Antonín Popp

Life and work

He was born on 30 July 1850 in Prague, the second of five sons of the sculptor and porcelain modeller Ernst Popp, a native of Coburg, and his Czech wife Aloisie, née Bartoníčková. His works are sometimes confused with his father's, as the two collaborated on many commissions and both signed with the monogram AP. He learned the craft in his father's workshop; in 1870 he began studying drawing at the Prague Academy but did not complete the course. After study trips to Munich and Vienna he opened his own studio in 1873. He taught modelling at the Czech Technical University, becoming a docent in 1896, and also taught at the School of Applied Arts. He died on 10 June 1915 in Vinohrady and is buried in the Vinohrady Cemetery.

Coins and medals

His principal works include the decoration of the Česká spořitelna and of the original Stock Exchange building (now part of the National Museum), the allegorical statues Science and Work in the niches of the main entrance of the Czech Technical University on Charles Square (1874), the group Savings, Trade and Industry above the entrance of the former Vinohrady savings bank (1898) and a statue on the Národní dům in Vinohrady. He took part in the decoration of the National Theatre. For the National Museum he made 32 portrait medallions of Bohemian rulers. At Vyšehrad Cemetery he created the tomb sculptures of J. E. Purkyně and V. Škarda and the bronze bust of Josef Herold. The Regional Museum in Litomyšl lists him in its collections as a sculptor and medallist.

From the work in the AUREA range

The AUREA range includes his bronze medal of 1898 for the centenary of the birth of František Palacký, 55 mm, inscribed In Memory of the Hundredth Birthday of the Father of the Nation.