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== Life and work ==
[[File:Stans Winkelrieddenkmal.jpg|thumb|235px|left|The [[Winkelried Memorial]]]]
He was born in Basel to Heinrich Ludwig Schlöth and Maria Salome Treu as the sixth of ten children.<ref name=":2">Stefan Hess, Tomas Lochman (Eds.), p.22</ref> His father was locksmith from [[Berlin]] and became a citizen of [[Binningen, Switzerland|Binningen]] in 1809 and of Basel in 1820.<ref name=":2" /> In Basel, he established a workshop as a blacksmith beside the [[Birsig]].<ref name=":2" /> Following an apprenticeship with his father, he was employed in his shop for several years.<ref>Stefan Hess, Tomas Lochman (Eds.), p.12</ref> When his father died in 1839, he took over the workshop and operated it together with his older brother, Friedrich Ludwig. During this time, he also took drawing lessons from [[Hieronymus Hess]]<ref name=":3">Stefan Hess, Tomas Lochman (Eds.), p.80</ref> and studied modeling with the sculptor {{ill|Johann Heinrich Neustück|de}}.<ref name=":3" />
WithAt twenty-five years of age, in 1843, he decided to study sculpture in Rome.<ref name=":3" /> By 1847, he had opened his own studio there.<ref>Stefan Hess, Tomas Lochman (Eds.), p.86</ref> One of his teachers was probably his fellow Swiss emigrant, [[Heinrich Max Imhof]];, with whom he would later develop a hateful rivalry.<ref>Stefan Hess, Tomas Lochman (Eds.): ''Klassische Schönheit und vaterländisches Heldentum. Der Basler Bildhauer Ferdinand Schlöth (1818–1891).'' Basel 2004, {{ISBN|3-905057-20-4}}.</ref> In Rome, he would become influenced by [[Bertel Thorvaldsen]]<ref>Stefan Hess, Tomas Lochman (Eds.), p.82</ref> which was to be seen in his works on sculptures of the [[Greek mythology|Greek mythological]] figures.<ref>Stefan Hess, Tomas Lochman (Eds.), pp.88 – 90</ref> In 1855, he won a competition for a monument honoring [[Arnold von Winkelried]], to be erected in [[Stans]]. It was inaugurated in 1865, and immediately made him one of the most prominent Swiss sculptors.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hess|first=Stefan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4TfzPgAACAAJ|title=Der Basler Bildhauer Ferdinand Schlöth (1818-1891) : klassische Schönheit und vaterländisches Heldentum|date=2004|publisher=Skulpturhalle Basel|isbn=3-905057-20-4|pages=55|language=de}}</ref> This was followed by a monument commemorating the [[Battle of St. Jakob an der Birs]], which was completed in 1872.<ref>{{cite web|last=Altbasel|title=St. Jakobs Denkmal|url=https://altbasel.ch/brunnen/st.jakobsdenkmal.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Basler Bauten|title=St. Jakobsdenkmal|url=https://www.basler-bauten.ch/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=154:st-jakobs-denkmal&catid=49&Itemid=119}}</ref> TIn Rome he experienced financial hardships and he often wasn't able to work due to a lack of [[Carrara marble]].<ref name=":1">Stefan Hess, Tomas Lochman (Eds.), p.19</ref> He was living modestly and mainly worked for his clientele from Basel.<ref name=":1" /> He remained in Rome until 1874, when he married the wealthy widow, Emma Müller-Gengenbach, and returned to Switzerland. There he divided his time between Basel and Lutzenberg. In Lutzenberg, the family owned an estate, which was brought into the marriage by his wife.<ref name=":0">Stefan Hess, Tomas Lochman (Eds.), p.21</ref>
In 1873, he won another competition, for a [[St. Jakobs Memorial|monument]] honoring [[Wilhelm von Tegetthoff]] in Vienna, but the project never came to fruition. He also created a series of busts for the [[Kunstmuseum Basel]]. Most of his works are made of white Carrara marble. About hundred sculptures of him are known, of which more than thirty are only known through historic photographs or literary descriptions.<ref>Stefan Hess, Tomas Lochman (Eds.), p.13</ref>
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