 November 1858 at the Scots Church, Sydney, he married  Charlotte Elizabeth, daughter of the bookseller James Tegg.  They had seven children, one dying in infancy.  


Hogarth, Erichsen & Co. also specialised in large silver embossed presentation cups and as early as about 1857 Hogarth and his partner produced a range of silver mounted emu eggs.



Although not attributed to Julius Hogarth - this is of the type he and Erichson produced - collection of National Gallery of Victoria


Besides presentation pieces, heavy, well-crafted 'botanical' jewellery were Hogarth's specialty.  Unfortunately the heavy raw materials required for production of these pieces brought about insolvency of the business in 1861 and the partnership was dissolved.



Gold brooch - MAAs Collection 



Bracelet - Collection of QAGOMA - qld.gov.au

Nevertheless, Hogarth exhibited 'strikingly Australian' gold statuettes at the 1862 London International Exhibition.  At the end of that year Hogarth reported a robbery at his business premises but managed to retrieve most of the goods within twelve months. He was bankrupted again in May 1864, but still managed to make the colony's gift for the Prince of Wales's marriage to Princess Alexandra of Denmark—a massive, gold casket, with Australian motifs.  Hogarth then moved to Melbourne, where in 1867 he was bankrupted a third time.  He produced work for other silversmiths, jewellers and medallists and engraved medals for agricultural associations. 


Coin from the collection from the museums of victoria 


The nature of the precious metals he worked with required a substantial initial monetary commitment and on many occasions time to retrieve that investment ran out, unfortunately in his Hogarth's case, on a number of occasions. 


Returning to Sydney with some of his family about 1878, Hogarth set up shop at Newtown, but died of chronic liver disease on 5 March 1879 at his Chippendale residence. His wife and children and the son of his first marriage survived him.


Although much was melted down for the bullion content, some of Hogarth's work survives.  Pieces attributed to him are in the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, the Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, and the National Library of Australia, Canberra.


Hogarth's major pieces are now worth a fortune and it seems a shame that such a man, whose name inspires awe in the minds of lovers of antique silverware, lies alone in an unmarked grave in the Old Anglican area of the Cemetery.

 

For more information about Julius Hogarth please take check the following :-

https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/hogarth-julius-12987

A simple google search will locate many more references to Hogarth and his works of art.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Mother for All!

Image
  As we approach Mother's Day here in Australia, let's reflect upon a mother who fought to make every mother's life better. A woman, who in times where men would drink their weekly wages, leaving almost nothing for his family to be fed and clothed on, fought hard to make a difference. EUPHEMIA BRIDGES BOWES Euphemia was born in Edinburgh Scotland in 1816, the daughter of Joseph Allen and his wife Eliza. She was self-educated, an activity rare for a young girl at the time, teaching herself both to read and write. She arrived in Sydney in 1838, classified as a "house servant ” and on the 13th of September 1842 she married John Bowes, a baker, with Wesleyan Methodist rites at Parramatta. John had arrived in Sydney the previous year and moved to Parramatta, where besides his everyday position, he continued his work as a Wesleyan lay teacher. They resided in Sydney before making a move to Wollongong in 1848 when John was accepted into the Ministry. Euphemia bore elev...
Read more

A close connection to the new King's name sake

Image
 It's been a tumultuous week and from the passing of Queen Elizabeth II it seemed only fitting to honour the life of a man calling Rookwood "home" who has astonishing connections to the British Royal Family. WRIOTHESLEY AUGUSTUS FITZROY  Wriothesley (perhaps it was shortened to Roy?) was born in Dublin Ireland on 11 July 1837 to Henry Fitzroy and his wife Jane Elisabeth nee Beauclerk. He was the second son in a family consisting of five siblings and rose to the rank of Captain in the 23rd Royal Welsh Fusiliers. It is very likely he took part in the Lucknow uprising during the Indian Mutiny in 1857-1859.  Royal Welsh Fusiliers Cap Badge - Wikipedia Before I continue, I want to advise you of his family connections. Wriothesley's father Henry, was the son of the Reverend Henry Fitzroy. This Henry was the son of Augustus Henry Fitzroy the 3rd Duke of Grafton and his second wife, Elizabeth Wrottesley - no doubt where Wriothesley's name, albeit altered over the years, c...
Read more

Accidents do happen!

Image
 As you meander amongst the headstones in the older part of Rookwood there are many graves that mention -"accidently drowned, accidently killed etc." and it reminds us of a time when Occupational Health and Safety did not exist. Employment, especially the manual work that attracted a higher wage, came with many risks to health as well as and life and limb.  Today's blog is about a slightly different kind of accident, one still quite shocking but one that is a little more unusual. WILLIAM MOON  William Moon was born in Brightling Sussex England, on the 5th of November 1829, one of sixteen children to Jesse Moon and his wife Ann. Remarkably only two children died in infancy, the rest living to adulthood.   His father, Jesse, came to Australia with his family, his wife and eight children, as an assisted immigrant in 1839 onboard the vessel the Prince Regent. William was ten years of age, and the family settled into life in the Redfern area.  William married Ha...
Read more