“The Glory of New Jersey” Boehm Porcelain Commissioned by The Friends of The State House The Friends of the State House, Inc. commissioned the Boehm Porcelain Studio to create this one-of-a-kind porcelain sculpture of New Jersey's state symbols which is on display in the Legislative Wing corridor. The artwork was unveiled on Monday, May 8, 1995, by Governor Christine Todd Whitman, Senate President Donald DiFrancesco and Assembly Speaker Garbed "Chuck" Haytaian. The Glory of New Jersey celebrates symbols. Created in 1995 by the Boehm Pierre Lefebvre, head sculptor at Boehm Studios working on the clay model of "The Glory of New Jersey" in the early stage, December, 1994. Porcelain Studio in Trenton, the work extols the beauty and virtues of nature, while commemorating and honoring the state. The violet, the goldfinch, the red oak and the honeybee evoke powerful images of community and place. The primeval red oak, signurturing a flock of twenty-one male and female goldfinches, nifying the strength, beauty and dignity of the state, stands rooted in the rich native soil, supporting and their number representing the counties of New Jersey. Beneath the protective branches flourish delicate purple violets: indigenous spring blossoms that conjure up images of renewal and home. Everywhere thirteen tint but self-reliant honeybees, representing the original colonies and New Jersey's original counties, gather sustenance and pollinate blooms in the perennial cycle of life. A single lady bug signifies New Jersey's first female governor, Governor Christine Todd Whitman. The Glory of New Jersey testifies also to the extraordinary artistic achievements of the Trenton ceramic industry. This porcelain sculpture is a technical tour de force. Measuring three feet in height, it weighs over 75 pounds and contains no internal supports. Some 12 skilled artisans, craftsmen and technicians required nearly a year and 129 separate molds to painstakingly create the 326 individual parts. Edward M. Boehm, a gifted sculptor and naturalist who together with his wife, Helen, founded the Boehm Porcelain Studio in 1950, invented a special elastic porcelain matrix. This enables the studio to create the delicate floral and bird sculptures that Boehm Porcelain is known for. "The Glory of New Jersey" in the delicate process of being decorated by a Boehm artisan. The complete array of the color palate is applied to the white bisque porcelain and is then refired. Back to Art top
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