Another work in progress.
For my first essay on the subject see my previous post.
https://bathartandarchitecture.blogspot.com/2026/07/the-radcliffe-observatory-some-notes.html
This second essay on the subject arose from having been asked to research a very fine 1793 figure of Charity from the Coade Artificial Stone Manufactory sculpted by John Bacon I, recently purchased by Coade Artificial Stone enthusist Peter Hone along with his Coade Artificial Stone Catalogue of 1784 purchase recently at Bonhams.
It is also an opportunity to post the photographs of the Hercules (Herakles for the pedantic) and Atlas which were buried in the files my old computer.
The Lead Group of Hercules and Atlas.
on the Radcliffe Observatory, Oxford.
Some Notes -
Until now the design of the lead Hercules and Atlas group has always been given to John Bacon
I, and until recently suggested as Bronze but as illustrated here the origin of the design of these two figures is clearly
derived from the Roubiliac bronze Hercules and Atlas on the Charles Clay
Musical Clock made prior to 1743 which is now in the Cupola Room at Kensington Palace.
The Copper Globe was supplied 17 May 1794 - made by Messrs
Horsley and Catherwood Brassfounders of Haberdashers Walk, Hoxton, London. ref. Wakefields Merchants and General Directory of 1793).
Horsley and Catherwood ' [ Bodleian , MS d.d. Radcliffe c .
52 ], the latter presumably Thomas Catherwood, who supplied a brass fireplace
for the Library at Stowe, Buckinghamshire , in 1805 [ Michael Bevington, Stowe
Guide, 1990).
Parallel to this was my discovery some years ago of the
similarities between the bronze group of Atlas and Hercules by Louis Francois
Roubiliac on the Clay clock made prior to 1743 (a drawing by Nathaniel Smith of the group at the 1759 Royal Society of Arts - is illustrated below) and the lead group on the Radcliffe Observatory
which until now has been given to Bacon - this research has long been on the back
burner until I commenced writing this essay - which gives me the perfect
opportunity to investigate the links /relationship of the Roubiliac and
Radcliffe Observatory sculptural group of Atlas and Hercules
Bacon was an excellent and prolific sculptor and deserves
his own up to date biography - he was manager of the Coade manufactory from
1771 and remained closely associated with Coade until his death in 1799.
For the origins of Coade and a brief history of artificial
stone see my illustrated essay -
https://bathartandarchitecture.blogspot.com/2026/02/the-coade-premises-at-narrow-wall.html
The Nathaniel Smith Drawing of Hercules and Atlas 1759.
Royal Society of Arts.
17' x 22' (43cm x 56 cm) black and white (chalk?) on brown paper.
This drawing of 1759 is of the Roubiliac Hercules and Atlas is by
Nathaniel Smith (1738 - 1800?).
Smith was the Apprentice of Louis Francois Roubiliac
(d.1762).
The bronze group by Roubiliac is mounted on to the top of the Clay musical clock
in Kensington Palace.
Refs.
PR.AR/103/10/398 - letter from Roubiliac certifying picture
done by Nathaniel Smith.
PR.AR/103/10/396 -
letter from Rev P Pinnell confirming Nathaniel Smith's age/date of baptism.
Between 1758 and 1762, while he was still with Roubiliac,
Smith was awarded six premiums by the Society of Arts, two for drawings and
four for models in clay; three of the clay models remain untraced but that from
1760, simply referred to in the Gentleman’s Magazine as ‘model of animals’, is
thought to be Bringing Down the Stag (terracotta, dated 1760), now in the
Victoria and Albert Museum.
A very interesting article on the subject of Smith his
drawings and Roubiliac by David Wilson was published in the Sculpture Journal
Vol 16 / 2.
https://gunnis.henry-moore.org/henrymoore/sculptor/browserecord.php?-action=browse&-recid=2497
https://pssauk.org/public-sculpture-of-britain/biography/smith-nathaniel/
In November 1743, Charles Clay's widow advertised "a most
magnificent and curious MUSICAL MACHINE, CALL'D The temple of the four Grand
Monarchies of the World (viz. the Assyrian, the Persian, the Grecian and the
Roman) founded by Ninus, Cyrus the Great, Alexander the Great and Augustus
Caesar.
The Musick was composed by Geminiani, Handel and Corelli: and properly
adapted to the machine by Mr Geminiani. It performs not only in Concert, but
alternatively on several Instruments, in a most surprising manner, exceeding
the Performance of the best Hands. Note. The Inside Work may be seen by those
who desire it."
...............................
The Charles Clay Musical Clock.
I wrote an in depth and illustrated essay about this and other musical clocks by Clay some years ago - see
https://bathartandarchitecture.blogspot.com/2017/09/charles-clay-clocks.html
This clock was
finished by John Pyke, clockmaker to Frederick, Prince of Wales, and its
elaborate case included reliefs in silver, based on models by Rysbrack and
bronzes representing the seated figures of the four Grand Monarchies modelled
by the French St Martin's Lane based sculptor Louis Francois Roubiliac (1702 - 62). The
clock was surmounted by Roubiliac's figures of Hercules and Atlas supporting
the globe.
In December 1743 it was available to view at John Pyke's
premises at the corner of Brownlow Street, facing Bedford Row near Gray's Inn.
It had apparently cost more than £4,500.
The case was a 'noble Structure, a regular Piece of
Architecture in the Corinthian Order ... made of fine Ebony, with Mouldings of
Brass; its Columns and Entablatures are also of Brass adorn'd with Modilions,
Capitals, Bases and other ornaments of Silver in the most elegant Taste.
It is supported with
a Pedestal of circular Form, made of Curious Wood, with Brass Mouldings, and
adorn'd with other Ornaments of Brass, upon which it turns round at Pleasure
for the greater Conveniency of the Spectators'.
This clock was acquired for Augusta, widow of
Frederick, Prince of Wales later in 1743/4.
The long delay between the completion of the clock and its
acquisition for the Royal Collection explains Clay's frustration with the
challenge of marketing his musical creations.
Three days before his death, he 'order'd a Musical Machine,
which had cost him about 20 Years Time, and upwards of £2000 to bring to
perfection, to be beat to Pieces, and entirely destroy'd to prevent the Expense
of the Time and Money of any one who should attempt to finish it after his
death'.
It now seems fortunate that Mrs Clay did not carry out her husband's
death-bed wishes and that Pyke finished the job..
The Group of Hercules and Atlas in the Roubiliac 4 day Sale
Catalogue of 13/14/15/16 May 1762.
This sale catalogue contains some tantalising ambiguities!
Two groups appear in the catalogue on the first and second
days of the sale - neither group has re appeared!
https://bathartandarchitecture.blogspot.com/2024/11/the-roubiliac-sale-catalogue-with-list.html
First Day of the Sale, the Group of Hercules and Atlas
under the heading FIGURES in plaster.
Lot 61. A groupe
(sic) of Hercules and Atlas.
This is perhaps the plaster model of Hercules and Atlas for the Bronze group used on the Temple of the Monarchies Musical Clock that was drawn by Nathaniel Smith.
2nd day of the sale - Thursday May 13 - under the heading
FIGURES in Plaister - Lot 32, Mr Roubiliac's group of Hercules and Atlas, in
pieces.
For me the question arises - does this refer to a plaster
cast of the group as drawn by Nathaniel Smith or.... does could it possibly refer to a much
larger group?
.........................
My previous posts go a long way to prove that Roubiliac had
long term working relationships from the early 1730's after he had arrived from France both with Henry Cheere
(1703 - 81) working in his studios at Westminster and with his brother John Cheere (1709-1787) who worked with his brother who
was established at Hyde Park Corner from 1738/9.
My theory is that this lot is possibly a much larger plaster
group purchased by John Cheere at the Roubiliac sale of 1762 and reproduced as
a speculation in lead by John Cheere in his workshops at Hyde Park Corner
sometime after 1762.
This currently speculation - The group perhaps did not sell and was possibly purchased at the
Cheere sale of 1788.
As yet I have been unable to locate a copy of the John
Cheere sale catalogue.
I would dearly like to obtain a copy!
The John Cheere Sale - Clipping from the World newspaper pub. 2 Feb. 1787.
Note the references to works by Rysbrack, Stanley, Collins, van Nost, Sponge (Spang!), Bacon etc.
It should be pointed out that lead statuary and the formal
gardens that much of his produce was made for had become unfashionable by the
time of the Cheere sale and had been supplanted by the prodigious and very fine
quality output of the Coade manufactory at Narrow Walls Lambeth.
Coade had the appearance of stone and did not need to be
maintained - lead was always painted - either to appear like stone or marble or
painted naturalistically - and the surface needed to be fairly frequently oiled
or repainted in order to stop the paint from parting company with the lead
surface of the statues.
Another strand to this theory is the question of why the
group of Atlas and Hercules on the roof of the Radcliffe observatory was cast
in lead??
John Bacon had a working relationship with the Coade
Artificial Stone Manufactory since 1769 when he joined the newly formed company
along with his master Daniel Pincot - Pincot was dismissed for some sort of
irregularity - perhaps moonlighting - or representing the Coade products as his
own.
Bacon became their chief designer in 1771.
Why use very heavy
lead for the group when he could have used Coade stone?? much of the decoration
used on the Radcliffe Observatory as shown here was of Coade's Artificial
Stone.
In answer to my own question - to fire this group in Coade
stone would have been very difficult and would require its manufacture in
several pieces - if there was a ready made group available why go to the
trouble of casting a new version??
John Bacon remained closely associated with the Coade
manufactory until his death in 1799, although he had his residence studios and
workshops firstly at Georges Yard, Soho from 1769 - Wardour St, Soho from 1771
and from 1777 at 17 Newman St, Marylebone.
............................
A Couple of (possibly) Red Herrings.
The Sothjeby's Drawing of Atlas and Hercules Lifting the Celestial Globe.
A question arises as to where Roubiliac found his original inspiration for his sculpture?
Another question is - where was it cast and who cast it?
The drawing below is the closest I can discover to the Roubiliac model but it is reversed - this then begs the question "was this a preliminary drawing for an as yet undiscovered painting or engraving?"
The pose of Hercules is similar to the kneeling Marble of the Farnese Hercules.
Sotheby's -Lot 105 - 19 - 26 January 2022.
https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2022/old-master-and-british-works-on-paper/atlas-supporting-the-celestial-globe-with-hercules
.................
Red Herring number 2 -
The Lyon and Turnbull Terracotta Group Hercules and Atlas by Anonymous Sculptor.
I am not suggesting here that this piece is by Roubiliac but....
Lyon and Turnbull Auction: Lot 431. 27
September 2017.
Height 41 cms.
They say French first half of the 18th Century - unfired
terracotta.
Current location unknown.
The similarity of the poses might suggest that the
terracotta was a prototype for the Roubiliac bronze.
https://www.lyonandturnbull.com/auctions/fine-furniture-and-works-of-art-502/lot/431?srsltid=AfmBOor2WK0tVT3UpnOFnvn-3DedpNP7cZgzpFu0_JU7aGzhZY3C-mPs
...................
Engraving of Hercules and Atlas.
Artist: Claude Mellan (French, Abbeville 1598–1688 Paris)
Patron: Commissioned by Jean-François-Paul de Gondi (French,
1613–1679 Paris)
Image courtesy the Metropolitan Museum, New York.
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/393412
.........................
Of Tangential Interest.
A very brief biog. of
Nathaniel Smith.
Nathaniel Smith was the father of Joseph Nollekens’s
biographer, John Thomas Smith, and was described in his son’s obituary as a
sculptor and afterwards, a printseller.
Nathaniel showed early promise, winning four premiums from
the Society of Arts between 1758 and 1762 (9-12), by which time he was probably
living in the Roubiliac premises at St Martin’s Lane.
His winning drawing in 1759 was of Roubiliac's
group of Hercules and Atlas.
Smith’s early prize-winning relief, Bringing down the Stag, (V and A) is an astoundingly graphic and naturalistic work, a fine achievement which well endorses the decision of the Society of Arts to award him a premium.
Most of Smith's work was produced as an assistant to more
success sculptors, including Joseph Wilton after the death of Roubiliac in
1762.
His son suggested that the marble bust of Lord Chesterfield now in the
British Museum (bequeathed by Sir Thomas Robinson in 1777) was modelled by
Joseph Wilton but carved by Nathaniel Smith.
It uses the "Roubiliac late
type socle" - an interesting feature that might go someway to confirm
Smith's involvement.
It is my suggestion that any socle on a portrait bust would have been carved
not by the master but by an assistant either in the workshop or sub contracted.
After Roubiliac’s death he became Joseph Wilton’s assistant.
According to J T Smith, the much admired bust of Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of
Chesterfield, 1757, was modelled by Wilton but actually carved by Nathaniel. Smith. The exact circumstances of the Chesterfield commission are unknown but the bust was
presumably carved for Chesterfield House, London.
From 1767 - 9 he was in Portland Place.
John Thomas Smith also claimed that his father spent three years
carving the figures on Wilton’s monument to General Wolfe in Westminster Abbey,
and that he ‘executed a great deal of the sculpture on Somerset House [some of
it with John Atkins] for which Wilton received the money’.
Margaret Whinney notes that
Wilton’s work there included statues of the four continents on the attic at the
north side of the court and 4 of the 8 colossal masks of rivers on the Strand
front, together with vases, lions and chimneypieces. Smith carved three heads
of river gods, designed by J B Cipriani (8).
By 1779 he had become Joseph Nollekens’s
principal assistant (inf. John Kenworthy Brown).
Smith’s monument to Sir Merrick Burrell at West Grinstead West Sussex of 1787 has a medallion portrait backed by
drapery and the design derives from Roubiliac’s Harvey monument at Hempstead (1758).
The model of Alderman Beckford for a statue in Guildhall was
submitted in competition with Agostino Carlini, John Flaxman RA and others.
John Francis Moore won the contract. It again endorses Smith’s competence and
invites speculation why such an obviously talented craftsman never gained an
independent reputation.
Algernon Graves notes a secondary career, describing him as a
‘Sculptor and Miniature Painter’, who showed miniatures at the Society of
Artists in 1767 - 9 and 1773 (Graves 1907, 241).
He resided and ran his publishing and print/engraving business at the Rembrandt's Head,
Great May's Buildings, St.Martin's Lane, London (in 1792-3, 1795, 1797-8). 8
May's Buildings, St Martin's Lane, London.
Six sales of his stock between 1803-9 (last 26 April 1809)
Volume with his annotations of auctions of artists effects
1790-1800 is in V&A Library, pressmark 23.L.
Nathaniel Smith - Some Literary References:
JT Smith II, 1828, 110;
Whinney 1988, 198,
267, 461 n32 ;
Dawson 1999, 10, 68;
Bilbey 2002, 152-3; IGI;
Wilson 2007,
73-83;
Wilson 2009 (1), 122
Will (?): PRO/FRC PROB 11/1493 (described as sculptor and
printseller of Greenwich)
Miscellaneous Drawings: ‘Drawings of figures from Models’
premium, under 22 category, Soc of A, 27 Feb 1759 (RSA Minutes, 1758-60, seq 2
fol 27)
Auction: Smith 1803; Smith1809
