Design and Art Australia Online

Professional jeweller, gold and silversmith, sculptor, engraver and diesinker. Julius Hogarth was instrumental, along with other jewellers and smiths including his business partner Conrad Erichsen, in the development of 'Australiana’ themed decoration on metalwork and jewellery, which actively promoted the use of Indigenous Australian floral and faunal elements.

Julius Hougaard was born in Frederiksberg Copenhagen, Denmark, on 24 December 1820, sixth child of Jørgen and Charlotte Hougaard. He was christened on 4 February 1821. Hougaard was listed in the 1840 Danish census as a Journeyman Goldsmith, and was recorded as living in the household of Jørgen Dalhoff, Danish royal goldsmith with his family, their maid, and Dalhoff’s apprentice Carl Christensen. (1) Ten years later, the Danish census recorded Hougaard as an engraver, student of the Academy of arts, and teacher at the Technical and Metalwork Institute, living in his Copenhagen residence with his wife, two sons, their maid, and apprentices Wilhelm Valentin Reggendorf and Andreas Wilhelm Wolge. (2)

Little is known of Hougaard’s life and work in Europe, however an obituary mentioned he won “eight gold and silver medals for various artistic works” in Denmark. (3) Hogarth married Christiane Galle at The Church of the Holy Trinity (Trinitatis), Copenhagen in 1842. The relationship produced three sons, Waldemar, Ingomar, Hagbarth, and one daughter, Laura.

On 17 August 1852 Hougaard left Europe from Hamburg alone aboard the Cesar Godeffroy, arriving in Sydney on 11 December that year. (4) Upon his arrival, Hougaard briefly prospected on the Victorian goldfields, but with little success. He was one member of a “party of German goldsmiths” who was employed by Adolphus Blau around March 1853, and produced a parure consisting of a bracelet, brooch and earrings, and a four-inch-high statuette of a miner equipped for a prospecting expedition. (5)

By March 1854, Hougaard had anglicised his surname to Hogarth and had established a manufacturing jeweller’s business in partnership with Norwegian engraver Conrad Erichsen, under the name Hogarth and Erichsen. Their premises were initially established at 255 George Street, Sydney. (6) The firm quickly gained a reputation for high quality workmanship, evidenced in commissions such as a three-inch-high gold statuette of a digger for Joseph Montefiore in March 1854, and the exhibition of wares including gold and silver figures of miners and Aboriginal Australians at the Australian Museum in Sydney in 1854, and the Paris Exhibition the following year. (7) In 1856 Hogarth and Erichsen moved to 310 George Street and renamed the business Hogarth, Erichsen & Co., after Prussian watchmaker Augustus Kosvitz became a partner in the firm. (8) Hogarth was naturalised on the 8th December 1856. (9) In 1858 Hogarth married Charlotte Elizabeth Tegg, daughter of Sydney bookseller James Tegg. (10) The couple bore eight children, one of whom died in infancy.

Hogarth and Erichsen’s partnership achieved great success during the 1850s, notably through vice-regal patronage by Governors Young and Denison, and the securing of many large and important commissions. The firm supplied pieces to prominent jewellery retailers Hardy Brothers and Flavelle Bros. & Co. In 1859, Hogarth, Erichsen & Co. moved to 312 George Street, premises that had been formerly occupied by Alfred Lorking. (11) In December 1859 Augustus Kosvitz ceased his involvement with the company, and removed to Brisbane where he operated a jewellery manufacturing business for over a decade. (12) Hogarth and Erichsen moved again in 1861 to 295 George Street. (13) The firm’s repeated relocations towards the end of the 1850s were likely associated with business troubles.

In January 1861 Hogarth and Erichsen dissolved their partnership and the firm was declared insolvent. Later that year Hogarth re-established himself at 9 Hunter Street, Sydney, and worked as a contractor for the jeweller Adolphus Blau. Hogarth maintained his vice-regal patronage, evidenced by the presentation of a solid gold casket in March 1864 to Government House in Sydney, commissioned by the Governor’s wife as a gift to the Danish Princess Alexandria from the ladies of New South Wales. The lavish gift featured moulded decoration of Indigenous figures, emus, crests, and Australian flora with a specially constructed base of Myall wood and silver. (14) Hogarth was also commissioned by the ladies of New South Wales to fashion an emblematic emu egg vase in 1861, which incorporated three cased specimens of seaweed from Manly Beach. (15) His work was displayed by Lady Young, wife of Governor Sir John Young, at the New South Wales Exhibition in October 1861 and the London International Exhibition of 1862.

Hogarth was robbed at his Hunter Street premises around Christmas 1862; a quantity of both stock and items for repair were taken. Hogarth used this robbery as the reason for his second insolvency on 9 May 1864, and during the insolvency proceedings moved his premises to 21 Hunter Street. (16)

Hogarth has documented relationships with a number of Australian artists. During his second bankruptcy, debts were owed to Alexander Habbe and Knud Bull. (17) Hogarth and Erichsen worked from William Dexter’s original drawings for the Randle Testimonial in 1856. (18) An ambrotype portrait of Hogarth with a pair of gold figures was displayed in the shop of photographer Lawson Insley in 1858. (19) Publisher John Degotardi commissioned a writing set featuring a silver-mounted cassowary egg from Hogarth, thought to be the first of its kind in Australia. This set was presented to Alois Auer, Director of the Imperial Printery in Vienna. (20)

Hogarth forged many relationships with jewellers around the Sydney region. Silversmith Evan Jones completed the first part of his apprenticeship with Hogarth, Erichsen & Co., before continuing his apprenticeship with Christian Ludwig Qwist after the firm’s insolvency. Qwist supplied goods to Hogarth in 1861. Christian Hafer is known to have engaged with the firm in the capacity of watchmaker and jeweller, and Hermann Finckh was employed on a casual basis for the company. (21) Watchmaker Augustus Kosvitz’s partnership with the company between 1856 and 1859 saw the firm rebranded as Hogarth, Erichsen & Co. (22) Hogarth’s various bankruptcy records list debts to other artisans for work done, including jewellers John (Johann) Berthold, James Bowen, Gustavus Schroeter, Veyret & Delarue, and watchmakers Edwin Beckmann, Alexander Conray, Alfred Joseph, and Theodor Lassen. (23)

Around 1865-6 Hogarth moved to Melbourne and was recorded as a chaser and goldsmith; in 1866 he operated from 13 Bourke Street West, and between 1866 and 1878 moved to several other addresses in the city. (24) A silver statue of a kangaroo by Hogarth was displayed by Alexander Habbe at the 1866-1867 Melbourne Intercolonial Exhibition. (25) Hogarth was declared insolvent for a third time on 18 December 1866. (26) He was employed by Walsh Brothers in Melbourne, and undertook work for Thomas Young & Son.

In 1878 Hogarth worked alongside other silversmiths at Walsh Brothers to create a centrepiece for presentation to Michael O’Grady. Hogarth later identified a silver figure and leaves that he fashioned in legal proceedings following the theft and destruction of the work. (27) He was employed in engraving and die sinking for Stokes & Co, where he designed an Aboriginal portrait for use on commemorative tokens to be struck at the 1872 Melbourne Exhibition, and cut Oswald Rose Campbell’s design for the medallion that was struck at the 1873 Melbourne Exhibition. Hogarth was awarded a bronze medal at the 1875 Victorian Intercolonial Exhibition for the impressions on another set of medals that he cut to Campbell’s design. (28) Melbourne jeweller George Catanach reported in 1876 that he had entered a partnership with Hogarth for the completion of silver and gold presentation work, medals and dies. (29) That year Hogarth also executed Charles Turner’s design for the Victorian Humane Society medals. (30)

Hogarth returned to Sydney with his family in February 1878 aboard the Cheviot, and opened premises at Newtown. (31) On 5 March 1879 Hogarth died at his residence, Juliette Cottage, Chippendale, as a result of chronic liver disease, and was buried at Rookwood Cemetery, Sydney. He was survived by his second wife and seven children, and the son of his first marriage who had moved to Victoria in 1876. (32)

Hogarth’s work is distinguished by the inclusion of a variety of Australian motifs, notably animals, Indigenous figures, and selected specimens of native plants. Particularly fine workmanship and attention to detail is consistently evident in his pieces. The bankruptcies during Hogarth’s career mean that many of the pieces executed by him are unmarked, or marked by the company which he worked for, providing uncertain provenance links to the artist. Additionally, Hogarth, Erichsen & Co. was sub-contracted to fill orders of other jewellery retailers, which were marked by the contracting company. For these reasons, many pieces of silver and gold smithing are only attributed to this maker. Hogarth’s maker’s mark on his die sinking efforts was the initials J. HOGARTH, J.H or I.H, and items of silver, gold or jewellery are sometimes marked HOGARTH ERICHSEN SYDNEY. Hogarth’s works are held in the collections of The National Library of Australia, Canberra; The National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; The National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; Museum Victoria, Melbourne; The Powerhouse Museum, Sydney; The Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane; and private collections nationally and internationally.

footnotes:
(1) Danish Census 1840: County: København, District: København (Staden), Parish: Sankt Annæ Øster Kvarter, Place Name: Sankt Annæ Plads, 60, Mellembygning, Address: Stuen, Household No: 267. Source entry number C4387 Record No: 1343. Hougaard’s occupation was listed as a “guldsmedesvend”.
(2) Danish Census 1850: County: København, District: København (Staden), Parish: Frimand Kvarter, Place Name: Frimands Kvarter, Address: Skindergade 41, 2den sal, Household No: 252. Source entry number C1436 Record No: 1259. Hougaard’s occupation was listed as a “cisselaur, elev af kunstacademiet. Lærer i det Tigup institut og institutet for metalarbeidere”.
(3) Australian Town & Country Journal, Sat 15 March 1879, p 27.
(4) http://mariners.records.nsw.gov.au/1852/12/023cae.htm
(5) Sydney Morning Herald, Tue 8 March 1853, p 2; Thurs 10 March 1853, p 1s; Sat 12 March 1853, p 6; Mon 14 March 1853, p 3; Fri 3 November 1854, p 5.
(6) Sydney Morning Herald, Mon 27 March 1854, p 5.
(7) Ibid.; Fri 3 November 1854, 5; Fri 22 December 1854, p 5.
(8) Sydney Morning Herald, Fri 4 July 1856, p 8.
(9) Hougaard, Julius, 3 November 1856, Reg 1, p 781. Item 4/1200 Reel 129. State Records of New South Wales.
(10) New South Wales Department of Births, Deaths and Marriages Marriage certificate 856/1858.
(11) Sydney Morning Herald, Tue 8 March 1859, p 8.
(12) Sydney Morning Herald, Thurs 15 December 1859, p 1. Timothy Roberts, ‘The life and career of Augustus Kosvitz’, Australiana vol 31 no 3, August 2009, pp 4-8.
(13) Sydney Morning Herald, Fri 15 February 1861, p 5.
(14) The Empire, Tues 1 March 1864, p 4.
(15) Sydney Morning Herald, Fri 15 February 1861, p 5.
(16) JB Hawkins, ‘Julius Hogarth, Behind the Shopfront’, Part 1, Australiana vol 22 no 2, May 2000, 36-48.
(17) Ibid.
(18) Sydney Morning Herald, Fri 18 April 1856, p 5.
(19) Bell’s Life in Sydney and Sporting Reviewer, Sat 6 November 1858, p 3.
(20) JB Hawkins, 19th Century Australian Silver, Volume 1, Antique Collectors’ Club, 1990, pp 132-3.
(21) Hawkins, ‘Julius Hogarth,’ Part 1, 36-48.
(22) Eva Czernis-Ryl ed., Brilliant: Australian Gold and Silver 1851-1950, Powerhouse Publishing, Ultimo, 2011, pp 28, 30.
(23) Hawkins, ‘Julius Hogarth,’ Part 1, 36-48; JB Hawkins, ‘Julius Hogarth, Behind the Shopfront,’ Part 2, Australiana vol 22 no 3, August 2000, 68-79.
(24) Hawkins, 'Julius Hogarth,’ Part 2, 68-79.
(25) Argus, Tue 30 October 1866, p 5.
(26) Hawkins, 'Julius Hogarth,’ Part 2, 68-79.
(27) The South Bourke Standard, Fri 1 April 1870, 3.
(28) Argus, Tue 5 October 1875, p 5; Sat 13 November 1875, p 5; Wed 17 November 1875, p 9.
(29) South Australian Advertiser, Mon 21 August 1876, p 3.
(30) Argus, Sat 30 December 1876, p 5.
(31) Argus, Sat 9 February 1878, p 6; http://mariners.records.nsw.gov.au/1878/02/026che.htm
(32) Sydney Morning Herald, Fri 7 March 1879, p 1; Australian Town and Country Journal, Sat 15 March 1879, p 27. New South Wales Births, Death and Marriages death certificate 492/1879.

Writers:

Timothy Roberts
duggim

Date written:

2012

Last updated:

2013

Professional jeweller, gold and silversmith, sculptor, engraver and diesinker. Born as Julius Hougaard in Copenhagen, Denmark, in December 1820, and baptised on 4 February 1821. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Hougaard studied under Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen; however as yet no official documentation has been found to confirm this. On 11 December 1852 Hougaard arrived in Sydney from Hamburg aboard the Cesar Goddefroy and briefly prospected on the goldfields. Later, he set up a jewellery manufacturing and retailing business with fellow immigrant Conrad Erichsen, a Norwegian engraver who Hougaard had met upon the Cesar Goddefroy en route to Australia. By March 1854 Hougaard had anglicised his name to Hogarth, his business with Erichsen was known as Hogarth, Erichsen & Co. Hogarth was instrumental, along with other jewellers and smiths including Christian Ludwig Quist, Henry Steiner and Jochim Matthias Wendt, in the development of 'Australiana’ themed decoration on metalwork and jewellery, noted for the use of Indigenous Australian floral and faunal elements.

The partnership between Hogarth and Erichsen achieved great success, notably through vice-regal patronage by Governors Young and Denison, and the securing of many large commissions. Pieces of Hogarth and Erichsen’s wares were displayed in 1854 at the Australian Museum in Sydney, and at the Paris Exhibition the following year. Hogarth, Erichsen & Co. designed jewellery and household objects, including silver mounted emu eggs, which are reported to have retailed for sums upward of fifty pounds. Their premises were initially located at 255 George Street, Sydney, and the pair advertised themselves as watchmakers and jewellers. The firm moved premises in 1856 to 310 George Street, and again in 1858 to 312 George Street, the former premises of silversmith Alexander Dick. In 1859 the firm relocated again to 405 George Street, and in February 1861 to 295 George Street. It is likely that these repeated relocations were associated with business troubles the firm experienced towards the end of the 1850s. Hogarth and Erichsen enjoyed having their wares retailed by Sydney jewellers Hardy Brothers, and Flavelle Bros. & Co, who were also known to commission works from the firm. In January 1861 Hogarth and Erichsen dissolved their partnership and the firm was declared insolvent. Works by Hogarth were displayed by Lady Young, wife of Governor Sir John Young, at the New South Wales Exhibition in October 1861 and the London International Exhibition of 1862.

In late 1861 Hogarth re-established himself at 9 Hunter Street, Sydney, and worked as a contractor for the jeweller Adolphus Blau. Hogarth was robbed at these premises around Christmas 1862; a quantity of both stock and items for repair were taken. Hogarth used this robbery as the reason for his second insolvency on 9 May 1864. Despite his worsening financial situation, in late 1863 he had presented a solid gold casket to Government House in Sydney, commissioned by the Governor’s wife as a gift to the Danish Princess Alexandria from the ladies of New South Wales. The piece featured moulded decoration of Indigenous figures, emus, crests, and Australian flora with a specially constructed base of Myall wood and silver once again depicting Australian floral and faunal elements. The piece is reported to have weighed in excess of 100 ounces. During his bankruptcy in 1864, Hogarth moved to 21 Hunter Street.

Hogarth’s relationship with other artists living in Australia at the time has been widely documented. During Hogarth’s second bankruptcy, debts owed to both Alexander Habbe and Knud Bull were recorded. It is possible that Habbe and Bull were engaged in design work for Hogarth. An ambrotype portrait of Hogarth with a pair of gold figures was displayed in the shop of photographic artist Lawson Insley. Publisher John Degotardi commissioned works from Hogarth. Hogarth forged relationships with a number of other jewellers around the Sydney region. Silversmith Evan Jones was apprenticed to Hogarth, Erichsen & Co, and Christian Hafer is known to have engaged with the firm in the capacity of watchmaker and jeweller. Christian Ludwig Quist worked with Hogarth for several months in 1861, and Hermann Finckh was employed on a casual basis for the company. Augustus Kosvitz, a watchmaker who later would establish a jewellery manufacturing business in Brisbane, also worked for the company, describing himself as a partner to the firm. Hogarth’s various bankruptcy records list debts to other artisans for work done, including jewellers John (Johann) Berthold, James Bowen, Gustavus Schroeter, Veyret & Delarue, and watchmakers Edwin Beckmann, Alexander Conray, Alfred Joseph, Theodor Lassen.

Around 1866 Hogarth moved to Melbourne and was recorded as a chaser and goldsmith; in 1866 he is listed as operating from 13 Bourke Street West. Hogarth displayed wares at the 1866-1867 Melbourne Intercolonial Exhibition. He was declared insolvent for a third time on 18 December 1866. Hogarth was employed by Walsh Brothers in Melbourne, and undertook work for the firm Thomas Young & Son. He was employed in engraving and die sinking for Stokes & Co, and in 1873 designed a medallion which was struck at the Melbourne Exhibition. This medallion was later used for several subsequent Australian exhibitions in the 19th century, proclaiming the talents of Hogarth as a diesinker. He was awarded a bronze medal at the 1875 Victorian Intercolonial Exhibition for the impressions on his medals. Hogarth returned to Sydney in 1878 and opened premises at Newtown.

Hogarth had married in 1842, but divorced before his move to Australia. The relationship produced one son. In 1858 he married Charlotte Elizabeth Tegg, daughter of Sydney bookseller James Tegg. The couple bore seven children, one whom died in infancy. On 5 March 1879 Hogarth died as a result of chronic liver disease, and was buried at Rookwood Cemetery, Sydney. He was survived by his second wife and six children, and the son of his first marriage.

Hogarth’s work is distinguished by the use of a variety of Australian motifs, with particular inclusion of animals, Indigenous figures, and selected specimens of native plants. Particular attention to details are evident in his pieces. The results of the bankruptcies upon Hogarth’s career mean that many of the pieces executed by him are unmarked, or marked by the company which he worked for, providing uncertain provenance links to the artist. In addition to this, not all pieces executed by Hogarth, Erichsen & Co. are marked. It is for this reason that many pieces of silver and gold smithing are only attributed to this maker. Hogarth’s makers mark on his die sinking efforts was the initials J.H or I.H. Pieces attributed to Hogarth are held in the collections of The National Library of Australia, Canberra; The National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; Museum Victoria, Melbourne; The Powerhouse Museum, Sydney; The Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane; and private collections nationally and internationally.

Writers:

Roberts, Timothy Note:

Date written:

2011

Last updated:

2011

Status:

peer-reviewed