The Bronzed Statuettes supplied to Chomley Turner 

by John Cheere in 1749 to 

Kirkleatham Hall, Yorkshire:

currently at York Museum Trust store.

Illustrated with further examples of the Cheere Type Statuettes.

 

 

The Kirkleatham Isaac Newton.

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Locke, Kirkleatham.

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Lead Locke Sold Sotheby's New York 31 Jan 2013.

Sold previously Sotheby's London 9 Nov 1999.

Traces of old paint, Modern Resin Base, Height 19 5/8" - 49.8cms.

Another version in plaster was listed in a 1754 letter from the Cheere to John Grimston.

 

Rear view Sotheby's Locke.

 

 

 

 

Milton. Kirkleatham.

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Milton - Musee de Beaux Arts de Belge. Height 52.3cms.

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Milton at Ham House, (National Trust).

Height 20.25".

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Inigo Jones. Kirkleatham.

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Alexander Pope. Kirkleatham.

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Lead Statuette of Alexander Pope, V and A.

Height 47cms.

Given by Dr W.L.Hildburgh in 1955 along with a lead statuette of Spenser.

 

Both figures purchased together for £50 - Sotheby's 29 May 1953.

Photograph from http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O75323/alexander-pope-1688-1744-statuette-cheere-john/

 

 

 

 

 

William Shakespeare after the Scheemaker Monument in Westminster Abbey,

Supplied Kirkleatham in 1749.

Height 19.5 ".

 

 

Shakespeare, Musee de Beaux Arts de Belge, Height 51.1cms.

 

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Plaster Shakespeare Ham House, National Trust. Height, 20.5".

Supplied 1756.

 

 

 

 

 

Homer. Kirkleatham.

 

 

 

The Group of Bronzed Plaster Statuettes at Ham House. Acquired in 1756.

Shakespeare, Milton and Spenser.From National Trust Website.

Shakespeare 20.5"
Milton 20.25"
Spenser 20.75"

 

The Plaster Busts and a pair of Plaster Statuettes of Rubens and van Dyke at West Wycombe Park.

 

Alexander Pope, approx. 21" tall

 

 

 

 

 

Isaac Newton approx. 21" tall.

 

 

 

 

Locke, approx. 21" tall.

 

 

 

 

 

Milton approx. 21" tall.

 

 

 

 

Socrates, approx. 21" tall.

 

The busts all have the same socle of the type used by John Cheere -

 see the photograph of the Milton bust above.

 

 

Bronzed Plaster Statuette of van Dyck after Rysbrack - approx. 23" tall.

 

 

Bronzed Plaster statuette of Rubens after Rysbrack, approx. 24" tall.

 

Photographs very kindly supplied by Sir Edward Dashwood of West Wycombe Park.

 

 

Another view of the plaster statuette of van Dyck at West Wycombe Park.

This version is signed and dated 1743.

As far as I can tell this plaster statuette of van Dyck is unique bearing this inscription. The terracotta at Bristol Museum does not bear the same signature on the pedestal that he is leaning against.

The Stourhead versions are not signed and the York Museum Trust/Kirkleatham version is signed by Cheere

 

I am visiting West Wycombe shortly and will be able to take detailed photographs.

A much fuller investigation into the various versions of the Rysbrack statuettes of van Dyck, Rubens and du Quesnoy statuettes will follow on this blog in due course.

 

Photo Mark Sisley -

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Portrait of Rysbrack

Portrait of John - Michael Rysbrack

 Authors photograph.

Described on the FotoLibra website as Johannes Michel or John Michael Rysbrack (1693-1770)
by John Vanderbank (1694-1739).

The Statue in the back ground appears to be a reverse version of Du Quenoy's Saint Susanna completed 1633; in the Church of Santa Maria di Loreto, Rome.

Saint Susanna, Pantheon, Stourhead, Lifesize, Plaster.

Michael Rysbrack, (1693 - 1770) c.1729, Jonathan Richardson, the elder (1665 - 1745).

Height: 29." , Width: 25.5" approx.

                                                     Bequeathed by Captain H. B. Murray, 1910

Captain Murray bought the picture for 16 guineas at a sale at Christie's on 5th December 1908, where it was lot 107. The name of the previous owner is not given in the sale catalogue.

Victoria and Albert Museum.

__________________________

Engraved Vignette

Unknown author

National Portrait Gallery

John Cheere - Sculpture at Kirkleatham

The  Bronzed Plaster Busts supplied by John Cheere 

to Chomley Turner at Kirkleatham Hall, Yorkshire in 1749.

Currently in deep store at the York Museums Trust and unavailable for inspection until Autumn 2015.

Plaster bust of Joseph  Addison (1672 - 1719). Height 16.5" Perhaps from a lost bust by Roubiliac

See Friedman, Man at Hyde Park....

Plaster bust of Addison at Stourhead.

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Lead Bust of Addison probably by John Cheere from a photograph taken in 1917 of Heywood House, Ballinakill, co. Laois, Ireland. 

The garden was redesigned and furnished from about 1909 by Sir Edwin Lutyens for Lt. Col. Sir William Hutchinson Poe. 

This bust was one of four - the others were Cicero, Shakespeare and Handel. Size is difficult to determine probably three quarter life size. The house was destroyed by fire in 1950. They have disappeared - see my blog entry for - 21 January 2014.

Photograph courtesy Country Life Photo Archive.- http://www.countrylifeimages.co.uk/

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Sir Francis Bacon (1561 - 1626) Height 22". loosely based on the Roubiliac terracotta at Wilton House, for the marble of 1751 in the Library at Trinity College, Cambridge.

See Friedman, Man at Hyde Park...

Bacon, by Roubiliac, Trinity College, Cambridge.

Dr Samuel Clark (1672 - 1729). Height 22". There is a patinated lead bust at Beningborough Hall, National Portrait Gallery by Jamé Verhych, 1719. 23 5/8 in. (600 mm) high. (see below).

There is also a mezzotint of a bust of Clark by John Faber Jr, after unknown Sculptor described as done after the marble bust for her majesty's Hermitage in the Royal Garden at Richmond - mezzotint, circa 1725-1750. (see below).

Dr Samuel Clark, 

Lead.

Jamé Verhych, 1719. 

Beningborough Hall, National Trust.

Dr Samuel Clark, Mezzotint, c.1740.

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William Congreve (1670 - 1729), Dramatist, 

Height 16.75". 

 Perhaps loosely based on a portrait by Kneller.

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   John Dryden (1631 - 1700).

 Height 16"

Another similar plaster but with slightly different detailing to the clothing is at Stourhead, Wiltshire. 

Based on the marble in Westminster Abbey or another version at Hagley Hall.

Dryden, Stourhead, Height 22" approx.

Dean Jonathan Swift (1667 - 1745) Height 15.5"

All Images above courtesy of York Museums Trust.

http://yorkmuseumstrust.org.uk/ :: CC BY-SA 4.0

Low resolution photograph of a group of Cheere Type plaster busts - Prior, two as yet unidentified, possibly Sappho, Milton and Locke at Clandeboys House, Bangor County Down, Ireland.

Note Socles of the type popularised by Bartolomeo Cavaceppi and Nollekins. circa 1770.

These socles appear on later casts after Cheere.

Plaster Sculpture at Stourhead - Rubens and van Dyck

     

The Plaster Sculpture at Stourhead House, Wiltshire. 3.

 18th Century Bronzed Plaster Statuette of Sir Peter Paul Rubens after John Michael Rysbrack at Stourhead. Height 24". Unsigned.

 18th Century Bronzed Plaster Statuette of Sir Anthony van Dyck (1599 - 1641) after John Michael  Rysbrack. Arm missing. Unsigned.

Based on the original terracottas by Rysbrack of 1743

For a full discussion on these figures see in a forthcoming post.

Plaster Sculpture at Stourhead - The Bust of Alexander Pope

      

The Plaster Sculpture at Stourhead House, Wiltshire. 2.

Alexander Pope - The Library, Stourhead, Wiltshire, Plaster.

Height 22"

Barber Institute life size terracotta by Louis Francois Roubiliac, c. 1738

The Barber Institute life size terracotta of Alexander Pope by Roubiliac of c. 1738.

These two busts are so close and of such quality that the plaster must be a reduced copy of the Roubiliac terracotta.

The Plaster has a pronounced forward lean and the hair is slightly cruder than the Barber Roubiliac terracotta, but the modelling of the face, neck and clothing is of excellent quality(note the second smaller fold on the edge of the chemise).

The Gentleman's Magazine, and Historical Chronicle, Volume 95, Part 2, 1825 with reference to Stourhead mentions "a most spirited bust of Pope by Roubiliac which is generally admired".

The attribution to Harris of the Strand of c 1780 by various authors, I think should be questioned.

My current opinion is that it is a reduced version from the Roubiliac workshop