The Coade Stone Bust of Caracalla, dated 1792. revisited

 

The Coade Bust of Caracalla.

1792.

60 x 49 cm (23 ½ x 19 ¼ in.).

https://www.tomasso.art/artworkdetail/885959/20448/12-coade-caracalla

I was first made aware of this bust in early January this year.

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Since my previous posts of January 26 and February 16 of this year I have discovered that the bust is currently with the dealers Tomasso Brothers of London and Leeds - here are the links - 

https://bathartandarchitecture.blogspot.com/2026/01/coadestone-bust-of-caracalla-indented.html

https://bathartandarchitecture.blogspot.com/2026/02/the-bust-of-caracalla-at-foundling.html

The intention of this post is to illustrate the history of the reproduction of the bust of Caracalla in England in the 18th and into the 19th Centuries.

The genesis of these posts was a conversation with Lars Tharp regarding the surprising lack of any works by Roubiliac at the Foundling Hospital given his links with the Foundling and the St Martin's Lane Academy.

This dovetailed neatly with researches into the use of variations of the socle used uniquely by Roubiliac in the mid 18th century until his death in 1762 which was inspired by conversations with Dino Tomasso which led to researches into a marble bust of Laocoon now firmly attributed to Roubiliac (see the illustration below).

This form of socle was continued by various manufacturers of porcelaine, terracotta, Coade Stone and glazed earthenware into the 19th century.

A squatter version of this type of socle also appears on the Coade stone busts of Nelson and Raleigh on the Orangery at Bicton, Devon and the bust of John Wesley ( Wesley Chapel, Broadmead, Bristol).

As yet nobody seems to have made the link between the plaster busts of Caracalla and Marcus Aurelius at the Foundling Hospital and the Roubiliac versions (as seen in the posthumous contents of the Roubiliac workshop Langford's 4 Day sale catalogue of May 1762).

I will take the liberty to publish the Tomasso brothers excellent photographs here.

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The Busts of Caracalla and Marcus Aurelius at Holkham, Norfolk.

This bust of Caracalla and the Marcus Aurelius are almost certainly a product of the Cavaceppi workshop in Rome although they lack the eared support on the socle frequently used by him.

Caracalla was bought in Rome  in 1749.by Matthew Brettingham and sold to Lord Leicester for £30.

 His account book notes carriage and custom house fees for a "modern coppye of ye" bust of Caracalla in November 1747.

 Brettingham, who kept an account book when he was in Rome, listing thirteen statues and twenty-one busts sent to Holkham.

 see - “Matthew Brettingham’s Rome Account Book 1747-1754,” Walpole Society 49 (1983):

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The Foundling Hospital Plaster Bust of Caracalla.

Here attributed to the workshop of Louis Francois Roubiliac (d. 1762) in St Martin's Lane.

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The Blashfield Terracotta Bust of Caracalla.

Mid 19th Century.

John Marriot Blashfield (1811 - 82).

Height: 70cm, 27 1/2″ - Width: 55cm, 21 2/3″.

The height of the bust without the socle is 51 cms.

It has been claimed in the past that Blashfield had obtained moulds from Coade but the dates of the disposal of the objects from the Coade manufactory in 1843 .

Blashfield appears to have commenced manufacture of terracotta with James George Bubb (1781 - 1861) as an assistant in 1839 at Canford in Dorset. Bubb had previously worked as a sculptor with Messrs Coade.

I will attempt to obtain better photographs and details of any marks in due course.

With the excellent dealers Jamb of the Pimlico Road, London in September 2025.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1456802126448472&set=pb.100063560954873.-2207520000&type=3

https://www.jamb.co.uk/

For a reasonable overview of the history of Messrs Blashfield and terracotta see -

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Marriott_Blashfield

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The Tomasso Brothers Marble Bust of Laocoon.

Note the use of the less squat version of the form of the Roubiliac type socle used here.

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The Final Disposal of the contents of the Coade Manufactory at Lambeth in 1843.

by Rushworth and Jarvis.

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See Coade Blashfield etc. see Papers Read at the Royal Institute of British Architects - Page 262 - 1867.

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for more on the  history of Blashfield and his relationship with Mintons  see -

https://www.academia.edu/43667339/John_Marriott_Blashfield_1811_1882_A_neglected_pioneer_of_decorated_ceramic_floor_tiles