Henry Herbert 9th Earl of Pembroke, A terracotta Bust by Roubiliac

 

This post is still currently under construction.

Henry Herbert 9th Earl of Pembroke, 

A Terracotta Bust by Roubiliac.

in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.

These rather indifferent photographs below were recently added to the Art UK website.

It is a great shame that these photographs are so poor - hopefully next time I an in Cambridge I will be able to see and photograph this bust myself.

https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/henry-herbert-16931749-9th-earl-of-pembroke-frs-300352/view_as/grid/search/work_type:sculpture--makers:louis-franc_ois-roubiliac-169517021762/page/1

Currently their website is quite difficult to navigate to unless saved to favourites. 

The socle is almost certainly a slightly later addition

nb. the spelling of Roubiliac.

Acquisition: bequeathed; 1816; Fitzwilliam, Richard, 7th Viscount.

 

Provenance:

Henry Herbert, 9th Earl of Pembroke, FRS (1693-1749/50; Countess of Pembroke, his widow; ? ; Richard, 7th Viscount Fitzwilliam of Merrion (d. 1816).

Notes:

The 9th Earl of Pembroke married Mary Fitzwilliam in 1733 , sister of the 6th Viscount Fitzwilliam, whose heir, Richard, was the founder of the Fitzwilliam Museum.

 In The Life and Works of François Roubiliac. London: Oxford University Esdaile, Katharine A.. 1928.Pressp. p. 91.  this work is not to be entirely trusted.

 

Ref. p. 91, note 4, says the inscription 'Roubilliac [sic] fec' is modern. 'The model passed first to the Countess's family, then to Cambridge along with the Hercules (pl: XIII b and now atrributed to Rysbrack R.A.B.) and the antique head of Agrippina with a pedestal by Roubiliac (Arnold's Library of the Fine Arts iv, 183, p. 1840).' 

The marble bust, for which this was the model, and that of the Countess are at Wilton in the church; there is another of Lord Pembroke in Wilton House, and one at the Birmingham City Museum  and Art Gallery.?? 

Mr Gunnis's records there is a bill from Roubiliac for the bust in the church

see my blog entry: - https://english18thcenturyportraitsculpture.blogspot.com/2019/07/bust-hamilton-orkney-rysbrack.html?m=0

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Henry Herbert, 9th Earl of Pembroke (and 6th Earl of Montgomery), FRS.

 

Louis Francois Roubiliac.

 

Circa 1749.

Depicted facing to sinister; on an integral square marble socle carved with the Pembroke coat of arms and inscribed ‘VNG. GP. SERVERAY’.

Photograph courtesy Lullo Pampoulides.

 

24 5/8 in. (62.5 cm.) high  32¼ in. (82 cm.) high overall, including socle

Provenance:

 

Henry Herbert, 9th Earl of Pembroke, by descent to his son

Henry Herbert, 10th Earl of Pembroke;

 Placed on the monument to the 9th Earl of Pembroke in St. Mary’s Church, Wilton, Wiltshire, before 3 July, 1754 (when seen by Dr. Richard Pococke)

The bust and parts of the monument moved to the new Church of St. Mary and St. Nicholas, Wilton, Wiltshire in 1845;

Bust sold (following the grant by the church court of a faculty for removal) by

17th Earl of Pembroke (heir-at-law of the 9th Earl of Pembroke, and therefore owner of the bust) in 1997 (via Christie's) to

 

Professor Ian Craft, by whom sold, 2005, to

Private Collection, London.

This bust was exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, in the Sculpture in Britain Galleries since 2005.

Sold by dealers Lullo - Pampoulides to a private collector, USA.

 

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Extract from the Christie's Sale Catalogue. Lot 83, 2nd December 1997.

 

Three versions of the present bust are known. The other two, one of which is paired by a bust of the Earl's wife, Mary, the eldest daugher of Richard, Viscount Fitzwilliam, are at Wilton House. Although none is signed, their attribution to Roubiliac has not been doubted since they were first discussed by Mrs. Esdaile in her monograph on the sculptor, where she also referred to a terracotta model of the bust of the Earl in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, bearing a modern inscription, 'Roubilliac [sic] fec.' (Esdaile, loc. cit.).

 

More recently, archival research has revealed that Roubiliac received £165 and a halfpenny in 1751 from the executors of the 9th Earl for his monument, of which the present bust formed a part (Bindman and Baker, loc. cit.).

 

It would appear, however, that the bust may not originally have been intended for the monument, but was more probably an independent portrait, which was subsequently enlisted for the task. It was, in any event, certainly in place as early as 3 July 1754, when it was described by Richard Pococke as having the form of 'a marble bust as against a pyramid' (Pococke, loc. cit.).

 

The original form of the monument was considerably modified when it was transferred from the chancel of the old medieval church at Wilton in 1845 to its present location in the new church.

 

The bust has now been replaced by a replica.

Here are some snaps of this bust taken by the author at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

It is my guess that this bust might have spent some time outdoors and has suffered some weathering.

The flesh of the face and the robe have at some point been repolished (to my eye over polished) and then a wax applied which has given the surface a sort of shiny quality 

For this marble bust of Pembroke by Roubiliac formerly on the monument in the church of St Mary and St Nicholas at Wilton sold at Christies lot 83 2nd December 1997.

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There was originally a marble pyramid and urn on the monument at one time which has since disappeared - probably when the medieval church was remodelled in 1845. It was perhaps at this period that it spent some time outdoors.

see -

https://www.christies.com/lot/lot-a-carved-marble-bust-of-henry-herbert-304181/?

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The Bust of the 9th Earl of Pembroke at Wilton House.

and Mary Fitzwilliam Countess of Pembroke.

Roubiliac.

Currently no good close up photographs available - I hope to rectify this in due course.

Photographs below are courtesy Country Life Archives.

The Busts of Andrew Fountaine and Martin Folkes by Roubiliac at Wilton House.

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Left foreground - Roubiliac's bust of Henry Herbert

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William Shakespeare.

Portland stone.

Peter Scheemakers.

All being well I will be visiting Wilton House shortly to obtain my own photographs of the portrait sculpture.

see my blog post.

http://bathartandarchitecture.blogspot.com/2016/01/the-rysbrack-statuettes-of-rubens-van.html

Images courtesy.

Country Life Picture Library.

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Busts of Leland and Linacre at All Souls Oxford

The Plaster and Terracotta Busts of Leland and Linaker/Linacre originally in the Hall at All Souls College, Oxford University.

The plaster bust (one of 23) of Linacre on the bookcases in the former Codrington Library supplied by John Cheere in 1750.

The second and far superior terracotta bust of Linacre here suggested as sculpted by Roubiliac.

and the missing bust of Leland seen in the engravings (below) also suggested as by Roubiliac.

It had recently come to my attention via the Art UK website that I had missed the bust of Thomas Linacre at All Souls when I visited in order to photograph the 23 Cheere busts in the Codrington Library, and the busts of Archbishop Chichele and Nicholas Hawksmore by Roubiliac, annoyingly neither the existence of the second and far superior bust of Linacre, the plaster bust of Chichele or that of Giles Bennett had been pointed out to me - had I been aware I would have taken my own photographs of these busts.

This bust of Linacre was not in the library at the time of my visit - I also missed the bust of Giles Bennett and Nicolas Hawksmoor which are still in the Buttery at all Souls.

I am very grateful to Gaye Morgan, Librarian at All Souls for her help in putting together this essay and others on the portrait sculpture at All Souls.

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For a good overview of the portrait sculpture at All Souls see my previous post -

http://bathartandarchitecture.blogspot.com/2018/04/cheere-busts-codrington-library-all.html

and the individual posts for each of the 24 busts and the matching set of urns.

In 1750, twenty-five bronze vases and twenty-four bronze 'bustoes' of college worthies were ordered from Cheere to decorate the top of the shelves.

Versions of these urns/vases are at Lydiard House, near Swindon along with a group of classical plaster busts supplied by John Cheere.

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Thomas Linacre (c.1503 - 52).

Painted terracotta.

 Measurements  H 55.9 cm.

It has been suggested (in wikipeadia) that these two busts are by Roubiliac and certainly the quality of the bust of Linacre could point to him as creator.

Certainly put up prior to 1767 and given that the plaster bust of Linacre by John Cheere which is an inferior version of this bust was put up in 1750 - I would suggest that it was sculpted pre 1750.

The marble bust of Chichele is signed and dated 1751 but the plaster bust was perhaps taken from an earlier terracotta 

Photographs above  credited to All Souls College Oxford, 

Courtesy Art UK website

https://www.artuk.org/discover/artworks/thomas-linacre-c-14601524-275526

Thomas Linacre was a Fellow of All Souls from 1484 until 1493. He became the first President of the College of Physicians founding lectureships in medicine at both Oxford and Cambridge. 

This historical bust was originally in the Hall with a corresponding bust of the Antiquarian John Leland, now missing, an engraving of which was published in W. Huddersford's 'Life of Leland' in 1772. Another portrait bust of Linacre by John Cheere is amongst the twenty-three in the Codrington Library.

These busts of Linacre and Leland are mentioned as being in the hall on the chimneypiece flanking the bust of Chichele by Roubiliac in The English Connoisseur: Containing an Account of Whatever is Curious in Painting Sculpture etc ...By Thomas Martyn published 1767. Volume II page 29

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The Plaster Busts of Linacre

 Supplied by John Cheere 

in what was until recently called the Codrington Library, All Souls College Oxford.

Height 55 cms.

The bust on the bookcase closely resembles the bust above but is obviously by a less skilled sculptor 

either by John Cheere or a workman in the yard at Hyde Park Corner 

One of a set of twenty three plaster busts of Fellows of the College which were commissioned from John Cheere and put up in 1750 at the cost of £195 15s following the order and selection of Sir William Blackstone. A few of them are based on contemporary portraits.

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Thomas Linacre.

Black chalk, graphite, with highlights and red chalk on face and hands.

17th? Century .

347 x 208 mm.

British Museum.

Annotated in pen in brown ink below drawing -

"Thomas Linacre professeur en medecine a son Isle Anglaise, homme certes docte aus deux langues, Grecqs et Latine, ayant copose plusieurs doctes liures, mourat a Lodres Lan de nee seigr." On verso in pencil "

D. Lincoln in letter of Oct. 28, 1949 suggests that this drawing is by the same hand as the original studies for the engravings in Theret's 'Hommes Illustre' 1584, which are in an interleaved copy of the work in the Bibliotheque Nationale".

Bequeathed to the BM by: Clayton Mordaunt Cracherode (on verso in ink Cracherode's monogram and date 1778).

see -

https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_Gg-1-413

Thomas Linacre.

Etching pub 1794 of the Cracherode drawing above.

114 x 97 mm.

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The Bust of Leland. 

in the Refectory at All Souls in 1772.

engraving from Huddersfield's Life.

1772.

Grignion (1721 - 1810).

The conformation of the Socle should be noted 

(as that on the bust of Linacre).

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John Leland published by William Richardson.

line engraving, published June 1796.

7 1/2 in. x 5 1/8 in. (191 mm x 129 mm) 

See my previous post for an in depth look at the Codrington Library Statuary at All Souls College Oxford University:

http://bathartandarchitecture.blogspot.com/2018/05/the-codrington-library-plaster-busts-by_8.html

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Archbishop Chichele.

The Plaster and marble busts.

Louis Francois Roubiliac.

The grey painted plaster and marble busts of Archbishop Chichele for comparison.

The grey painted version might well have been subject to some damage which would explain the thick overpainting.

It would be a very interesting exercise to remove the overpainting on this bust.

The socle or support of the plaster has been copied from that of the marble but there remains some of the original socle which follows that of the busts of Linacre and Leland.

At first glance the appear to be the same but close inspection reveals some differences. 

Roubiliac's masterful depiction of the fur on the dress of the marble is missing on the plaster.

This perhaps suggests that the plaster was taken from a terracotta prototype and that the marble is a refined version of the original.

The Bust of Nicholas Hawksmoor.

Nicholas Hawksmoor.

Roubiliac.

Life Size Plaster.

Height 54.6.

Buttery, All Souls College, Oxford. 

Photograph All Souls from Art UK Website.

https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/nicholas-hawksmoor-16611781-275517/search/venue:all-souls-college-university-of-oxford-7507/page/3

The architect Nicholas Hawksmoor was apprenticed to Christopher Wren and was employed in the construction of the Chelsea Hospital between 1687 and 1689, St Paul's from 1691 to 1712 and at the Greenwich Hospital in 1705. 

For the last fifteen years of his life he was responsible for the designs for the redevelopment of All Souls and was the architect of the formerlay called Codrington Library, the Buttery, the North Quadrangle and the Hall, all built between 1716 and 1740.This bust is the only known likeness of Hawksmoor. The  bronze cast  was given by the Warden and Fellows of All Souls in 1962 to the National Portrait Gallery in London.