First Design for the Monument to the Three Captains, Rear view, and (below) a Side view of Neptune thumbnail 1
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
Request to view at the Prints & Drawings Study Room, level E , Case A, Shelf 190

First Design for the Monument to the Three Captains, Rear view, and (below) a Side view of Neptune

Design
1782 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

These designs made by Joseph Nollekens in 1782 are for the first designs for the back of a proposed monument for Westminster Abbey. It was to commemorate three naval captains, William Bayre, William Blair, and Lord Robert Manners who died in 1782 in the Battle of the Saintes that took place in April 1782 during the American War of Independence. It was a victory of a British fleet under Admiral Sir George Rodney over a French fleet under the Comte de Grasse forcing the French and Spanish to abandon a planned invasion of Jamaica. The battle is named after the Saintes, a group of islands between Guadeloupe and Dominica in the West Indies. Nollekens' only public commission, the designs were rejected because of the expense of realising them. As designs for the first free-standing monument, they and the one for the front (E.473-2010) proved highly influential. They include a figure of Neptune that clearly derives from the sculpture by Bernini now in the V&A, that used to belong to Joshua Reynolds. This design shows the back of a sculptural group of Britannia, seated, the trumpeting figure of Fame, raised aloft, and Neptune bending over a dolphin on a rectangular sheet of paper the lower part of which is unfolded and shows a subsidiary design of another view of Neptune poking his trident at a fallen figure, symbolising the defeat of the French by the British fleet.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Titles
  • First Design for the Monument to the Three Captains, Rear view, and (below) a Side view of Neptune (generic title)
  • Neptune subduing Anarchy
Materials and techniques
Pencil and wash on laid paper
Brief description
Design for sculpture by Joseph Nollekens, London, 1782.
Physical description
A design showing the back of a sculptural group of Britannia, seated, the trumpeting figure of Fame, raised aloft, and Neptune bending over a dolphin on a rectangular sheet of paper the lower part of which is unfolded and shows a subsidiary design of another view of Neptune subduing a fallen figure.
Dimensions
  • Height: 36.7cm
  • Width: 17.3cm
Production typeDesign
Marks and inscriptions
'SOTHERBIES [sic] 27 March 69 / See No.273.' (In blue ballpoint pen on the printed label beneath the design on the inside of the mount.)
Object history
This was Nollekens' only public commission. These designs are for the proposed monument to three naval captains, who died in 1782 in the Battle of the Saintes in Rodney's victory over the French near Dominica, for Westminster Abbey. The designs were rejected. As the designs for the first free-standing monument they proved highly influential. They include a figure of Neptune that clearly derives from the sculpture by Bernini now in the V&A, that used to belong to Joshua Reynolds.

The Government ordered a monument to be erected in the north transept of Westminster Abbey, and the Royal Academy apparently appointed Nollekens as sculptor. (Cunningham, Lives of British Sculptors (1830), p.152.). The first design, shown here in nos. 1 [now E.465-2010] & 2 [now E.448-2010] was approved by the King and a drawing of it was submitted to the Treasury in October 1782; but the Treasury rejected it on account of Nollekens' estimate for £4,500 which, according to George Dance and Thomas Banks, was too high by £1,000. Nollekens is known also to have made a model in terracotta because one was sold with his studio effects by Christie's (Sale catalogue, July 4, 1823, lot 33; also lot 21 in "unbaked clay").

The group was designed in the baroque style. Part of its interest lies in the fact that it was to be a free-standing composition (intended to stand between two pillars in the Abbey), and as such it antedates by several years Flaxman's free-standing monument to the Earl of Chatham (a neo-Classical composition dating from the years 1793-4 and designed to stand between pillars in the adjoining bay of the Abbey). Nollekens' design survives in five drawings, none of which is identical to any other, though the basic ideas in all of them are the same. The group was to be about 12 feet high, and to stand on a pedestal of 6 feet, making a total of 18 feet. The figures were to be larger than life, and Nollekens wrote that the principal figure (presumably that of Fame) was to be 8 foot. The figures in the monument are arranged as follows:

On a circular pedestal are one, two or three genii holding portrait medallions of the three heroes, surmounted by a standing figure of Fame holding a palm and blowing a trumpet. To left [sic] a dolphin and Neptune stands over a recumbent defeated enemy (or Anarchy); to right a seated Britannia. The figure of Fame was presumably inspired by that on Le Sueur's bronze monument to the Duke of York in Westminster Abbey: Neptune in the later drawings is very similar to Bernini's fountain figure, now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, which Nollekens had undoubtedly known in the Villa Negroni, Rome.

The five drawings are:
1. E.4379-1920. Preliminary design with three wingless genii, Neptune rather uncomfortably posed, thrusting his trident over a defeated male enemy who holds a dagger. (Physick, fig.110).

2. Soane Museum,. London. A later composition, with one wingless genius; the dolphin is reversed; Neptune thrusts his trident against a fallen enemy who holds an open box and a flag.

3. No 1. above. Rear view, corresponding in most respects to the Soane drawing; but in the side view of Neptune, the legs of the enemy are bare.

4. British Museum, (1920-12-14-10) a finished coloured drawing, very similar to 2, but Neptune thrusts at a defeated male enemy who holds an open book.

5. No. 2. above. There are two winged putti. The dolphin faces the front. Neptune does not thrust, but is looking at a female enemy who holds an open box.

It is not possible to say which if any of the five drawings is the final version; but nos. 4 and 5 have a significant broadening of the design, the circular base being increased from about 8 and a half feet to nearly ten, resulting in a much greater ease in the composition.

From: Kenworthy-Browne, John. Catalogue of Nollekens Drawings. The Property of Dr Arthur Sackler (unpublished typescript), no.1, Sackler no. 80.6.208.

Historical significance: 'Nollekens is best known as the leading portrait sculptor in Britain between 1770 and 1815, and as the subject of the biography Nollekens and his Times (1828) by J.T. Smith. With his fellow Royal Academicians Thomas Banks and John Flaxman he established the British School of sculpture following decades of dependence on immigrant sculptors (such as Rysbrack, Scheemakers and Roubiliac). Flaxman praised Nollekens as the only sculptor before Banks who had "formed his taste on the antique and introduced a purer style of art". As a draughtsman he was exceptionally well trained for his day. He is also noted as a collector; he owned the three wax reliefs by Giambologna now in the V&A. The V&A's collection includes three busts by Nollekens, five of his terracottas, his marble copy after the antique, Castor and Pollux (1767)and his original marble of Diana (1778).'

Julius Bryant on RF 2010/245.
Historical context
In the ca. 2009 edition of Gunnis's Dictionary of Sculptors in Britain, they are identified as 'Sackler priv. col.'
Production
Attribution note: Nollekens' estimates were considered too high and this design was rejected.
Subjects depicted
Place depicted
Summary
These designs made by Joseph Nollekens in 1782 are for the first designs for the back of a proposed monument for Westminster Abbey. It was to commemorate three naval captains, William Bayre, William Blair, and Lord Robert Manners who died in 1782 in the Battle of the Saintes that took place in April 1782 during the American War of Independence. It was a victory of a British fleet under Admiral Sir George Rodney over a French fleet under the Comte de Grasse forcing the French and Spanish to abandon a planned invasion of Jamaica. The battle is named after the Saintes, a group of islands between Guadeloupe and Dominica in the West Indies. Nollekens' only public commission, the designs were rejected because of the expense of realising them. As designs for the first free-standing monument, they and the one for the front (E.473-2010) proved highly influential. They include a figure of Neptune that clearly derives from the sculpture by Bernini now in the V&A, that used to belong to Joshua Reynolds. This design shows the back of a sculptural group of Britannia, seated, the trumpeting figure of Fame, raised aloft, and Neptune bending over a dolphin on a rectangular sheet of paper the lower part of which is unfolded and shows a subsidiary design of another view of Neptune poking his trident at a fallen figure, symbolising the defeat of the French by the British fleet.
Associated objects
Bibliographic references
  • Roscoe, Ingrid, Hardy, Emma, and Sullivan, M. G. A biographical dictionary of sculptors in England, 1660-1851. New Haven [Conn.]; London: Yale University Press, c.2009. pp.896-911.
  • Kenworthy-Browne, John. 'A Monument to Three Captains' Country Life Jan. 27, 1977. pl.3.
  • Cunningham, Allan.The Lives of the Most Eminent British Painters, Sculptors and Architects London: John Murray, 1830. 152.p.
Other number
80.6.208 - Dr Arthur Sackler Collection no.
Collection
Accession number
E.465-2010

About this object record

Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.

You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.

Suggest feedback

Record createdAugust 16, 2010
Record URL
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest