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Motif: The little Mermaid. Sculptor Edvard Eriksen, 1913
Artist: Kaj Lange Size:7 1/5"
Quality: First factory quality & mint condition
Facts: The little mermaid by the danish sculptor Edward Eriksen was made in 1911 and mounted in the harbor of Copenhagen in 1913. She was a gift from Carl Jacobsen (beer) to Copenhagen. For Denmark it's a very important tourist attraction, and almost any tourist would like to see it. Some gets a little disappointed because she isn't so large as expected and the most repeated phrase is "is she that small?". She's 1,25 meter (4 feet) high and her weight is 175 kg (without the stone she's placed on). She has been a target for vandalism the last 40 years:
40 years of vandalism:
- 28. April 1963 painted with red paint
- 24. April 1964 was her head cut of. The artist Jørgen Nash confessed in a book in 1997 - no one knows if the confession was real or a part of an artistic happening.
- 15. July 1976 painted again.
- 22 July 1984 her right arm was cut and given back to the police the day after by two men who cutted the arm heavily drunken.
- 5. August 1990 an attempt to cut her head was discovered. She has a 18 cm (7 inch) cut on her neck.
- 6 January 1998 she had lost her head again.
- 1. June 2003 painted white.
- 11. September 2003 blasted several meters away from her stone with explosives.
She's still sitting on her stone in the harbor of Copenhagen - more beautiful than ever! My friend Peter (and his father) has repaired the mermaid every time she has been vandalized. You can find his exciting world of casting in bronze here: http://www.ljbronce.dk
The Wonderful Copenhagen Tourist information can be found here: http://www.woco.dk
The little mermaids web site: http://www.mermaidsculpture.dk

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