DOUGHBOY STATUES and Statuettes
USING Secondary VIQUESNEY MOLDS
OR COMPUTER SCALING
Bronze miniature by Frank Colson.
Although several cities have had bronze replicas made of their original Viquesney Doughboys due to weathering deterioration, accidents, or vandalism, at least two cities, Sarasota, Florida, and Columbia, South Carolina, commisioned the creation of replicas of Viquesney's "Spirit of the American Doughboy" where none had previously existed. Each was done by Sarasota sculptor Frank Colson, using molds taken from the genuine Viquesney Doughboy at Clearwater, Florida.
In the case of Sarasota, the city had originally planned to obtain a copy of "The Spirit of the American Doughboy", but the Great Depression halted efforts. A city commission discovered the original plans, and, thus somewhat belatedly in 1998, Sarasota finally got its Viquesney Doughboy, created by Mr. Colson, but fully credited to the original sculptor.
In 2002, Columbia, South Carolina installed a Colson copy, making it the only city with both an original and a copy (the original is in the Olympia section of the city).
Because Colson's replicas are fully credited to Viquesney and were cast from secondary molds made from one of his original statues, they are included as valid locations on this website.
In 2005, Colson cast a limited run of the famous 12-inch Doughboy miniature in bronze (shown at left), and priced them at about $600 each.
In the case of Sarasota, the city had originally planned to obtain a copy of "The Spirit of the American Doughboy", but the Great Depression halted efforts. A city commission discovered the original plans, and, thus somewhat belatedly in 1998, Sarasota finally got its Viquesney Doughboy, created by Mr. Colson, but fully credited to the original sculptor.
In 2002, Columbia, South Carolina installed a Colson copy, making it the only city with both an original and a copy (the original is in the Olympia section of the city).
Because Colson's replicas are fully credited to Viquesney and were cast from secondary molds made from one of his original statues, they are included as valid locations on this website.
In 2005, Colson cast a limited run of the famous 12-inch Doughboy miniature in bronze (shown at left), and priced them at about $600 each.
In 2018, the Wentworth Military Academy Museum in Lexington, Missouri, began producing 6-and-9-inch true bronze miniature reproductions of Lexington's Viquesney Doughboy as fundraisers for the museum. The pieces also include a reproduction of the pedestal. The statuettes were created by computer scanning the original statue that now stands in front of the Lafayette County Courthouse, then scaling down and 3D-printing molds for the solid bronze miniatures. In 2019, the museum also received a scaled-up version of one of the desktop statuettes. It was acquired from a WWI touring exhibit sponsored by the Minnesota Historical Society.