Police are inquiring into the theft of the bronze head of a Besharin Boy, taken from the textiles room of the National Gallery on Sunday afternoon. The head, which is about 7in high and weighs approximately 8lb, was purchased early last year by the Felton Bequest at a good price for a statuette of this size. The thief could easily have slipped the bronze under his coat while the attendant was out of the room temporarily accommodating the smaller exhibits, said Mr E. N. Dewar, acting secretary, National Gallery, last night...The Besharin Boy bronze (described by Mr G. Allen, head of the sculpture school, Melbourne Technical College, as "a sensitive work of excellent form, showing a deep sculptural sense and a keen appreciation of the East") is the work of Mrs Tina Wentscher, of Milfay av, Kew. Mrs Wentscher, who has been in Australia for five years, studied in Paris, Athens, and Berlin, and spent 10 years in the Far East - in Malaya, China, Indo-China, and Java. She was responsible for the Keith Truscott plaque at the Children's Hospital, and is at present working on a bronze plaque of the late Miss Jessie Webb for the library at the University of Melbourne.
The Besharin Boy
Image: Adelaide News, 7 June 1945
Tina Wentscher (also spelt as Wentcher) was born in Constantinople in 1887 to David and Rebecca Haim. The family later moved to Vienna and later still to Berlin, where in 1914 she married Julius Wentscher. As the article notes, the Wentschers travelled widely and from 1936 until 1940 they lived in Malaya. It was from there that they were sent to Australia as enemy aliens and interned at Tatura from 1940 until 1942. After their release, they settled in Melbourne.
Mrs Wentcher died in 1974 and her work is represented in the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra, the McClelland Gallery in Langwarrin and other major collections.
Ken Scarlett records in his book Australian Sculptors that Tina Wentscher replaced the work at her cost with a pewter version in 1946. Where is the original Besharin Boy Bronze, which was stolen nearly 80 years ago?
Should you have any information about the Besharin Boy Bronze, please leave a comment below or see 'Contact us' tab for anonymous emailing.
Should you actually possess the item and wish to return it its rightful owners or custodians, please contact us.
References
- Art Success in Many Lands. The Herald, 7 March 1944, read.
- Besharin Boy Bronze Stolen from Gallery. The Argus, 29 May 1945, read
- S.A.Hunt for Stauette: Stolen in Victoria. Adelaide News, 7 June 1945, read.
- Scarlett, Ken Australian Sculptors. Nelson, 1980.
- Peers Juliet, Wentcher, Tina (1887–1974), Australian Dictionary of Biography. First published in 2002, on-line https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/wentcher-tina-11998
