OTHER VIQUESNEY-INSPIRED LOOK-ALIKE
DOUGHBOY STATUES

Although many Doughboy statues by sculptor John Paulding are confused with E. M. Viquesney's "Spirit of the American Doughboy", they were not meant to be copies or derivatives of it (if anything, it was the other way around; Paulding beat Viquesney to the copyright office by at least six months). But some sculptors did use Viquesney's designs as inspirations for their own work. Among them were Joseph Nicolosi and Eric Oberg. Interestingly, Oberg seems to have based his work on an alternate Viquesney miniature design, shown below, left. Oberg statues based on this design can be found at Marshalltown, Iowa (below, right), Wormleysburg, Pennsylvania and King, Wisconsin the last two both misidentified as Viquesney Doughboys).

As the rifle is positioned differently, and the full-size monuments were created by a different sculptor, statues of this design, although obviously inspired by Viquesney's work, are not included as valid locations on this website.

Above, the plaster version of Viquesney's 12-inch miniature Doughboy statuette, which was made with a rifle position different from the metal ones. Some sculptors used this version as the basis for their own work. But Viquesney himself never used this design as a full-scale monument.

Sculptor Eric Oberg drew his inspiration from the alternate Viquesney design shown at left. The statue above is at the Veterans Home in Marshalltown, Iowa. Others exist at Wormleysburg, Pennsylvania and King, Wisconsin (where both are misidentified as Viquesney's "Spirit of the American Doughboy"). All three were produced long after the artist's death.

NEILLSVILLE, WISCONSIN

A Doughboy derived from Viquesney's design can be seen at Neillsville, Wisconsin's Highground Memorial. Instead of holding a grenade, it has an open right hand, and two tiny tree stumps on the base. Its rifle is also posed vertically, like the Doughboy at King, Wisconsin.

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