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Image of Gallery in South Kensington
Request to view at the Prints & Drawings Study Room, level E , Case A, Shelf 190

Design

1770s-1780s (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Design, in a portrait format, depicting three naked figures around a pedestal on which is the bust of a man in a classical robe. One of the female figures who is wearing a helmet may represent Britannia whilst another female figure blowing a trumpet personifies Fame. A fallen warrior lies at the base of the pedestal. This design made in the 1770s or 1780s by Joseph Nollekens (1737-1823) depicts a sepulchral wall monument for an unknown man. Nollekens is best known as the leading portrait sculptor in Britain between 1770 and 1815. 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". The opportunities to study the antique were plentiful whilst Nollekens lived for eight years from 1762-1770 in Rome. As a draughtsman he was exceptionally well trained for his day.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Chalk on laid paper
Brief description
Design for sculpture by Joseph Nollekens, 1770s-1780s.
Physical description
Design, in a portrait format, depicting three naked figures around a pedestal on which is the bust of a man in a classical robe. One of the female figures who is wearing a helmet may represent Britannia and another female figure blowing a trumpet personifies Fame. A fallen warrior lies at the base of the pedestal.
Dimensions
  • Height: 20.1cm
  • Width: 17.5cm
Production typeDesign
Marks and inscriptions
  • '80.7.7' (In pencil in handwriting inside mount at bottom right. Sackler no.)
  • [illegible inscription] (On back of sheet of paper which has been stuck down to a support.)
Object history
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, design is identified as 'Sackler priv. col.'
Subject depicted
Summary
Design, in a portrait format, depicting three naked figures around a pedestal on which is the bust of a man in a classical robe. One of the female figures who is wearing a helmet may represent Britannia whilst another female figure blowing a trumpet personifies Fame. A fallen warrior lies at the base of the pedestal. This design made in the 1770s or 1780s by Joseph Nollekens (1737-1823) depicts a sepulchral wall monument for an unknown man. Nollekens is best known as the leading portrait sculptor in Britain between 1770 and 1815. 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". The opportunities to study the antique were plentiful whilst Nollekens lived for eight years from 1762-1770 in Rome. As a draughtsman he was exceptionally well trained for his day.
Bibliographic reference
Roscoe, Ingrid, Hardy, Emma, Sullivan, M. G. A biographical dictionary of sculptors in England, 1660-1851. New Haven [Conn.]; London: Yale University Press, c.2009. pp.896-911.
Collection
Accession number
E.454-2010

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Record createdAugust 23, 2010
Record URL
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