William Hogarth thumbnail 1
William Hogarth thumbnail 2
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Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Sculpture, Room 22, The Dorothy and Michael Hintze Galleries

William Hogarth

Statuette
ca. 1765 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This terracotta is painted in bronze-coloured paint, so that it could function as a finished bronze statuette. It appears to be a posthumous portrait of the British painter Hogarth, perhaps for a memorial that was never executed. The urn on which the figure of Hogarth leans is inset with a medallion portrait inscribed with the name of one of the great artists of antiquity, Apelles. Other artists' tools are shown at the base of the urn, including a palette and brushes. The figure appears to be making a note or sketch in a notebook. Spang's lively figure style is related to the sculpture of Roubiliac, with whom he is known to have worked.

William Hogarth (1697-1764) was an English painter, satirist, engraver and art theorist. Hogarth's first real success came in 1732 with a series of six morality pictures, The Harlot's Progress, first painted and then engraved. The Rake's Progress and numerous other 'modern moral subjects' followed.

Little is known of the artist Spang (active 1756; d. London 1762). He was a native of Denmark, but was in England from about 1756 until his death. He made chimneypieces for the four principal rooms at Kedleston, Derbyshire in 1759, and received some London commissions, such as three statues for the front of Lord Spencer's house in St. James's, London.


Object details

Category
Object type
TitleWilliam Hogarth (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Terracotta, bronzed
Brief description
Statuette, bronzed terracotta, William Hogarth, by Michael Henry Spang, England, ca. 1765
Physical description
Statuette, terracotta, bronzed. Portrait figure of William Hogarth, sketch-book in hand, standing near an urn.
Dimensions
  • Height: 47.5cm
Credit line
Given by Herr K.A.W. Schmidt- Ciążyński
Object history
Given by Herr K.A.W. Schmidt-Ciążyński, Crakow (formerly of Trafalgar Square, Fulham Road, London) in 1885.
Subjects depicted
Summary
This terracotta is painted in bronze-coloured paint, so that it could function as a finished bronze statuette. It appears to be a posthumous portrait of the British painter Hogarth, perhaps for a memorial that was never executed. The urn on which the figure of Hogarth leans is inset with a medallion portrait inscribed with the name of one of the great artists of antiquity, Apelles. Other artists' tools are shown at the base of the urn, including a palette and brushes. The figure appears to be making a note or sketch in a notebook. Spang's lively figure style is related to the sculpture of Roubiliac, with whom he is known to have worked.

William Hogarth (1697-1764) was an English painter, satirist, engraver and art theorist. Hogarth's first real success came in 1732 with a series of six morality pictures, The Harlot's Progress, first painted and then engraved. The Rake's Progress and numerous other 'modern moral subjects' followed.

Little is known of the artist Spang (active 1756; d. London 1762). He was a native of Denmark, but was in England from about 1756 until his death. He made chimneypieces for the four principal rooms at Kedleston, Derbyshire in 1759, and received some London commissions, such as three statues for the front of Lord Spencer's house in St. James's, London.
Bibliographic references
  • Bilbey, Diane with Trusted, Marjorie. British Sculpture 1470 to 2000. A Concise Catalogue of the Collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum. London: V& A Publications, 2002. pp. 155. cat. no. 210.
  • Gunnis, R., Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851, (revised edition, first published London 1953), London, 1968, p. 361
Collection
Accession number
311-1885

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Record createdAugust 14, 2006
Record URL
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