Johan Törnström

The son of a farmer, Törnström apprenticed in Stockholm with the wood sculptor GJ Fast, and with the Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Masreliez (or Maserliez) (1753–1801).

[1] His work, and that of Fredrik Henrik af Chapman, the Swedish Naval officer and shipbuilder, was inspired and influenced by the Neoclassical ideas of Admiral Augustin Ehrensvärd.

[1][4] From 1782 to 1818,[7] he worked at the shipyard's Sculptor’s Workshop, which was originally built in the 1760, but whose masque crowning was redesigned by Törnström in a Neoclassical architectural style, meant to represent the classical Greek goddess of drama.

[4] While his style was described as "rugged" and "chunky",[10] and evoked antique ideals as patriotic works,[11] his female figures were characterized as buxom, wearing diaphanous clothing.

They include Minerva, Fäderneslandet ("Fatherland"), Fröja, Camilla, Galatea, Försiktigheten ("Prudence"), Äran ("Honour"), Dristigheten, La Badine och Carl XIII.