Not currently on display at the V&A

Grotesque male head

Mask
1869 (made)
Artist/Maker
Tow, Robert (sculptor)
Place of origin
England (made)

This grotesque mask, a copy of one by the French sculptor Jean Goujon (active 1540-1562), was a prize object at the Society of Arts Art-Workmanship Competition of 1869-70. The amateur sculptor Robert Tow was awarded a prize of £7 10s for it. His address was 36 Aldenham Street, St Pancras Road, London. He was presumably an amateur sculptor.
Jean Goujon (ca.1510-ca.1565) was Frances's greatest Renaissance sculptor. His work is a synthesis of mannerism and a classicism derived from his study of antique sculpture. Goujon worked on the sculptural decoration of the new buildings at the Louvre, 1555-62.


Object details

Categories
Sculpture
SCRAN
Object type
Mask
TitleGrotesque male head (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Copper repoussé
Copper
Brief description
Mask, copper repoussé, grotesque male head, by Robert Tow after Jean Goujon, British, 1869
Physical description
A grotesque male head.
Dimensions
  • Height: 27.2cm
  • Width: 11.2cm
Object history
This grotesque mask, after the original by the French sculptor Jean Goujon (ca.1510-ca.1565), was a prize object from the Society of Arts Art-Workmanship Competition for 1870. The report on the competition records that Robert Tow was awarded a prize of £7 10s for this object (Journal of the Society of Arts 10 February 1871, XIX, No. 951, p.230, no. 56). Purchased from R. Tow, presumed to be the sculptor, in 1870 for £3 3s.
Production
By Robert Tow after Jean Goujon.
Summary
This grotesque mask, a copy of one by the French sculptor Jean Goujon (active 1540-1562), was a prize object at the Society of Arts Art-Workmanship Competition of 1869-70. The amateur sculptor Robert Tow was awarded a prize of £7 10s for it. His address was 36 Aldenham Street, St Pancras Road, London. He was presumably an amateur sculptor.
Jean Goujon (ca.1510-ca.1565) was Frances's greatest Renaissance sculptor. His work is a synthesis of mannerism and a classicism derived from his study of antique sculpture. Goujon worked on the sculptural decoration of the new buildings at the Louvre, 1555-62.
Bibliographic references
  • Bilbey, Diane and Trusted Marjorie. British Sculpture 1470 to 2000. A Concise Catalogue of the Collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 2002, p. 421, cat. no. 691
  • List of Objects in the Art Division, South Kensington, Acquired During the Year 1870, Arranged According to the Dates of Acquisition. London: Printed by George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode for H.M.S.O., p. 12
  • Graham, Clare. A Noble Kind of Practice': The Society of Arts Art-Workmanship Competitions, 1863-71, in: The Burlington Magazine, June 1993, vol. 135, no. 1083
Collection
Sculpture Collection
Accession number
102-1870

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Record createdJanuary 14, 2003
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O72967/grotesque-male-head-mask-tow-robert/
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