Design
- Place of origin:
Great Britain, United Kingdom (made)
- Date:
- Artist/Maker:
- Materials and Techniques:
Pen and ink and wash on paper
- Museum number:
- Gallery location:
British Galleries, room 54c, case 2, shelf D1
- Download image
Object Type
Drawings for sculpture were either for the artist's own use, or for presentation to a client to obtain a commission or show what the completed work would look like. This drawing has a clear outline, which suggests that it was made when the creative thinking was over and the design was ready to be shown to the client. However, it is not as finished as some of Rysbrack's other designs for monuments. For example, he does not attempt to imitate marble in the thin, even layer of watercolour (known as wash) over the triangular section behind the figures.
People
Thomas Foley was a Member of Parliament for Stafford for 18 years until he was raised to the peerage in 1712. He was one of 12 Tory peers created at this date.
Design & Designing
This design is not the same as the monument, itself, which is in St Michael's Church, Great Witley, Worcestershire. In the actual monument, the figures of the mother and child are on the same level as the reclining Lord Foley. The central, standing figure in the top row of the design is replaced by an urn. The engraver and diarist George Vertue (1684-1756) praised Rysbrack's monuments (and in doing so mentioned the one to Lord Foley), stating that they were 'standing Monuments to his Fame'.
Physical description
Design for a memorial in Great Witley Church, to Thomas Lord Foley (d.1733) and his wife Mary (Strode), and their children, showing seven figures in total, reclining, leaning or standing around a plinth on three levels.
Place of Origin
Great Britain, United Kingdom (made)
Date
ca.1733 (made)
Artist/maker
Rysbrack (artist)
Materials and Techniques
Pen and ink and wash on paper
Dimensions
Height: 39 cm paper, Width: 27.5 cm
Object history note
This design bears some resemblance to the memorial to the second and third Dukes of Beaufort in Badminton Church, Gloucestershire.
E.431, E.433, E.435, E.437, E.439, E.444, E.452 and E.453 are from the collection of Nathaniel Hone (1718-1784).
Descriptive line
Design for a memorial by John Rysbrack in Great Witley Church, to Thomas Lord Foley (d.1733) and his wife Mary (Strode), and their children Talbot, Edward, Richard and Anne. Worcestershire, England, ca.1733.
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Victoria & Albert Museum Department of Engraving Illustration and Design & Department of Paintings, Accessions 1946. London: Published under the Authority of the Ministry of Education, 1949.
The full text of the entry is as follows:
"RYSBRACK, John Michael (1693-1770)
Design for the memorial in Great Witley Church, Worcestershire, to Thomas Lord Foley (d. 1733), his wife Mary (Strode), and their children, Talbot, Edward, Richard and Anne.
Pen and ink and wash. 1011/16 X 61/8 E.430-1946."
Labels and date
British Galleries:
Noblemen in the 18th century liked to think of themselves as the modern equivalents of ancient Greeks and Romans. Their classical Palladian houses reflected this, as did the monuments to their memory. In this design, Lord Foley (died 1733) and his family are dressed like Romans, in front of a large obelisk. [27/03/2003]
Materials
Paper; Pen
Techniques
Drawing; Wash
Subjects depicted
Figures
Categories
Drawings; Designs
Collection code
PDP
