“The Iron Home Guardsman” – wooden statue • MDRD 3D 65

Production date: 1915
Made in the Trade School in Split during 1915
Wooden statue called “The Iron Home Guardsman,” chalked. The statue was made in the Trade School in Split during 1915 under the supervision of an engineer named Tončić. It came to Dubrovnik at the end of January 1916. The statue was crafted in the natural size of a man, and portrays a home guard trooper wearing full military gear. Brass and iron rivets and brass plates were affixed to the statue. Whoever wanted to nail in a rivet or plate had to pay a certain sum (‘Gold fur Eisen’) to the “Silver Cross” (the Red Cross Branch in Dubrovnik). The money collected in this manner was paid into the fund for the widows and orphans of fallen soldiers during the First World War. The statue was unveiled in a ceremony during the Feast of St. Blaise in Dubrovnik in 1916, at which time a speech was delivered by Dr. Renkin, the district chief official. The statue likely held a wooden rifle in its hands which is now missing.
Material: wood and iron
Dimensions: height with pedestal 220 cm, height without pedestal 190 cm, span at shoulders 110 cm, span at hips 130 cm
Donated to the Museum by the Dubrovnik Red Cross