Roubiliac and Chesterfield at the Louvre and some further examples of Roubiliacs Bronzes.

 

The Bronze Bust of Lord Chesterfield.

Louis Francois Roubiliac.

Circa 1745.

 

 Height 48.2 cms.

 the Louvre, Paris.

Purchased July 2010.

They give the provenance as -

Executed shortly after 1745 and probably taken to Ireland by the sitter. 

Presented (?) to the Right Hon. Nathaniel Clements, MP, director of Phoenix Park, Dublin (1705-1777).

 His descendants. London, Christie's, 18 April 1991, lot 45.

London, Sotheby's, 15 December 1998, lot 150. 

Acquired by the Louvre at the London, Sotheby's sale of 14 July 2010, lot 132.

The resolution of these images is not great - Louvre please take a lesson from the Rijksmuseum!

https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl010094099

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For the Roubiliac bronze bust of Lord Chesterfield at the V & A see -

https://bathartandarchitecture.blogspot.com/2016/07/bronze-bust-of-lord-chesterfield.html

Bronze Bust of Philip Dormer Stanhope.

Fourth Earl of Chesterfield.

Louis Francois Roubiliac.

 

Victoria and Albert Museum.

Purchased from dealer Simon Spero in 1959 for £90.

Photographs here taken by the author.

I suspect that the socle or at least the block behind the bust are replacements - the hexagonal nut on the supporting strap is a giveaway!

Hopefully the first two image here will convey some idea of the subtle chisel and punch work to the finish - particularly with the hair - the work should be compared with that on the bronze bust of Alexander Pope illustrated below.

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For the Roubiliac Bronze of Chesterfield at Dublin Castle see -

https://bathartandarchitecture.blogspot.com/2016/08/the-dublin-castle-bronze-bust-of-philip.html

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For the Roubiliac Bronze of Alexander Pope see -

https://bathartandarchitecture.blogspot.com/2018/02/a-bronze-bust-of-john-locke.html

This essay was an interesting exercise - the bronze bust of Locke was with dealer Jonathan Agnew who was at pains to state that a Roubiliac attribution had been ratified by a former curator at the V and A.

Whilst it is indeed possible that Roubiliac was responsible for the original - I would suggest those illustrated in the blog entry are from the Hyde Park Corner workshop of John Cheere - from my researches it is fairly obvious that Roubiliac had a long and fruitful relationship with both John and Henry Cheere.

For good measure I have also included photographs of the bronze busts of Isaac Newton (Fitzwilliam Museum) and Oliver Cromwell (private collection) by Michael Rysbrack

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For further smaller bronzes by Roubiliac see -

https://bathartandarchitecture.blogspot.com/2018/11/handel-in-bronze-by-or-after-roubiliac.html

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Alexander Pope.

Bronze.

Height 46.5 cms.

attributed to Louis Francois Roubiliac.

Photographs courtesy Sotheby's, Bond Street, London.

see - http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2007/european-sculpture-works-of-art-l07231/lot.136.html


For the 1740 Marble version of this bust see -

http://bathartandarchitecture.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/4-themilton-fitzwilliam-bust-of.html

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The Small Bronzes by Roubiliac.

Thursday 13 May, 1762 The second day of the four day posthumous sale of the contents of the Roubiliac studio at his dwelling house in St Martin's Lane

By Mr Langford of the Piazza, Covent Garden.

 The sale catalogue under the heading Sundries in Plaster notes -

 

Lot 22; Five Medals of Handell, Sir Isaac Newon, Mr Pope, Inigo Jones and a laughing boy

Lot 23; Five Medals of Mr Garrick, Handell, Inigo Jones, Oliver Cromwell, Sir Isaac Newton & a laughing boy.

 Lot 24; Four  Medals of Handell, Mr Garrick, Sir Isaac Newton Oliver Cromwell, Inigo Jones and a laughing boy.

 Lot 25; Five Medals of Handell, Sir Isaac Neton, Oliver Cromwell, Inigo Jones and a laughing boy.

 Lot 27; a mixed lot that mentions a medal of Dr Middleton.

 Under the heading Bronzes etc.

 Lot 92; A basso relievo of Inigo Jones and Oliver Cromwell.

 Lot 93; Three ditto of Mr Handell, Sir Isaac Newton and Mr Pope.

 

These three were perhaps the same works re-sold in an early Christie's sale in 1766, when they were described as 'Sir Isaac Newton, Pope and Handel in bronze finely repaired [i.e. finished] by the late ingenious Mr. Roubiliac'. The suggestion here is that it was Roubiliac himself who finished his bronzes.

 

 

On the fourth day - under the heading sundries in plaster. 

Lot 33; Six medals of Pope, Inigo Jones, Mr Handell, Sir Isaac Newton, Mr Garrick and O.Cromwell a laughing boy and a clay bracket.

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Relief Portrait of Handel.

Victoria and Albert Museum.

Photograph taken by the author under very difficult circumstances.

The lighting is very poor and avoiding the reflections of the glass case was almost impossible.

This relief is currently on long term loan to the V & A.

From the collection of Sir Francis Watson former director of the Wallace Collection, and Surveyer of the Queen's Pictures - it is now in the collection of his stepson Cheng Huan, (V&A Museum, Cheng Huan, Loan 3).

For an amusing obituary of Sir Francis see - https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-sir-francis-watson-1555593.html

for a terracotta see - https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O180972/george-frederick-handel-portrait-bust-roubiliac-louis-francois/george-frederick-handel-portrait-bust-roubiliac-louis-fran%C3%A7ois/

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Alexander Pope. 

Bronze relief attrib. to Roubiliac - 23.75 x 21.25 inches (60.3 x 54 cm).

They suggest c. 1755.

 Yale Centre for British Art.

 For the bronze bust of Pope sold by Sotheby's London 6 July 2007 see -

 http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2007/european-sculpture-works-of-art-l07231/lot.136.html

J.V.G.Mallet, 'Some Portrait Medallions by Roubiliac', in Burlington Magazine, vol.104, April 1962, pp.153-58.

W.K.Wimsatt, The Portraits of Alexander Pope, New Haven and London, 1965, pp.244.

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Alexander Pope.

Louis Francois Roubiliac.

Bronze Relief.

Victoria and Albert Museum.

Poor photograph above taken by the author under very difficult circumstances.

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David Garrick.

Gilded Bronze relief.

 Height: 18.5cm. Width: 15.5cm. Depth: 6cm.

 Inscribed -

DAVID GARRICK. Arm, / L. F.Roubiliac Sct. ad Vivum / 1758 (verso);

 Presented to the Garrick Club, by Peter Norton. Esqr.”, in cream paint on wooden label loosely attached to bottom of frame. Presented to the club by Peter Norton in 1833.

The oval plaque is made of highly polished bronze. 

The bust itself is attached to the plaque and is gilded bronze. The gilding, which is matt, may not be original.

Roubiliac was closely involved with Garrick in 1758, in which year he completed the statue of Shakespeare for the Shakespeare temple in Garrick's river-side garden at Hampton (See G0938).

He also produced a terracotta bust of Garrick, seen in Soldi's portrait of Roubiliac in the Garrick Club (G0727). The Soldi is signed and dated 1757/8, and although the terracotta bust is lost there is a plaster cast of it in the National Portrait Gallery (707a).

It is similar in many ways to S0015, although the bronze has a much brighter feel to it with the head lifted, the stoop alleviated, and details such as the buttons added.

The bronze clearly dates slightly later than the terracotta. Roubiliac's posthumous sale, 12-15 May 1762, included a set of plaster medallions depicting Garrick, Pope, Conyers Middleton, Handel, Inigo Jones, Oliver Cromwell, and Isaac Newton. 

In addition, the sale included four plaster medallions in plaster of Garrick and three medallions in wax as well as two terracotta busts, a plaster bust, and a mould for the bust. Roubiliac's marble bust of Garrick was sold at Mrs Garrick's sale, Christie's 23 June 1823.

 Mallet discusses five other bronze busts by Roubiliac similar to S0015. They depict Alexander Pope, Conyers Middleton, and George Frederick Handel (3 versions).

 

Text  above, lifted from the Garrick Club website see -

http://garrick.ssl.co.uk/object-s0015

Kindly supplied by Marcus Risdall, Curator of the Garrick Club Collection in 2015.

see my blog entry -

 http://english18thcenturyportraitsculpture.blogspot.com/2015/11/david-garrick-after-gainsborough-with.html

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Conyers Middleton.

Louis Francois Roubiliac.

Bronze Relief.

Poor photographs taken under difficult circumstances.

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Oliver Cromwell.

Possibly after Roubiliac ?

 Very fine bronze relief.

 Size 122 x 96 mm.

 Lot 1587 - 15 - 18th September 2015.

 This image from the website of Dix Noonan auctioneers

 https://www.numisbids.com/n.php?p=lot&sid=1212&lot=1587

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A short and definitely not exhaustive list of  later 17th to mid 18th century larger scale English bronze statuary.

As one can see, a very limited number of these objects were manufactured.

1678/9 - Grinling Gibbons Charles II Royal Hospital Chelsea.

1686 - Grinling Gibbons - Standing Figure James II formerly in Whitehall now in Trafalgar Square.

made by Laurens Vandermeulen and Mr A. Dievot.

Grinling Gibbons - Bronze Equestrian statue of William III, College Green, Dublin - Destroyed.

1678/9 - Grinling Gibbons - Windsor Castle Bronze Equestrian Statue of Charles II cast by Josias Ibach of Stone Bridge, Hyde Park Corner.

1717 / 22 - The John van Nost II bronze Equestrian Statue of George I, now at the Barber Institute, Birmingham, formerly on the Essex Bridge in Dublin. Barber Institute Birmingham - subsequently reproduced several times in lead.

1719 - Bronze King Henry VI by Francis Bird in  Eton College, School Yard.

1733 - 35 - Michael Rysbrack's magnificent bronze equestrian statue of William III at Bristol. 

This statue was made to be seen from a distance so one would not expect the quality to be as good as a sculpture made to be seen at close quarters. There are records of visits to his workshop to see the founding of this statue.

https://english18thcenturyportraitsculpture.blogspot.com/2016/08/rysbrack-plaster-equestrian-statue-of.html

1737 - Edward VI by Scheemakers - St Thomas' Hospital.

1741 - Statue of Thomas Guy by Peter Scheemakers - Guys Hospital.

c.1745 - Bronze busts of Lord Chesterfield by Louis Francois Roubiliac. Dublin Castle, Louvre, and Victoria and Albert Museum.

Roubiliac also produced small scale bronze reliefs of Handel, Garrick, Conyers Middleton and Pope.

1753 - John van Nost III - Bronze Equestrian Statue of George II cast in Dublin put up on St Stephen's Green, Dublin  - destroyed. (this project was also tendered for by Roubiliac).

Undated - The Rysbrack busts of Newton and Cromwell sold in the studio sale of 20 April 1765.

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Of Tangential interest - the Making and Casting of a Bronze Equestrian Statue.

https://english18thcenturyportraitsculpture.blogspot.com/2016/09/how-to-cast-equestrian-statue-in-bronze.html

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Brass Sculpture and the Ideology of Bronze in Britain 1660–1851 - Sculpture Journal January 2005.

Greg Sullivan mentions of 26 people describing themselves as founders between 1660 - 1700  and 122 between 1700 - 1750 but this of course represents the whole trade from cannons to belt buckles - of which the casting of statuary was a minuscule part.

Sullivan also mentions a Richard Paulson, Brass Founder of St Martin's in the Fields whose will was proven in 1746 Prob 11/751