ANTIQUE MARBLE SCULPTURE.
A MARBLE BUST OF GEORGE 1V, AS PRINCE OF WALES (1762-1830)
WORKSHOP OF JOSEPH NOLLEKENS R.A. (1737-1823)
English – Circa 1807
A white marble portrait bust of King George 1V, depicted as the Prince of Wales, draped in the classical style with toga and clasp, prior to his appointment as Regent in 1811 and his succession as King in 1820, from the workshop of Joseph Nollekens.
This present bust is similar to the version by Nollekens which is in Ferens Art Gallery, Kingston-upon-Hull. Only these two models of this bust are known.
Joseph Nollekens, was born in 1762, the son of a painter, and apprenticed in 1750 to the sculptor Peter Scheemakers (1691-1781). In 1759 he was awarded a premium by the Society of Arts for a drawing from plaster, and in 1760 their first premium for a model in clay. In that year he also went to Rome, where he worked with Bartolomeo Cavaceppi (1716-1799) , restoring and copying antique marbles, and sending from there in 1762 a marble relief of “Timocles Conducted before Alexander”, which won a prize from the Society of Arts. Returning to London in 1770 he set up his studio in Mortimer Street and soon began to receive important commissions, such as chimneypieces for Harewood House (1771), “Cupid & Psyche” (1773) at Burlington House and Portland stone keystones for Somerset House (1777), quickly becoming established as the most fashionable sculptor of the day.
Nollekens was particularly renowned for his portrait busts, notably the fine likenesses of Charles James Fox and William Pitt, which proved to be so popular that a number of copies were produced. He exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1771-1802, and made numbers of notable busts, statues and monuments, including: “Castor & Pollux” in the Victoria & Albert Museum, “Boy & Dolphin” for the Empress of Russia, “Diana, Venus, Juno and Mercury” for Wentworth Woodhouse, “William Pitt” for the Senate House, Cambridge. Busts included: Dr Johnson for Westminster Abbey, King George III and King Charles II for the Royal Society, 5th Duke of Bedford, Lord Holland and others for Woburn Abbey, Charles Townley - British Museum, Duke of York, and others - Windsor Castle. Nollekens carved a number of monuments at Westminster Abbey: for Oliver Goldsmith, Charles Stuart, Lord Robert Manners and others, and many more throughout the country, at Chester & Carlisle Cathedrals and at Bath Abbey.
Nollekens died in 1823 and was buried in Paddington, leaving considerable savings from such a full, working life. In 1823, Christie’s held a sale of the contents of his studio and house amongst which were a number of moulds and preparatory sketches and models.
Chelminski Gallery previously sold the 1796 Nollekens bust of Charles James Fox, inscribed to Mrs Armitstead (Fox’s wife) from Earl Fitzwilliam, and formerly at Fox’s home, which is now in the Regency Galleries of the National Portrait Gallery, London.
Attribution confirmed by John Kenworthy Brown, the specialist chiefly concerned with British sculpture and currently working on a new book on Joseph Nollekens.
Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851 by Rupert Gunnis. British Sculpture 1470 to 200- A Concise Catalogue of the Collections at the Victoria & Albert Museum by Diane Bilbey & Marjorie Trusted
Height: 30” (76 cm)