Boehm Porcelain

Creating Nature's Wonders in the U.S.A since 1950

Helen F. Boehm, Chairman of the Boehm Porcelain Studio. Edward Marshall Boehm (1913-1969). Presenting Mute Swans to Pope Paul VI at the Vatican. Global Peace sculpture given to Pope John II on his visit to New York City. In Jerusalem presenting the Seven Kinds bas relief to President and Mrs. Yitzak Navon of Israel. On behalf of Mother Teresa, the Sisters of the Order of the Missionaries of Charity, accept the Boehm sculpture Madonna and Child for the Los Angeles region mission which provides temporary homes for homeless mothers and children. The Latin marble plaque placed at the entrance of the Gregorian Etruscan Museum dedicated in honor of Edward Boehm. Shown here, with Helen Boehm and Cardinal Castillo Lara, are the Adminstrative, Curators and Executives of the Vatican Museums. Her Excellency Mrs, Corazon Aquino receives the 1995 Path to Peace Award from Helen Boehm and Archbishop Renato Martino.

The Boehm Studio has joined a long list of illustrious international porcelain names that have passed through an ancient history that reaches back 2,000 years. The studios name derived from its talented founder, Edward Marshall Boehm, who died in 1969. Since then, it has been carried forward by his wife and business partner, Helen Boehm, and a skilled staff of dedicated artists and craftsmen. In 1950, Edward and Helen Boehm started a basement studio in Trenton, New Jersey, ceramic center of our country since the middle of the last century. Neither was trained in the disciplines of porcelain making. Edward Boehm knew nothing about ceramics and had little formal art education. Helen Boehm was not trained for the marketing and promotional challenges which lay ahead of her. What makes the success of Boehm all the more remarkable is that most of the fine porcelain artists of history worked with established studios (some of them subsidized) and concentrated primarily on the creative work, the sculptural prototypes. Supporting staffs were present and skilled, qualities and formulas tested and established, reputations well-known, markets oriented. When the Boehms started their studio, Edward Boehm, the naturalist-farmer had only an innate talent as a sculptor and craftsman, which was joined with an intense desire to excel in any endeavor he attempted. Helen Boehm was the perfect complement, a dynamic, energetic, natural tactician whose inexperience often proved to be an asset. It was she who forged brilliant promotional and marketing concepts during the first few years, when immediate acceptance was necessary if the studio was to survive. The Metropolitan Acquires Boehm Apart from raw genius and enormous talent, how did Boehm gain recognition so quickly? By endorsements of museum curators, connoisseurs of fine porcelain, and public luminaries. As early as January 1951, The Metropolitan Museum of Art acquired two of Mr. Boehm's first sculptures, a Percheron Stallion and Hereford Bull. Vincent Andrus, then curator of the American Wing, described the porcelains to the New York Times as "equal to the finest of superior English work." Other museums took notice of Boehm, as did fine galleries and collectors. By the end of the decade, Boehm was represented in 11 other museums including Buckingham Palace, Elysee Palace and The Vatican. Today the porcelains are in 130 museums and institutions throughout the world. Presidents and Popes Early in 1953, President and Mrs. Eisenhower recognized the art and began to utilize it for gifts to visiting Heads of State, culminating in the sculpture "Prince Philip on His Polo Pony" presented to the Queen and Prince when they visited the United States in 1957. Every American President since has commissioned Boehm for gifts to visiting dignitaries. in 1959, His Late Holiness Pope John XXIII was presented with several pieces for The Vatican Museum, including the sculpture "Cerulean Warblers with Wild Roses." On viewing it for the first time, he exclaimed, "One hesitates to go too close for fear the birds might fly away." Boehm presentations also had been made to Popes Pius XII and John Paul I and more recently, in June 1992, to His Holiness Pope John Paul II. The latter was given a life-sized bust of a Madonna and Child in 1990, a Dove of the Eternal City in 1992, and The Global Peace in October of 1995. Art Patrons Support Boehm Through the 1960's, the recognition came from around the world as more people became aware of Boehm porcelains. Perhaps the most valued attention came from within the porcelain field itself, from the peers of Boehm. Potters are not prone to compliment one another publicly; quite the contrary. The history of porcelain is legend for its intrigue, secrecy and plagiarism of talents and formulae. But even the potters were awed by what the Boehms has accomplished. And they said so. Boehm Creates Royal Gifts The attention received in the United States by Boehm of Trenton was paralleled by Boehm of Malvern, England. Special gifts were designed for all members of the immediate Royal Family. Prince Charles honored the studio with a memorable visit in May 1979. On seeing a Boehm handmade rose for the first time, he marvelled, "Only the fragrance is missing." In August 1980, Boehm of Malvern presented to the Queen Mother for her 80th birthday a porcelain replica of the "Rose of Glamis," a new species of rose hybridized in her honor. Since 1981, presentations to the Royal Family have included the great Osprey sculpture to H.R.H. Prince Philip, a large floral centerpiece for the wedding of the Prince and Princess of Wales, a polo study and rhinoceros for Prince Charles, and Doves with Cherry Blossoms for Princess Diana. Historic Commissions Through the 1970's, Boehm expanded at a measured pace, always placing qualitative considerations ahead of quantitative. Honored commissions continued to come. President Nixon of the White House, gave sculptures to the heads of all NATO countries, and on his historic trip to China in 1972, presented to Chairman Mao and the Chinese people a life-size pair of Boehm porcelain Mute Swans called "Birds of Peace." President Ford utilized Boehm porcelains for his trips both to Russia and China and, in 1976, presented the life-size Boehm American Bald Eagle to the Smithsonian Institution. President and Mrs. Carter used a specially designed Boehm piece for some of their gift-giving (Georgia Brown Thrashers); and Mrs. Carter was especially fond of the Malvern flowers for White House functions. President and Mrs. Reagan have been supporters and collectors of Boehm for several decades. They maintained a large, private collection in their White House living room quarters. Currently, The East Wing Reception Room features 12 Boehm sculptures housed in a handsome Sheraton breakfront, property of The White House Historical Association. President and Mrs. Bush continued the tradition with Boehm, carrying on a relationship that began when Mr Bush was U.S. Ambassador to China in the early 1970's. In 1993 the Boehm Porcelain Studio presented President and Mrs. Bill Clinton with the "New Generation Eagle" and "First Lady Hillary Clinton Rose." The President said "What extraordinary gifts! The New Generation Eagle and Rose are remarkable and will be afforded special places in the White House." Boehm to Moscow In May and June of 1987, Mrs. Boehm and 185 art patrons from 34 states traveled to the former U.S.S.R. for a Boehm exhibition in Moscow. A major collection of 48 important sculptures was shown including the great "Mute Swans, Birds of Peace" borrowed from The White House collection of Boehm - the originals having been presented to China by President Nixon in 1972. Madame Raisa Gorbachev and the Soviet Ministers of Culture officially opened the six week long exhibition at a museum on Red Square adjacent to the Kremlin. During the trip, the Gorbachevs arranged for the presentation of a Boehm life-sized American Bald Eagle to the prestigious Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg (then Leningrad), the only American sculpture of any medium so represented. Six months later, at the Summit Meeting held in Washington, D.C., President and Mrs. Reagan presented the Gorbachevs with the Boehm "Global Peace" sculpture, especially designed to mark the importance of the occasion and the end of the Cold War. The Vatican Museums Dedicates Boehm Wing in Honor of Edward Boehm The name Boehm was accorded its highest honor in its 46-year existence. June 19, 1992. A wing of The Vatican Museums in Rome, The Gregorian Etruscan Museum, was named in memory of Edward Marshall Boehm. This is the first time in its 500-year history that a part of The Vatican was named for an American, and for a person not of royalty, the church or a church family. The dedication was conducted by Cardinal Castillo Lara in the presence of 250 American patrons and friends who traveled to Rome for the occasion. The Future What is in the future? "We are dedicated to creating as much beauty as possible and maintaining Boehm as the world's premier art porcelain studio. Birds, flowers, and animals will always comprise the major part of our work." states Helen Boehm Along with new porcelain collections created in America, Boehm has established two new major divisions. The largest funeral service corporation in the world has commissioned Boehm to design and create a line of 21 cremation urns exclusively for them to market throughout the world. The designs incorporate natural elements as well as reproducing works of art from Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel along with original themes. Early in 1996, Boehm will introduce a series of collector lamps consisting of Boehm sculptures as their themes. These will be manufactured in the U.S.A. by a New York company and available through fine furniture stores throughout the United States. Care of Your Boehm Porcelain To clean your Boehm porcelain, place it on a rubber mat in a sink or tub. Sprinkle lightly with a gentle liquid detergent and rinse off with a fine spray of warm water. Let it "air dry" on a towel without attempting to wipe it. Never scrub or immerse the object in water. If on a wooden base, avoid wetting the wood, treating that as your would fine furniture. Your Boehm porcelain has been fused at about 24000F., the colors annealed at 12800F. to 16500F. Sunlight, cold, water and passage of time will not affect it, nor fade its beauty.