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Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham and 7th Earl of Winchilsea
Rysbrack - Enlarge image
Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham and 7th Earl of Winchilsea
- Object:
Bust
- Place of origin:
England, Great Britain (made)
- Date:
ca. 1723 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
Rysbrack (sculptor)
- Materials and Techniques:
Marble
- Credit Line:
Purchased with contributions from The Art Fund, the Parnassus Foundation, through the American Friends of the V&A, the Hugh Phillips Bequest, the Henry Moore Foundation, and Sotheby's, whose donation was made in memory of Terence Hodgkinson
- Museum number:
A.6-1999
- Gallery location:
Sculpture, room 22, case SWAL
This portrait bust of the statesman Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham, 7th Earl of Winchilsea (1647-1730), is an early work by Rysbrack, and it helped establish his reputation in England. It was probably commissioned by William Finch, second son of the sitter, and displayed in William's house in Savile Row, London. By 1774 the bust was in place at the foot of the Great Staircase of the Finch family's country estate, Burley-on-the-Hill, Rutland. It remained in the family until 1999.
Rysbrack (1694-1770) was born in Antwerp, and trained in the Netherlands, but spent his working life in Britain. He was one of the most important sculptors active in this country in the first half of the 18th century, and specialised in portrait busts and funerary monuments. Although he never visited Italy, many of his works are clearly indebted to classical archetypes. His terracotta models are particularly fine, and are often virtually finished pieces in their own right.
