Frank Teich (September 22, 1856 – January 27, 1939) was a German-born American sculptor, stone carver, and businessman, often referred to as the father of the

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

industry.

Early life and education

Teich was born on September 22, 1856, in Neundorf bei Lobenstein, Germany. He graduated from the

University of Erlangen-Nuremberg A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

, and he studied drawing, design and stone carving under

Johannes Schilling Johannes Schilling (23 June 1828 in Mittweida – 21 March 1910 in Klotzsche near Dresden) was a German sculptor. Life and work Johannes Schilling was the youngest of five children. A year after his birth, his family moved to Dresden, where he g ...

, He immigrated to the United States in 1878, moving to

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

a year later.

Career

Teich was placed in charge of the stone carving for the

Cook County Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40 percent of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. ...

Courthouse. He left Chicago and settled in Texas in 1883, where he remained for the rest of his life. In

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

, Teich received the contract as superintendent of the granite cutting on the new capitol building, designed by Elijah E. Myers. Teich designed the Volunteer Firemen Monument that was installed on the capitol grounds in 1896. After receiving the commission to execute the Confederate Soldiers Monument on the capitol grounds Teich contacted the

Roman Bronze Works Roman Bronze Works, now operated as Roman Bronze Studios, is a bronze foundry in New York City. Established in 1897 by Riccardo Bertelli, it was the first American foundry to specialize in the lost-wax casting method, and was the country's pre-emin ...

, who in turn assigned an employee of theirs,

Pompeo Coppini Pompeo Luigi Coppini (19 May 1870 – 26 September 1957) was an Italian and American sculptor. Although his works can be found in Italy, Mexico and a number of U.S. states, the majority of his work can be found in Texas. He is particularly f ...

, to

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

, where Teich's studio was located, to assist in the making of the monument. Roman Bronze Works got the contract for five

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

figures, but they never got Coppini back – he remained in San Antonio for the rest of his life. Teich also executed the Confederate Soldiers Memorial (San Antonio, Texas) which was designed by Louisiana artist Elizabeth Montgomery. This Memorial is owned by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, along with the plot of land that it sits upon in the city's downtown Travis Park. The Memorial has since been removed by the City Council to an undisclosed location. Around 1900, Teich discovered a large outcrop of granite near

Llano, Texas Llano ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Llano County, Texas, United States. As of 2020, the city population was 3,325. Llano has been described as the "deer capital of Texas", with the single highest density of white-tailed deer in the U ...

. It was his exploitation of that resource that resulted in his being referred to as "the father of the Texas granite industry." Since Teich supplied both statues and the granite bases that statues by other artists are mounted on, it is sometimes difficult to know for sure what might be his work or someone else's. Much of Teich's sculptural output over the ensuing decades involved the making of Confederate monuments. Little estimates that the "Teich Monument Works had provided at least one-third of all Confederate monuments in Texas." In 1896, he was made an honorary "daughter" of the

Daughters of the Confederacy The United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) is an American neo-Confederate hereditary association for female descendants of Confederate Civil War soldiers engaging in the commemoration of these ancestors, the funding of monuments to them, a ...

Personal life and death

Teich married Elvina Lang; they had three daughters. Teich died on January 27, 1939, in

Works

*'' Confederate War Memorial'',

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, (1896) *''Volunteer Firemen Monument'' (1896),

Texas State Capitol The Texas State Capitol is the capitol and seat of government of the U.S. state of Texas. Located in downtown Austin, Texas, the structure houses the offices and chambers of the Texas Legislature and of the Governor of Texas. Designed in 188 ...

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

*''Confederate Soldiers Monument''

San Antonio, Texas San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...

, (1901). *(with Pompeo Coppini) '' Confederate Soldiers Monument'' (1903), Texas State Capitol,

* Statue of Richard W. Dowling, (1905),

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

*(with

John Paulding John Paulding (October 16, 1758 – February 18, 1818) was an American militiaman from the New York State, state of New York during the American Revolution. In 1780, he was one of three men who captured Major John André, a British spy associate ...

) ''Over the Top'' statue, World War I Memorial (1921), Llano County Courthouse;

*''Gregg County Confederate Monument'', Gregg County Courthouse,

Longview, Texas Longview is a city in, and county seat of, Gregg County, Texas, United States. Longview is located in East Texas, where Interstate 20 and U.S. Highway system, U.S. highways U.S. Route 80, 80 and U.S. Route 259, 259 converge just north of the Sabi ...

, (1911)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Teich, Frank 1856 births 1939 deaths University of Erlangen–Nuremberg alumni Stone carvers Emigrants from the German Empire to the United States German-American culture in Texas 20th-century American sculptors 20th-century American male artists 19th-century American sculptors 19th-century American male artists American male sculptors People from Saale-Orla-Kreis People from Llano, Texas