Viquesney's Spirit of the American Doughboy in Spencer, IN, the sculptor's hometown.
Photo: T. Perry Wesley, Owen-Spencer Chamber of Commerce.

A number of problems hinder the search for Viquesney's Doughboy -- It's a big country, for one thing; these statues are spread all over the USA. And since it's been a long time since Viquesney's been around to promote himself, a lot of people may not recognize the fact that they might have a famous statue in their town. My personal hunch is that there might be more statues around that bear the copyright mark of Walter Rylander (Viquesney's business partner), and thus go unrecognized as Viquesney's work. Rylander owned the rights to Viquesney's Doughboy for four years, from January 1922 up to January 1926, and put his name on at least four statues; if there are any more of them around, people need to be aware that they are indeed Viquesney Doughboys, despite the name on the copyright. As an example, the Doughboy at St. Bernard, OH, which has a Rylander copyright, is known locally as the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, and its maker is listed in the Ohio Outdoor Sculpture Inventory (OOSI) as Walter Rylander. The statue at Bolivar, MO, turned out to be the fourth Viquesney Doughboy known to have a Rylander copyright, which is probably why it didn't get on our list until around 2002.

Another situation that's come to light is that the molds for the 1920 version were apparently kept by the Friedley-Voshardt Company of Chicago, IL, after Viquesney switched to another foundry in 1934. It thus appears that some 1920 version Viquesney Doughboys were made after 1934 and may have the Friedley-Voshardt logo on the sculptures instead of Viquesney's name. One such example is Warren, OH. Other copies were made by George F. Yostel and bear the title "Spirit of Our Heroes". There's one of those in Cincinnati's Rest Haven Memorial Park.

So, in short, if you see a WWI Doughboy statue and think, "Wow, that statue looks just like Viquesney's "Spirit of the American Doughboy", but the maker's mark on it says "Walter Rylander", George F. Yostel, or "Friedley-Voshardt", or the title says "Spirit of Our Heroes", it's still a Viquesney.

The most common problem otherwise is mistaking John Paulding's work for Viquesney's (see photo below). John Paulding (1883 - 1935) created his own series of WWI Doughboy statues, and when viewed from the front, they look very much like The Spirit of the American Doughboy (which is why 30-odd of them turned up in T. Perry Wesley's 1991 list as "confirmed" Viquesney Doughboys). If you can get close enough to the base to see the maker's mark, look for "Cast by American Art Bronze Foundry" on the first line, and "J. Paulding, Sc., © 1920 (or 1921) Chicago" on the second line; otherwise look for a brace supporting the proper right foot free of the base, and no tree stumps. The brace might be mistaken for some sort of misshapen tree stump, but on Paulding Doughboys there's always just one of them. Most Viquesney Doughboys have two tree stumps on the base (the rare stone version has one large tree stump in back for support). The two tree stumps were Viquesney's "hallmark" and are useful in identifying his metal Doughboy statues". The only known metal Doughboy with two tree stumps that isn't a Viquesney is a "copy" located in Aliquippa, PA, by sculptor Joseph Nicolosi.

Viquesney himself was little help to anyone searching for his work; he left poor records after he died as to where all his Doughboys were placed, and inflated their numbers considerably (as high as 870 in his self-written obituary), along with making the blatantly false claim that every state in the country had at least one. Plus there were three versions, copyrighted in 1920, 1922, and 1934, but this isn't much of a problem, as all resemble each other in pose. The 1922 version is different in that it is carved of Georgia limestone (a type of "almost" marble), but it is very rare; only three are known in the whole country, although research is in progress attempting to link Viquesney to four unmarked "stone" Doughboys in Clarksville, Tennessee, Eufaula and Headland, Alabama, and Troy, North Carolina that are posed almost exactly like "The Spirit of the American Doughboy" but are unsigned and uncopyrighted. The 1934 model is made of cast zinc, often copper-plated to look like bronze.

A John Paulding Doughboy, Over the Top to Victory, in Salem, OR.

It's easy to see why Paulding's statues are often mistaken for Viquesney's.
But note the lack of tree stumps on the base (a Viquesney hallmark).
Also, a brace supports the right foot off the base (not seen at this angle).

Photo: Salem Public Library, Salem, OR.

| What Else Did Viquesney Make?

| Viquesney Doughboy Myths

| Mr. Wesley's 1991 Doughboy Report

| The Spirit of Americanism Plaque

| Viquesney's World War Memorial Association Brochure

"A Friendly Letter from a Famous Sculptor"

| A Viquesney Biography by Alan Anderson

| World War II

| "So Closes the Book, the Story Ends"

| HOME