Mrs Damer and her busts of Nelson.
In an account of Damer, Horace Walpole praises the subject as a ‘genius,’ a rival to Bernini, her works‘alive,’ and her creations ‘not inferior to the antique’. I think this is going a bit far!
As a friend of Sir William and Lady Hamilton, Mrs Damer probably met Nelson in Naples in 1798, afterwards offering a bust of the Hero to the City of London.
On his return to London in 1800, Nelson gave Damer a sitting during which he presented her with his uniform coat worn at the Battle of the Nile.
.....................
The Paragraphs below adapted from - https://www.19thc-artworldwide.org/autumn08/the-invisible-sculpteuse-sculptures-by-women-in-the-nineteenth-century-urban-public-spacelondon-paris-brussels
In January 1799, Mrs Damer offered a plaster cast of her bust of Nelson in modern dress to the City of London Court of Common Council which was accepted.
The marble version, which followed later—it was only finished in 1803 and publicly exhibited the year after—was initially put in the Common Council Room, then in the dining room of the Guildhall when Nelson’s death was announced, and finally in the present Guildhall Art Gallery.
Damer knew that donating portraits, especially celebrity-portraits, could be a clever strategy to further her career, and she employed that strategy frequently.
Immediately after Nelson’s death in 1805, Damer attempted to secure a commission for a public monument in his honour for the Guildhall.
The London Common Council read a letter during its meeting of November 26, 1805 in which Damer nominated herself for the execution of a monument for Nelson:
"My Lord, understanding that a statue or monument is to be decreed to the memory of Lord Nelson, I take the liberty most respectfully to offer my services to the City of London on this occasion, encouraged by the honor they have already done me in their acceptance of my bust of that immortal hero.
Should I be so highly flattered by the City of London to succeed in my request, no pains nor exertion on my part to the utmost of my power will be spared on the execution of this grand object and every attention will be paid to the orders I may receive on the subject and to the taste of those who shall do me the honor to employ me.
Proper models will be made for their inspection and approbation and as no emolument will be required by me, the whole of the sum destined to this work may be employed in the materials to the surplus disposed of as they may decide hereafter…"
In response to her request, the Council members assured Damer that “they have felt flattered by your very generous and patriotic offer,” but, in the same letter, they informed her that it was decided to hold an anonymous contest. Damer participated, but James Smith won.
It was probably an exceptional triumph for Smith; (it appears that) he had sculpted many of Damer’s plaster casts into marble for her, and had publicly vented his anger over the fact that she did not mention his contribution. Cunningham, “Anne Seymour Damer,” 220, 234–35.
A copy of an original by Anne Seymour Damer which she is thought to have made in Naples towards the end of 1798, where Nelson stayed for a period to recover from injuries after the Battle of the Nile in September 1798.
It has been suggested that these plaster copies were made by the sculptor Bartholomew Papera (d. 1815) who by 1805 was advertising the sale of casts after Damer's bust at his shop in London, and in 1802 made a similar painted plaster bust for Wedgewood.
Bartholemew Papera (d. 1815).
In 1802, Wedgwood purchased busts of Siddons, Lord Nelson and the Hon. Mrs. Damer, from B. Papera, see Reilly Wedgwood, 2:457.
Bartholomew Papera was said to have been a lapsed Roman Catholic clergyman of Italian birth, if Richard Beamish’s account in the Phrenological Journal of the life of James Philip Papera can be credited.
He is also said to have helped Anne Seymour Damer to escape Paris after the Peace of Amiens and to have numbered Sir Thomas Lawrence among his acquaintances.
The first record of Papera’s activities dates from 1790, when he was listed in Wakefield’s London Directory at Marylebone Street, Golden Square.
In the Petworth House archives is a receipt dated 29 January 1801 from ‘B Papera’ for several models which included a ‘3 foot figure’ at £3 12s’ a ‘Gladeator’ and ‘Hercules’ at 16 shillings each, and a ‘Laying Venus’ which cost 8 shillings (1).
The following year Wedgwood paid him for three busts and ‘one vase with lamp’ (Wedgwood MSS L108/20403, Papera acct, 12 June 1802) and in 1806, as ‘Mr Papera figure-maker’, he supplied busts to Lord Bridport (Soane, Abstract of Bills 3, fol 118) (5).
An advertisement in The Times of 23 November 1805, announced that casts after the bust of Nelson by Anne Seymour Damer could be had at his shop (4) and his trade card of 1806 describes him as ‘B. PAPERA Figure Maker TO HER MAJESTY No16 Marylebone St, Golden Square’ (BM, Banks Collection 106.22).
Papera later sold a figure of Hercules to the clock and decorative metalwork manufacturer, Benjamin Vulliamy (2). A modified version of this figure, modelled by James Smith, was used for several sets of candelabra produced by the firm. The earliest examples were two pairs supplied to Thomas, Viscount Anson for Shugborough, Staffs, in 1812 and the model was still in use as late as 1821. In his will, which gives his christian name as Bartholomew, Papera left all his property to his wife Susannah. It mentioned his daughter Louisa Papera and a son called James, who may well have been James Philip Papera.
Literary References: Gunnis 1968, 289; Clifford 1992, 61; Yarrington 1997, 41, 43 n76; Murdoch 2004, 98-9
Archival References: GPC
Wills and Administrations: ‘Bartholomew Papera, Figure Maker of st James, Westminster’PROB 11/1572 (8 August 1815)
For a more in depth look at the Papera family see -
Trade Card of Papera - British Museum.
Bartholomew Papera would carry ‘new things round to artists in baskets’, according to John Thomas Smith, (Nollekens and His Times pub. 1828 who tells how Joseph Nollekens welcomed the opportunity to inspect such novelties although, on one occasion, he bridled when Papera named a rival, John Deare as the modeller.
It was
possible to hire plaster figures, as Nollekens informed his fellow sculptor,
Francis Chantrey, ‘You may hire casts at Papera's and Genelli's’, and as the
amateur artist, Sarah Harriet Burney, told a friend in 1804, ‘By subscribing a
shilling a week to Papara, the Plaisterman, I got what busts or whole length
figures I pleased’ – which she could then use in her studies.
The bust of Nelson was advertised by B. Papera in the Oracle and Daily Advertiser - 11 December 1805.
Inscription content: Lettered with motto: "Palmam qui Meruit Ferat", title: "This Bust of Lord Nelson executed in marble by the Honble Anne Seymour Damer / on his return to England after the Battle of the Nile 1801 was presented by her / to the City of London and is now placed in the Council Chamber Guildhall".
"Dedicated by permission
to the Right Hon the Lord Mayor, the Worshipful Court of Aldermen, and the
Common Council of the City of London." and production detail: "Drawn,
Engraved & published June 1st 1806 by C. Knight Webb Lane,
Hammersmith"
The Bust of Horatio Nelson.
Mezzotint engraving after Beechey.
Stipple engraving, published - 2 December 1805.
506 mm x 362 mm.
..............................
The Lucius Gahagan Busts of Nelson.
I have published at some length on the Gahagan dynasty of sculptors -
see - https://bathartandarchitecture.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-rysbrack-statuettes-of-rubens-van_38.html
It would appear that the original version of Nelson was carved in 1798.
..................
The Bust of Nelson by Lucius Gahagan.
Mezzotint.
Height: 383 millimetres
Width: 281 millimetres
by William Barnard.
1805.
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1857-0613-280
Lettered below the image with the title, continuing 'and of
Burnham Thorpe in the County of Norfolk, & K.B.', incorporated into a
dedication to the 'Marquis of Circello, His Sicilian Majesty's Envoy
Extraordinary & Minister Plenipotentiary to his Britannic Majesty', and
"Gahagan Modelr,, / Barnard Sculp. / London, Publish'd as the Act directs
21t Octr. 1805 being the day for commemorating his Lordship's ever memorable
& Glorious Victory over the French, &c. &c. &c.".
The Bust of Horatio Nelson by Lucius Gahagan.
The identity of the sculptor of the bust of Nelson comes in
an advertisement published in the "Morning Chronicle" on 12 April,
1806 (found on the British Library 19th century newspapers database):
LUCIUS GAHAGAN.– respectfully informs the Nobility and Gentry, that he is the only Professional Sculptor who ever was honoured with sittings for a BUST of the great LORD NELSON, having already sold upwards of 300 Casts, and also executed them in Marble and real Bronze, he hopes will be sufficient proof of the likeness being satisfactory.
Casts of the above may be had of the Artist, No.5. Bentinck-street, Berwick-street, Soho, and nowhere else.
Price one Guinea, or the size of Life Three Guineas each, to be paid for
on delivery, The BUST of the Right Hon. WILLIAM PITT will be published in a few
days.
..............................
Bust of Nelson.
Laurence Gahagan.
Marble.
57cm high
Sold by Auctioneers Lyon and Turnbull 28 September 2002
https://www.lyonandturnbull.com/auctions/fine-antiques-52/lot/273
The auctioneers description -
The bust inscribed to rear 'L. Gahagan Fecit Jan 1st
MDCCCVI'; the plinth bears brass plaque inscribed 'Part of the Victory,
Trafalgar 21st October 1805, Presented by the Lords Commissioners of the
Admiralty to the Caledonian United Service Club 1844'
The plain neck encircled by a scarf bearing the Large Naval Gold Medal, on a socle plinth; resting on a circular pedestal hung with a laurel wreath, carved from oak removed from HMS Victory
Nelson sat to Gahagan at his lodgings in London in 1798 for the bust which he exhibited at the Royal Academy and is now the Royal Naval Museum, Portsmouth. He and his family subsequently developed something of a reputation for producing likenesses of Nelson although including this one only four marble examples are known, all of them slightly different. The other marbles are at the Victoria Art Gallery, Bath, and the Homan Potterton Collection, New York; the latter is signed and dated in a similar manner to this one, the date being 1815.
Provenance: The Caledonian Club, formerly the Caledonian
United Service Club, Edinburgh.
.................................
Nelson.
Lucius (not Lawrence) Gahagan.
Marble Bust.
53 x W 27 x D 24 cm.
National Museum of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth.
Born Lawrence Geoghan in Dublin, the sculptors father changed his
name when he moved to London in 1756 where his small bronze busts of
celebrities gained a considerable reputation.
This bust of Nelson was produced soon after Trafalgar in 1805. The National Maritime Museum has a terracotta version, inscribed L Gahagan Sculptor London.
The museum believes this may be the original from which the Plas Newydd bronze (below)was cast
.............................
Nelson
Lucius Gahagan
Bronze, on a veined marble base
inscribed: Nelson / Born 1758 / Died 1805.
The Property of the Marquess of Anglesey from the Private
Apartment at Plas Newydd.
A Bust of Nelson, Lucius Gahagan 1773-1855
Plaster, bust of Lord Nelson, raised on a fixed socle
plinth,
inscribed 'L Gahagan fecit. Published Decbr 1839'
and
inscribed '1798' probably added later.
Remnants of paper label, height 53.5cm
........................
The Victoria Art Gallery Bath Bust of Nelson.
after Lucius Gahagan
At first glance this bust appears to be an early 19th Century plaster cast but appearances can be deceptive.
Clipping from Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette 22 July 1939.
The Nelson inscription on the front panel was probably added by Messrs Keevil of Bath.
......................
Nelson.
Lucius Gahagan.
Auctioneers Mallams. Oxford, 29 January 2020.
The 21¼in (54cm) high work was indistinctly
marked to the rear of the right shoulder L. Ghn and numbered 17(?)5.
...........................
Nelson
Gahagan (after?)
They say bronze - it looks like lead to me!
H 38 x W 16 x D 20 cm.
I will stick my neck out here - probably a 20th century cast - to me the lack of definition speaks volumes.
Hatton Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne.
Images courtesy art uk website.
https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/horatio-nelson-17581805-266144
https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/horatio-nelson-17581805-266144
..........................
47 cm high
Based on the Bust by Gahagan.
This bust was made shortly after Nelson’s death at the Battle of Trafalgar, on the 21st October 1805, a memorable day in British history which assured the British navy command of the seas for almost the entire nineteenth century. Although born the son of a modest Norfolk parson, by the time of his death Nelson’s name was perhaps the most revered in England while he was admired even by his nation’s enemies. His inspired qualities of leadership insured that his officers and men would meet even the most difficult challenges when he was in command.
https://www.stairsainty.com/artwork/bust-vice-admiral-horatio-lord-nelson-709/
...................................
Nelson and Wellington.
Height 34 cms.
Plaster busts by Shout of Holborn.
The Bust of Nelson is based on the original bust by Lucius Gahagan.
A pair of Regency ebonised plaster busts of Lord Wellington and Admiral Nelson by Robert Shout, British, 1760-1843,
Signed to the backs, Made and published by Shout, No. 18 High Holborn London September 23d 1814, Duke of Wellington R Shout 18 Holborn London and
Made and Published 10 Oct 1798 by L.....made and sold by R Shout Holborn Lord Nelson....by R Shout 18 High Holborn London 1805 ".
https://www.roseberys.co.uk/a0364-lot-459965
Of tangential interest here is the use of the square based panelled socle much employed by John Cheere
......................
The Hardenburg Plaster Busts of Nelson and Wellington
Inscribed F.Hardenberg, 19 Mount Street Gross (Grosvenor) Square London".
He was at that address of 1797-1831.
Height 65 cms.
For another signed and dated plaster bust by Hardenberg see -
A Regency Plaster Bust of Charlotte Augusta, Princess of
Wales, 1796-1817, by F Hardenberg, cream painted and inscribed PUBLISHED
JANUARY 2 1818 BY F HARDENBERG. 10 MOUNT STR NO. 13, 78cm high
and another version at
https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-5373229
For A Set of Three Regency Plaster Figures. George III, Charles James Fox, and Pitt the Younger.
see - https://www.bada.org/object/rare-set-three-regency-plaster-figures
https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6318841
see also another pair of polychrome figures of George III- https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2024/classic-design-furniture-clocks-silver-ceramics/two-painted-polychrome-decorated-plaster-figures
For the Hardenberg bust of Lord Ellenborough
https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/lord-ellenborough-17501818-274788
.................................
The NMM Plaster Bust of Nelson by Shout.
1805.
350 mm x 215 mm x 100 mm
A plaster version of Robert Shout's bust of Nelson as produced in black basalt by Wedgwood in 1798. It has been updated by altering the hair to a brushed-forward style. The figure is shown in rear-admiral's full-dress uniform, with one Naval gold medal inscribed 'NILE 1. AUGT. 1798' and wearing the ribbon and star of the Bath.
Incised on the back is 'Pub'd 10th Oct. 1798 by L. Gahagan made & sold by R. Shout Holborn. Lord Nelson alter'd by R. Shout, 18 Holborn London 1805'.
The surface is painted black.
Credit line: © National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London,
Walter Collection
National Maritime Museum Greenwich.
........................................
The Wedgwood Basalt Busts of Nelson.
After the original by Lucius Gahagan.
1798.
Cast from the model provided to Wedgwood by plaster figure manufacturers Robert Shout of Holborn. London.
For a very useful biography of Benjamin and Robert Shout by Jacob Simon see -
For more on the Shout's manufactory see -
https://bathartandarchitecture.blogspot.com/2017/05/two-mysterious-plaster-busts-probably.html
A Reduced Version of the Gahagan Bust.
indented -
After the original plaster by Robert Shout, impressed maker's marks to back and under socle, further impressed 'NELSON' Published July 22nd R. Shout Sep 1798 Holborn - 10½in. (27cm.) high.
Image etc from the website of auctioneer Charles Miller, London
Lot 81 21 October 2009.
https://www.charlesmillerltd.com/auction/lot/81-a-black-basalt-bust-of-nelson-by/?lot=6721&sd=1
.....................
impressed with maker's marks and named 'Nelson' behind, and
inscribed Pubd. July 22nd 1798 / R Shout 5 HOLBORN -- 11in. (28cm.) high on
3½in. high wooden plinth
.................................
Horatio Nelson.
Plaster Bust.
Height 28 cms.
Inscribed to the reverse Nelson Pub. April 23 1814.
by J.
Grunsell, 46 Strand.
Acts of Parliament in 1798 and 1814 relating to ‘Making New
Models and Casts of Busts’, gave producers a form of copyright which conferred
exclusive rights for 14 years on persons who created new models or casts of
human or animal figures if marked with publication details.
A reduced version of the Gahagan Bust - Grunsell is not mentioned in the Biographical Dictionary.... Pub Yale 2009
..............................
Nelson.
William Coffee (1746 - 1840).
29 cms.
Coffee established his own business as a sculptor and modeller in Derby by 1803.
He had previously worked for Coade in London and the
Derby China Manufactory.
Christie's South Ken. The Hone Sale, 2016.
......................................
The Thaller Bust of Nelson.
Franz Thaller, after Matthias Ranson.
Vienna.
At first glance the Thaller bust is easily mistaken for the Gahagan bust but closer inspection reveals substantial differences. The Gahagan bust looks to his (proper) right the Thaller bust looks slightly to his left.
The copy / version of this bust by Flaxman (see below) in my opinion the detailing of Flaxman's bust is better than the original
He wears the ribands of the Bath and Crescent, the stars of the Crescent (above), St Ferdinand (left), the Bath (right) and the two Naval gold medals awarded for St Vincent and the Nile, the latter in reverse inscribed: "NILE / FIRST AUGUST / 1798".
Below the stars another
medal is fastened with a ribbon bow, its design showing the 'Victory' and
'Britannia' but probably intended to represent Davison's Nile medal. On the
back the bust is inscribed 'FRANZ THALLER / ET / MATTHIAS RANSON / VIENNAE
AYSTR / MDDCCCI'.
........................
Nelson.
Franz Thaller, after Matthias Ranson.
The Marble Bust.
Size Overall: 711 mm x 460 mm x 300 mm
The National Maritime Museum Bust.
On the back the bust is inscribed 'FRANZ THALLER / ET / MATTHIAS RANSON / VIENNAE AYSTR / MDDCCCI'.
Matthias Ranson, took a cast of Nelson's face, from
which the sculpture was finished after his departure. The work was completed in
1801 and shipped to England, where it was kept at Merton by Lady Hamilton.
He wears the ribands of the Bath and Crescent, the stars of the Crescent (above), St Ferdinand (left), the Bath (right) and the two Naval gold medals awarded for St Vincent and the Nile, the latter in reverse inscribed: "NILE / FIRST AUGUST / 1798". Below the stars another medal is fastened with a ribbon bow, its design showing the 'Victory' and 'Britannia' but probably intended to represent Davison's Nile medal.
It was purchased by Sir James Caird as part of the Trafalgar House collection in May 1948, with the grey marble column on which it stood. Nelson originally sat for the bust in Vienna in 1800, a cast of his face being taken at the same time, from which it was finished after his departure. It was probably shipped to him in England in 1801.
There it was subsequently much
copied, especially following the Battle of Copenhagen in that year, and
including by Nollekens and Turnerelli.
https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-64029
Another version (after Flaxman) is at the Russell Cotes Museum.
https://russellcotes.com/collection-piece/horatio-nelson-1st-viscount-nelson-1758-1805/
Another version formerly with Hansord antiques
https://hansord.com/works-of-art/marble-bust-of-vice-admiral-lord-nelson
and another -
................................
Nelson.
By or more likely a copy after Thaller.
Government Art Collection.
https://artcollection.dcms.gov.uk/artwork/4598/
The website gives no more details of provenance
At first glance a competent sculpture but on close inspection the carved detailing of this bust is not very good particularly the hair and the decoration on the chest.
Current Location. Royal College of Defence Studies, Seaford House, Belgrave
Square. London.
....................................
The John Flaxman
He is shown in vice-admiral's full-dress uniform (two shoulder stars), wearing the ribands of the Bath and St Ferdinand, the stars of the Crescent (reversed), the Bath and St Ferdinand, and two Naval gold medals worn from the neck (for St Vincent above and the Nile below, the latter inscribed 'NILE / AUGUST / 1 / MDCCXCVIII'.
Below the stars another medal with the figures of 'Victory' and 'Britannia' is suspended from a ribbon bow, resembling the obverse of the Naval gold medal but probably intended to be the Nile medal issued privately by Nelson's agent, Alexander Davison.
The empty right sleeve is pinned across at the bottom, the anchors of the cuff buttons set diagonally.
Nelson's admiration for Flaxman as a sculptor is recorded in correspondence of 1801 with Sir Edward Berry, when he contributed £200 toward Flaxman's monument of Captain Ralph Miller in St Paul's Cathedral. E.H. Baily is also recorded as reporting Nelson telling Flaxman that, if ever a statue were made of him, he hope the latter would carve it (Walker, 'The Nelson Portraits' (1998), p.175).
The prime version of this bust appears to have been one done for Alexander Davison in 1805-06. Despite being reportedly based on another poorly identified 'great bust', possibly Anne Damer's, that by Thaller and Ranson is far more likely to be the source. Davison could certainly have had access to the original (SCU0088), then still with Lady Hamilton, though other copies were already available (Walker, pp. 175-76).
Flaxman's version for Davison is probably that today owned by the Ministry of Defence (Walker, no. 215).
Provenance -
The present version was purchased with other material from the 3rd Viscount Bridport in 1978, having previously been on loan to the Museum since 1947. It had come to him from his aunt the Hon. Mary Hood (1873-1934), daughter of the 2nd Viscount Bridport (second creation), who in 1898 married Sir Frederick Cook of Doughty House, London, himself a notable collector.
It presumably descended to her from her great-grandmother, Charlotte Nelson, the admiral's niece and heir to his Sicilian Dukedom of Bronte.
A letter to the Museum of 15 December 1947 from the 3rd Viscount Bridport recounts that 'There is a story in my family that Nelson's niece, Charlotte (1787-1874) who married in 1810 Samuel 2nd Baron Bridport, in the presence of her grandson the late Alexander Nelson Hood KCVO (1854-1937), pointed to this bust and said, "That is the only true likeness that has ever been made of my dear uncle." This story was told me by Sir Alexander Hood, [who was] my great-uncle...' (see Walker, p.176).
The prime difference between SCU0090 and
the MoD version is that its shows the Order of the Crescent, more correctly, at
the bottom of the decorations: in the latter it is at the top. The cuff buttons
on the MoD version also differ, being shown with the anchors horizontal.
The Entire Property of Alexander Davison, Esq.' comprised
almost a thousand lots and took fourteen days to sell on the premises at St.
James's Square in April/May 1817. Lot 711 was a marble bust of Nelson by
Flaxman (now in the collection of the Ministry of Defence, London).
..............................
The Lewes Town Hall Plaster bust after Thaller.
The eared socle is similar to that used London plaster caster Pier Angelo Sarti (1793 - 1868) and Shout of Holborn
For much more on the Sarti workshop see -
https://bathartandarchitecture.blogspot.com/2021/02/the-sarti-busts-at-wimpole-hall.html
https://bathartandarchitecture.blogspot.com/2021/03/the-sarti-plaster-busts-at-wimpole-hall.html
https://wellcomecollection.org/works/drsadxx7
http://www.victorianweb.org/sculpture/athenaeum/catalogue.html
.............................
Images below from art uk werbsite -
https://batch.artuk.org/discover/artworks/horatio-nelson-17581805-259690/tagger/add
.....................
The Thaller Bust of Nelson.
by Dominic Cardosi, after Franz Thaller, after Matthias Ranson.
A Plaster cast of bust, based on a work of 1801.
c.1840's?
27 in. (686 mm) high
Purchased, 1934.
Cast after a bust carved by sculptor Franz Thaller (see National Maritime Museum ascension XV), August-September 1800, whilst he was in Vienna.
Only a small number of period marble busts of this type are known to exist. Recent examples have appeared at auction at -
Sotheby's London (5 October 2005, lot 75,
Duke's Dorchester (5 April 2023, and
Cheffin's Cambridge (23 November 2023,.
yet another appeared recently at Auctioneers Dominic Winter
The marble bust was shipped to England and various copies made in
larger numbers, including one by the sculptor Dominic Cardosi c. 1840 and a plaster
version is known by Peligrinno Mazzotti (1794 - 1879) of Norwich with two bronze copies made circa 1990.
In the 1841 census, Dominic Cardosi, age
given as 35, was listed in Gray’s Inn Lane heading a crowded lodging house of
14 men and boys, ages from 40 to 15, all listed as figure makers.
info - http://www.quilietti.com/italy-and-italian-scots-some-interesting-websites/1-the-figurine-makers/
P Cardosi - Figure maker is listed in a 1914 Directory at Vinyard Walk, Clerkenwell.
Britannia crowning the Bust of our late Hero Lord Nelson.
illustrating the bust by Thaller.
Describing it as owned by his late Lordship.
............................................
Nelson.
J.G. Bubb.
National Maritime Museum.
The front of the square base is inscribed 'NELSON' and the bust is signed on the back 'J. G. BUBB Sculpt'.
It was first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1810 and appears to have quickly entered the Nelson-Ward family (that of Nelson's and Lady Hamilton's daughter, Horatia, after her marriage in 1822) with whom it remained until 1955.
It then became the property
of Rupert Gunnis, author of the 'Dictionary of British Sculptors', who left it
to the Museum at his death ten years later.
Bubb’s marble bust of 1810 has been seen as a deriving from the portrait bust of Nelson in Rear Admiral’s uniform by the Austrian master Franz Thaller and his assistant Matthias Ranson.
James George Bubb (c.1781-1853) was the
son of a Strand tobacconist. He ‘exhibited from
an address in that same thoroughfare as a young man’, and that in 1806 rival
sculptor Lawrence Gahagan referred to him pejoratively as ‘Tobacconist Bubb’
(Rupert Gunnis).
