Zoë Carmichael has completed her first commission as the first ever sculptor-in-residence to Britain's Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment: sculptures of three of the unit's mounts.
The horses that Carmichael sculpted are Juno, the HCMR's first ever mare Drum horse; Verona, a Life Guard Charger; and Hastings, the Standard Horse of the Blues and Royals. She announced her appointment last Jan. 3, by which time the armatures for the sculptures have already been welded, and Carmichael had already spent several months getting to know the regiment's horses.
Six months later, the clay sculptures were finished and ready for bronzing. Carmichael announced the completion of the three sculptures last June 18-incidentally, the anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo, in which the Life Guards and the Blues and Royals famously took part. On social media, she expressed her appreciation to the HCMR for allowing her to "roam free (to a point) in their camp, sculpting their truly wonderful horses," and for helping her get the tack right. "I shall make sure that every buckle is exactly where it needs to be and as shiny as possible. I certainly put many hours into sculpting three different types of sheepskin!"
Carmichael received her training in Florence at the renowned Studio Galleria Romanelli, where she studied the Old Master Techniques of bronze sculpture. Raffaello Romanelli described her as one of his most talented pupils. An equestrian herself, Carmichael is intimately familiar with equine figures and movement, and won the prize for Best Sculpture in 2023's Horses in Art Exhibition. She also sculpts other animals, recently completing a figure of the rhinoceros calf, Tyson.
The bronze sculptures of the three HCMR mounts are currently being cast at Morris Singer Foundry in Basingstoke, and are already for sale.
