Monument to the 13th Earl of Kildare, Christchurch Cathedral, Dublin.

 

The Monument to Robert Fitzgerald.

The 19th Earl of Kildare (1675 - 1743).

Inscribed on the base of the figure of James Fitzgerald by Henry Cheere.

 

Christchurch Cathedral, Dublin.

1746.

 

This remarkable, innovative and most theatrical monument was completed by 6 September 1746 when reported in London Evening Post - 'on Wednesday last the Right Honourable Earl of Kildare viewed the fine and curious monument made by Mr Cheere an eminent statuary, in Westminster to the memory of his father'

 

Robert Fitzgerald married Lady Mary daughter of William O'Brian 3rd Earl of Inchiquin 7 March, 1708.

 

The Monument depicts his grieving wife, and his two surviving children - his son James (20th Earl of Kildare d. 1773), soon to become the Duke of Leinster) and his daughter Margaretta.

 

James Fitzgerald married Emily Lennox (1731 - 1814) a famous beauty, one of the two daughters of the Charles Lennox, Duke of Richmond and went on to build Leinster House, Dublin. 

 

The monument depicts the laying out of the earl who feared being buried prematurely - he left instructions that 'my body be kept unburied for as many days after my decease as it can, without art or cutting open'

 

His Town House was on Suffolk Street, Dublin - the families country seat was Maynooth Castle (by the 1730's largely derelict) and latterly Carton House, Kildare built by German architect  Richard Castle in 1739.

 

 

The Monument was originally put up on the North side of the choir, behind the Fitzgerald family box pew, it is now in the South Transept.

 

1714 - Lord Chief Justice of Ireland.

Doubts remain as to whether Henry Cheere was the actual sculptor of the figures or whether they were made in his workshop in Westminster or  subcontracted.

The name Roubiliac springs to mind! Roubiliac certainly appears to have had scant employment on large scale projects until the excellent Monument to Bishop Hough in Worcester Cathedral.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photographs above taken by the author 5 October 2016.

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Photographs by Andreas F Borchert.

The plaque below the sculpture reads as follows:

To the Memory of ROBERT Earl of KILDARE The Nineteenth of that Title in Succeſsion, And in Rank the the firſt Earl of Ireland. He married the Lady MARIE Ô BRYEN Eldest Daughter of WILLIAM Earl of INCHIQUIN; By whom He had Iſue Four Sons, and Eight Daughters: of which Number Only JAMES the preſent Earl, and the Lady MARGARETTA Survived Him. Together with the Titles, He Inherited the Virtues of His Noble Anceſtors, And Adorned every Station He poſseſsed. Truth, Honour and Justice Directed the whole Course of His life. The Daily Devotions of His Family, And the Public Worſhip in the Church, Where by His Regular Attendance Cherished and Recommended. Tho poſseſsed of a great Estate, He managed it with particular Prudence and Oeconomy, In order to give a freer Courſe to His many & great Charities. He was a disinterested Lover, of His Country, Without any Affectation of Popularity: And was Beloved by all, not becauſe He ſought it But because He Deserved it. He was A most Tender, and Affectionate Husband, An Indulgent, and Prudent Father, A Sincere, and Steady Friend. His Disconsolate Relict In Teſtimony of Her Gratitude, and Affection. And the better to Recommend to His Deſsendants The Imitation of His Excellent Example Caused this Monument to be Erected. He Died the 20 Day of February. A.D. 1743, in the 69th Year of His Age.

 

 

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 Robert Fitzgerald.

19th Earl of Kildare.

Jonathan Richardson.

Image from an  unknown source.

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See The Silent Rhetoric of the Body, Matthew Craske, pub. Yale 2007, p.340.

 

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James Earl of Kildare.

after Joshua Reynolds.

Mezzotint by  James McArdell.

352 x 250 mm.

1754.

 

© The Trustees of the British Museum.

 

 

 

 

Emily wife of the James Duke of Leinster.

After Joshua Reynolds.

Mezzotint by James McArdell.

351 x 250 mm.

1754.

 

Model Making and Anti-Competitive Practices in the Late Eighteenth-Century London Sculpture Trade, by Matthew Craske

Model Making and Anti-Competitive Practices in the Late Eighteenth-Century London Sculpture Trade, by Matthew Craske. Published in the Journal of International Association of Research Institutes in The History of Art.


Today am posting a link to a very interesting article by Matthew Craske which concentrates mainly on the latter part of the 18th century but touches on the mid 18th century the period that I am currently focusing on in this blog.

In particular it goes into subcontracting by the chief sculptors of the period.

It has long been my suspicion that whilst Henry Cheere (1703 - 81) may have originally been a competent sculptor he was responsible for very little the work that emanated particularly in later years from his Westminster workshop.

I will in the future attempt to make a more detailed study of Cheere, his sculpture and his methods.

http://www.riha-journal.org/articles/2014/2014-jan-mar/special-issue-art-design-history/craske-model-making


For much more on Cheere and other sculptors and funeral monuments of the mid 18th century see - The Silent Rhetoric of the Body by Matthew Craske pub. Yale. 2008.

It costs £50 - a copy is currently available on Amazon for £35.

This is a thoroughly researched work of scholarship on the Funeral Monument of the 18th century. If it has one fault it is that it suffers mainly from the same problems of any work on the subject of sculpture or any three dimensional subject in that it is almost impossible to do it justice in terms of illustrations, but should certainly whet the appetite of anyone with even a passing interest in 18th century sculpture.

There is now really no excuse for not including a CD or another form of digital information pack with the (very expensive) books on three dimensional art - a luxury not widely available when this work was published.

Craske has also been published on the subject of Cheere and subcontracting in the Lustrous Trade - edited by Cinzia Sicca and Alison Yarrington, pub. Bloomsbury, 2001.
Chapter 5 - Contacts and Contracts: Sir Henry Cheere and the Formation of a New Commercial Worl of Sculpture in Mid-Eighteenth Century London.

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One of the main thrusts of this blog is to give the subject of 18th century sculptures much improved publicity and to make them more visible by providing  as many up to date photographs that I can, in order to give the viewer and enthusiast a much better idea of what the sculptor originally intended. A serious fault in even the most recent publications is that they rely on library photographs mostly taken in black and white and in studio settings using inappropriate lighting.

I sincerely hope that in publishing this blog that some young people will visit the subject and be inspired by it.

The other problem has been, although much less so now, obtaining permission to photograph these objects. Most museums and institutions now have a much more enlightened attitude than previously to the publishing of their holdings - I have myself recently found that The Royal College of Surgeons, Westminster Abbey and Trinity College, Cambridge have all unfortunately so far refused me permission to visit and photograph their sculpture.

I will try again in the near future.

Marble Bust of an Unknown Man attributed to John van Nost III, Louvre, Paris, and the Marble Bust of George Pitt in the Victoria and Albert Museum and some related busts.

 

 

Post edited and updated 15 November 2024.

Bust of an Unknown Man.

attributed to John van Nost III.

suggested here as possibly Roubiliac

Louvre, Paris.

73.4 cm tall.

This post edited and updated 27 February 2021.

 

Formerly attributed to Louis-François de Roubiliac (1702 -1762),

as Sir Edward Walpole (1706-1784).

Acquired by the Louvre with an hypothetical attribution to Henry Cheere.

Attributed in 1992 by Malcom Baker to John Van Nost III? and dated circa 1750.

I am doubtful about this attribution and believe the sculptor of this bust needs to be reassessed.

My feeling is that it is slightly earlier than the 1750 date suggested perhaps circa 1735 - 1740, see the bust on the monument to Orlando Humfreys at Barking Parish Church (photographs below) and those of George Pitt at the V and A and St Michaels Church Stinsford, Dorset illustrated below 

My feeling is that this bust is most likely to have been sculpted by Roubiliac, perhaps sub contracting to Henry Cheere.

Collection F. Leverton Harris; his sale, London, Christie's, Manson and Woods, 7th June 1928, Lot 42.

Acquired by Stettmer.

Collection of the dealer Camoin, Paris, 

Acquired by the Louvre 1989.

 

The Louvre website is currently not great for images of 3 dimensional objects.

 

This bust could be by one of several sculptors - but it shows some distinct similarities with a bust of George Pitt by Henry Cheere in the Victoria and Albert Museum particularly the fluttering tie on the shirt.

 

It has for a log time been my suspicion that although Henry Cheere signed many sculptures, he might not have been the actual author of many of them - giving the carving work to men working in his workshop or subcontracting it. 

We do not know how Roubiliac was employed after his arrival in England and before his statue of Handel for Vauxhall Gardens - it has been variously suggested that he was employed by Henry Cheere and Thomas Carter I.

Given that we know very little of what Roubiliac did between his arrival in London in 1730 and his first mention as an independent sculptor (Senesino in a newspaper in 1735) it is quite possible that he was working for Henry Cheere amongst others and continued to do so on and off into the 1740's.

Some of the men working for these sculptors would have been almost illiterate and it would obviously have suited Henry Cheere to keep these carvers in his workshop anonymous .

.

Roubiliac certainly worked a little later, from 1743 with Scheemakers  (subcontracting?) on the busts at Trinity College Dublin which I will be coming to shortly on this blog. It is possible that Roubiliac in turn subcontracted some of the work for Trinity to John Van Nost III.

 

It might be that Mrs Esdaile was correct after all ascribing this bust to Roubiliac.

(Sir) Henry Cheere and his sculpture and sub contracting is a subject that I might approach in the future. Matthew Craske has already published on the subject in both The Silent Rhetoric of the Body pub. Yale 2007, and in The Lustrous Trade, ed Cinzia Sica.

Some earlier photographs of the same bust (below).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Old Photographs from the Louvre.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Photograph of the above bust was identified as Sir Edward Walpole

from Roubiliac by Mrs Esdaile, pub in 1929.

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Marble bust of George Pitt (1663 - 1735).

Here attributed to Louis Francois Roubiliac.

Victoria and Albert Museum.

https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O8860/george-pitt-bust-cheere-henry-sir/#object-details

They say Henry Cheere?

"This is a finer version of the portrait on the monument to George Pitt at Stinsford in Dorset, and was probably executed for Enscombe House where Pitt's widow and son lived. Between August 1738 and April 1741 Pitt's widow made three paymounts, amounting to £146.8.0, to Henry Cheere. These are probably related to the bust he monument at Stinsford and perhaps some chimneypieces at Enscombe House, designed by John Pitt from 1834 onwards.

This marble portrait bust of George Pitt (1663-1735) of Stratfield Saye, Hampshire, was made from a model executed by the sitter's son, John Pitt (born about 1706; died 1787), an amateur architect of some distinction. Another, more summary version of the bust is on the monument to George Pitt in the church at Stinsford, Dorset. The present bust was almost certainly produced as a more private memorial for the family home. The church monument was based on a design by the architect James Gibbs (1682-1754), but this bust was almost certainly made by Sir Henry Cheere (1703-1781). The finish to the surface of the marble and the seemingly casual stylishness of the dress support this attribution.

 

George Pitt was MP for a number of Dorset and Hampshire constituencies between 1694 and 1727, and owned Stratfield Saye (later the home of the Duke of Wellington). He was distantly related to William Pitt, Earl of Chatham (Pitt the Elder)".

 

 

Photograph above courtesy V and A website.

 

Photographs above by the author.

Marble bust of George Pitt (1663 - 1735).

Formerly of Stratfield Saye.

They say by Henry Cheere (1703 - 81).

I would suggest Roubiliac sub contracted to Henry Cheere.

Height 74 cms.

 

Victoria and Albert Museum.

Bought by the V and A for £25,000 in 1981.

It is peculiar that there is no mention of the Stowe Catalogue entry on the V and A website!`

See the Stow Catalogue Illustration of 1848 below.

 

 I sincerely hope the rather lumpy socle will be replaced at some time in the near future with something more appropriate.

 

I am posting this for comparison with the Louvre bust.

 

The V and A say -

"This is a finer version of the portrait on the monument to George Pitt at Stinsford in Dorset, and was probably executed for Encombe House where Pitt's widow and son (John) lived. 

Between August 1738 and April 1741 Pitt's widow made three payments, amounting to £146.8.0, to Henry Cheere....."

 

"Historical significance: This is among the earliest of English Rococo busts, the decorative effect of the shirt front and the fluttering tie are particularly notable. A similar drapery style may be seen in Cheere's figure of Sir Thomas Hardy at Westminster Abbey (ca. 1740) and the bust of Sir Orlando Humphreys (died 1736) at Barking"

 

Another version of this bust is on the monument to George Pitt at Stinsford, Dorset (see photograph below), and the marble shown here was probably carved at the same date for the family's house. 

The bust was said to have been 'executed from a model made after his death from recollections by his son John Pitt', a distinguished amateur architect, and shows George Pitt in the informal dress that was being used frequently by this date for both painted and sculptural portraits.

 

see - http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O8860/george-pitt-bust-cheere-henry-sir/

 

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The Illustration and Catalogue entry for the "Bust of Prior" 

From the Catalogue for the great Sale at Stowe of 1848.

 

Obviously this is not a bust of Prior but one of George Pitt described by the V and A as probably by Henry Cheere and by me and as more likely to be Roubiliac.

 

 

 

  

Not relevant to this post but this illustration also shows the marble sarcophagus which was reproduced by the Coade Manufactory.

 

 

 

 

 

So it is a bust of George Pitt of Stratfield Saye, bought at the sale of Mr Moreton Pitt of Kingston Maurward House in Dorset.

Presumably this is William Morton Pitt (died 1836) of Kingston House, Isle of Purbeck, Dorset.

W Morton Pitt, was the son of  John Pitt of Encombe and Grandson of the sitter of the bust.

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refs.

see - http://www.kingstonopc.org.uk/newspapers/1836-obituary-william-morton-pitt-esq/

https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/pitt-john-1706-87

Sale of Morton Pitts assets after his death see:

https://somerset.epexio.com/records/DD/GL/185

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The Bust of George Pitt.

They say Henry Cheere.

I think probably the sketch here was prepared for the catalogue engraving.

Image Courtesy National Portrait Gallery.

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The Monument to George Pitt.

St Michael's Church. 

Stinsford. Dorset.

These are currently the best photographs that I can find of this monument.

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The Bust on the Monument to Sir Orlando Humfreys.

St Margaret of Antioch, the Parish Church Barking.

1737.

Photographs here taken by the author.

Here attributed to Roubiliac with no evidence beyond the truly fantastic quality of the carving.

The conceit of the fluttering tie is once again used on this bust, suggesting to me that it was carved by the same sculptor as the three busts illustrated above.

I have already published the bust on the monument of Dr John Bamber with the bust by Roubiliac - There are several other fine monuments in this church and it is my intention to publish them all on this blog, but for the time being here are photographs of the bust of Orlando Humfreys and the very fine monument to him.

see -

http://bathartandarchitecture.blogspot.com/2019/04/bust-of-dr-john-bamber-by-roubiliac.html

Note the All Seeing Eye.

All the photographs above taken by the author.

This is a very fine monument which could be much improved with the gentle application of a little "Fairy Liquid" diluted with water and a wipe.

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