Bust, plaster, John Locke, possibly by J. Cheere after the original by Rysbrack in 1733-4, England, in about 1750

Portrait bust of John Locke in plaster.

Given by Percy Woods Esq., C.B.

Given by Percy Woods Esq., C.B., in 1921.
In the year of the gift the donor wrote in a letter: 'I have known the bust for nearly 79 years - it was one of several pieces of plaster of Paris - which belonged to my mother - and I believe that it came to her from a great aunt (by marriage) in Dorsetshire, altho it may have been (intermediately) in her grandmother's possession'. In a further letter of 23 September 1921, Mr Woods wrote, 'My mother had several groups of single busts - (in my childhood) - which I understood came to her from some Dorsetshire kinsfolk whose deaths did not take place so early as I imagined. I do not know how long the objects may have been in the possession of the Dorsetshire people before their deaths, but the latest date may even be 1834 that is to say the date of the death of the old lady from whom they are supposed to have come to my mother.' On long term loan to the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery, Bedford from February 1978; returned to the V&A April 2000.

after the original of 1733-4 by John Michael Rysbrack

This portrait bust of John Locke in plaster was possibly made by John Cheere after the marble bust of Locke executed by John Michael Rysbrack in 1733-1734 for Queen Caroline's Grotto, Richmond, now in Kensington Palace.

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.

A.84-1921