The King's Herald
Signed Stig Blomberg. Foundry mark Herman Bergman Fud. The motif conceived 1952. Bronze, green patina. Height 116 cm, length 145 cm.
Olle Engkvists collection, Charlottendal Estate, Gröndal, Sweden.
The motif with the king's herald is a part of a monumental sculpture in the so-called Hästbrunnen (The horde well) at Hästtorget (The horse square) in Laholm and this artwork was inaugurated in 1952. The artist Stig Blomberg, who created several sculptures for this town, was given the prestigious assignment and made an interpretation of Olof von Dalin's "The Tale of the Horse" from 1740.
At the top of the well on a column is the king's herald placed (the bronze sculpture) and the rest of The horse well is made of granite and the story of the horse is depicted on the side of the stone well. In the story the horse represents the fate of the Swedish people and it starts in the 16th Century with King Gustaf Vasa and continues to the time of king Fredrik I.
The skulptor and artist Stig Blomberg was born in Linköping in 1901. He studied at the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm under notable figures such as Carl Milles. In the late 1920s, Blomberg embarked upon several trips around Europe and America, during which he spent the longest in Paris. In 1951 Blomberg returned to the Royal Institute of Art to teach as a professor. Blomberg is now classified as one of 20th century's most commissioned and prolific sculptors, with many of his bronze sculptures decorating the surfaces of public buildings, plazas and squares. The recurring theme of his work is children and youth, portrayed with joy and humour.
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