British artist Nic Joly has managed to raise £45,400 for the Royal British Legion through sales of ‘Never Forgotten’, a signed and limited edition miniature sculpture that has been released to mark the centenary of World War I.
The piece draws upon the ultimate symbol for remembrance and hope the poppy and was released in July 2014, ahead of the 100th anniversary since the outbreak of the First World War.
The size of the edition is 1,566, which represents each day that the war was fought and each individual sculpture is engraved with a piece of information about that particular day during the Great War.
Of those available to buy, 454 editions have been sold so far in the year since its release. The sculptures are available to buy from Castle Fine Art and Castle Galleries from across the UK, with £100 of each sale going the the Royal British Legion, to help the artist achieve his goal of reaching £150,000 for the charity.
To create each piece, Joly uses bronze to craft the figures and tissue paper to form the petals of the poppy, with the sculptures standing on a block of white marble.
At less than two inches high , the tiny sculptures have proved popular around the world and with people purchasing them for extremely personal reasons.
One such example is a woman who bought the sculpture as an engagement present to her fiancé wounded in Afghanistan and an ex-Serviceman who remembers his fallen comrades when he looks at the piece.
Talking about the ‘Never Forgotten project’, Nic Joly said: “I have met some wonderful people since the launch of the Never Forgotten project, from WWII veterans to double amputee soldiers from the Afghanistan conflict. Their stories put the world we live in into a crystal clear reality of what is important in life, we can learn so much from these unsung heroes.In my own small way, I want this piece to remind us that all those who have given their lives, in conflicts from the First World War until the present day, will be Never Forgotten.”
Last year, the original Never Forgotten sculpture was auctioned off to raise funds for veteran’s charities, raising £7,500 for ex-Marines in need of support. This year sees the artist donate his own Never Forgotten sculpture which will be go up for auction at the Legion’s annual Poppy Ball. This Poppy Appeal, Joly will also attend the Festival of Remembrance at The Royal Albert Hall as a guest of the Legion, as sales of ‘Never Forgotten’ continue to help veterans, past and present, and their family members.
The sculptures are currently available to view and buy at Castle Fine Art and Castle Galleries across the UK and are priced at £695, with £100 of that going to charity.
Watch a video about the project here: