Height: 57cm (22.5in)
Bronze. Standing figure of Kaiser Wilhelm II as Crown Prince modelled in the uniform of the Leib Hussaren Nr.1 (Totenkopfhussaren) comprising dolman heavily braided with frogging to the front and Austrian knot decoration to the sleeves; a fur-lined pelisse draped over the left shoulder adorned with the breast star of the Order of the Black Eagle; breeches and Hessian boots; the sabretache bearing the cypher of his father Frederick William III of Prussia; the badges of the Royal Prussian Order of Saint John and the Order of the Crown at his neck. Signed to the base 'J.J. Uphues'.
Joseph Johann Ludwig Uphues (1850-1911) began life as a carpenter but in 1878 trained at the Academy of Arts, Berlin. He became a pupil of Reinhold Begas and Fritz Schaper. From 1885 to 1891 he was the former’s principal assistant. In 1892 he established his own studio, and seven years later became a professor and member of the Berlin Secession. During his career he worked on numerous public works, including monuments, statues and busts of the Kaiser’s father Emperor Frederick III (1889) and grandfather Emperor William I.