The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 65, July 1961 - April, 1962 Page: 168

Southwestern Historical Quarterly

ise that he would mention her to the king. It was not long before
he was able to tell her that the king had inquired about her, espe-
cially with reference to the bust she had done for the King of
Hanover and the one of Queen Victoria. The king did say that he
was happy that Elisabet had chosen Munich as her new home and
that he had decided to provide her with a studio befitting such a
distinguished sculptor. She moved into her new studio in 1868,
and occupied it for the next three years. These years were for
Elisabet her most happy and financially successful period.
Edmund came to Munich and occupied a room in the new
studio. She was still "Miss Ney." Cencie also advanced. She became
manager of the big household and bossed the other servants. It
was at this time that the call came from the King of Prussia to do
the bust of Bismarck.2 During this period she also did the busts of
von Liebig and Wdhler for the new Polytechnicum in Munich.
Once again Elisabet's intuition and tactfulness paid off. The
king did again inquire about her and wanted to know of Neureu-
ther how Elisabet became so famous. The architect enumerated
some of her outstanding works such as Bismarck, Garibaldi and
others, and most probably mentioned the fact that she was the
grand-niece of Marshal Ney. Still King Ludwig did not indicate
that he had any desire to have Elisabet do anything for him.
With the help of Neureuther she wrote a long letter to Ludwig
suggesting that he graciously permit her to model a bust of His
Majesty. She received no reply. But Elisabet was resourceful. She
contrived to have her bust of von Liebig, and the one of Count
von Werthern, both persons highly regarded by Ludwig, placed in
the king's palace in Munich, in a conspicuous place where Ludwig
was bound to pass and observe them. At the same time she ad-
dressed a third letter to Ludwig which cleverly appealed to the
king's peculiar romantic nature. It was one of Elisabet's greatest
triumphs, which, however, also produced one of the greatest
tragedies of her life-one that brought her to the United States
and finally to Texas.
Thus, the final phase of her European career began. The year
was 1869. It was decided that a studio be set up in the palace of
2This bust survived the bombings of the last war and is still to be seen in the
National Gallery in the Eastern Sector of Berlin.

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