Wednesday, 18 June 2025
Two Plaster Busts attributed to the workshop of Louis Francois Roubiliac.
Some notes -
I have recently been taking a closer look at the socles used by Louis Francois Roubiliac on his busts.
This came about after being asked to consult on the identity of the sculptor of two anonymous marble busts- of Laocoon and the Anima Dannata..
A visit to photograph the busts at Goodwood House (in particular that of a young man in the guise of the "good" Emperor Trajan which uses the Roubiliac type socle), served to further confirm my belief that the use of this type of socle (with one exception by Wilton) was unique to Roubiliac.
I discuss these socles in my previous posts - apologies for the repetition!
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A Plaster bust of presumably a Classical Lady - possibly an Ideal
Head.
Equally one has to be careful as the hairstyle could be described as unisex. The Apollo Belvedere sports a similar topknot but without the long tresses over the shoulders.
The Roman marble seated Apollo with Lyre in Museo Nazionale Romano di Palazzo Altemps has distinct similarities in the hair as does the Apollo in the Sala della Biga in the Vatican.
There are distinct echoes of the Farnese Dionysus.
I have contacted Saltram and hope to learn more in due course.
Engraving from Raccolta.... Cavaceppi Vol.1.
1768.
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Link to all three Volumes bound together of Cavaceppi's Raccolta pub. 1768 - 1772.
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The Altempi Apollo.
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The Statue of Apollo Citharoedus in the Capitoline Museum.
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The Young Marcus Aurelius (type A) or Commodus at Seaton Delaval
Hall, Northumberland.
An 18th Century Plaster bust which uses the Roubiliac type socle.
In the posthumous Roubiliac sale of 13 May 1762 under the heading of Antique busts etc in plaister - Lot 46, Marcus Aurelius.
This bust was previously at Melton Constable Hall, Norfolk.
Images courtesy National Trust website.
https://www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/object/1276622
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The Young Marcus Aurelius (or Commodus).
Bartolemeo Cavaceppi (attributed!).
Image below and info from -
These busts illustrated above are based on the marble bust of the young Marcus Aurelius in the Capitoline Museum, Rome
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The marble below is carved after a bust in the Capitoline Museums
(inv. no. 454) which was discovered in the so-called Villa of Antoninus Pius,
Lanuvium (Lanuvio), in 1701, and was subsequently in the collection of Cardinal
Alessandro Albani.
To complicate issues there is a second bust of Commodus or the young Marcus Aurelius with a more complicated drapery seen here in the Tomasso Marble and the John Cheere plaster
The Tomasso Brothers Commodus.
The marble is carved after a bust in the Capitoline Museums (inv. no. 454) which was discovered in the so-called Villa of Antoninus Pius, Lanuvium (Lanuvio), in 1701, and was subsequently in the collection of Cardinal Alessandro Albani.
Another Anonymous Marble described as Commodus is at Chiswick House.
H. 71 x W 59.5 x D 26.5 cm
It again utilises the Cavaceppi type socle.
https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/commodus-161-ad192-ad-278008
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Another also previously with the Tomasso Brothers.
Again attributed to Cavaceppi.
Lot 56 Christie's 10 June 2022.
https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6377696
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Another plaster bust of Commodus or the young Marcus Aurelius at Burton Constable.
This one has the typical socle used by John Cheere. with the slightly convex, recessed panelled front.
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The Royal, Academy Plaster Bust.
Described as Commodus
720 mm x 485 mm x 330 mm,
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Monday, 16 June 2025
Saturday, 14 June 2025
John Cheere and the Lead Statues at Saltram, Devon.
Some notes and images for comparison.
Photographs at Saltram taken by the author.
Saltram House: The Evolution of an Eighteenth-Century Country Estate Thesis by Katherine R Norley, 2020.
https://pure.plymouth.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/38443828/2020norley10328637resm_edited.pdf
The Lead Statue of the Capitoline Antinous.
Height 175 cms.
in the alcoves on the West front of the house.
There is no documentation for the purchase of the four statues but they were at Saltram by 1760.
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The Keddleston Plaster Antinous.
Brettingham's Rome Account Book, his ledger of statues dealt, casts made, bought and sold when he was in Italy, shows that in 1754 he commissioned a mould of the 'Antinous di Capidoglio' from which the Kedleston cast was taken (Kenworthy-Browne 1983, p. 99).
Two years earlier, in October
1752, he had also purchased a plaster cast of the statue, along with a cast of
Albani's Apollo, from the sculptor Pietro Bracci (1700-73) who was responsible
for restoring the antique Antinous' left arm and leg (Kenworthy-Browne 1983, p.
68). That cast is most likely the one at Holkham.
The Apollo Belvedere was one of twelve moulds of antique
statues Brettingham commissioned, at considerable trouble and expense, owed to
its enormous popularity (Kenworthy-Browne 1983: pp. 80, 99, 100). In
Brettingham's Rome Account Book, his ledger of statues dealt, casts made,
bought and sold when he was in Italy, records for 1754 show that moulds of 'ye
Meleager di Pichini' were acquired along with its pendant, 'ye Apollo di
Belveder' (Kenworthy-Browne 1983, p.99).
Literature -
Kenworthy-Browne 1983: John Kenworthy-Browne, 'Matthew
Brettingham's Rome Account Book 1747-1754', The Volume of the Walpole Society,
vol.49 (1983), pp.37-132, pp. 80, 99, 100.
Kenworthy-Browne 1993: John Kenworthy-Browne, ‘Designing
around the statues. Matthew Brettingham’s casts at Kedleston’, Apollo, April
1993, pp.248-252
The Holkham Antinous.
Plasters of Mercury, Susannah (after Duquesnoy).
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A very good miniature version of this statue is currently available with dealers Architectural Heritage.
Height inclusive of base 71 cm.
Base height x width x depth 2 cm x 33.7 cm x 9.1 cm.
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The Plaster Bust of Antinous formerly at Uppark.
One of six plaster busts, by John Cheere and ordered by Sir Matthew Fetherstonhaugh in 1759.
Sir Matthew's
a/c book May 1759 'Paid Mr. Chase for Busts £7.12'. (NT/UPP/SC/1b, c, d and
LOAN/UPP/SC/1e and f are others, all destroyed in the fire at Uppark on 30th
August 1989).
https://www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/object/138373.1
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The Lydiard House Plaster bust of Antinous.
sizes - H 60 x W 40 x D 30 cm
They say supplied in 1743?
Image here from art uk website -
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Priestess of Isis after the Antique.
Antique original found in Villa of Hadrian, Tivoli, now in Capitoline Museum, Rome.
This example made by John
Cheere, 1765-66, from Matthew Brettingham junior's moulds.
Another version of this statue in plaster is in the Pantheon at Stourhead, Wilts.
https://www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/object/562916
There is a plaster version at Kedleston.
Nathaniel Curzon (1726-1804) acquired his cast from Matthew Brettingham (1725-1803), an architect who primarily dealt in antiquities and casts for the British aristocracy.
The cast is listed as 'Priestess of Isis' in Curzon's manuscript 'List of Statues that I have' (c.1760) and again in a list inscribed on the verso, under 'Saloon Statues' (MS, Kedleston Archive). The statue was initially installed in the Saloon (see 'Catalogue of the pictures, statues, &c. at Kedleston', 1758, Saloon, p. 9), but by c. 1788-89, when the Saloon was converted into a ballroom, it had been moved to the Great Staircase, where it stands today (see 'Catalogue', 1769, Great Staircase, p.22, annotated copy in the Getty Research Institute, annotations date to c. 1788-9.). No receipts have been found for this cast.
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The Southill Park Lead Priestessof Isis.
John Cheere.
This statue is overlife size - it follows the same pattern as the other versions illustrated here but is substantially bigger - suggesting that it was copied with some sort of pointing machine to enlarge it.
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The Holkham Plaster Statue of the Priestess supplied Lord Leicester at Holkham by Matthew Brettingham.
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The Keddleston Hall, Derbyshire Plaster Cast of the Priestess of Isis.
The poor quality image from the Nat. Trust website
The cast is listed as 'Priestess of Isis' in Curzon's manuscript 'List of Statues that I have' (c.1760) and again in a list inscribed on the verso, under 'Saloon Statues' (MS, Kedleston Archive). The statue was initially installed in the Saloon (see 'Catalogue of the pictures, statues, &c. at Kedleston', 1758, Saloon, p. 9), but by c. 1788-89, when the Saloon was converted into a ballroom, it had been moved to the Great Staircase, where it stands today (see 'Catalogue', 1769, Great Staircase, p.22, annotated copy in the Getty Research Institute, annotations date to c. 1788-9.). No receipts have been found for this cast.
During his seven-year stint in Rome (1747-54) Brettingham not only dealt in casts and antiquities - furnishing the Earl of Leicester, for example, with casts and marble statues for Holkham - but also commissioned actual moulds to be taken from famous Roman statues. The idea was that casts could then be made to order when he returned to London.
The Capitoline Isis was
one of twelve moulds of antique statues Brettingham commissioned. In Brettingham's Rome Account Book, his
ledger of statues dealt, casts made, bought and sold when he was in Italy, the
records for 14 December 1753 show that a 'Mould of ye Vestal Virgin at ye
Capital' was packed and shipped from Leghorn and that in 1754 further moulds
'of ye Vestal Virgin or Priestes of Isis' were produced (Kenworthy-Browne 1983,
pp. 79, 99, 100).
The casts were not the success Brettingham hoped. Despite bringing back to London an Italian craftsman, Bartolomeo Mattevali. specifically for the job of casting from them, few actually sold.
There are only two surviving Brettingham casts of the Capitoline Isis, one of which is at Kedleston, the other at Holkham.
Literature -
Kenworthy-Browne 1983: John Kenworthy-Browne, 'Matthew
Brettingham's Rome Account Book 1747-1754', The Volume of the Walpole Society,
vol.49 (1983), pp.37-132, pp. 79, 99, 100.
Kenworthy-Browne 1993: John Kenworthy-Browne, ‘Designing
around the statues. Matthew Brettingham’s casts at Kedleston’, Apollo, April
1993, pp.248-252
Later versions at Stourhead and Croome Court
(now Los Angeles County Museum of Art) were supplied by John Cheere.
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The Plaster Statues at Croome Court -
Ten plaster statues by John Cheere were set within the niches along the north, south and east walls. These were: Camillus, Flora, Ganymede, Priestess of Isis, Vestal Virgin, Urania, The Medici Apollo, Mercury, Dancing Faun and the Medici Venus - Cheere’s bill itemises them as costing between 6 and 10 guineas each, plus the iron cramps, strong cases and hay for packing during transport
On the north wall was the Medici Apollo and Camillus/Urania. On the East wall to the left of the chimneypiece were: Camillus/Urania, Priestess of Isis and Ganymede. On the East wall to the right of the chimneypiece were: Medici Venus, Capitoline Flora ( now also in the Los Angeles County Museum) and Medici Mercury. On the south wall were the Dancing Faun and Vestal Virgin.
If my memory serves some of them were auctioned by Aldridges of Bath in the late 1970's early 1980's.
For much more on Croome see -
http://www.933.me.uk/croome/Croome%20Conservation%20Management%20and%20Maintenance%20Plan.pdf
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The Plaster Priestess of Isis in the Pantheon at Stourhead.
The John Cheere lead Statues at Stourhead supplied 1765/6.
Vesta Vesta/Vestal Virgin,1765–66, lead, 1600 mm (height) west front, Stourhead; National Trust inventory no.562884);
Ceres 1765–66, lead, main entrance, stourhead); minerva
Minerva, 1765–66, lead, main entrance.
Pomona, Urania, 1765–66, lead, 1750 mm , west front, stourhead; national trust inventory no. 562883);
and Bacchus (‘with a stump with grapes & vine leaves’1765–66, 1580 mm (height), Pantheon exterior,
no. 562879)
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There is another John Cheere plaster Priestess of Isis at Tabley, Cheshire.
Images below courtesy art uk website.
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Vestal Virgin by John Cheere (1709 – London 1787).
Height approx. 175 cms.
Copied from an antique statue formerly at Versailles, now in the Louvre.
Engraving published in reverse by Simon Thomassin (1694), pl.9.
A version was supplied by John Cheere, 1760s, for the Temple of Apollo at Stourhead and removed to West Garden 1903-4.
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The Stourhead Lead Vestal.
1765.
For much more on the statuary and gardens at Stourhead in the 18th century see -
The Copy at Stourhead.
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The Engraving of the Vestal by Simon Thomassin.
Undated - presumed c. 1720.
Image courtesy British Museum
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Mercury.
Size approx. 160 cms.
c. 1765/66.
Lead statue of Mercury, after the antique, supplied by John Cheere. Ultimately after an Antique marble in Uffizi Gallery, Florence (Haskell and Penny 1981, no.61, p.266) which was first recorded in 1536 when it was in the statue court of the Belvedere and by 1568 it was in the Palazzo Pitti and by 1734 in the Uffizi, but could be after bronze copy ex-Farnese collection in Naples (now in Louvre);
There are plaster versions at Wentworth Woodhouse, Hagley Hall and Holkham Hall.
Matthew Brettingham the Younger had a mould taken from marble Farnese statue, recorded in 1773).
At some point the Brettingham Moulds passed to John Cheere
There is another version in lead at Southill Park. Bedfordshire.
Image courtesy Conway Library website (below)..
A related although quite different lead version is at Stourhead was supplied by Cheere for the Temple of Apollo, 1765-66 and was possibly taken from versions by Barthélemy de Melo for Versailles in 1684/5. Removed to West Garden 1903-4. (info here Nat Trust website and needs to be verified).
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For reference a very poor image below from NT website.
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The Plaster version of Mercury at Kenwood House, Hampstead.
A Gilded Plaster version of this statue is at Syon House. Middex.
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For more works of John Cheere with the National Trust see -
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Chimneypiece at Saltram.
Thomas Carter.
In the 1740s the workshop of Thomas Carter began to specialise increasingly in chimneypieces. These were often elaborate, incorporating polychrome marbles, reliefs of literary subjects, classically-derived telamonic figures and carving of the highest quality.
For the Great Apartments at Holkham Hall, Carter and another London neighbour, Joseph Pickford, provided architectural chimneypieces ‘for the most part copied from Inigo Jones’s works’ (Brettingham 1773, ix).
In other rooms Carter used colourful Sicilian Jaspar and Siena yellow marbles as grounds for reliefs of subjects after the Antique, taken from engravings in Montfaucon’s influential L’Antiquité Expliquée, 1719.
Sir Matthew Featherstonehaugh of Uppark paid Carter nearly £1000 between 1747 and 1756 for fireplaces decorated with caryatid figures of classical philosophers and tablets representing Androcles and the Lion and Romulus and Remus (the later relief employed also at Saltram and perhaps elsewhere)
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Another Carter Chimneypiece with dealers Chesney's.
Mid 18th Century.
Statuary Marble with Convent Sienna and Sicilian Jaspar veneers.
width 197.5 cm.
No provenance given
Perhaps loosely derived from an engraving by Hollar of 1552.
From a series of six plates, etched by Hollar after drawings
by Giulio Romano from the collection of Nicolas Lanier, designs for stucco
medallions at the Palazzo Te in Mantua.
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