Helen Boehm
Encyclopedia
Helen Boehm was an American businesswoman who played a pivotal role in promoting the ceramic sculptures created by her husband Edward Marshall Boehm, earning her the nickname the "Princess of Porcelain". A luncheon invitation from First Lady Mamie Eisenhower
helped make Edward Marshall Boehm's designs a standard gift from U.S. Presidents to foreign dignitaries.
She was born as Elena Francesca Stephanie Franzolin on Boxing Day 1920
to immigrants from Italy
and raised in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn
. She began working as a teenager following the death of her father, later studying to become an optician
. After she qualified for grinding and fitting prescription glasses, she landed a job with Manhattan's leading optical firm, E.B. Myerowitz.
She married Edward Marshall Boehm, a veterinary assistant who raised livestock and created sculptures of animals in his spare time, in 1944. Helen Boehm borrowed money from one of her customers and used the funds to help her husband devote his time to his art at what was originally called E. M. Boehm Studios, located in the basement of their home in Trenton, New Jersey
. She took on the promotional side of the business, selling pieces to the Metropolitan Museum of Art
and offering a porcelain bull to Mamie Eisenhower after wrangling an invitation to the White House
.
After the sudden death of her husband in 1969, Helen Boehm took over operation of the company and maintained the “Edward Marshall Boehm” logo
. There is a lack of copyright
differentiation
between the works produced during Edward Marshall Boehm’s lifetime, 1951-1969 and the works done after his death by the Boehm firm
.The firms' artisans created a porcelain copy of the wedding bouquet of Diana, Princess of Wales
and crafted a white rose in her memory following her death. Sculptures the firm produced after the death of Edward Boehm and owned by individuals including Queen Elizabeth II, Mikhail Gorbachev
and Pope John Paul II
at times reportedly range in value from hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars. She sold the concern in 2003.
Her autobiography With a Little Luck: An American Odyssey was published in 1985. A resident of the Trump Plaza in West Palm Beach, Florida
, Helen Boehm died on November 15, 2010, at her home from complications of cancer and Parkinson's disease
. She was 89 years old. She had no immediate survivors, though she and her husband had raised her nieces at an earlier time.
Mamie Eisenhower
Mamie Geneva Doud Eisenhower was the wife of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and First Lady of the United States from 1953 to 1961.-Early life:...
helped make Edward Marshall Boehm's designs a standard gift from U.S. Presidents to foreign dignitaries.
She was born as Elena Francesca Stephanie Franzolin on Boxing Day 1920
Boxing Day
Boxing Day is a bank or public holiday that occurs on 26 December, or the first or second weekday after Christmas Day, depending on national or regional laws. It is observed in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and some other Commonwealth nations. In Ireland, it is recognized as...
to immigrants from Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and raised in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn
Bensonhurst, Brooklyn
Bensonhurst is a neighborhood located in the southwestern part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn.-Geography:Sometimes erroneously thought to include all or parts of such neighborhoods as Bath Beach, Dyker Heights, and Borough Park, or to be defined by the streets where the concentration of...
. She began working as a teenager following the death of her father, later studying to become an optician
Optician
An optician is a person who is trained to fill prescriptions for eye correction in the field of medicine, also known as a dispensing optician or optician, dispensing...
. After she qualified for grinding and fitting prescription glasses, she landed a job with Manhattan's leading optical firm, E.B. Myerowitz.
She married Edward Marshall Boehm, a veterinary assistant who raised livestock and created sculptures of animals in his spare time, in 1944. Helen Boehm borrowed money from one of her customers and used the funds to help her husband devote his time to his art at what was originally called E. M. Boehm Studios, located in the basement of their home in Trenton, New Jersey
Trenton, New Jersey
Trenton is the capital of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Trenton had a population of 84,913...
. She took on the promotional side of the business, selling pieces to the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
and offering a porcelain bull to Mamie Eisenhower after wrangling an invitation to the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
.
After the sudden death of her husband in 1969, Helen Boehm took over operation of the company and maintained the “Edward Marshall Boehm” logo
Logo
A logo is a graphic mark or emblem commonly used by commercial enterprises, organizations and even individuals to aid and promote instant public recognition...
. There is a lack of copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
differentiation
Differentiation
Differentiation may refer to:* Differentiation , the process of finding a derivative* Differentiated instruction in education* Cellular differentiation in biology* Planetary differentiation in planetary science...
between the works produced during Edward Marshall Boehm’s lifetime, 1951-1969 and the works done after his death by the Boehm firm
Firm
A firm is a business.Firm or The Firm may also refer to:-Organizations:* Hooligan firm, a group of unruly football fans* The Firm, Inc., a talent management company* Fair Immigration Reform Movement...
.The firms' artisans created a porcelain copy of the wedding bouquet of Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...
and crafted a white rose in her memory following her death. Sculptures the firm produced after the death of Edward Boehm and owned by individuals including Queen Elizabeth II, Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
and Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
at times reportedly range in value from hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars. She sold the concern in 2003.
Her autobiography With a Little Luck: An American Odyssey was published in 1985. A resident of the Trump Plaza in West Palm Beach, Florida
West Palm Beach, Florida
West Palm Beach, is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and is the most populous city in and county seat of Palm Beach County, the third most populous county in Florida with a 2010 population of 1,320,134. The city is also the oldest incorporated municipality in South Florida...
, Helen Boehm died on November 15, 2010, at her home from complications of cancer and Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system...
. She was 89 years old. She had no immediate survivors, though she and her husband had raised her nieces at an earlier time.