Maria, Mrs Henry Howard of Corby Castle, Cumberland and her child
Figure
1800-1803 (made)
1800-1803 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Wordsworth was so moved by the monument that he wrote a sonnet about it.
This is a sketch model for a marble monument of Mrs Howard, who died in childbirth, in 1788. Some years later her husband commissioned a marble monument in her memory for the large sum of £1500. It was erected in Wetheral Church, Cumberland in 1803. This terracotta appeared in the sale of Nollekens's studio effects held on 4 July, 1823, and was bought by the sculptor Peter Rouw.
Joseph Nollekens (1737-1823) was a prolific sculptor of portrait busts and operated a thriving workshop in London. He spent eight years in Rome, from 1762 to 1770, where he worked with Bartolomeo Cavaceppi restoring and copying antique marbles. One of these copies, his group of Castor and Pollux, is in the Museum's collection (Museum no. A.59-1940). He probably perfected his modelling of clay while he was in Rome and started to experiment in making small figures or groups. These occasionally became models for large-scale finished marbles, but many, still in his studio at his death, were simply studies in their own right, which he called pensieri (thoughts).
This is a sketch model for a marble monument of Mrs Howard, who died in childbirth, in 1788. Some years later her husband commissioned a marble monument in her memory for the large sum of £1500. It was erected in Wetheral Church, Cumberland in 1803. This terracotta appeared in the sale of Nollekens's studio effects held on 4 July, 1823, and was bought by the sculptor Peter Rouw.
Joseph Nollekens (1737-1823) was a prolific sculptor of portrait busts and operated a thriving workshop in London. He spent eight years in Rome, from 1762 to 1770, where he worked with Bartolomeo Cavaceppi restoring and copying antique marbles. One of these copies, his group of Castor and Pollux, is in the Museum's collection (Museum no. A.59-1940). He probably perfected his modelling of clay while he was in Rome and started to experiment in making small figures or groups. These occasionally became models for large-scale finished marbles, but many, still in his studio at his death, were simply studies in their own right, which he called pensieri (thoughts).
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Maria, Mrs Henry Howard of Corby Castle, Cumberland and her child (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Terracotta |
| Brief description | Figure, sketch model, terracotta, of Maria, Mrs Henry Howard of Corby Castle, Cumberland and her child, by Joseph Nollekens, England, ca. 1800-3 |
| Physical description | Model in terracotta for the monument in Wetheral Church, Cumberland. Mrs Howard recline supported by her left arm which rests on a cushion. In her right hand she holds her new-born child. |
| Dimensions |
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| Gallery label | 4. Joseph Nollekens 1737–1823
Model for a Monument to Maria Howard and Her Child
About 1800–3
Maria was the wife of Henry Howard of Corby Castle in Cumberland. She died in childbirth, along with her baby daughter, in 1788. Some years later her husband erected a marble monument in her memory, at the huge cost of £1500. Wordsworth was so moved by the effigy that he made it the subject of a poem.
London
Terracotta
From the collection of the sculptor Peter Rouw (1770–1852)
Completed monument erected in Wetheral church, Cumberland
Museum no. A.5-1944
Given by Miss Zoë Gordon Smith |
| Credit line | Given by Miss Zoë Gordon Smith |
| Object history | This terracotta together with A.6, 7, 8, 9 and 10- 1944 were formerly in the possession of Mrs C.H Smith (nee Fanny Riviere b. 1813), the grandmother of the donor. A seventh figure, a standing man is in the property of Mrs C.A. Cater and has been promised to the Museum as a bequest. Mrs C.H Smith in a memoir called 'Letter to Gordon' and addressed to her grandson, when she was 79, refers to her 'many' terracottas by Nollekens but does not state how they were acquired. The donor in a letter dated 31/03/1944 states 'I can vouch for the fact that Nollekens himself gave them to my Grandmother Mrs C.H. Smith. They were near neighbours- my Grandmother then living at No. 8 Cirencester Place, Fitzroy Square, from about 1813 to 1834.' |
| Subject depicted | |
| Summary | Wordsworth was so moved by the monument that he wrote a sonnet about it. This is a sketch model for a marble monument of Mrs Howard, who died in childbirth, in 1788. Some years later her husband commissioned a marble monument in her memory for the large sum of £1500. It was erected in Wetheral Church, Cumberland in 1803. This terracotta appeared in the sale of Nollekens's studio effects held on 4 July, 1823, and was bought by the sculptor Peter Rouw. Joseph Nollekens (1737-1823) was a prolific sculptor of portrait busts and operated a thriving workshop in London. He spent eight years in Rome, from 1762 to 1770, where he worked with Bartolomeo Cavaceppi restoring and copying antique marbles. One of these copies, his group of Castor and Pollux, is in the Museum's collection (Museum no. A.59-1940). He probably perfected his modelling of clay while he was in Rome and started to experiment in making small figures or groups. These occasionally became models for large-scale finished marbles, but many, still in his studio at his death, were simply studies in their own right, which he called pensieri (thoughts). |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | A.5-1944 |
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| Record created | August 14, 2006 |
| Record URL |
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