Design for the Monument to Sir John Tyrrell, Bart. thumbnail 1
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Design for the Monument to Sir John Tyrrell, Bart.

Design
1770s-1780s (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This design made in the 1770s or 1780s by Joseph Nollekens (1737-1823) depicts a draped funerary urn on a sarcophagus or a funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved or cut from stone. The design is for a wall monument for an unidentified person. Nollekens is best known as the leading portrait sculptor in Britain between 1770 and 1815. With his fellow Royal Academicians Thomas Banks and John Flaxman he established the British School of sculpture following decades of dependence on immigrant sculptors (such as Rysbrack, Scheemakers and Roubiliac). Flaxman praised Nollekens as the only sculptor before Banks who had "formed his taste on the antique and introduced a purer style of art". Opportunities to study the antique were plentiful whilst Nollekens lived for eight years from 1762-1770 in Rome. As a draughtsman he was exceptionally well trained for his day.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleDesign for the Monument to Sir John Tyrrell, Bart. (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Pencil, pen and ink and wash on laid paper
Brief description
Design for sculpture by Joseph Nollekens, 1770s-1780s.
Physical description
Design, inscribed with measurements and a scale, depicting a draped, funerary urn resting on a tablet that has a frieze and alternative designs for the sides. Two cherub heads and a leafy pendant below.

Verso; (stuck down): a design in pencil for a similar monument, the tablet with a festoon of leaves, and with alternative suggestions for the urns.
Dimensions
  • Height: 33cm
  • Width: 21.5cm
Production typeDesign
Marks and inscriptions
  • 'SOTHERBY [sic] 27 March, 69. Property of Mrs M. HILL.' (In blue ballpoint pen at top of printed label on inside of mount. Sackler no.)
  • '278 / JOSEPH NOLLEKENS / A STUDY FOR AN UNIDENTIFIED WALL MONUMENT, / the funerary urn / resting on the sarcophagus which is set in the wall and draped with material [...] / A STUDY FOR A SIMILAR MONUMENT, black chalk, verso.' (Printed label on inside of mount beneath design)
  • '80.6.214' (In pencil at bottom of inside mount)
  • '8 feet high' / '4 feet' and a scale / '200' ('200' refers to the cost of the work)
Object history
'This monument to Sir James Tyrrell (1726-66) and his wife Mary (1735-66) was erected by their daughters in the church at East Hornden, Essex. The church has become redundant and the monument is at present on show at the Victoria and Albert Museum, who acquired it in 1970. The architectural treatment and the cherub heads show it to be the work of the 1770s. Consoles were made to flank the tablet, and a fluted string course was introduced below the tablet.

This is a completely finished drawing, of a kind of which several examples are in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Such drawings were shown to his clients by Nollekens, who always kept a stock of them ready. "200" will refer to the cost of the work.'

Historical significance: 'Nollekens is best known as the leading portrait sculptor in Britain between 1770 and 1815, and as the subject of the biography Nollekens and his Times (1828) by J.T. Smith. With his fellow Royal Academicians Thomas Banks and John Flaxman he established the British School of sculpture following decades of dependence on immigrant sculptors (such as Rysbrack, Scheemakers and Roubiliac). Flaxman praised Nollekens as the only sculptor before Banks who had "formed his taste on the antique and introduced a purer style of art". As a draughtsman he was exceptionally well trained for his day. He is also noted as a collector; he owned the three wax reliefs by Giambologna now in the V&A. The V&A's collection includes three busts by Nollekens, five of his terracottas, his marble copy after the antique, Castor and Pollux (1767)and his original marble of Diana (1778).'

Julius Bryant on RF 2010/245.
Historical context
In the ca. 2009 edition of Gunnis's Dictionary of Sculptors in Britain, design is identified as 'Sackler priv. col.'
Subjects depicted
Place depicted
Summary
This design made in the 1770s or 1780s by Joseph Nollekens (1737-1823) depicts a draped funerary urn on a sarcophagus or a funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved or cut from stone. The design is for a wall monument for an unidentified person. Nollekens is best known as the leading portrait sculptor in Britain between 1770 and 1815. With his fellow Royal Academicians Thomas Banks and John Flaxman he established the British School of sculpture following decades of dependence on immigrant sculptors (such as Rysbrack, Scheemakers and Roubiliac). Flaxman praised Nollekens as the only sculptor before Banks who had "formed his taste on the antique and introduced a purer style of art". Opportunities to study the antique were plentiful whilst Nollekens lived for eight years from 1762-1770 in Rome. As a draughtsman he was exceptionally well trained for his day.
Bibliographic reference
Roscoe, Ingrid, Hardy, Emma, Sullivan, M. G. A biographical dictionary of sculptors in England, 1660-1851. New Haven [Conn.]; London: Yale University Press, c.2009. pp.896-911.
Other number
80.6.214 - Dr Arthur Sackler Collection no.
Collection
Accession number
E.468-2010

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Record createdAugust 19, 2010
Record URL
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