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NOLLEKENS 

AND  HIS  TIMES 


AND     HIS    TIMES 

And  Memoirs  of  Contemporary  Artists  from  the  Time 
of  Roubiliac  Hogarth  and  Reynolds  to  that  of  Fuseli 
Flaxman  and  Blake  By  John  Thomas  Smith  Keeper 
of  the  Prints  and  Drawings  in  the  British  Museum 
EDITED  AND  ANNOTATED 

BY   WILFRED    WRITTEN 

WITH  EIGHTY-FIVE  ILLUSTRATIONS 
IN  TWO  VOLUMES  VOL.  II 


57289 


LONDON  :  JOHN  LANE  THE  BODLEY  HEAD 

NEW  YORK  :  JOHN  LANE  COMPANY  MCMXX 


v/, 


Tht  Mayflower  Press,  Plymouth,  England.    William  Brendon  &  Son,  Ltd. 


NOLLEKENS 
AND  HIS  TIMES: 


COMPREHENDING    A 


LIFE  OF  THAT  CELEBRATED  SCULPTOR; 


AND   MEMOIRS   OF 


SEVERAL  CONTEMPORARY  ARTISTS, 

FROM    THE   TIME   OF 

ROUBILIAC,  HOGARTH,  AND  REYNOLDS, 
TO  THAT  OF  FUSELI,  FLAXMAN,  AND  BLAKE. 

BY 

JOHN  THOMAS  SMITH, 

KEEPER  OF  THE  PRINTS  AND  DRAWINGS  IN  THE  BRITISH  MUSEUM. 

SECOND  EDITION. 


IN  TWO  VOLUMES. 
VOL.  II. 

LONDON: 

HENRY  COLBURN,  NEW  BURLINGTON-STREET 
1829. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  XVII 

Sale  of  Mr.  Nollekens's  collection  of  Sculpture — Mending 
antiques — Sale  of  his  prints,  &c. — Account  of  his  seated 
female  figure — Patrons  of  modern  English  Sculptors — • 
Antique  foot — 'Sir  Joshua  Reynolds's  throne  chair — 
List  of  busts,  monuments,  and  statues,  executed  by 
Nollekens — Chronological  list  of  all  his  sculptures 
exhibited  at  the  Royal  Academy,  from  1771  to  1816 — 
Conclusion  .......  Page 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES   AND  ANECDOTES 

OF   SEVERAL   ARTISTS  AND  OTHERS 

CONTEMPORARY  WITH  NOLLEKENS 

PAGE 

Louis  FRANCOIS  ROUBILIAC 27 

PETER  SCHEEMAKERS 38 

JOHN  MICHAEL  RYSBRACK 50 

MATTHEW  LIART 54 

GIUSEPPE  CERACCHI 56 

JOHN  BAPTIST  LOCATELLI     ......      58 

THOMAS  PROCTOR 62 

JOHN  ZOFFANY,  R.A.   .......      67 

JOHN  KEYSE  SHERWIN         .         .  .         .         -73 

THOMAS  GAINSBOROUGH,  R.A 82 

JOHN  BACON,  R.A.       .         .         .         .         .         .         .88 

JOSEPH  WILTON,  R.A.  .         .         .         .         .         .         -99 

THOMAS  BANKS,  R.A 117 


viii         NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS    TIMES 


PAGE 


AGOSTINO  CARLINI,  R.A 132 

DR.  CHARLES  BURNEY 136 

ISAAC  WARE,  AND  His  COMPANIONS  AT  OLD  SLAUGHTER'S  142 
RECOLLECTIONS  OF  PUBLIC  CHARACTERS   SOMETIME    IN- 
HABITANTS OF  ST.  MARTIN 'S-LANE     ....  157 

SIR  ROBERT  STRANGE 179 

THOMAS  VIVARES  AND  WILLIAM  WOOLLETT    .         .         .  183 

FRANCESCO  ZUCCARELLI,  R.A 188 

MARCELLUS  LAROON  (THE  YOUNGER)     ....  190 

CHARLES  MACKLIN 206 

SAMUEL  PATERSON,  THE  AUCTIONEER    ....  209 

WILLIAM  CUSSANS        .         .        .        .         .         .         .215 

JOHN  OPIE,  R.A.          .         .         .         .         .         .         .218 

SIR  JOSHUA  REYNOLDS,  P.R.A 223 

GEORGE  KEATE    . 232 

JOHN  DEARE        . 234 

THOMAS  MAJOR 260 

GEORGE  MORLAND 263 

RICHARD  WILSON,  R.A 266 

WILLIAM  HOGARTH 270 

FRANCIS  HAYMAN,  R.A 277 

JAMES  BARRY,  R.A 279 

FRANCIS  LEGAT 284 

OZIAS  HUMPHRY,  R.A. 290 

BENJAMIN  WEST,  P.R.A.      .         .        .  .        .301 

JOHN  HALL          ........  317 

RICHARD  COSWAY,  R.A 319 

GEORGE  HENRY  HARLOW 331 

HENRY  FUSELI,  R.A 337 

JOHN  FLAXMAN,  R.A 351 

WILLIAM  BLAKE           .         .         .         .         .         .         .  366 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


JOSEPH   NOLLEKENS,    R.A.  .  .      .  .  .  .Frontispiece 

From  the  original  painting  by  Sir  William  Beechey,  R.A.,  in  the  possession  of 
John  Lane. 

FACING   PAGE 

SIR    GEORGE    O'BRIEN    WYNDHAM,    F.R.S.,    F.S.A.,    3RD    EARL    OF 

EGREMONT,  THE  MUNIFICENT  PATRON  OF  ARTISTS  .  6 

From  an  engraving  by  H.  Cook  after  Thos.  Phillips,  R.A. 

JOSEPH  NOLLEKENS,  R.A.        ,  .  .  ...      24 

MICHAEL  RYSBRACK  .  .  .  .  .        .      50 

After  Vanderbank. 

CHARACTERS  SKETCHED  BY  P.  SANDBY  AT  RYSBRACK'S  SALE,  1764   .      52 

From  the  Magazine  of  Fine  Arts,  Vol.  II.,  p.  432. 
From  an  engraving  by  H.  Adland. 

THK  MEMBERS  OF  THE  ROYAL  ACADEMY  OF  ARTS,  1772  .        .      68 

From  the  mezzotint  by  Richard  Earlom  after  John  Zoffany,  R.A. 

DAVID  GARRICK  AS  ABEL  DRUGGER,  WITH  BURTON  AND  PALMER  AS 

SUBTLE  AND  FACE  .  •    .  .  72 

Painted  by  John  Zoffany,  R.A.     Engraved  by  John  Dixon. 

THE  FINDING  OF  MOSES.     A  GROUP  OF  LONDON  SOCIETY  LADIES,  1789      78 

Painted  and  engraved  by  John  Keyse  Sherwin. 

THE  WOODMAN        .  .  .  .  ...      86 

Painted  by  Thomas  Gainsborough,  R.A.     Engraved  by  P«ter  Simon. 

JOHN  BACON,  R.A.    .  .  .  .  .  90 

From  an  engraving  by  T.    Blood  for  the   European  Magazine,  after    John 
Russell,  R.A. 

THE  ARTIFICIAL  STONE  FACTORY,  WESTMINSTER  BRIDGE.     SHOWING 

THE  SCULPTURES  BY  JOHN  BACON,  R.A.       .  .  94 

Drawn  and  engraved  by  S.  Rawle  for  the  European  Magazine. 

THE  STATUE  OF  DR.  JOHNSON  IN  ST.  PAUL'S  CATHEDRAL,  BY  JOHN 

BACON,  R.A.       .  .  .  ,  ...      96 

From  an  engraving  by  James  Heath. 

THE    EQUESTRIAN   STATUE,   IN    BRONZE,    OF   KING   WILLIAM    THE 

THIRD,  BY  JOHN  BACON,  JUN.,  IN  ST.  JAMES'S  SQUARE        .        .      98 

Drawn  and  engraved  by  S.  Rawle. 

PORTRAITS  OF  JOHN  HAMILTON  MORTIMER,  A. R.A.  (seated],  JOSEPH 
WILTON,  R.A.  AND  OF  A  LAD  NAMED  THU-RY  WHO  USKD  TO 
SWEEP  OUT  THE  ROOMS  OF  THE  ROYAL  ACADEMY  AT  SOMERSET 
HOUSE.  *-"  .  .  \  ...  108 

From   the  painting    by  John    Hamilton  Mortimer,   A.R.A-,  in    the  Diploma 
Gallery  at  Burlington  House. 


x  NOLLEKENS  AND   HIS   TIMES 

FACING  PAGE 

THE  LADY'S  LAST  STAKE       .  .  .  .  .        .     114 

Painted  and  engraved  by  William  Hogarth. 

THOMAS  BANKS,  R.A.  .  .  .  .  .        .     118 

Drawn  and  engraved  by  J.  Condi. 

HOGARTH'S  HOUSE  IN  LEICESTER  SQUARE,  SHOWING  THE  EQUESTRIAN 

STATUS  OF  GEORGE  I  BY  VAN  NOST  .  ...     146 

From  the  drawing  by  S.  Rawle,  engraved  in  the  European  Magazine. 

THOMAS  HUDSON      .  .  .  .  ...     150 

From  a  drawing  by  Jonathan  Richardson,  the  Elder,  in  the  Print  Room,  British 
Museum. 

NATHANIEL  OLDHAM  .  .  .  ...     154 

From  an  engraving  by  R.  Grave  (Caufield's  Remarkable  Persons). 

ROSAMOND'S  POND,  ST.  JAMES'S  PARK  .  ...     156 

From  Antiquities  of  London,  by  John  Thomas  Smith. 

OLD  SLAUGHTER'S  COFFEE    HOUSE,    ST.    MARTIN'S   LANE.      TAKEN 

DOWN  IN  1843  .  .  .  .  ...     158 

From  a  drawing  by  T.  Hosmer  Shepherd  in  the  Grace  Collection,  British  Museum. 

COMPANION  TO  THE  COACH   .  .  .  ...     160 

Formerly  attributed  to  Rembrandt,  but  now  to  P.  de  Koninck  or  other  inferior 
hand. 

BENJAMIN  WILSON'S  HOAX  IMITATION  OF  THE  ABOVE  SUPPOSED  REM- 
BRANDT ETCHING  .  .  .  ...  160 

BENJAMIN  WILSON,  PORTRAIT  PAINTER  AND  MAN  OF  SCIENCE.        .     162 

Etched  by  himself. 

THE  LIFE  SCHOOL  AT  ST.  MARTIN'S  LANE  ACADEMY     .  .       .     166 

From  a  painting  in  the  Diploma  Gallery  at  Burlington  House. 

STRANGE  UNDER  Miss  LUMSDEN'S  HOOPED  SKIRT  .  .        .     179 

From  an  engraving  by  Grignon  after  Gravelot. 

SIR  ROBERT  STRANGE  .  .  .  ...     180 

From  the  print  engraved  by  himself. 

ALDERMAN  JOHN  EOYDELL,  PATRON  OF  ARTISTS  AND  PRINTSELLER    184 

From  an  engraving  by  B.  Smith  after  C.  Borckhardt. 

MACBETH  AND  THE  WITCHES  .  .  ...     188 

Painted  by  Francesco  Zuccarelli,  R.A.     Engraved  by  William  Woollett. 

THE  COVENT  GARDEN  MORNING  FROLIC  .  ...    202 

Drawn  and  engraved  by  L.  P.  Boitard,  1747. 

JOHN  WALKER,  ELOCUTIONIST  AND  AUTHOR  OF  "  WALKER'S  DIC- 
TIONARY" .  .  .  .  ...  212 

From  an  engraving  by  R.  Hicks  after  James  Barry,  R.A. 

MARY  PALMER,  NIECE  AND  HEIRESS  OF  SIR  JOSHUA  REYNOLDS,  WHO 
MARRIED,  1792,  THB  EARL  OF  INCHIQUIN,  AFTERWARDS  IST 
MARQUIS  OF  THOMOND  .  .  .  ...  228 

From  the  original  picture  by  J.  Downman  (1782)  in  the  possession  of  A.  H< 
O'Bryen-Taylor,  Esq. 

GEORGE  MORLAND  .  .  .  .  ...    264 

From  an  engraving  by  T.  Scott. 


ILLUSTRATIONS  xi 

FACING  PAGE 

RICHARD  WILSON,  R.A.  .  .  .  .  266 

Painted  by  himself  in  1768.     From  the  original  painting  in  the  Diploma  Gallery, 
Burlington  House. 

FRANCIS  HAYMAN,  R.A.          .  .  .  ...     278 

By  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  P.  R.A.     From  the  original  portrait  in  the  Diploma  Gal- 
lery at  Burlington  House. 

THE   RUINOUS  HOME  OF  JAMES  BARRY,   R.A.,  IN  CASTLE  STREET, 

OXFORD  STREET  .  .  .  .  j  •     •    280 

Drawn  and  engraved  by  T.  Prattent. 

MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS  RESIGNING  HER  CROWN  .  .        .     286 

Painted  by  Gavin  Hamilton  for  James  Boswell,  engraved  by  Francis  Legal,  and 
supplied  with  a  Latin  inscription  by  Dr.  Johnson. 

OZIAS  HUMPHRY,  R.A.  .  .  .  ...    290 

From  an  engraving  by  Caroline  Watson  after  Romney's  original  portrait. 

FACSIMILE  OF  A  LETTER   FROM  OZIAS  HUMPHRY  TO  HIS  PARENTS 

CONCERNING  HONITON  LACE  DESIGNS  FOR  HIS  MOTHER      .         .     298 
In  the  possession  of  John  Lane. 

THE  DEATH  OF  WOLFE         '.  .  .  ...     302 

Painted  by  Benjamin  West,  P. R.A.     Engraved  by  William  Woollett. 

THE    MACARONI    PAINTER   (RICHARD    COSWAY,    R.A.),    OR    BILLY 

DIMPLE  SITTING  FOR  HIS  PICTURE.    BY  ROBERT  DIGHTON         .     320 

From  a  rare  mezzotint  by  Earlom. 

THE  PAINTER  OF  MACARONIS  (MARIA  COSWAY)  .  .        .     321 

From  a  rare  caricature  in  the  collection  of  Francis  Wellesley,  Esq. 

A  VIEW  FROM  MR.  COSWAY'S  BREAKFAST  ROOM,  PALL  MALL  .        .     323 
WILLIAM  COMBE  (AUTHOR  OF  "THE  TOUR  OF  DR.  SYNTAX")  .        .     324 

From  the  original   drawing    by  George  Dance,   R.A. ,   in   the   possession   of 
John  Lane. 

RICHARD  COSWAY,  THE  ARTIST,  INSIDE  HIS  WIFE'S  HOOP         .        .     329 

From  an  etching  in  the  collection  of  Francis  Wellesley,  Esq. 

GEORGE  HENRY  HARLOW       .  .  .  ...     332 

From  an  engraving  by  B.  Holl  after  Harlow. 

THE   TRIAL  SCENE   IN    HENRY  VIII.    WITH   PORTRAITS   OF   MRS. 

SlDDONS   AND  THE   KfiMBLE   FAMILY  .  ...      334 

Painted  by  George  Henry  Harlow.     Engraved  by  George  Clint. 

HENRI  FUSELI,  R.A.  .  .  .  ...     340 

From  the  engraving  by  J.  Rogers  after  George  Henry  Harlow. 

JOHN  FLAXMAN,  R.A.  -.  .  .  ...     352 

From  a  drawing  by  Ozias  Humphry,  R.A.,  1778,  in  the  Collection  of  John 
Lane. 

MRS.  MATHEW,  WIFE  OF  THE  REV.  HENRY  MATHEW.   THE  FRIEND 

OF  BLAKE  AND  FLAXMAN  .  .  ...    356 

From  a  pencil  drawing  by  John  Flaxman,  R.A.,   in  the  Prints  Department, 
British  Museum. 

CHAUCER'S  CANTERBURY  PILGRIMS      .  .  ...     378 

Painted  and  engraved  by  William  Blake. 

PILGRIMAGE  TO  CANTERBURY  .  .  ...     378 

Etched  by  Luigi  Schiavonetti,  and  finished  by  James  Heath,  A.R.A.,  from  the 
painting  by  Thomas  Stothard,  R.A. 


NOLLEKENS 

AND  HIS  TIMES 


VOL.   II.— B 


NOLLEKENS 

:  AND    HIS    TIMES  '. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

Sale  of  Mr.  Nollekens's  collection  of  Sculpture — Mending  an- 
tiques— Sale  of  his  prints,  &c. — Account  of  his  seated  female 
figure — -Patrons  of  modern  English  Sculptors— -Antique  foot — • 
Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  s  throne-chair — -List  of  busts,  monuments, 
and  statues,  executed  by  Nollekens — Chronological  list  of  all  his 
sculptures  exhibited  at  the  Royal  Academy,  from  1771  to  1816 — 
Conclusion. 


I 


sale  of  Mr.  Nollekens's  unsold  works,  and 
collection  of  antique  and  modern  sculptures,  took 
place  under  the  hammer  of  Mr.  Christie,  on  the 
premises  in  Mortimer-street,  on  Thursday,  July 
3d,  1823,  -and  at  the  Auctioneer's  room  in  Pall-Mall,  on  the 
two  days  following.  The  collection  consisted  of  many  of  Mr. 
Nollekens's  original  models,  carvings  in  marble,  and  works 
by  Italian  and  other  artists,  particularly  Michel  Angelo  and 
Fiamingo. 

Mr.  Nollekens's  statue  of  a  standing  Venus  in  marble, 
pouring  ambrosia  on  her  hair,  was  purchased  by  Mrs.  Palmer 
for  231^.  ;*  and  his  model  of  a  sitting  Venus  was  bought  by 
the  Earl  of  Egremont.2 

1  This  figure  is  by  no  means  2  George  O'Brien  Wyndham, 

so  good  as  the  one  of  Venus  third  Earl  of  Egremont,   the 

chiding    Cupid,    executed    by  munificent    patron    of    many 

the  same  artist  for  his  liberal  artists,  including  Turner, 
patron  Lord  Yarborough.  (S.) 


4  NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

The  antique  marbles  consisted  of  a  statue  of  Minerva  ;  a 
noble  bust  of  Commodus,  in  perfect  condition,  and  several 
other  Imperial  busts  ;  one  of  Mercury  ;  and  a  very  spirited 
head  of  a  Faun  ;  chiefly  purchased  at  the  sales  of  the  late  B. 
Bond  Hopkins,  Esq.  at  Pain's  Hill ;  and  at  the  Earl  of 
Besborough's,  at  Roehampton.  These  antiques,  which  were 
mostly  purchased  by  the  Duke  of  Newcastle,  brought  full 
thirty  times  the  money  they  had  cost  Mr.  Nollekens.1  His 
method  of  mending  antiques  was  rather  curious  :  he  would 
mix  the  dust  of  the  sort  of  stone  he  was  mending,  with  his 
plaster ;  so  that  when  dry,  if  the  antiques  were  of  Pentallic 
marble,  the  sparkling  of  the  stone-dust  in  a  great  measure 
disguised  the  joining  or  mended  parts.  Mr.  Roubiliac,  when 
he  had  to  mend  a  broken  antique,  would  mix  grated  Glou- 
cester cheese  with  his  plaster,  adding  the  grounds  of  porter 
and  the  yoke  of  an  egg  ;  which  mixture,  when  dry,  forms  a 
very  hard  cement. 

Mr.  Nollekens's  prints,  drawings,  and  books  of  prints, 
were  sold  by  M.  Evans,  in  Pali-Mall,  on  Thursday,  December 
4th,  1823.  They  principally  consisted  of  nearly  the  entire 
works  of  Nicolas  Poussin  ;  a  fine  collection  of  the  engravings 
after  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds's  pictures  ;  several  sketch-books 
filled  by  Mr.  Nollekens  when  at  Rome,  and  numerous 
drawings  also  by  him,  made  upon  the  backs  of  letters.2 

1  The  statue  of  Minerva  with  this  sale,  marked  by  Mr.  Arch, 

helmet,  to  which  Nollekens  had  of  Cornhill,  is  in  existence,  and 

added  a  lost  arm,  was  pur-  is  described  in  Notes  and 

chased  by  the  Duke  of  New-  Queries  of  February  3rd,  1906, 

castle  for  i62/.  155.  The  same  by  Mr.  Aleck  Abrahams,  who 

nobleman  bought  the  antique  shows  that  Smith's  paragraph 

bust  of  Commodus,  which  was  is  inaccurate  :  the  dates  of  the 

said  to  resemble  the  then  late  sale  were  December  i8th  and 

Francis  Duke  of  Bedford,  for  igth,  and  Smith  misdescribes 

336^.  ;  the  antique  bust  of  the  lots.1 — "  There  were  sketch 

Mercury  for  147^.  ;  and  the  books,  and  a  very  large  number 

antique  head  of  a  Faun  for  of  original  drawings  by  Cipri- 

I05/.  ani,  of  which  Smith  secured 

*  A  copy  of  the  catalogue  of  lot  331,  '  Thirty-four  Academy 


NOLLEKENS'S  COLLECTION  5 

Nollekens's   figure   with   the   sandal,    carved   for   Lord 
Yarborough,  was  considerably  the  greatest  favourite  with 
the  public  of  all  his  female  figures;    but  that  which  he 
himself  took  the  greatest  delight  in  showing  was  seated  with 
her  arms  round  her  legs,  Lot  21,  purchased  at  his  sale  at  Mr. 
Christie's,  by  the  Earl  of  Egremont,  for  the  sum  of  eighty- 
four  pounds  ;  his  Lordship  giving  it  the  preference  to  others 
by  the  same  artist.    He  engaged  Mr.  Rossi,  the  Academician, 
to  execute  it  in  marble,  with  strict  injunctions  that  no 
alterations  whatever,  not  even  an  improvement  upon  the 
model,  should  be  attempted.    In  giving  this  order,  his  Lord- 
ship was,  in  my  humble  opinion,  perfectly  correct ;   for,  if 
improvements  had  been  made,  it  could  no  longer  have  been 
esteemed  as  a  production  of  Nollekens's  mind  ;  though  I  am 
perfectly  convinced,  that  had  the  figure  been  carved  under 
his  own  eye,  it  would  in  many  instances  have  been  benefited 
by  those  corrections  which  most  Sculptors  are  induced  to 
make  whilst  they  are  executing  finished  carvings  from  their 
models.    Mr.  Williams,1  who  carved  this  figure  under  the 
superintendence  of  Mr.  Rossi,  assured  me,  that  in  no  instance 
could  he  have  been  engaged  upon  a  more  difficult  task, 
especially  in  carving  parts  that  were  so  intricately  undercut  ; 
as  the  right  hand  of  the  figure  placed  before  the  right  leg,' 
was  within  a  quarter  of  an  inch  of  the  shin-bone,  and  he  had 
to  invent  tools  of  the  most  singular  shapes  to  enable  him  to 
cut  and  file  away  the  stone.    It  was  the  opinion  of  most 

studies  in  red  and  black  chalk  '     is  not   mentioned."     It  may 

if  A1A  1Q5'  •  L°ts  3°7~19  in'  be  that'  as  Mr-  Abrahams  sug- 

cluded  drawings  and  prints  by  gests,  Smith  confused  this  sale 

Malton,  Sir  William  Chambers,  with  that  of  the  studio  fittings 

and  Cozens.    Lot  284  was  '  Col-  etc.,  sold  by  Christie  on  July 

lection    of    inscriptions    upon  3rd,  4th,  and  5th  of  the  same 

monuments   and  under  busts  year. 

executed  by  Joseph  Nollekens,  1  Possibly  J.  T.  Williams   a 
Esq.   manuscript';   but  noth-  sculptor  at  this  period    after- 
ing  else  of  his  occurs,  and  the  wards  a  gem  engraver 
name  of  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds 


6 

artists,  that  many  parts  of  this  figure  could  have  been  much 
improved  :  they  thought  the  ankles  unquestionably  too 
thick  ;  and  that,  to  have  given  it  an  air  of  the  antique,  the 
right  thigh  wanted  flesh  to  fill  up  the  ill-formed  nature 
which  Nollekens  had  strictly  copied.  The  abdomen  was  far 
from  good ;  and  the  face  was  too  old,  and  of  a  common 
character  ;  but  the  back  was  considered  extremely  beautiful. 
The  attitude  was  a  natural  one,  and  acquired  by  mere 
chance,  as  good  attitudes  often  are. 

The  woman  from  whom  it  was  modelled,  after  standing  for 
some  time  to  Mr.  Nollekens  for  parts  of  a  figure  for  which  he 
was  then  engaged,  was  desired  to  dress  ;  and,  upon  her 
seating  herself  on  the  ground,  to  put  on  her  stockings,  her 
posture  so  pleased  the  Sculptor,  that  he  immediately  cried, 
"  Stop,  don't  move  ;  I  must  model  you  as  you  now  sit :  "  and 
it  is  a  curious  fact,  that  he,  being  at  that  time  Visitor  of  the 
Royal  Academy,  placed  the  woman,  who  sat  as  the  model 
there,  precisely  in  the  same  position.  It  is  also  rather 
singular,  that  the  above-mentioned  Mr.  Williams,  who  carved 
the  figure  for  Mr.  Rossi,  is  in  possession  of  a  drawing  made 
by  his  father  at  the  Academy,  from  the  female  who  was  so 
placed. 

When  Mr.  Nollekens  had  completed  this  model,  the  late 
Earl  of  Carlisle  purchased  it,  with  an  intention  of  having  it 
carved  in  marble,  and  placed  with  the  numerous  other 
works  of  Art  at  Castle  Howard ;  but  upon  some  family 
objections  being  made,  his  Lordship  gave  the  artist  a  portion 
of  the  purchase-money  to  resign  his  bargain,  and  it  actually 
remained  unsold  for  many  years  previous  to  the  death  of 
our  Sculptor.  It  is  now,  however,  honoured  with  a  pedestal 
at  Petworth,  amidst  numerous  specimens  of  modern  Art, 
of  which  Lord  Egremont,  to  his  eternal  honour  be  it  spoken, 
is  a  most  liberal  encourager.  This  nobleman  is  not  only  in 
possession  of  Mr.  Rossi's  beautiful  group  of  Celadon  and 
Amelia ;  but,  I  am  happy  to  state,  has  also  commissioned 
the  same  artist  to  execute  another  figure  for  him.  His 


SIR  GEORGE  O'BRIEN  WYNDHAM,   F.R.S.,  F.S.A.,  3RD  EARL  OF  EGREMONT, 

THE    MUNIFICENT    PATRON    OF   ARTISTS 
From  an  engraving  l>y  H.  Cook  after  Thos.  Phillips,  R.A. 


ANTIQUE  FOOT  7 

Lordship  will  likewise  have  the  good  fortune  to  possess  the 
group  of  the  Angel  Michael  and  Satan,  one  of  the  grandest 
works  of  the  late  Professor  Flaxman,1  and  perhaps  equal 
to  the  productions  of  this,  or  any  age  of  former  times. 
The  modern  Sculptors,  however,  are  not  only  indebted  to 
the  patronage  of  the  above  Nobleman,  but  also  to  that  of 
their  graces  the  Dukes  of  Devonshire,  Bedford,  and  New- 
castle, who  are  in  possession  of  some  of  the  finest  specimens 
of  their  abilities.  Indeed  our  Sculptors  of  talent  have  so 
glorious  a  Patron  in  his  Most  Gracious  Sovereign,  that  the 
greatest  part  of  the  Nobility  and  persons  of  opulence  en- 
deavour to  vie  with  each  other  in  the  decoration  of  their 
halls  and  galleries ;  and  in  a  few  years,  it  may  reasonably 
be  expected,  the  mansions  of  wealthy  Englishmen  will 
exhibit  such  a  display  of  native  talent,  that  it  will  at  once 
astonish  and  confound  most  of  our  Continental  visitors  and 
rivals. 

Sir  Thomas  Lawrence  is  the  fortunate  possessor  of  an 
antique  foot,  valued  by  Nollekens  as  highly  as  any  specimen 
in  his  collection  ;  of  which  precious  relique  he  has  been 
heard  to  tell  the  following  story.  When  he  was  at  Rome, 
he  often  endeavoured  to  persuade  Cardinal  Albani,  to  whom 
it  belonged,  to  part  with  it,  but  without  success.  At  last, 
when  Nollekens  was  about  to  come  to  England,  the  Cardinal, 
who  knew  no  other  way  of  getting  possession  of  a  female 
Torso,  which  Nollekens  possessed,  gave  him  the  foot  for  it. 

It  has  also  been  stated,  that  the  Cardinal  stole  the  foot 
in  order  to  give  it  to  Nollekens  ;  and  some,  who  stick  at 
nothing,  have  said  that  Nollekens  stole  it  from  the  Cardinal. 
This,  however,  I  do  not  believe,  as  I  never  will  encourage 
the  thought  of  his  being  dishonest,  or  even  in  the  slightest 
degree  dishonourable.  It  is  now  kept  by  Sir  Thomas  Law- 
rence, under  a  glass  shade  ;  and  it  must  have  measured  one 

1  This  group  of  Michael  and    man,  post.     See  another  refer- 
Satan  is  described  in  the  sup-    ence  in  Chapter  X. 
plementary  biography  of  Flax- 


8 

foot  five  inches  and  a  quarter  from  the  heel  to  the  great  toe, 
before  the  tip  of  that  member  was  mutilated.  Sir  Thomas 
Lawrence,  when  first  he  acquired  it,  was  inclined  to  con- 
sider it  as  belonging  to  the  famous  Torso  ;  the  marble  being 
the  same,  and  the  proportions  agreeing  most  perfectly  : 
but,  upon  a  little  reflection,  the  President  gave  up  that 
pleasing  idea,  perfectly  satisfied  that  it  never  could  have 
belonged  to  that  fragment,  as  the  foot  treads  flat  upon  the 
ground,  and  is  unquestionably  in  the  action  of  a  standing 
figure  about  to  walk,  which  does  not  accord  with  the  action 
of  the  thighs  of  the  Torso,  which,  the  reader  will  recollect, 
is  seated. 

I  was  the  means  of  Sir  Thomas  acquiring  another  interest- 
ing relique  of  art,  as  will  appear  by  the  following  statement. 

Twelve  months  after  the  death  of  Dr.  Fryer,1 1  found,  by 
a  catalogue  of  his  household  property,  that  Sir  Joshua 
Reynolds's  throne-chair  was  inserted  for  sale  by  auction  ; 
and  though  I  had  many  friends  who  were  ignorant  of  that 
circumstance,  and  whose  love  for  the  Arts  would  have 
induced  them  to  have  gone  to  a  high  price  for  it,  particu- 
larly one  gentleman  of  rank  and  fortune,  from  whom  I  and 
my  family  have  received  repeated  instances  of  kindness,— 
I  considered  it  my  duty,  as  an  artist,  to  apprise  Sir  Thomas 
Lawrence  of  its  approaching  exposition  ;  and,  for  that 
proper  attention,  I  had  the  honour  of  receiving  his  warmest 
thanks.  However,  on  the  day  of  sale,  the  President  had 
nearly  lost  it ;  as  the  lot  was  actually  about  to  be  knocked 
down  for  the  paltry  sum  of  ten  shillings  and  sixpence,  just 
as  the  rescuing  bidder  entered  the  room  ;  which  enabled 
him,  after  a  slight  contest  of  biddings,  to  place  the  treasure 
on  that  very  day  by  Sir  Thomas's  fireside  in  Russell-square.2 

Last  year,  in  the  ever-memorable  sale  of  the  Leicester 

1  Edward  Fryer,  M.D.  (1761-  at  No.  65  Russell  Square,  and 
1820).    His  biography  of  James  died   there   January   7,    1830. 
Barry  appeared  in  1825.  The  house   has  recently  been 

2  Sir  Thomas  Lawrence  lived  demolished. 


A   THRONE-CHAIR  9 

Gallery  of  Pictures,1  consisting  entirely  of  the  productions 
of  British  artists,  a  comparatively  diminutive  chair  of 
French  character  was  conspicuously  advertised  as  the 
throne-chair  of  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds.  Sir  Thomas  Lawrence, 
as  soon  as  possible,  personally  acquainted  Mr.  Christie  with 
the  absurd  mistake  ;  who,  upon  coming  to  the  lot,  with  his 
usual  manly  fairness,  acknowledged  the  error  to  the  whole 
company,  informing  them  that  the  real  unostentatious 
chair  was  in  the  possession  of  the  President  of  the  Royal 
Academy. 

Some  time  before  Dr.  Fryer's  death,  I  requested  him  to 
give  me  a  specimen  of  Barry's  hand-writing,  to  insert  in 
Boswell's  Life  of  Dr.  Johnson,  which  my  wife  has  for  several 
years  been  engaged  in  illustrating ;  when  he  most  liberally 
gave  me  that  artist's  first  sketch  of  the  letter  which  he 
addressed  to  Lord  and  Lady  Inchiquin,  upon  their  honour- 
ing him  with  the  presentation  of  the  above-mentioned 
chair.  And  as  many  of  my  readers  may  not  be  in  possession 
of  Dr.  Fryer's  Life  of  Barry,  where  the  perfect  letter  is 
inserted,  I  here  give  a  copy  of  the  first  confused  draught 
which  now  adorns  my  wife's  book. 

Mr.  Barry  presents  his  respectful  compliments  to  Lord 
and  Lady  Inchiquin,  with  every  acknowledgment  and  thanks 
for  their  inestimable  favour  conferred  on  him  this  morning, 
in  the  gift  of  Sir  Joshua's  chair. 

Alas  !  this  chair,  that  has  had  such  a  glorious  career  of 
fortune,  instrumental  as  it  has  been  in  giving  the  most 
advantageous  stability  to  the  otherwise  fleeting,  perishable 
graces  of  a  Lady  Sarah  Bunbury,  or  a  Waldegrave,  or  in 
perpetuating  the  negligent,  honest  exterior  of  the  authors 
of  the  Rambler,  the  Traveller,  and  of  almost  every  one 
whom  the  public  admiration  gave  a  currency  for  abilities, 
beauty,  rank,  or  fashion  :  the  very  chair  that  is  immor- 
talized in  Mrs.  Siddons'  tragic  muse,  where  it  will  have  as 

1  Lord  De  Tabley  (Sir  John     lection  was  sold  in  this  year, 
Fleming     Leicester)     died    in     valuing  7466^. 
1827,  and  a  portion  of  his  col- 


10          NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

much  celebrity  as  the  chair  of  Pindar,  which  for  so  many  ages 
was  shown  in  the  Porch  at  Olympia. 

This  chair,  then,  of  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  may  rest,  very 
well  satisfied  with  the  reputation  it  has  gained;  and 
although  its  present  possessor  may  not  be  enabled  to  grace 
it  with  any  new  ornament,  yet  it  can  surely  count  upon 
finding  a  most  affectionate,  reverential  conservator,  whilst 
God  shall  permit  it  to  remain  under  his  care. 

Jan.  30,  1794- 

No.  36,  Castle-street,  Oxford-market.1 

The  next  record  which  I  shall  insert  concerning  Mr. 
Nollekens,  is,  a  list  of  his  principal  performances,  which  I 
have  arranged  alphabetically,  in  order  that  the  reader  may 
readily  find  the  bust,  statue,  or  monument  of  any  particular 
individual.  . 

BUSTS. 


A. 

Aberdeen,  Lord 
Ackland,  Miss 
Adam,  Mr. 

Alban's,  Duchess  of  St. 
Andover,  Lady 
*Anson,  Hon.  Thomas2 
Argyle,  Duchess  of 

1  Lady  Inchiquin,  who  pre- 
sented this  interesting  chair 
to  Barry,  was  Sir  Joshua 
Reynolds's  niece,  Mary  Palmer, 
who  married  the  Earl  of  Inchi- 
quin, afterwards  Marquis  of 
Thomond.  After  Barry's 
death  the  chair  passed  to  his 
friend  and  biographer  Dr. 
Fryer,  in  the  sale  of  whose 
effects  it  was  bought  by  Smith 
himself  for  Sir  Thomas  Law- 
rence. It  was  afterwards  owned 
by  Sir  Martin  Archer  Shee, 


Arkwright,  Mr. 
Arkwright,  Mrs. 
Asaph,  Bishop  of 
Aubyn,  Sir  John  St. 
Aubyn,  Lady  St. 
Auckland,  Miss 
Aufrere,  Mr. 
Aylesford,  Lady 

Sir  Charles  Eastlake,  and  Lord 
Leighton.  It  is  now  in  the 
Diploma  Gallery  under  a  glass 
case.  It  is  an  ordinary  easy 
chair. 

2  Mr.  Deville,  of  the  Strand, 
having  purchased  of  Mr.  Gob- 
let, Mr.  Nollekens's  principal 
assistant,  the  moulds  of  those 
Busts  marked  with  a  (*),  the 
reader  will  be  gratified  by 
knowing  that  casts  of  them 
may  now  be  had  as  above,  at 
a  very  reasonable  rate.  (S.) 


LIST  OF  BUSTS 


11 


B. 

Baillie,  Doctor 

Banks,  Sir  Joseph 

Bathurst,  Lord  Chancellor1 

Beaufort,  Duchess  of 
*Bedford,  Duke  of 

Bedford,  John  Duke  of 

Bedford,  Duchess  of 

Barrington,  Lord 

Berwick,  Lady 
*Besborough,  Lord 

Bolton,  Duke  of 

Borrows,  Master 
*Bradell,  Mrs. 

Brook,  Lord 

Brownlow,  Lord 

Brownlow,  Lady 

Brownlow,  Lady 
*Burney,  Admiral 
*Burney,  M.  D. 
*Burney,  Rev.  Doctor 

C. 

*Canning,  Hon.  George 
Carlisle,  Lord 
Carr,  Mr.  John 
Castlereagh,  Lord 


Cavendish,  Lord  Frederic 
*Cavendish,  Lord  George 

Chambers,  Doctor 

Charles  II.  King  of  England 

Chatham,  Lord 
*Charlemont,  Lord 

Charlemont,  Lady2 

Clair,  Miss  Le 

Coke,  Mr. 

Colpoys,  Admiral 

Coote,  Sir  Eyre 

Cornelli,  Mrs. 

Coutts,  Mr. 
*Cowper,  Lord 

Cromwell,  Oliver 

Cumberland,     His     R.     H. 
William  Duke  of 

D. 

Darnley,  Lord 
*Darnley,  Lady 
Dashwood,  Mr.  Bateman 
Denison,  Mr. 
Devonshire,  Duke  of 
Dillon,  Lord 
Donegal,  Marquis 
Dorset,  Duke  of 
Drummond,  Provost3 


1  This  bust  is  in  the  Regis- 
trar's-room  of  the  Six  Clerks' 
Office,  Chancery-lane.  In  the 
Committee  -  room,  under  the 
same  roof,  is  a  whole-length 
portrait  of  the  same  Chancellor 
in  his  robes,  by  Dance  ;  which 
has  been  severely  cut  at  the 
lower  part  of  the  picture.  (S.) 

2 1  have  heard  Northcote 
declare,  that,  in  his  opinion, 
the  bust  of  Lady  Charlemont 


is  the  finest  of  Nollekens's 
productions  ;  and,  indeed,  that 
he  considered  it  equal  to  any 
antique.  (S.) 

3  George  Drummond,  so 
often  Provost  of  Edinburgh, 
ranks  very  high  among  the 
benefactors  to  the  Royal  In- 
firmary in  that  city.  In 
memory  of  its  obligations,  a 
bust  of  him  has  been  placed  in 
the  Hall.  It  was  done  by 


12          NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 


Dunning,  Mr. 
Dysart,  Lady 

E. 

Ellis,  Mrs. 
*Erskine,  Lord 

F. 

Fair,  Hon.  Edward 
Finch,  Mr.  Thomas 
*Fitzpatrick,  General 
Fitzwilliam,  Lord 
Foley,  Mr. 
Folkes,  Lady 
Fox,  Hon.  Charles  James1 
Fraine,  Mr. 
Fraser,  Simon 

G. 

*George  III.  King  of  England 
*Gainsborough,  Lord 

Garrick,  Mr.  David 

Gower,  Lord 

Gower,  Lord  G.  L. 
*Gower,  Lady 

Nollekens,  and  bears  the  highly 
complimentary  inscription,  of 
"  George  Drummond,  to  whom 
his  country  is  indebted  for  all 
the  benefits  which  it  derives 
from  the  Royal  Infirmary " 
(History  of  Edinburgh.}  (S.) 

1  It  is  said  that  the  Empress 
Catherine  of  Russia  placed 
Fox's  bust  by  Nollekens  be- 
tween those  of  Cicero  and 
Demosthenes.  She  had  no 
fewer  than  twelve  busts  of  Mr. 
Fox  in  marble,  all  executed  by 
Nollekens,  to  give  as  presents. 

"  To  the  memory  of  Charles 


Gordon,  Duke  of2 

Goldsmith,  Oliver 

Graf  ton,  Duke  of 
*Granby,  Marquis 
*Grenville,  Lord 
*Greville,  Hon.  Thomas 

Grey,  Lord 

Gregory,  Mr. 
*Gwydir,  Lord 

H. 

Hamilton,  Mr. 

Harringdon,  Mr. 

Hawkesbury,  Lady 

Heartley,  Lady  Louisa 
""Helen's,  Lord  St. 

Hillesbury,  Lord 

Holford,  Mr.  Robert 
*Holland,  Lord 

Howard,  the  Hon.  Mrs. 

Howard,  Mrs. 

J- 

Johnson,  Bishop 

James  Fox,"  written  by  Mr. 
Roscoe,  under  a  bust  of  him 
by  Nollekens,  in  a  Temple 
erected  to  his  memory,  upon 
the  banks  of  the  Clyde,  by 
Mr.  Todd,  of  Glasgow. 

"  Champion  of  Freedom !  whose  exalted 

mind 
Grasp'd  at  the  general  good  of  human 

kind  ! 
Patriot  !    whose  view  could  stretch 

from  pole  to  pole, 
And,  whilst  he  bless'd  his  country, 

loved  the  whole  !"    (S.) 

2  This  bust  of  the  Duke  of 
Gordon  is  considered  one  of 
Nollekens's  finest  works.  (S.) 


LIST   OF  BUSTS 


13 


*Johnson,  Doctor1 
Jersey,  Lord 

K. 

Keate,  George 
Keith,  Lord 
Key,  Rev.  Mr. 
Keebel,  Mr. 
King,  Admiral 
Kirby,  Mrs. 

L. 


Lake,  Lord 
Lauderdale,  Lord 
Levi,  Moses 
Lee,  Mr. 

""Liverpool,  Lord 
Liverpool,  Lady 
Lucan,  the  Daughter  of  Lord  Orme,  Robert 


Mitford,  Master 
Moira,  Lord 
Monck,  Lady  Elizabeth 
Montagu,  Mr. 
*Mulgrave,  Lord 
Mathias,  Mr. 
Marchant,  Master 
Maud,  Mr. 
Maud,  Mrs. 

N. 

Neal,  General 
*Newcastle,  Duke  of 
Newborough,  Lord 
Newborough,  Lady 
North,  Hon.  Dudley 


O. 


M. 

Madox,  Mr. 

Malone,  Anthony 

Manners,  Lady 
*Mansfield,  Lord 

Mansolini,  Anna,  at  Bologna 

Meath,  Bishop 
*Milton,  Lord 

1  At  Nollekens's  sale,  Mr. 
Chantrey  requested  me  to  bid 
for  the  first  cast  of  this  head 
of  Dr.  Johnson.  Upon  my 
asking  him  how  far  he  would 
go  for  it,  he  observed,  "  You 
buy  it,  for  I  shall  think  it  cheap 
at  any  price  ;  as  it  is,  in  my 
opinion,  by  far  the  finest  head 
our  friend  ever  produced "  ; 
and,  indeed,  it  seemed  to  be 
considered  so  by  another  bidder, 


P. 

Paoli,  General 
Parr,  Count 
Peranesi,  J.  B. 
Pelham,  Hon.  Mr. 
Pelham,  Hon.  Mrs. 
*Perceval,  Hon.  Spencer2 
Percy,  Lord 

who  made  me  pay  ten  guineas 
for  it,  almost  four  times  the 
money  Nollekens  charged  for 
the  common  casts.  (S.) 

2  In  a  letter  by  Nollekens, 
dated  November  27th,  1812, 
with  which  I  have  lately  been 
favoured  by  the  Rev.  Henry 
Crowe,  of  Bath,  to  whom  it  is 
addressed,  it  is  stated  that  his 
price  for  a  bust  in  marble,  was 
then  one  hundred  and  fifty 


14         NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 


Petre,  Lord 
*Pitt,  Hon.  William1 
Popham,  Mr. 
Pringle,  Sir  John 

R. 

Richards,  Mr. 
Richards,  Mr.  John 
Roberts,  Doctor 
Robinson,  Sir  William 
Robinson,  Sir  Sept. 
Rockingham,  Marquis  of 
Roos,  Lord 
Rutland,  Duke  of 
Rutland,  Duchess  of 
Rutland,  Duchess  of,  Isa- 
bella 
Russia,  Empress  of 

S. 

Salesbury,  Lady 
Saville,  Sir  George 
Simmonds,  Daughter  of  Mr. 
Somerset,  Duke  of 
Spencer,  Lord 
Spencer,  Lord  Robert 
Stanhope,  Sir  William 
Stafford,  Marquis  of 
*Sterne,  Rev.  Laurence 
Stonor,  Mr. 
Stroonlof,  General 
Stuart,  Lord  Henry 
Stuart,  Sir  John 
Sykes,  Sir  Christopher 

guineas ;  to  which  he  adds 
that  he  had  at  that  time  orders 
for  fifteen  busts  of  Mr.  Perceval 
at  that  price.  (S.) 

1  The  busts  of  Pitt  and  Fox, 


T. 

*Taylor,  Mr. 
Townley,  Mr.  Charles 
Townley,  Mr.  John 
Trevor,  Bishop 
Tulmarsh,  Mr. 

W. 

*Wales,  His  Royal  Highness 

Prince  of 
*Wales,  Her  Royal  Highness 

Princess  of 

Waddell,  Mr.  William 
*Warwick,  Lord 
Welch,  Mr.  Saunders 
Welch,    Mrs.,  wife    to    the 

above 

Wellesley,  Marquis 
*Wellesley,  Hon.  Pole 
*Wellesley,  Hon.  William 
*Wellington,  Duke  of 
West,  B.,  P.R.A. 
*Whitbread,  Samuel 
Woodburne,  Colonel 
Woodhouse,  Mr. 
*Wyndham,  Hon.  William 
*Wynne,  Sir  W.  W. 
William  III.  King  of  Eng- 
land 

Y. 

*York,  His  Royal  Highness 

Duke  of 

York,  Her  Royal  Highness 
Duchess  of 

according  to  the  theatrical 
phrase,  were  called  "  Nolle- 
kens's  stock  pieces,"  for  they 
were  always  in  requisition.  (S.) 


15 


MONUMENTS  EXECUTED  BY  MR.  NOLLEKENS. 


A. 

Ashburton,  Lord 

B. 

Bathurst,  Lord 
Barwell,  Henry 
Bateman,  Lord 
Baring,  John 
Besborough,  Lord 
Boston,  Lord 
Boscawen,  Mr. 
Birch,  Taylor 
Bodwell,  Mr. 
Booth,  Sir  Charles 
Boyn,  Lady 
Boyde,  Lady 
Buckworth,  Mr. 

C. 

Coke,  Mrs.1 
Champion,  Major 
Chase,  Mr. 
Cunliffe,  Sir  Foster 

D. 

Darby,  Mrs. 
Dashwood,  Sir  John 
Davenport, 

1  This  monument  cost  about 
20oo/.   The  whole  of  the  figures 
were  carved  by  Goblet.    (S.) 

2  It   has   been   roundly   as- 
serted, that  Nollekens  took  the 
composition  of  this  monument 
from  that  erected  to  the  Car- 
dinal Richelieu.    Be  this  as  it 


Dorset,  Duke  of 
Dysart,  Lord 

E. 

Earl,  Mrs. 
Elwes,  Mr. 

F. 

Finch,  Rev.  Dr. 
Fuller,  John 

G. 

Goldsmith,  Oliver 

H. 

Howard,  Mrs.2 
Hill,  Joseph 

I. 

Irwin,  Lady 
Irby,  Mrs. 

J- 

Jervoise,  Mrs. 

K. 

Keate,  George 

Kent,  H.R.H.  Duke  of 

may,  the  figure  of  the  child 
alone  is  equal  to  any  thing 
ancient  or  modern,  and  the 
praise  bestowed  on  that,  Nolle- 
kens is  unequivocally  entitled 
to.  The  figure  of  Religion,  in 
this  monument,  was  carved 
by  Goblet.  (S.) 


16 


NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 


L. 

Leigh,  Lord 
Long,  Charles1 
Lovaine,  Lord 

M. 

Mackenzie,  Stewart 
Manners,  Lord  Robert 
Mitford,  Mrs. 
Mordant,  Sir  J. 
Mortman,  Mr. 
Mynell, 

N. 
Noel,  General 

P. 

Pinfold,  Sir  Thomas 
Pringle,  Sir  John 

R. 

Robinson,  Sir  Sept. 


S. 

Salesbury,  Sir  Thomas 
Sand,  Lord 
Standish,  Mr. 
Sayer,  Admiral 
Southell,  Edward 
Seymour,  Lady  Anne 
Spencer,  Earl 
Shipley,  Mrs.2 
Stuart,  Sir  Charles 

T. 

Talbot,  Lady 
Trevers,  Lord 
Tyrell,SirJ. 

W. 

Willis,  Dr.  Robert 
Wyndham,  William 
Wyndham,  Family 
Worcester,  Bishop 
Wynn,  Lady 


STATUES  EXECUTED  BY  MR.  NOLLEKENS 
IN   MARBLE. 


For  a  Mausoleum. 


Denison,  Robert     \ 

Denison,  William    j 

Diana   Marquis  of  Rockingham. 

Juno     Ditto. 

Mercury   Lord  Yarborough. 


1  This  monument,  consisting 
of  a  boy  with  an  inverted  torch, 
was  erected  at  Saxmundham  : 
for  a  notice  and  drawing  of 
which  I  have  been  obliged  to 
the  Rev.  John  Mitford,  Editor 
of  an  edition  of  Gray's  Works, 
published  in  1814.  (S.) 


2  The  wife  of  the  late  Bishop 
of  St.  Asaph,  who  was  a  brother 
of  Shipley,  the  drawing- master, 
of  the  Strand,  where  Nollekens 
went  to  draw  of  an  evening 
when  a  boy.  (S.) 


17 

Pitt,  Hon.  William     Senate-house,  Cambridge. 

Rockingham,  Marquis  of   . .   Earl  Fitzwilliam. 

Venus1     Marquis  of  Rockingham. 

Venus  chiding  Cupid2    ....   Lord  Yarborough. 

Venus   Mr.    Chamberlayne,    Hamp- 
shire. 

Venus  anointing  her  hair  . .  Bought  at  Mr.  Nollekens's 

auction  by  Mrs.  Palmer. 

Among  the  few  chimney-pieces  executed  by  Mr.  Nol- 
lekens,  one  of  a  superior  kind  was  sent  to  Edinburgh  for 
Mr.  Scott. 

Mr.  Nollekens  also  executed  five  masks  upon  keystones 
for  Somerset  House,  after  drawings  made  purposely  by 
Mr.  Cipriani.  He  likewise  executed  orders  of  a  very  in- 
ferior kind,  by  putting  them  out  to  be  done  by  the  masons 
of  the  New-road  ;3  the  profits  of  which  were  not  inconsider- 
able, as  he  never  gave  them  more  than  a  quarter  of  what  he 
charged  himself. 

As  the  manner  in  which  every  man  of  talent  advances  in 
his  art  is  interesting  to  the  enquiring  mind,  I  have  extracted, 
from  a  set  of  the  Royal  Academy  Exhibition  Catalogues,  the 
subjects  produced  by  Mr.  Nollekens  as  they  stand  chrono- 
logically. 

1 A  noble  Lord  when  viewing  that    he    threatened    F.    M. 

Mr.  Nollekens's  statue  of  Venus  Newton,    the    Secretary,    who 

perfuming  her  hair,  asked  the  made  light  of  the  affair,  should 

artist  from  whence  he  took  the  this  Venus  be  in  any  way  in- 

idea  of   thus   employing   her.  jured,  to  break  every  bone  in 

Surely  it  must  have  been  from  his  skin.  (S.) 

Homer  ?     Nollekens  made  no  3  The   New   (Euston)    Road 

reply  ;    in  fact,  he  knew  very  statuary  yards  survive  to  this 

little  of  Homer.  (S.)  day,  though  their  number  has 

2  Nollekens  was  so  provoked  declined.      There    were    more 

by  an  accident  which  happened  than   a   dozen   in   and   about 

to  one  of  his  figures  during  the  the    New-road    when     Smith 

exhibition  at  Somerset  House,  wrote. 
VOL.  ir. — c 


18          NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 


No. 

139  A  bust  of  a  nobleman,  in  marble. 

140  A  model  of  Bacchus. 

141  A  ditto,  Paetus  and  Arria,  a  group. 

1772. 

168  A  bust  of  a  gentleman,  in  marble. 

169  A  statue  of  Bacchus,  ditto.1 

I773- 

211  A  statue  in  marble,  representing  Venus  taking  off  her 

sandal. 

212  Cupid  and  Psyche,  in  basso-relievo. 

213  Hope  leaning  on  an  urn. 

214  Portrait  of  a  young  lady. 

1774. 
190  A  bust  of  his  Majesty,  in  marble. 

I775- 

208  A  bust  of  a  nobleman,  in  marble. 

209  Venus  chiding  Cupid,  a  model. 

210  A  bust,  ditto. 

1776. 

199  A  statue  of  Juno,  in  marble. 

200  A  bust,  ditto. 

201  A  bust,  in  marble. 

202  A  ditto. 

1777. 

249  A  bust  of  a  nobleman,  in  marble. 

250  Ditto  of  a  gentleman,  ditto. 

251  Ditto  ditto        ditto. 

252  A  bust  of  a  gentleman,  in  marble. 

253  Ditto  of  a  lady,  a  model. 

254  Ditto  of  a  gentleman,  ditto. 

1  The  original  beautiful  little    of    my    friend    John    Gawler 
model  from  which  this  statue    Bridge,  Esq.     (S.) 
was  carved,  is  in  the  possession 


EXHIBITS  AT  THE  ROYAL  ACADEMY    19 


No. 

216  A  marble  group  of  Venus  chiding  Cupid. 

217  A  statue  of  Diana. 

218  A  model  of  two  children,  designed  for  a  monument. 

219  A  bust  of  a  gentleman. 

1779. 

217  A  bust  of  a  nobleman,  in  marble. 

218  Ditto  of  a  general. 

219  A  model  of  a  monumental  figure. 

1782. 

529  A  monumental  bas-relievo. 

535  A  figure  of  Adonis. 

556  A  Cupid  sharpening  his  arrow. 

1783- 
464  Figure  of  Mercury,  in  marble. 

1784. 

497  Bust  of  a  lady. 

498  Bust  of  a  nobleman. 
520  Bust  of  a  lady. 

1785- 
635  Busto  of  a  gentleman. 

1788. 

597  A  monumental  figure. 
605  A  monumental  figure. 
647  Figure  of  Britannia. 

1789. 
605  Bust  of  a  gentleman. 

1790. 

660  Lord  Robert  Manners  expiring  in  the  arms  of  Victory, 
intended  by  the  late  Duke  of  Rutland  for  a  monu- 
ment to  be  placed  in  the  chapel  at  Belvoir  Castle. 

1791. 

632  Bust  of  a  gentleman. 

633  Bust  of  a  lady. 


20         NOLLEKENS  AND   HIS   TIMES 

No.  I792- 

498  A  bust  of  a  lady. 

1793- 

585  Bust  of  a  lady. 
652  Bust  of  a  gentleman. 

1799. 

622  Bust  of  a  lady  of  quality. 
933  Bust  of  a  nobleman. 
940  Bust  of  a  lady. 
951  Bust  of  a  nobleman. 
961  Bust  of  a  nobleman. 
972  A  Venus. 

1800. 

988  Bust  of  a  gentleman. 

989  Bust  of  a  nobleman. 
1031  Venus  anointing  her  hair. 

1082  A  monumental  group,  to  the  memory  of  a  lady  who 
died  in  child-bed,  supported  by  Religion. 

1801. 

999  Portrait  of  Mr.  John  Townley,in  the  form  of  a  Terminus. 

1001  Bust  of  his  Grace  the  Duke  of  Bedford. 

1002  Bust  of  a  young  gentleman. 

1007  A  bust  of  Lady  Hawkesbury. 

1008  Bust  of  a  young  gentleman. 

1009  Bust  of  Lord  Petre. 

1024  A  sepulchral  bas-relief  to  the  memory  of  the  late  Duke 
of  Dorset. 

1802. 
1059  Bust  of  Dr.  Burney. 

1063  A  design  for  a  monument  to  the  memory  of  a  late  cele- 

brated general,  supported  by  Wisdom  and  Justice. 

1064  A  sketch  :  the  Graces. 

1065  Bust  of  the  late  Duke  of  Bedford. 

1066  A  sketch  :  Adam  and  Eve. 

1067  A  sketch  of  a  monument  for  a  naval  officer  expiring  in 

the  arms  of  Victory. 

1073  Bust  of  the  Hon.  C.  J.  Fox. 

1074  A  sketch  :  the  Slaughter  of  the  Innocents. 


EXHIBITS  AT  THE  ROYAL  ACADEMY    21 

No.  1803. 

924  Pudicity  :  a  sketch. 

925  Bust  of  Mr.  Stonor. 

930  Lot  and  his  two  Daughters  :  a  sketch. 

931  Daedalus  and  Icarus  :   a  sketch. 

932  The  Judgment  of  Paris  :   a  sketch. 
1024  Bust  of  Lord  Moira. 

1804. 

947  Portrait  of  the  Hon.  C.  Grey. 

948  Portrait  of  Miss  C.  Symmons. 

949  Portrait  of  the  Right  Hon.  General  Fitzpatrick. 

950  Portrait  of  the  Earl  of  Lauderdale. 

951  Portrait  of  Lord  R.  Spencer. 

1805. 

689  A  sketch  of  an  Hercules. 

690  A  sketch  of  a  Faun  playing. 

693  A  medallion  of  the  late  Miss  Ackland,  daughter  of 

J.  Ackland,  Esq. 

694  A  sketch  of  Laocoon  and  his  Sons. 

695  A  bust  of  the  Marquis  of  Stafford. 

711  A  design  of  a  monument,  intended  for  Westminster 

Abbey,  to  the  memory  of  two  naval  officers. 
783  A  bust  of  the  late  C.  Townley,  Esq. 
789  A  bust  of  T.  W.  Coke,  Esq. 

1808. 

969  Bust  of  the  Hon.  Mr.  Pelham. 

970  Bust  of  the  Earl  of  Darnley. 

971  Bust  of  the  Marquis  Wellesley. 

972  Bust  of  His  Grace  the  Duke  of  Bedford. 

978  Bust  of  His  Royal  Highness  the  Prince  of  Wales. 

979  Bust  of  Sir  W.  W.  Wynne,  Bart. 

1810. 

753  His  Grace  the  Duke  of  Rutland. 

766  Bust  of  the  Right  Hon.  Lord  Brownlow. 

874  Bust  of  the  Hon.  Mrs.  Pelham. 

875  Bust  of  the  Right  Hon.  Lord  Grenville. 


22          NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

No.  1810. 

876  Bust  of  her  Grace  the  Duchess  of  Rutland. 

885  Bust  of  the  Countess  of  Charlemont. 

886  Bust  of  the  Right  Hon.  Lord  Mulgrave. 

1811. 

926  A  model  of  a  monument  of  the  late  Mrs.  Coke  of  Hoik- 
ham. 
938  Bust  of  the  Right  Hon.  Lord  Castlereagh. 

940  Bust  of  the  Right  Hon.  Earl  of  Chatham. 

941  Bust  of  the  Right  Hon.  Lord  Grenville  Leveson  Gower. 

948  Bust  of  the  Right  Hon.  W.  Wellesley  Pole. 

949  Bust  of  the  Right  Hon.  Lord  Roos. 

951  Bust  of  the  Right  Hon.  George  Canning. 

952  Bust  of  Admiral  Sir  J.  Colpoys,  K.B. 

1812. 

933  Bust  of  the  Countess  of  Charlemont.1 

934  Bust  of  Benjamin  West,  Esq.  President  of   the  Royal 

Academy. 

936  Bust  of  the  Right  Hon.  Lord  Brooke. 

937  Bust  of  Lord  Gwydir. 

1813. 
919  Bust  of  the  Right  Hon.  Spencer  Perceval. 

925  Bust  of  the  Right  Hon.  Lord  G.  Cavendish. 

926  Bust  of  H.R.H.  the  Duke  of  York. 

935  Bust  of  the  Marquis  of  Wellington. 

1814. 

781  Bust  of  S.  Whitbread,  Esq.  M.P. 
789  Bust  of  the  Earl  of  Charlemont. 
792  Bust  of  his  Grace  the  Duke  of  Grafton. 

800  Bust  of  Earl  Cowper. 

801  Bust  of  the  Earl  of  Aberdeen. 

1  In  order  to  account  for  the  instances  exhibited  the  model 

recurrence  of  the  same  bust,  one  year,  and  a  carving  from 

it  may  be  proper  to  remark  it  in  marble  in  the  next.     (S.) 
that  Mr.  Nollekens  in  many 


CONCLUSION  23 

No.  1815. 

Bust  of  Lord  Erskine. 

Bust  of  the  Rev.  C.  Burney,  D.D. 
895  Bust  of  the  Earl  of  Egremont. 

1816. 

932  Bust  of  Lord  St.  Helen's. 

950  Bust  of  T.  Coutts,  Esq. 

951  Bust  of  the  Earl  of  Liverpool. 

961  Bust  of  his  Grace  the  Duke  of  Newcastle.        t 

Such,  and  so  numerous,  are  the  works  of  Nollekens,  who 
will  long  be  remembered,  not  only  as  having  held  a  con- 
spicuous rank  among  contemporary  Artists,  in  an  era 
abounding  in  men  of  genius ;  but  as  having,  by  assiduity 
rarely  surpassed,  and  parsimony  seldom  equalled,  amassed 
a  princely  fortune  ;  from  which,  however,  his  avaricious 
spirit  forbade  him  to  derive  any  comfort  or  dignity,  except- 
ing the  poor  consolation  of  being  surrounded,  in  his  dotage, 
by  parasites  who  administered  to  his  unintellectual  enjoy- 
ments, and  nattered  even  his  infirmities,  in  the  hope  of 
sharing  the  vast  property  which  Death  would  force  him  to 
resign. 


JOSKI'll    NOU.KKKNS,    R. A. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

AND    ANECDOTES 

OF   SEVERAL 

ARTISTS   AND    OTHERS 

CONTEMPORARY   WITH   NOLLEKENS 


LOUIS  FRANCOIS  ROUBILIAC 

Eit  be  remembered,  by  those  who  visit  the  monu- 
ments in  Westminster  Abbey,  that  there  are  no 
less  than  six  of  them  by  the  hand  of  Roubiliac ; 
viz.  those  of  Argyle,  Hargrave,  Fleming,  Nightin- 
gale, Handel,  and  Warren.  Roubiliac,  whose  fame  needs  no 
farther  testimonial  than  that  of  his  works,  has  sculptured 
in  his  figure  of  Eloquence,  in  the  Duke  of  Argyle 's  monument, 
such  a  memorial  of  his  powers,  that  even  his  friend  Pope 
could  not  have  equalled  it  by  an  epitaph.1  Mr.  Flaxman, 
however,  has  given  a  different  opinion  of  this  artist  in  the 
following  words :  "  Roubiliac  was  an  enthusiast  in  his  art, 
possessed  of  considerable  talents  :  he  copied  vulgar  nature 
with  zeal,  and  some  of  his  figures  seem  alive  ;  but  their 
characters  are  mean,  their  expressions  grimace,  and  their 
forms  frequently  bad  :  his  draperies  are  worked  with  great 
diligence  and  labour,  from  the  most  disagreeable  examples 
in  nature,  the  folds  being  either  heavy  or  meagre,  frequently 
without  a  determined  form,  and  hung  on  his  figures  with 
little  meaning.  He  grouped  two  figures  together  (for  he 
never  attempted  more)  better  than  most  of  his  contempor- 
aries ;  but  his  thoughts  are  conceits,  and  his  compositions 
epigrams."2  Roubiliac  studied  nature  carefully ;  but  he  was 
not  very  choice  in  his  selection,  nor  did  he  in  general  evince 
much  refinement  or  elevation  of  idea.  The  legs  of  the 

1  There  are  seven  works  by  praise   of   the   figure   of   Elo- 

Roubiliac  in  the  Abbey ;  Smith  quence,  see  under  John  Bacon, 

omits  the  elaborate  monument  post. 

to  Marshal  Wade  over  the  door        2  Sec  the  Artist,  No.  12,  Vol. 

to  the  Cloister. — For  Canova's  I,  p.  14.    (S.) 

27 


28          NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

figure  of  Hercules,  supporting  the  bust  of  Sir  Peter  Warren, 
were  copied  from  a  chairman's,  and  the  arms  from  those  of 
a  waterman  ;  the  muscles  of  every  limb  being  forcibly 
strengthened  by  their  respective  employments.  Roubiliac 
seldom  modelled  his  drapery  for  his  monumental  figures, 
but  carved  it  from  the  linen  itself,  which  he  dipped  into 
warm  starch-water,  so  that  when  he  had  pleased  himself, 
he  left  it  to  cool  and  dry,  and  then  proceeded  with  the 
marble  ;  this,  my  father  assured  me,  he  did  with  all  the 
drapery  in  Nightingale's  monument.  As  a  proof  of  Rou- 
biliac's  enthusiasm  for  his  art,  the  late  Mr.  Gayfere,  Abbey- 
Mason,  related  to  me  the  following  anecdote. 

One  day,  during  the  time  he  was  putting  up  Mrs.  Night- 
ingale's monument,  Roubiliac's  servant,  who  had  a  message 
to  deliver,  found  his  master  with  his  arms  folded  and  eyes 
riveted  to  the  kneeling  figure  at  the  north-west  corner  of 
Lord  Norris's  monument.  The  man,  after  he  had  three 
times  requested  an  answer,  was  seized  by  the  arm  by  his 
master,  who  softly  whispered,  "  Hush  !  hush  !  he  vil  speak 
presently!  "J 

This  monument  of  Lord  Norris,  and  also  that  truly 
exquisite  one  in  the  same  chapel  to  the  memory  of  Sir 
Francis  Vere,  are  supposed  to  have  been  the  production  of  an 
Englishman.  They  are  of  the  time  of  James  the  First ;  and, 
in  style  of  art,  not  unlike  the  monument  of  Camden  in 
Poet's  Corner,  and  that  erected  to  the  memory  of  Shakspeare 
in  the  church  of  Stratford-upon-Avon.2 

1  Allen  Cunningham,  perhaps  1608),  but  "  the  noble  acts,  the 
misreading  Smith's  story,  valour,  and  high  worth  of  that 
states  that  the  sculpture  that  right  valiant  and  warlike  pro- 
riveted  Roubiliac's  gaze  was  geny  of  his — a  band  of  martial 
"  one  of  the  knightly  figures  spirited  men  as  the  Nether- 
which  support  the  canopy  over  lands,  Portugal,  Little  Bre- 
the  statue  of  Sir  Francis  Vere."  tagne,  and  Ireland  can  testify." 
—The  tomb  described  as  "Lord  Six  sons  are  represented  in  the 
Norris's "  commemorates  not  sculptures, 
only  Henry,  Lord  Norris  (died  2  The  monument  to  Sir 


LOUIS   FRANCOIS   ROUBILIAC          29 

About  the  year  1794,  I  had  the  pleasure  of  passing  many 
happy  hours  at  the  table  of  John  Horsley,  Esq.  late  of 
Epping  Forest,  the  brother  of  the  Bishop  of  Rochester  ;  and 
one  day,  when  the  conversation  happened  to  fall  upon  the 
shapes  of  ears,  I  was  agreeably  interrupted  in  the  following 
manner.  After  having  stated  that  Roubiliac  had  declared, 
that  as  Handel, — whose  monumental  figure  he  was  then 
modelling, — had  so  fine  an  ear  for  music,  he  would  look  for 
the  best  he  could  find  for  him  ;  and  that  soon  after  this 
determination,  when  dining  with  his  friend  Rich,  he  ex- 
claimed "Miss  Rich,  I  vil  have  your  ear" — when  I  had 
proceeded  thus  far  with  my  story,  "  Bless  me  !  he  did  mould 
my  ear,"  cried  Mrs.  Horsley,  to  my  great  surprise  ;  for, 
until  that  moment,  I  was  ignorant  that  I  had  so  often  been 
in  the  company  of  Rich's  daughter.  This  lady's  first 
husband  was  Mr.  Morris,  a  woollen-draper,  who  succeeded 
Mr.  Rich,  conjointly  with  Mr.  Beard,  in  the  management  of 
Covent-garden  Theatre.1 

As  to  the  Vauxhall  statue  of  Handel,  which  has  so  often 
been  moved  from  its  original  place,  it  stood,  in  1744,  on  the 
south  side  of  the  Gardens,  under  an  inclosed  lofty  arch, 
surmounted  by  a  figure  playing  the  violoncello,  attended  by 
two  boys  ;  and  it  was  then  screened  from  the  weather  by  a 
curtain,  which  was  drawn  up  when  the  visitors  arrived. 
The  ladies  then  mostly  walked  in  these  and  Marylebone 
Gardens  in  their  hoops,  sacques,  and  caps,  as  they  appeared 
their  own  drawing-rooms  ;  whilst  the  gentlemen  were 
generally  uncovered,  with  their  hats  under  their  arms,  and 
swords  and  bags,  as  displayed  in  Canaletti's,  Chatelain's, 

rrancis  Vere  was   erected  by  1  Morris,  the  woollen  draper, 

lis  widow  "  in  a  direct  imita-  who  married  one  of  the  three 

ion  of  the  tomb  of  Englebert,  daughters  of  John  Rich,  died 

^ount  of  Nassau,  in  the  church  April  25th,  1767.     His  widow 

it  Breda,  where,  as  here,  four  married       Captain       Horsley, 

leeling  knights  support   the  brother  of  Dr.  Horsley,  Bishop 

rms  of  the  dead  man  who  lies  of    Rochester    and    Dean    of 

mderneath."     (Stanley.)  Westminster. 


and  Wale's  truly  interesting  drawings,  published  at  the  time, 
and  which  are  now  extremely  rare.  Impressions  of  these 
plates  are,  however,  preserved  in  Mr.  Crowle's  Illustrated 
Pennant,  in  the  British  Museum.1  The  statue  of  Handel, 
of  which  there  is  a  beautiful  engraving  by  Bartolozzi,  after 
being  moved  to  various  situations  in  the  Gardens,  was  at 
length  conveyed  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Barrett,  at  Stockwell  ; 
and  then  to  the  entrance-hall  of  the  residence  of  his  son,  the 
Rev.  Jonathan  Tyers  Barrett,  D.D.  of  No.  14,  Duke-street, 
Westminster.  This  statue,  though  the  production  of  a 
foreigner,  ought,  as  it  pourtrays  the  figure  of  the  immortal 
Handel,  to  be  purchased  for  some  public  situation.  It  is 
now  to  be  sold,  and  may  be  seen  in  the  hall  of  Mr.  Newton's 
private  house,  No.  69,  Dean-street,  Soho.2  When  Mr. 
Nollekens  was  asked  by  the  late  Mr.  Tyers,  what  he  con- 
sidered that  statue  to  be  worth,  he  immediately  answered, 
"  A  thousand  guineas."  The  model  was  the  property  of  Mr. 
Hudson,  the  Painter,  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds's  master,  who  had 
it  conveyed  with  a  large  collection  of  models  to  his  house  at 
Twickenham,  where  they  remained  for  several  years  after 
Hudson's  decease.3  This  collection  was  sold  by  the  elder 
Christie,  in  Pall-Mall,  at  which  time  my  father  purchased  the 
above-mentioned  model  for  five  pounds ;  and  at  Mr. 
Nollekens's  particular  request  allowed  him  to  have  it.  It 
was  re-sold  by  Christie  at  that  Artist's  auction  in  Pall-Mall, 
for  the  sum  of  io/.  los.  to  Mr.  Hamlet,  the  Silversmith.4  At 
Hudson's  sale,  Mr.  Nollekens  purchased  two  models,  repre- 
senting Painting  and  Sculpture,  which  Roubiliac  had  made 

1  John    Charles    Crowle,    of  whose    house    and    studio    in 
Fryston  Hall,  Wakefield,  was  Mortimer-street      had       been 
secretary    of    the     Dilettanti  leased  by  Nollekens. 
Society,  1774-1778.     He  died  3  This  statue  of  Handel  came 
in  1811  and  left  his  splendid  into  the  possession  of  Mr.  Alfred 
extra-illustrated  copy  of  Pen-  Littleton,  of  Sydenham. 
nant's  London,  valued  at  5ooo/.  *  Thomas  Hamlet,  jeweller, 
to  the  British  Museum.  i      Princes-street,      Leicester- 

2  Francis Milner Newton, R.A.,  square  (London  Directory,  1815). 


LOUIS   FRANCOIS   ROUBILIAC          31 

for  the  corners  of  Hudson's  parlour  chimney-piece  ;  when 
that  artist  resided  in  Great  Queen-street,  Lincoln's  Inn 
Fields.  These  models  were  re-sold  at  Mr.  Nollekens's  sale, 
and  bought  by  Mr.  Rowe,1  the  inimitable  modeller  of 
portraits  in  wax,  who  is  at  present  in  possession  of 
them. 

I  find  from  a  manuscript  in  my  father's  handwriting, 
that  Mr.  Roubiliac  owed  his  introduction  to  Mr.  Jonathan 
Tyers  to  his  friend  Cheere,2  with  whom  he  worked  before  he 
ventured  upon  his  own  account.    It  happened  in  the  follow- 
ig  manner.     At  the  time  Mr.  Tyers  had  engaged  in  the 
fauxhall-gaden  speculation,  he  requested  the  advice  of  Mr. 
Cheere  as  to  the  best  mode  of  decoration.    "  I  conclude  you 
all  have  Music,"  observed  Cheere,  "  therefore  you  cannot 
lo  better  than  to  have  a  carving  of  an  Apollo.    What  do  you 
to  a  figure  of  Handel  ?  " — "  Good,"  replied  Jonathan, 
but  that  will  be  too  expensive,  friend  Cheere." — "  No," 
iswered  the  Sculptor ;    "I  have  an  uncommonly  clever 
fellow  working  for  me  now,  and  introduced  to  me  by  Sir 
Edward  Walpole  ;   employ  him,  and  he  will  produce  you  a 
fine  statue."     This  he  did,  and  the  following  copy  of  a 
receipt  will  at  once  prove  the  kind  way  in  which  he  assisted 
him. 

June  the  Qth,  1750. 
I  promise  to  pay  Jona.  Tyers,  or  order  twenty  pounds  on 

demand,  value  received.  T    T,  TD/^TTTJTT  TA/- 

L.  r.  KUUrilHAt-. 

£20  oos. 

The  original  of  this  receipt  is  in  the  splendid  collection  of 
autographs  possessed  by  my  friend  William  Upcott,  Esq. 
of  the  London  Institution,  by  whose  indefatigable  researches 
and  liberal  expenditure,  many  literary  treasures  have  been 
rescued  from  oblivion  and  destruction,  to  the  great  joy  of  the 

1  Evidently  Peter  Rouw,  to        2  Sir  Henry  Cheere,  the  sculp- 
whom  Nollekens  left  ioo/.  by    tor.    See  Index, 
the  last  codicil  of  his  will. 


32 

biographer  and  historian.  Indeed,  but  for  his  zeal  in  this 
pursuit,  the  public  would  probably  have  known  nothing  of 
that  valuable  work,  Evelyn's  Diary  and  Correspondence, 
which,  after  passing  through  two  editions  in  quarto,  is  now 
reprinted  in  five  volumes  octavo.  Mr.  Upcott  has  also  pro- 
duced an  excellent  publication  in  three  volumes,  octavo, 
entitled,  A  Bibliographical  Account  of  the  Principal  Works 
relating  to  English  Topography.  Lond.  iSiS.1 

My  father  related  the  following  anecdote  of  Mr.  Roubiliac, 
who  generally  was  so  studiously  wrapt  up  and  absorbed  in 
his  art,  as  to  lose  all  individual  recollection  whatever  of 
person  and  place  unconnected  with  the  subject  immediately 
on  his  mind. 

One  day,  at  dinner,  during  the  time  he  was  so  in- 
tently engaged  in  modelling  the  figure  of  Mr.  Nightingale 
warding  off  the  dart  of  Death  from  his  wife,  he  suddenly 
dropped  his  knife  and  fork  on  his  plate,  fell  back  in  his  chair 
and  then  in  an  instant  darted  forward  and  threw  his  features 
into  the  strongest  possible  expression  of  fear ;  at  the  same 
moment  fixing  his  piercing  eyes  so  expressively  on  the 
country  lad  who  waited  at  table,  that  the  fellow  was  as 
much  astonished  as  the  boy  listening  to  the  Cock-lane  Ghost 
story,  so  exquisitely  painted  by  Zoffany,  in  his  picture  of 
the  Farmer's  Return  from  London,  which  is  so  admirably 
engraven  by  J.  G.  Haid.2 

A  gentleman  who  had  stayed  one  night  at  Slaughters' 

1  Upcott,  who  was  a  natural  edition  of  Evelyn's  Diary,  the 

son   of   Ozias   Humphry,   has  original    of    which    had    been 

been  described  as  the  father  shown    to    him    at    Wotton. 

of  autograph  collecting.     His  This  was  published  in   1818, 

house    at    102    Upper-street,  and  in  the  same  year  appeared 

Islington,  was  known  as  Auto-  Upcott's  topographical   work, 

graph  Cottage.     He  was  en-  He  died  unmarried  at  Isling- 

gaged  for  twenty-eight  years  ton,  September  23rd,  1845. 
at  the  London  Institution.    In         2  Johann     Gottfried     Haid. 

association  with  William  Bray  See   Index, 
he    edited    the    first    printed 


LOUIS   FRANCOIS  ROUBILIAC          33 

Coffee-house  until  past  twelve  o'clock,  discovered  that  he 
had  forgotten  the  street-door  key  of  the  house  where  he 
lodged  ;  and  as  he  had  agreed  with  his  landlady  not  to 
disturb  her  other  inmates  beyond  that  hour,  was  prevailed 
on  by  Roubiliac  to  take  the  other  rubber,  and  sleep  in  a  spare 
bed  much  at  his  service.  The  gentleman  accepted  his 
invitation,  and  upon  Roubiliac  showing  him  the  room, 
wished  him  a  good  night ;  but  just  as  he  was  nearly  un- 
dressed, he  was  horror-stricken  at  the  sight  of  the  corpse  of 
a  black  woman  laid  out  upon  the  bed.  He  immediately 
vociferated  the  name  of  Roubiliac,  who  upon  coming  into 
the  room,  exclaimed,  "  Oh  dear  !  my  good  fren,  I  beg  your 
pardon  !  I  did  not  remember  poor  Mary  vas  dare  :  poor 
Mary  !  she  die  yesterday  vid  de  small-poc  !  Come,  come, 
and  you  must  take  part  vid  my  bed — come — poor  Mary  vas 
my  hos-maid  for  five  six  year — more." 

The  statue  of  Shakspeare,  now  in  the  Hall  of  the  British 
Museum,  was  executed  by  Roubiliac  for  Mr.  Garrick,  who 
placed  it  in  a  temple  erected  for  that  purpose  in  his  garden  at 
Hampton,  where  it  was  to  remain  during  the  life  of  his 
widow,  and  at  her  death  was  to  become  the  property  of  the 
British  Museum,  as  may  be  seen  by  his  Will,  dated  the  24th 
of  September,  1778,  printed  at  the  end  of  the  second  volume 
of  Davies's  Life  of  Garrick.  Mr.  Garrick  agreed  to  give  Mr. 
Roubiliac  three  hundred  guineas  for  it,  and  the  artist  was  to 
make  use  of  the  best  marble  he  could  afford  for  the  money  ; 
unfortunately,  however,  the  block  turned  out  full  of  veins, 
which  rendered  the  face  so  hideous  to  Mr.  Garrick,  that  he 
declared  he  could  not  put  it  up,  as  persons  might  ask,  "  What ! 
was  Shakspeare  marked  with  mulberries  ?  "  Roubiliac 
assured  Mr.  Garrick  that  it  was  the  best  marble  he  could  use 
for  the  price  of  the  figure ;  but  that,  in  order  to  make  it  agree- 
able to  him,  he  would  cut  off  the  head,  and  replace  it  with 
another,  carved  from  a  fine  clear  piece  of  marble,  which  he 
did,  to  the  great  pleasure  of  his  employer.  On  the  upper 
part  of  the  pedestal  upon  which  this  figure  of  Shakspeare 

VOL.  II.— D 


34          NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

rests,  the  following  inscription  is  cut  in  the  marble  : — L.  F. 

ROUBILIAC  INV*.  ET  SCUfc.  1758. x 

It  is  truly  remarkable,  that  the  first  figure  carved  by  this 
Sculptor  in  England,  was  that  of  Handel,  and  that  the  last 
work  on  which  he  was  engaged  was  a  monument  to  the 
memory  of  the  same  Composer. 

Roubiliac,  who  was  a  perfectly  honest  and  generous  man, 
once  found  a  pocket-book  containing  immense  property, 
which  he  continued  constantly  to  advertise  for  a  considerable 
time  before  it  was  owned  ;  and  then  the  only  thing  he  would 
receive  beyond  the  advertising  expenses  was  a  buck,  which 
the  gentleman  supplied  him  with  annually. 

During  the  time  that  Garrick  was  Manager  of  Drury-lane 
Theatre,  he  carried  a  two-foot  rule,  like  a  carpenter,  in  a 
small  pocket  made  purposely  for  it.  Once  in  crossing 
Roubiliac's  stone-yard,  he  pinched  him  by  the  elbow,  and 
bade  him  mind  how  he  would  frighten  that  red-headed 
countryman  who  was  sawing  stone.  Upon  creeping  towards 
the  fellow,  he  kept  lowering  himself,  at  the  same  time  putting 
on  one  of  his  tragedy  looks,  and  partly  drawing  out  his 
two-foot  rule,  as  he  would  a  pistol  to  shoot  him.  In  that 
attitude  he  remained  for  some  time,  disappointed  and 
motionless,  until  the  Yorkshireman  stopped  his  sawing,  and 
after  squirting  out  his  tobacco-water,  coolly  said,  "  What 
trick  do  you  intend  to  be  at  next  ?  " 

Upon  Mr.  Roubiliac's  death,  his  premises  were  taken  by 
Read,  the  most  deficient  in  talent  of  all  his  pupils,2  but  who, 

1  This    famous     statue     of  the  sculptor  to  Garrick's  widow 

Shakespeare  is  now  in  the  en-  and  it  occupied  the  place  of 

trance  hall  of  the  present  British  the  original  at  Hampton  until 

Museum.     At  the  time  of  its  1902,  when  it  was  presented 

removal  from  Hampton,  two  by  Mrs.  Grove,  the  owner  of 

casts  of  it  were  taken  by  George  the  villa,  to  Sir  Charles  Wynd- 

Garrard,  A.R.A.     One  of  these  ham. 

was  for  Drury  Lane  Theatre,  2  Nicholas    Read    occupied 

where  it  may  now  be  seen  ;  Roubiliac's  studio,  at  66  St. 

the   other   was   presented   by  Martin's-lane,  after  his  master's 


LOUIS  FRANCOIS   ROUBILIAC          35 

like  a  trunk-maker  or  plumber  and  glazier,  regularly 
advertised  himself  as  the  successor  of  Mr.  Roubiliac ; 
modestly  concluding,  that  by  occupying  his  studio,  the 
public  would  come  to  the  old  shop  for  jobs  in  the  stone-carving 
line,  fully  satisfied  that  the  business  must  necessarily  be  as 
well  executed  by  his  being  one  of  the  late  man's  apprentices  ! 
This,  I  am  shocked  to  declare,  was  in  many  instances  really 
the  case,  since  he  was  employed  to  execute  many  large  and 
most  expensive  monuments ;  as,  for  instance,  Admiral 
Tyrrell's,  and  one  to  the  Duchess  of  Northumberland,  in 
Westminster  Abbey,  were  from  his  chisel  and  workshop. 
Indeed,  Read  made  so  much  money  by  pretending  to  that 
which  he  understood  not,  that  he  was  enabled  to  increase  his 
establishment  tenfold  in  what  he  certainly  was  excellently 
well  acquainted  with  ;  namely,  the  trade  of  purchasing  old 
houses,  fitting  them  up,  and  then  letting  them  at  an  im- 
mense increase  of  rent. 

The  following  anecdote  affords  a  curious  prediction  of 
Roubiliac's  as  to  Read's  efforts  in  the  art  of  Sculpture. 
Read,  one  day  at  dinner,  had  the  audacity  to  declare,  that 
when  he  was  out  of  his  time,  he  would  show  the  world  what 
a  monument  ought  to  be.  Upon  this  remark,  Roubiliac 
looked  at  him  scornfully  and  said,  "  Ven  you  do  de  monu- 
ment, den  de  varld  vill  see  vot  von  d — d  ting  you  vill  make." 
This  was  correctly  the  case  in  that  of  Admiral  Tyrrell  in 
Westminster  Abbey  ;  for  of  all  the  loads  of  marble  spoiled 
in  such  effigies,  of  which  there  are  more  in  Westminster 
Abbey,  powerfully  rich  as  it  is  in  classic  art,  than  in  all  the 
other  cathedrals  of  England,  perhaps  Tyrrell's  monument 
is  the  vilest  instance.  Nollekens,  who  was  not  much 
addicted  to  exercise  his  sarcasm  upon  works  of  art,  particu- 
larly when  speaking  of  contemporary  artists,  could  not 

death.    He  is  said  to  have  cut  mind  gave  way,  and  he  died 

the  skeleton  figure  of  Death  in  St.  Martin's-lane  July  nth, 

in  the  Nightingale  monument  1787. 
in  Westminster  Abbey.     His 


36          NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

resist  vociferating,  whenever  Read's  name  was  mentioned, 
"  That  figure  of  his,  of  Admiral  Tyrrell  going  to  Heaven  out 
of  the  sea,  looks  for  all  the  world  as  if  he  was  hanging  from  a 
gallows  with  a  rope  round  his  neck."  In  which  criticism  I 
consider  him  perfectly  correct,  as  the  figure  would,  I  am 
certain,  impress  nine  children  out  of  ten  with  the  same  idea, 
were  they  left  to  their  own  conclusions.1 

I  shall  now  close  the  present  sketch  of  this  very  eminent 
Sculptor,  with  the  following  information,  which  I  received 
from  my  father. 

Lewis  Francis  Roubiliac,  born  at  Lyons,  was  a  pupil  of 
Balthazar,  of  Dresden,  Sculptor  to  the  Elector  of  Saxony  ; 
and  he  died  on  the  nth  of  January,  1762,  and  was  buried  on 
the  I5th,  in  St.  Martin's  Church-yard,  under  the  window  of 
the  Bell  Bagnio.2  His  funeral  was  attended  by  the  leading 
members  of  the  Academy  in  Peter's-court,  St.  Martin's-lane ; 
and  it  is  rather  remarkable,  that  the  very  apartment 
occupied  by  that  Society  was  the  first  workshop  of  Rou- 
biliac, after  he  had  left  Mr.  Cheere,  when  he  sought  the 
public  patronage  on  his  own  account.  The  room  has  since 

1  This  extraordinary  monu-  drawing  forced  on  him."  The 
ment  to  Admiral  Tyrrell  is  in  taste  of  the  period  found  this 
the  nave.  Malcolm  says  the  a  fine  monument,  and  it  was 
spectator  must  suppose  him-  greatly  admired  by  John 
self  in  a  diving  -  bell  at  the  Wesley.  In  An  Historical  De- 
bottom  of  the  sea,  and  after  scription  of  Westminster  Abbey, 
describing  the  Buckingham  its  Monuments  and  Curiosities 
jammed  on  a  bed  of  coral,  a  (1806),  the  reader  is  told  that 
figure  almost  as  tall  as  the  "this  is  a  very  magnificent 
mast  pointing  to  the  words  monument  " 
"The  sea  shall  give  up  her  2 The  Bell  Bagnio  was  at 
dead,"  lumps  of  marble  repre-  the  foot  of  St.  Martin's-lane 
senting  clouds,  etc.,  he  adds:  near  the  church.  Mr.  Holden 
"Stupid  and  disproportioned  Macmichael  quotes  an  adver- 
as  this  monument  is,  two  of  the  tisement,  dated  November  7th, 
figures  and  the  admiral  have  1741,  of  its  "  Bathing,  Sweat- 
great  animation,  expression,  ing,  and  Cupping  at  the  lowest 
and  grace.  One  would  imagine  prices,  also  good  Attendance 
Read,  the  sculptor,  had  the  and  neat  Wines,  etc." 


LOUIS   FRANCOIS   ROUBILIAC          37 

been  taken  down,  rebuilt,  and  is  now  occupied  as  a  meeting- 
house for  the  Society  of  Friends.1  The  following  is  a  list  of 
those  artists  who  attended  the  funeral  of  the  Sculptor : — 
Mr.  Reynolds,  (afterwards  Sir  Joshua,)  Moser,  Hogarth, 
Tyler,  Sandby,  Hayman,  Wilton,  Bartolozzi,  Cipriani, 
Payne,  Chambers,  (afterwards  Sir  William,)  Serres,  Ravenet, 
the  elder  Grignon,  Meyer,  and  Hudson  ;  and  also  his  three 
pupils,  John  Adkins,  Nicholas  Read,  and  my  father, 
Nathaniel  Smith. 

Roubiliac's  sale  took  place  on  June  nth,  1762,  in  which 
were  sold  his  own  portrait,  painted  by  himself,  which 
brought  three  shillings  and  sixpence  ;  and  a  copy  of  the 
Chandos  picture  of  Shakspeare,  by  Reynolds,  which,  with 
seven  other  pictures,  brought  only  ten  shillings  !  This  last 
lot  of  eight  pictures  was  bought  by  my  godfather,  Old 
Flaxman,  a  most  worthy  man,2  and  father  of  the  late  John 
Flaxman,  Esq.  P.  S.  R.  A.  Mr.  Flaxman  sold  the  portrait  of 
Shakspeare  immediately,  in  the  sale-room,  to  an  unknown 
gentleman  for  three  guineas.  Mr.  Edmund  Malone  after- 
wards became  possessed  of  this  picture,  when  he  showed  it 
to  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  who  acknowledged  that  he  had 
painted  it  for  his  friend  Mr.  Roubiliac.  Poor  Roubiliac  died 
so  seriously  in  debt,  that  his  effects,  after  all  expenses  were 
defrayed,  paid  only  one  shilling  and  sixpence  in  the  pound  ! 

1  St.  Peter's -court,  with  its  was  itself  demolished  about 
two  arms  at  right-angles,  one  thirty  years  ago  when  the 
opening  from  St.  Martin's-  present  Friends'  Meeting  House 
lane,  and  the  other  from  on  the  east  side  of  St.  Martin's- 
Hemming's-row,  practically  en-  lane  was  erected.  Failure  to 
closed  the  spot  on  which  the  note  this  fact  has  misled  some 
St.  Martin's-in-the-fields  public  writers  in  identifying  sites  in 
buildings  now  stand.  The  St.  Martin's-lane. 
Quaker  Meeting  House  was  2  For  note  on  Flaxman's 
erected  here  in  1799,  supplant-  father  see  supplementary  bio- 
ing  Roubiliac's  studio,  and  graphy  of  John  Flaxman  post. 


PETER  SCHEEMAKERS 

SCHEEMAKERS  was  a  native  of  Antwerp,  a  disciple 
of  old  Delvaux,1  and  I  have  frequently  heard  his 
pupil  Mr.  Nollekens  relate  the  following  recollec- 
tions of  his  life.  Scheemakers,  when  a  young  man, 
had  so  ardent  a  love  for  the  art  6f  Sculpture,  that,  notwith- 
standing his  slender  means,  he  was  determined  to  quit 
Antwerp,  and  walk  to  Rome.  He  commenced  his  journey  in 
the  year  1728,  but,  before  he  had  accomplished  the  task,  his 
purse  was  so  considerably  reduced,  that  absolute  necessity 
frequently  obliged  him  to  sell  a  shirt  from  his  knapsack. 
It  has  also  been  related  of  Francis  Perrier,  who,  in  1638, 
produced  a  book  of  Antique  Statues,  in  folio,  that  his  poverty 
was  so  great,  that  he  accompanied  a  blind  beggar,  as  his 
guide,  from  France  to  Rome,  purposely  to  study  in  that 
splendid  school  of  ancient  and  modern  Sculpture.2  During 
his  stay  in  Italy  Scheemakers  was  much  noticed  and 
encouraged,  exercising  his  talent  with  great  avidity,  in 

1  Scheemakers  was  rather  a  lion  on  Northumberland  House, 

comrade    than    a    disciple    of  now  surmounting  Sion  House 

Laurent  Delvaux.    They  came  at  Isleworth.    He  is  mentioned 

to  England  at  about  the  same  later  as  the  master  of  Joseph 

time  and  worked  together  for  Wilton. 

Pierre  Denis  Plumiere,  and  for  2  Smith  confuses  two  visits 
Bird.  Later  they  collaborated  to  Rome,  the  first  made  in 
on  various  monuments,  not-  1700  and  the  second  in  1728, 
ably  on  that  of  the  Duke  of  but  in  his  succeeding  para- 
Buckingham  in  Westminster  graph,  he  re-states  the  case 
Abbey,  in  which  the  figure  of  correctly  on  the  authority  of 
Time  is  by  Delvaux.  The  Nollekens. 
sculptor  modelled  the  famous 

38 


PETER  SCHEEMAKERS  39 

making  numerous  small  models  from  most  of  the  celebrated 
statues  and  groups  in  and  about  that  city,  which  he  brought 
to  England. 

It  has  usually  been  a  practice  with  me,  to  ask  questions 
of  aged  persons,  or  those  who  have  travelled,  and  to  put 
down  their  answers  as  nearly  as  possible  in  the  words  in 
which  they  were  delivered ;  and  I  have  invariably  found, 
that  the  best  mode  of  gaining  information  from  those  who 
are  advanced  in  years,  is  by  having  a  series  of  questions 
ready  prepared,  so  that  a  long  story  might  not  deprive  me 
of  the  points  I  might  be  anxious  to  obtain.  This  method  I 
now  and  then  observed  with  Mr.  Nollekens,  from  whom  I 
received  the  following  answers,  as  to  his  master  Schee- 
makers.  At  the  time  I  was  thus  questioning  Mr.  Nollekens, 
I  was  engaged  in  collecting  materials  for  a  work  now  greatly 
advanced,  and  which  I  hope  hereafter  to  publish,  under  the 
title  "  J.  T.  Smith's  Walks  in  London ; "  so  that,  unfortun- 
ately for  the  present  publication,  my  inquiries  were  confined 
to  Scheemakers's  productions  in  the  metropolis.1 

"  Was  Mr.  Scheemakers  a  native  of  Antwerp  ?  " — "  Yes." 

"Is  it  true  that  he  walked  to  Rome  ?  " — "  He  went  from 
Antwerp  to  Denmark,  where  he  worked  as  a  journeyman, 
and  where  he  fell  ill,  and  was  so  reduced,  that  he  was 
obliged  to  sell  his  shirts  ;  when  he  recovered,  he  walked  to 
Rome,  selling  more  of  his  things." 

"  About  what  time  did  he  go  to  Rome  ?  " — "  About  the 
year  1700,  when  he  remained  but  a  very  short  time  ;  he  then 
walked  to  England,  where  he  found  work,  and  then  he  went 
to  Rome  again,  where  he  stayed  longer,  about  two  years  ;  2 
and  then  he  came  back  to  England." 

1  Smith  did  not  live  to  write  2  Scheemakers   travelled   to 

this  book,   but  his  materials  Rome  on   this   occasion  with 

were  worked  up,  with  many  Laurent    Delvaux    and    Peter 

additions,  by  Dr.  Charles  Mac-  Angelis,  and  did  not  return  to 

kay  in  his  Antiquarian  Rambles  England  for  seven  years. 
in  the  Streets  of  London  (1846). 


40 


NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 


"  What  works  did  he  execute  for  London  ?  "  "He  did 
Dr.  Chamberlen's  monument  in  Westminster  Abbey ;  the 
statue  of  Sir  John  Barnard  in  the  Royal  Exchange  ;  the 
statue  in  the  India  House,  of  Admiral  Pocock,  Major- 
General  Lawrence,  and  Lord  Clive  (upon  this  figure  Mr. 
Nollekens  said  he  himself  worked,  just  before  he  went  to 
Rome) ;  the  statue  of  Guy,  a  bronze,  in  Guy's  Hospital ;  and 
the  statue  of  Edward  the  Sixth,  a  bronze,  in  one  of  the  open 
courts  of  St.  Thomas's  Hospital."1 

"  Did  he  die  in  England  ?  " — "  No,  he  went  to  Antwerp, 
about  a  year  after  I  returned  to  England,  from  Rome  (1769), 
and  there  he  died  ;  he  had  grown  so  fat,  that  when  he  was 
kneeling  down  to  say  his  prayers,  he  placed  his  legs  under 
him  with  his  hands." 

Scheemakers,  on  his  way  to  England,  visited  his  birth- 
place, bringing  with  him  several  roots  of  brocoli,  a  dish  till 
then  little  known  in  perfection  at  our  tables. 

He  resided  in  Westminster,  in  those  premises  which  stood 
to  the  north  of  Henry  the  Seventh's  Chapel,  and  south-east 
of  St.  Margaret's  Church,  which  premises  were  subsequently 


1  Dr.  Hugh  Chamberlen, 
royal  physician  and  accoucheur, 
died  1728.  The  monument  by 
Scheemakers  and  Delvaux 
bears  an  epitaph  by  Bishop 
Atterbury,  and  is  in  the  north 
aisle  of  the  choir. 

Barnard  was  Lord  Mayor  in 
1737,  and  represented  the  City 
in  the  House  of  Commons  for 
nearly  forty  years. 

Inasmuch  as  Scheemakers 
died  in  1770,  and  Admiral  Sir 
George  Pocock  lived  until  1792, 
some  may  question  whether 
this  statue  was  not  the  work 
of  Scheemakers's  son,  Thomas, 
who  succeeded  to  his  father's 
practice,  and  died  in  1808. 


But  it  was  the  practice  of  the 
East  India  Company  to  honour 
its  servants  early  with  statues. 

Major-General  Stringer  Law- 
rence's services  were  thus  recog- 
nized in  1760,  and  Clive's  before 
his  second  return  from  India 
in  that  year.  All  were  repre- 
sented in  Roman  habits.  It 
would  be  interesting  to  know 
what  became  of  these  statues. 

Scheemakers's  bronze  statue 
of  Thomas  Guy  stands  in  the 
first  court  of  his  hospital  and 
portrays  him  in  his  livery  gown. 

The  Edward  VI  statue  is 
mentioned  separately  a  few 
pages  later. 


PETER   SCHEEMAKERS 


occupied  by  his  pupil  Henry  Cheere,  who  was  afterwards 
knighted.  From  this  house,  Scheemakers  moved  to  Vine- 
street,  as  appears  by  an  advertisement  in  The  London  Daily 
Post  and  General  Advertiser,  of  Tuesday,  December  22nd, 
1741,  stating,  that  "  Mr.  Scheemakers,  the  Statuary,  is 
removed  from  Old  Palace-yard  to  Vine-street,  Piccadilly." 

In  1756,  Mr.  Langford  had  two  days'  sale  of  Mr.  Schee- 
makers's  pictures,  models,  and  marbles,  at  his  rooms  under 
the  Piazza,  Co  vent-garden,  *  in  which  Lot  15,  of  the  first  day, 
consisted  of  "  two  landscapes,  with  figures  and  cattle,  by 
Old  Nollekens."  2  Mr.  Langford  followed  this  sale  with 
another,  which  he  advertised  thus  : 

To  be  sold  by  Auction,  by  Mr.  Langford,  at  his  house  in 
the  Great  Piazza,  Covent-garden,  on  Wednesday  and  Thurs- 
day, the  1 8th  and  igth  inst.  the  remainder  of  the  genuine 


1  See  note  on  Abraham  Lang- 
ford,  the  auctioneer,  Chapter  II. 

2  Cornelius  Franciscus  Nolle- 
kens, the  father  of  the  sculptor. 
Smith  appends  the   following 
note  :  "  Till  lately,  several  pic- 
tures painted  by  Old  Nollekens 
for  the  first  Earl  of  Tilney,  were 
preserved  at  Wanstead-house. 
They  were  sold  by  auction  in 
1822,  and  are  thus  described 

the  Catalogue  of  the  mag- 
ificent  furniture,  etc.,  of  that 
dncely  mansion.  I  have 
.dded  the  prices  they  produced 
— Lot  10.  'A  pair — the  Juvenile 
Artists  and  Companion,  a  Boy 
spinning  his  Top,'  25^.  Lot  16. 
'  A  pair — the  Juvenile  Parties  ; 
Card-builders  and  Players  at 
Tetotum,'  ijl.  Lot  138. 
'  Dancing  Figures,  a  sketch, 
in  a  French  carved  frame,' 
il.  2s.  Lot  225.  '  Rural  Re- 
creations, painted  with  all  the 


taste  and  elegance  of  Watteau,' 
61.  6s.  Lot  307.  '  A  Boy  beat- 
ing a  Drum,  and  a  small  Land- 
scape, and  two  curious  models 
of  the  Stag  and  Fox  in  wax,' 
8/.  155.  Lot  308.  '  The  Wine- 
Traders,  painted  with  the  taste- 
ful elegance  of  Watteau,' 
31^.  los.  Lot  311.  '  Females 
Bathing,  in  a  Landscape,  with 
a  distant  view  of  Wanstead- 
house,'  8/.  i8s.  6d.  Lot  314. 
'  Landscape,  Buildings,'  etc., 
7/.  Lot  316.  '  Landscape  and 
Figures,  with  a  youth  playing 
the  guitar ;  painted  in  the 
tasteful  style  of  Watteau,' 
I5/.  Lot  317.  'A  Fete  Cham- 
petre  and  Companion  ;  painted 
with  a  free  pencil  and  very 
gracefully  drawn,'  261.  155.  6d. 
Lot  318. '  Interior  of  the  Saloon 
at  Wanstead-house,  with  an 
assemblage  of  Ladies  and 
Gentlemen.  A  Conversazione,' 


42          NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

and  curious  collection  of  marbles,  models,  and  casts,  in 
groups,  figures,  and  busts,  of  Mr.  Peter  Scheemakers, 
statuary. 

The  said  collection  will  be  exhibited  to  public  view,  on 
Monday,  the  i6th  inst.,  and  every  day  after,  till  the  time  of 
Sale,  which  will  begin  each  day  punctually  at  twelve  o'clock. 
Catalogues  of  which  will  be  delivered  gratis,  on  Saturday, 
the  I4th,  at  Mr.  Langford's  aforesaid.  —  Daily  Advertiser, 
May  6th,  1757. 

Of  Scheemakers's  models  I  have  frequently  heard  my 
father  speak  with  considerable  pleasure,  when  he  used  to 
state,  that  they  were  placed  upon  tables,  stands,  and  shelves, 
covered  with  green  baize,  round  the  auction-room,  and 
made  a  most  beautiful  appearance.  One  of  them  was  a 
small  copy  of  the  Laocoon  in  marble,  which  was  bought  by 
the  Earl  of  Lincoln.  After  the  sale,  some  of  the  purchasers 
gave  the  moulders  leave  to  make  casts  of  what  they  had 
bought,  so  that  the  students  could  procure  them  at  a 
reasonable  rate,  and  study  from  them  in  their  own  apart- 
ments. 

Vevini,  a  Figure-maker,  then  living  in  St.  James  's-street, 
made  a  fine  mould  of  the  Laocoon,  the  very  first  cast  of 
which  is  at  present  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  John  Taylor,  of 
No.  12,  Cirencester-place,  who  has  been  already  frequently 
mentioned  in  this  work  :  he  is  now  in  his  8gth  year,  and  is 
styled  the  "  Father  of  the  Painters  ;  "  having  been  a  Pupil 
of  Francis  Hayman.  Scheemakers,  for  some  time,  shared 


is.     Lot  320.  '  A  Mas-  Lord  Cobham,  and  the  Earl  of 

querade,    painted   with   great  Egremont,  who  is  in  possession 

freedom   and  natural  expres-  of  one  which  his  Lordship  pur- 

sion,'  2i/.  los.    Lot  321.    '  The  chased  at  the  late  Mr.  Nolle- 

Game  of  Blindman's  Buff,  in  kens's  sale  at  Mr.   Christie's. 

a  Landscape,'  ly/.  6s.  6d.    The  The  Marquess  of  Stafford  has 

above  paintings  were  sold  by  several  pictures  by  Old  Nolle- 

Mr.  Robins.    There  were  also  kens,  at  Trentham.    They  were 

some  specimens  at  Stowe,  exe-  painted    for     his     Lordship's 

cuted  for  Lord  Temple,  Richard  father." 


PETER  SCHEEMAKERS 


43 


the  patronage  of  the  great  with  Roubiliac  and  Rysbrack  ; 
and  not  many  require  to  be  informed  that  the  statue  of 
Shakspeare  in  Westminster  Abbey  was  carved  by  Schee- 
makers  from  the  design  of  Kent  the  Architect ;  *  but  very 
few  persons  appear  to  be  aware,  that  the  beautiful  little 
bronze  statue  of  King  Edward  VI.  in  the  court-yard  of  St. 
Thomas's  Hospital,  is  also  by  the  hand  of  the  same  Sculptor. 
For  my  own  part,  I  never  go  into  the  Borough  without 
indulging  myself  with  a  sight  of  that  truly  elegant  produc- 
tion of  Art.2  Some  other  specimens  of  this  Artist  were  in 
the  collection  at  Wanstead  House,  and  were  sold  on  Friday, 
2ist  June,  1822,  in  the  tenth  day's  sale  of  that  mansion,3 
and  were  as  follows  :  Lot  369,  "  a  very  splendid  Medicean- 


1  Although      primarily      an 
architect,  William  Kent  (1684- 
1748),    the    architect    of    the 
Horse    Guards    building    and 
many    London    and    country 
mansions,   had  a  passion  for 
design.      Walpole    says    that 
"  he  was  not  only  consulted 
for    furniture,    or    frames    of 
pictures,  glasses,  tables,  chairs, 
etc.,  but  for  plate,  for  a  barge, 
for  a  cradle,"   and  even,   he 
adds,  for  ladies'  gowns.     Mr. 
Reginald     Blomfield     writes : 
"  Kent  was  one  of  those  gener- 
ally accomplished  persons  who 
can   do   everything   up   to   a 
point,  and  nothing  well  "  (Re- 
naissance Architecture  in  Eng- 
land}.    His  statue  of  Shake- 
speare in  the  Abbey  was  erected 
in  1740  at  the  instance  of  Pope, 
Lord   Burlington,    Dr.    Mead, 
and  others. 

2  This  statue  was  set  up  in 
J737    at    old    St.    Thomas's 
Hospital   in    the    High-street, 
Southwark.    It  is  now  in  one 


of    the    courts    of    the    great 
Lambeth  building. 

3  This  was  one  of  the  greatest 
and  most  dramatic  sales  ever 
conducted  by  George  Robins. 
Wanstead  House  had  been 
built  for  the  first  Earl  of  Tilney, 
then  Sir  Richard  Child,  in 
1715-16,  and  it  was  considered 
one  of  the  noblest  places  in 
Europe.  It  became  the  resi- 
dence of  the  Prince  de  Conde 
and  of  Louis  XVIII  during  the 
minority  of  the  heiress,  Miss 
Tylney  Long.  This  lady's 
marriage  to  the  Hon.  W.  Pole 
Tylney- Long  Wellesley  proved 
disastrous.  Her  husband  dis- 
sipated her  fortune  at  such  a 
rate  that  ruin  fell  on  Wanstead 
House,  the  contents  of  which 
were  disposed  by  Robins  in  a 
sale  which  lasted  thirty-two 
days.  The  sale  catalogue  filled 
400  quarto  pages,  and  was 
published  in  three  parts  at 
five  shillings  each,  yet  some 
20,000  copies  were  sold. 


44          NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

shaped  vase,  four  feet  six  inches  high,  of  statuary  marble, 
finely  sculptured  in  high  relief,  representing  a  Sacrifice  to 
Apollo,  upon  a  stone  pedestal,  with  carved  heads  and 
festoons."  Lot  370,  "A  ditto,  with  the  subject  of  the 
Sacrifice  of  Iphigenia,  upon  a  stone  pedestal,  same  as  the 
last." 

In  the  Temple  Church,  there  is  a  monument  by  Schee- 
makers  to  the  memory  of  Doctor  Mead,  with  his  bust.1 

My  amiable  and  highly-respected  friend,  Henry  Smedley, 
Esq.2  the  correctness  of  whose  communications  is  always 
implicitly  to  be  depended  upon,  has  favoured  me  with  the 
following  information  concerning  some  other  works  of  this 
Sculptor. 

Sanctuary,  October  13,  1827. 

MY  DEAR   SIR, 

The  six  busts  by  Scheemakers,  of  which  I  promised 
you  an  account,  are  in  the  library  at  Staunton  Harold,  the 
seat  of  Earl  Ferrers,  and  are  noticed  in  Nichols's  Leicester- 
shire. They  represent,  i.  Hon.  Lawrence  Shirley,  tenth 
son  of  first  Earl  Ferrers.  2.  Anne  his  wife,  daughter  of 
Sir  Walter  Clayes,  Bart.,  and  four  of  their  children,  viz.  : 
3.  Lawrence,  afterwards  fourth  Earl  Ferrers.  4.  Washing- 
ton (the  Admiral),  afterwards  fifth  Earl  Ferrers.  5.  Eliza- 
beth Shirley,  died  unmarried.  6.  Anne  Shirley. 

You  are,  of  course,  aware  that  Scheemakers  was  also  the 
artist  who  did  the  monument  of  Sir  Henry  Belasye,  in 
St.  Paul's  Chapel,  Westminster  Abbey. 

I  am,  my  dear  Sir, 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

HENRY  SMEDLEY. 

1  Dr.    Richard    Mead,    the  was    buried    in    the    Temple 

cultured  physician  who  attend-  Church. 

ed   Queen   Anne's   death-bed.         z  Henry  Smedley,  a  lawyer 

Pope  was  his  patient  ("  I'll  do  by    profession,    collected    pic- 

what  Mead  and  Cheselden  ad-  tures  at  his  house  in  Broad 

vise "),  and  Dr.  Johnson  said  Sanctuary,     where     he     died 

of  him  that  he  "  lived  more  March   I4th,   1832.     A  slight 

in  the  broad  sunshine  of  life  account  of  him  will  be  found 

than  almost  any  man."     He  in  Smith's  Book  for  a  Rainy 

died  in   February,   1754,  and  Day  under  the  year  1829. 


PETER  SCHEEMAKERS  45 

Scheemakers  and  Delvaux,  jun.  were  also  both  consider- 
ably employed  in  decorating  the  gardens  belonging  to  the 
sumptuous  palace  at  Stowe  ;  and  the  following  is  a  particular 
description  of  their  works  there,  with  which  I  have  been 
favoured  by  my  worthy  friend,  William  James  Smith,  Esq., 
librarian  at  Stowe,  who  has  kindly  written  it  from  the 
sculptures  themselves. 

There  are  two  groups  in  white  marble,  now  in  the  Flower- 
garden,  said  to  have  been  executed  as  a  trial  of  mastery 
between  them  ;  and  according  to  the  tradition,  the  palm 
was  given  to  Delvaux :  the  subjects  are  "  Veriumnus  and 
Pomona,"  and  "Venus  and  Adonis,"  the  figures  rather  less 
than  half  the  size  of  life.  In  the  Temple  of  Antient  Virtue, 
are  statues,  life-size,  of  Lycurgus,  Socrates,  Homer,  and 
Epaminondas,  all  by  Scheemakers.  Under  all,  are  in- 
scriptions in  Latin  :  I  will  transcribe  them  in  English. 

Under  LYCURGUS, — "  Who  having  planned,  with  consum- 
mate wisdom,  a  system  of  laws  firmly  secured  against  every 
encroachment  of  corruption  ;  and  having  by  the  expulsion  of 
riches,  banished  luxury,  avarice  and  intemperance  ;  estab- 
lished in  the  state  for  many  ages,  perfect  liberty  and  inviol- 
able purity  of  manners. — The  father  of  his  country." 

Under  SOCRATES, — "  Who,  innocent  in  the  midst  of  a 
most  corrupted  people ;  the  encourager  of  the  good ;  a 
worshipper  of  the  one  God ;  from  useless  speculations,  and 
vain  disputes,  restored  philosophy  to  the  duties  of  life,  and 
the  benefit  of  society. — The  wisest  of  men." 

Under  HOMER, — "  The  first  and  greatest  of  poets ;  the 
herald  of  virtue,  the  giver  of  immortality ;  who,  by  his 
divine  genius,  known  to  all  nations,  incites  all  nobly  to  dare, 
and  firmly  to  suffer." 

Under  EPAMINONDAS, — "  By  whose  valour,  prudence,  and 
modesty,  the  Theban  commonwealth  gained  liberty  and 
empire,  military  discipline,  civil  and  domestic  policy ;  all 
which,  by  losing  him,  she  lost." 


46          NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

In  the  front  of  the  pediment  of  the  Temple  of  Concord 
and  Victory,  is  a  piece  of  alto-relievo  by  Scheemakers,  repre- 
senting the  four  quarters  of  the  world,  bringing  their  various 
products  to  Britannia. 

In  the  Temple  of  British  Worthies  are  fourteen  busts 
with  English  inscriptions  under  them.  I  cannot  find  the 
name  of  Scheemakers  upon  any  of  them,  nor  can  I  ascertain 
whether  they  are  really  by  him,  or  not ;  though,  judging 
from  the  style  of  them,  I  think  it  most  probable.  I  will  add 
the  inscriptions,  some  of  which  are  interesting. 

ALEXANDER  POPE, — "  Who,  uniting  the  correctness  of 
judgment  to  the  fire  of  genius,  by  the  melody  and  power  of 
his  numbers,  gave  sweetness  to  sense,  and  grace  to  philos- 
ophy :  he  employed  the  pointed  brilliancy  of  wit  to 
chasten  the  vices,  and  the  eloquence  of  poetry  to  exalt  the 
virtues,  of  human  nature,  and,  being  without  a  rival  in  his 
own  age,  imitated,  and  translated,  with  a  spirit  equal  to  the 
originals,  the  best  poets  of  antiquity." 

SIR  THOMAS  GRESHAM, — "  Who,  by  the  honourable  pro- 
fession of  a  merchant,  having  enriched  himself,  and  his 
country  ;  for  carrying  on  the  commerce  of  the  world,  built 
the  Royal  Exchange." 

IGNATIUS  JONES, — "  Who,  to  adorn  his  country,  intro- 
duced, and  rivalled  the  Greek  and  Roman  architecture." 

JOHN  MILTON, — "  Whose  sublime  and  unbounded  genius 
equalled  a  subject  that  carried  him  beyond  the  limits  of  the 
world." 

WILLIAM  SHAKSPEARE,— "  Whose  excellent  genius  opened 
to  him  the  whole  heart  of  man,  all  the  mines  of  fancy, 
all  the  stores  of  nature  ;  and  gave  him  power  beyond  all 
other  writers  to  move,  astonish,  and  delight  mankind." 

JOHN  LOCKE,—"  Who,  best  of  all  philosophers,  under- 
stood the  powers  of  the  human  mind  ;  the  nature,  end,  and 
bounds  of  civil  government ;  and  with  equal  sagacity, 
refuted  the  slavish  system  of  usurped  authority  over  the 
rights,  the  consciences,  or  the  reason  of  mankind." 


PETER  SCHEEMAKERS  47 

SIR  ISAAC  NEWTON, — "  Whom  the  God  of  nature  made 
to  comprehend  his  works." 

SIR  FRANCIS  BACON,  LORD  VERULAM, — "  Who,  by  the 
strength  and  light  of  superior  genius,  rejecting  vain  specu- 
lation, and  fallacious  theory,  taught  to  pursue  truth,  and 
improve  philosophy  by  the  certain  method  of  experiment." 

KING  ALFRED, — "  The  mildest,  justest,  most  benevolent 
of  Kings  ;  who  drove  out  the  Danes,  secured  the  seas,  pro- 
tected learning,  established  juries,  crushed  corruption, 
guarded  liberty,  and  was  the  founder  of  the  English  constitu- 
tion." 

EDWARD  PRINCE  OF  WALES, — "  The  terror  of  Europe, 
the  delight  of  England ;  who  preserved  unaltered,  in  the 
height  of  glory  and  fortune,  his  natural  gentleness  and 
modesty." 

QUEEN  ELIZABETH,—"  Who  confounded  the  projects,  and 
destroyed  the  power  that  threatened  to  oppress  the  liberties 
of  Europe ;  shook  off  the  yoke  of  ecclesiastical  tyranny ; 
restored  religion  from  the  corruptions  of  popery  ;  and  by  a 
wise,  a  moderate,  and  a  popular  government,  gave  wealth, 
security,  and  respect  to  England." 

KING  WILLIAM  THE  THIRD, — "  Who,  by  his  virtue  and 
constancy,  having  saved  his  country  from  a  foreign  master, 
by  a  bold  and  generous  enterprise,  preserved  the  liberty  and 
religion  of  Great  Britain." 

SIR  WALTER  RALEIGH, — "  A  valiant  soldier  and  an  able 
statesman,  who  endeavouring  to  rouse  the  spirit  of  his  master 
for  the  honour  of  his  country,  against  the  ambition  of  Spain, 
fell  a  sacrifice  to  the  influence  of  that  Court,  whose  arms  he 
had  vanquished,  and  whose  designs  he  opposed." 

SIR  FRANCIS  DRAKE, — "  Who,  through  many  perils,  was 
the  first  of  Britons  that  ventured  to  sail  round  the  globe,  and 
carried  into  unknown  seas  and  nations  the  knowledge  and 
glory  of  the  English  name." 


48          NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

JOHN  HAMPDEN, — "  Who,  with  great  spirit  and  consum- 
mate abilities,  began  a  noble  opposition  to  an  arbitrary 
court,  in  the  defence  of  the  liberties  of  his  country,  sup- 
ported them  in  Parliament,  and  died  for  them  in  the  field." 

SIR  JOHN  BARNARD, — "  Who  distinguished  himself  in 
Parliament  by  an  active  and  firm  opposition  to  the  pernicious 
and  iniquitous  practice  of  stockjobbing  :  at  the  same  time 
exerting  his  utmost  abilities  to  increase  the  strength  of  bis 
country,  by  reducing  the  interest  of  the  National  Debt, 
which  he  proposed  to  the  House  of  Commons  in  the  year 
1737  ;  and,  with  the  assistance  of  Government,  carried  into 
effect  in  the  year  1750,  on  terms  of  equal  justice  to  particu- 
lars and  to  the  state,  notwithstanding  all  the  impediments 
which  private  interest  could  oppose  to  public  spirit." 

Here  endeth  the  list  of  British  Worthies.  In  the  Mason's- 
yard,  there  is  a  statue,  larger  than  life,  of  George  II.  crowned, 
in  his  robes,  by  Scheemakers  :  it  formerly  stood  in  the 
gardens  on  a  handsome  Corinthian  column,  which  was  taken 
down  to  prevent  its  falling  from  decay.  To  my  mind,  there 
is  much  merit  in  this  statue.  Queen  Caroline  yet  stands  in  a 
retired  part  of  the  gardens — aloft,  supported  by  four  Corin- 
thian columns,  she  is  surrounded  by  trees,  and  too  high  to  be 
examined — but  the  similarity  of  style  is  in  favour  of  Schee- 
makers as  the  sculptor. 

In  the  Temple  of  Friendship  are  several  busts  in  white 
marble.  I  can  discover  names,  however,  upon  two  only — 
Richard  Grenville,  late  Earl  Temple,  by  Scheemakers,  and 
the  Earl  of  Westmoreland,  by  one  "  Thomas  Ady,  1742." 
Very  probably  some  of  the  others  are  by  Scheemakers  ;  they 
possess  considerable  merit,  and  are  as  follows  : — Frederick 
Prince  of  Wales,  the  Earls  of  Chesterfield  and  Marchmont, 
the  Lords  Cobham,  Gower,  and  Bathurst,  William  Pitt,  late 
Earl  of  Chatham,  and  George  Lyttelton,  late  Lord  Lyttelton. 

I  believe  I  have  now  enumerated  all  that  are,  or  are  sus- 
pected to  be,  the  work  of  Scheemakers. 

This  Sculptor's  statue  of  Shakspeare,  similar  in  com- 
position to  that  erected  in  Poet's  Corner,  Westminster  Abbey, 


PETER   SCHEEMAKERS  49 

which  has  been  recently  set  up  over  the  principal  entrance  of 
Drury-lane  Theatre,  is  of  lead,  and  was  executed  by  Cheere, 
"  the  leaden-figure  man,"  formerly  so  highly  celebrated  at 
Hyde  Park  Corner,  mentioned  in  the  first  volume  of  this 
work.  This  figure  has  been  on  the  premises  ever  since  the 
time  of  Mr.  Whit  bread,  who  gave  it  to  the  Theatre.  For 
this  information,  I  am  indebted  to  my  friend,  Mr.  Winston.1 

1  James  Winston,  secretary  of  the  Garrick  Club. 


JOHN   MICHAEL   RYSBRACK 

RIUBILIAC  and  Scheemakers's  contemporary, 
John  Michael  Rysbrack,  was  born  at  Brussels, 
and  was  the  son  of  a  Landscape-painter,  by 
whom  there  are  several  truly  spirited  etchings. 
He  studied  under  Theodore  Balant,  a  famous  Sculptor ; 
came  to  England  in  1720,  and  resided  in  Vere-street,  Oxford- 
street,  where  he  had  extensive  workshops,  which  his  great 
run  of  business  required.  On  these  premises  he  died,  and 
was  buried  in  Marylebone  church-yard,  near  the  church, 
January  nth,  1770. l  After  his  decease,  there  were  sales 
by  auction  held  at  his  house,  in  one  of  which  was  an  im- 
mense number  of  his  own  drawings  mounted  with  uniform 
borders  executed  in  bistre  ;  and  some  of  the  most  excellent 
of  them  are  still  to  be  found  in  the  portfolios  of  collectors.  I 
shall  now  insert  a  few  contemporary  notices  respecting 
some  of  his  works  in  Sculpture,  which  have  not  hitherto 
been  brought  together  in  print,  viz. : — 

Mr.  Rysbrack  carved  the  monument  erected  to  the 
memory  of  Mrs.  Oldfield,  in  the  cloisters  of  Westminster 
Abbey. — Daily  Advertiser,  March  4th,  1730. 

Sir  Isaac  Newton's  monument  (in  Westminster  Abbey) 
was  designed  by  Kent  and  executed  by  Rysbrack ;  the 
scaffolding  was  taken  from  before  it,  on  Saturday,  April 
24th,  1731. — From  the  same  paper. 

1  Other  authorities  give  Ant-  studied  there  under  Theodore 
werp  as  the  place  of  Rysbrack's  Balant.  The  date  of  his  death 
birth  on  June  24th,  1693.  He  was  January  8th,  not  nth,  1770. 

So 


MICHAEL    RYSBRACK 
After  \~anderbank 


JOHN  MICHAEL  RYSBRACK  51 

John  Holies,  Duke  of  Newcastle,  Westminster  Abbey. 
Matthew  Prior,  ditto. 
Admiral  Vernon,  ditto. 
Earl  Stanhope,  ditto. 

Sir  Godfrey  Kneller's  monument  was  designed  and 
executed  in  Westminster  Abbey  by  Michael  Rysbrack  and 
Lord  Bingley. — Morning  Advertiser,  March,  1757. 

Cambridge,  July  I4th,  1756.  A  very  fine  marble  statue, 
done  by  Rysbrack,  of  the  late  Duke  of  Somerset,  presented 
by  the  Duke's  illustrious  daughters,  the  Marchioness  of 
Granby  and  Lady  Guernsey. — Public  Advertiser,  July  2oth, 
1756. 

The  noble  statue  of  an  Hercules,  executed  by  the 
ingenious  Mr.  Rysbrack,  is  sent  down  to  Sturton  (Stour- 
head),  in  Wiltshire,  the  seat  of  Mr.  Hoare,  who  has  built  a 
magnificent  temple  to  receive  it. — Public  Advertiser,  Jan. 
12,  J-757- 

There  is  also  a  statue  of  Flora,  by  Rysbrack,  at  Stour- 
head. 

Rysbrack  executed  an  elegant  statue  of  that  universally- 
beloved  Governor  of  the  Island  of  Barbadoes,  the  Hon. 
Henry  Grenville,  which  was  put  up  in  the  Town-Hall,  anno 
1756. 

A  fine  statue  of  that  great  and  learned  man,  Mr.  Locke, 
who  was  educated  in  Christ  Church  College,  Oxon,  is  finished 
by  Mr.  Rysbrack,  to  be  sent  to  that  University. — Public 
Advertiser,  Jan.  20,  1757. 

Sir  Hans  Sloane,  Physic-garden,  Chelsea. 

Ditto,  a  bust  in  the  British  Museum. 

Charles,  Duke  of  Somerset,  and  his  Duchess,  Salisbury 
Cathedral. 

Lady  Folkstone,  Coleshill,  Berks. 

Lady  Besborough,  Derby. 

Henry  second  Duke  of  Beaufort,  Badminton,  Gloucester- 
shire. 

Henry  third  Duke,  and  Charles  the  fourth  Duke,  ditto. 


JOHN  MICHAEL  RYSBRACK  53 

Rysbrack  presented  Mr.  Garrick  with  one  of  his  drawings, 
the  subject  being  the  Three  Witches  in  Macbeth.  This 
drawing  is  touched  with  great  freedom,  and  is  now  in  the 
possession  of  Mr.  Dunn,  Treasurer  to  Drury  Lane  Theatre.1 

1  Two  drawings  of  this  sub-  signs    for    the    Abbey    monu- 

ject  by  Rysbrack  are  in  the  ments  to  Sir  Isaac  Newton  and 

Print     Department     of     the  Earl  Stanhope. 
British  Museum,   as  also   de- 


MATTHEW   LIART 

BRYAN,  in  his  Dictionary  of  Painters  and  Engravers, 
speaking  of  Matthew  Liart,  the  Engraver,  erro- 
neously states  that  "  This  artist  was  born  at  Paris 
in  1736,  but  came  to  England  when  very  young, 
where  he  was  employed  in  engraving  some  plates  for  Mr. 
Boydell's  collection."  Matthew  Liart  was  born  in  London, 
in  a  house  built  by  his  grandfather,  a  respectable  periwig- 
maker  and  barber,  on  the  south-west  corner  of  Compton-street 
and  Crown-street  (which  was,  until  1762,  called  Hog-lane)1 — 
near  an  old  house  with  pillars  before  it,  then  standing  on  the 
site  of  the  entrance  to  the  present  chapel  in  Moor-street : 
it  was  called  "  the  French  Change,"  being  a  place  much 
frequented,  and  indeed  surrounded  by  natives  of  France, 
who  came  to  England  after  the  Edict  of  Nantz.  Here  they 
met,  and  communicated  with  each  other  upon  their  several 
concerns ;  and  hence  arose  the  establishment  of  the  numerous 
a-la-mode  beef  shops  for  the  convenience  of  the  neighbour- 
hood. 

Liart's  family,  as  well  as  many  other  natives  of  France, 
settled  upon  this  spot  after  the  Edict  of  Nantz.  The  barber's 
son,  Liart's  father,  who  was  a  maker  of  survelois,  a  relishing 
kind  of  sausage,  placed  him  with  the  celebrated  Monsieur 
Ravenet,  the  Engraver,2  with  whom  he  remained  seven 

1  Hog  -  lane,         afterwards  and   includes   a   view   of   St. 

Crown-street,   is  now  lost   in  Giles's  church  tower, 
the  Charing  Cross-road,  whose         2  Francis  Simon  Ravenet,  a 

upper  length  is  virtually  Crown-  pupil  of  Jacques  Philippe  Le 

street     widened.       Hogarth's  Bas,  came  to  London  in  1750, 

"  Noon  "  is  laid  in  Hog-lane,  and  was  employed  by  Alder- 

54 


MATTHEW  LIART  55 

years.    Liart  then  occupied  his  father's  second-floor  front 
room,  in  which  he  engraved  all  his  plates. 

He  drew  at  the  Royal  Academy,  where  he  gained  the 
silver  medal  for  a  drawing  of  a  figure  from  the  life  ;  and  he 
also  obtained  a  prize  from  the  Society  of  Arts.  Mr.  West 
has  declared  that  Liart  drew  the  human  figure  well,  and  he 
has  frequently  been  heard  to  observe,  that  had  he  studied 
the  historical  and  highest  class  of  the  art,  he  was  quite 
certain  he  would  have  succeeded.  He  died  about  the  year 
1782,  in  Compton-street,  in  the  house  in  which  he  was  born, 
and  in  the  room  in  which  he  engraved,  and  was  buried  at 
Paddington.  Mr.  Audinet,  the  Engraver,1  from  whom  I 
received  some  of  the  above  particulars,  and  who  has  a 
spirited  portrait  of  him  painted  by  Laurenson,  is  perfectly 
satisfied  that  Liart  never  even  saw  the  sea. 
Of  the  various  plates  engraven  by  Liart,  the  two  from 
r.  West's  pictures  of  Venus  and  Adonis,  and  Cephalus 
and  Procris,  are  unquestionably  his  best. 

man   Boydell   and   the   book-  1  For  a  note  on  Audinet,  see 

sellers  ;    he  ajso  made  many  Smith's  biographical  sketch  of 

designs  for  the  Chelsea  china  John  Hall,  post. 
factory. 


GIUSEPPE   CERACCHI 

DJRING  the   time  I  was  under  the  tuition  of 
Mr.  Nollekens,   Signer   Giuseppe   Ceracchi,    a 
Roman,  often  visited  the  studio.     He  came  to 
England  in  1773,  with  letters  of  recommendation 
from  Nulty,  a  Sculptor  at  Rome  ;  was  employed  by  Carlini ; 
and,  when  he  first  exhibited  at  the  Royal  Academy,  his 
residence  was  stated  to  be  at  that  artist's  house,  in  King- 
square  Court,  now  Carlisle-street,  Soho-square. 

Soho-square  was  at  one  time  called  King's-square  j1  and 
it  is  a  curious  fact,  that  King's-square-court,  now  Carlisle- 
street,  was  once  called  "  Merry  Andrew  Street,"  as  appears 
in  a  rare  little  view  of  Soho-square,  in  the  possession  of 
William  Packer,  Esq.  of  Great  Baddow,  Essex, — in  which 
Monmouth  House  is  to  be  seen. 

Mr.  R.  Adam,  the  architect,  employed  Ceracchi  to  model 
a  basso-relievo,  fourteen  feet  in  length  by  six  feet  in  height, 
of  the  Sacrifice  of  Bacchus,  consisting  of  twenty  figures,  in 
Adams's  composition, — a  mixture  of  cement  with  oil,  which 
is  now  called  mastic,  and  similar  to  that  used  on  the  columns 
of  the  Theatre  in  the  Hay-market, — for  the  back  front  of 
the  house  of  Mr.  Desenfans,  in  Portland-road  2 ;  at  whose 
decease  it  was  sold  by  auction  to  the  proprietors  of  Coade's 
Artificial  Stone  Manufactory  3  in  that  part  of  the  New 

1  Not  in  honour  of  a  reigning  New  (Euston)  Road,  who  had 
sovereign,  but  of  Gregory  King  succeeded  to  the  business  of 
(1648-1712),    the    herald    and  the  Coade  family  of  Lambeth, 
genealogist,  who  laid  out  Soho.  For  a  full  note  on  this  artificial 

2  For  a  note  on  Noel  Joseph  stone  manufactory,  see  Smith's 
Desenfans,  see  Chapter  XIII.  biographical   sketch    of    John 

3  These     proprietors      were  Bacon,  R.A.,  post. 
Messrs.  Croggan  &  Co.  of?.the 

56 


GIUSEPPE   CERACCHI  57 

Road  called  "  Tottenham  Court ;  "  and  it  is  very  taste- 
fully modelled.  The  bust  of  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  sold  by 
the  figure-casters,  Mr.  Northcote  informs  me,  was  also 
modelled  by  Ceracchi. 

Baretti,  in  his  Guide  through  the  Royal  Academy,  when 
describing  the  Strand  front  of  Somerset  House,  thus  speaks 
of  him  :  "  The  two  figures  nearest  the  centre  were  made 
by  Signor  Carlini ;  the  two  at  the  extremities,  by 
Signer  Ceracchi,  an  Italian  Sculptor,1  who  resided  some 
time  in  London,  whose  abilities  the  architect  (Sir  William 
Chambers)  wished  to  encourage  and  keep  among  us ;  but 
the  little  employment  found  in  England  for  Sculptors,  how- 
ever excellent,  frustrated  his  intentions."  Ceracchi  had, 
when  I  was  taken  to  see  him,  very  extensive  premises  at 
No.  76,  Margaret-street,  Cavendish-square  ;  he  was  a  short 
thin  man,  with  a  piercing  black  eye,  and  a  very  blue  beard. 
He  was  the  Honourable  Mrs.  Darner's  master  in  Sculpture, 
as  that  lady  declared  to  me  herself.  He  modelled  a  statue 
of  his  pupil,  which,  since  the  decease  of  Lord  Frederick 
Campbell,  has  been  carved  in  marble,  and  placed  in  the 
Hall  of  the  British  Museum. 

Ceracchi,  highly  gifted  as  he  certainly  was,  met  with  so 
little  encouragement  in  this  country,  that  after  disposing 
of  his  property  in  Margaret-street,  he  quitted  England  for 
Rome,  where  he  continued  to  practise  as  a  Sculptor  until 
the  breaking  out  of  the  French  Revolution,  when  he  became 
so  violent  a  partizan  and  so  desperate,  that  he  was  con- 
demned to  death  as  the  leader  of  the  conspirators  connected 
with  the  infernal  machine  contrivance,  and  was  guillotined 
at  Paris  in  1801.  Ceracchi  continued  so  frantic  to  the  last, 
that  he  actually  built  himself  a  car,  in  which  he  was  drawn 
to  the  place  of  execution  in  the  habit  of  a  Roman  Emperor. 
David,  the  French  Painter,  with  whom  Ceracchi  had  lived 
in  intimacy,  was  called  to  speak  to  his  character ;  but  he  de- 
clared he  knew  nothing  of  him  beyond  his  fame  as  a  Sculptor. 
1  These  four  figures  are  those  on  the  attic  storey. 


JOHN    BAPTIST   LOCATELLI 

JOHN  BAPTIST  LOCATELLI  was  a  native  of  Verona, 
and  when  he  came  to  England  first  lodged  at  No.  9, 
in  the  Hay-market,  with  the  father  of  Charles  Rossi, 
Esq.  now  an  Academician.  His  next  residence  was 
in  Bentinck-street,  Berwick-street ;  and  his  last  in  England 
was  in  Union-street,  at  the  back  of  Middlesex  Hospital, 
which  had  been,  before  the  year  1776,  the  time  he  entered 
the  premises,  occupied  by  another  Italian  Sculptor  of  the 
name  of  Angelini 1 ;  and  there  it  was  that  the  friendly 
Rossi  was  placed  under  Locatelli's  roof,  as  his  pupil ;  but 
from  whom,  I  can  safely  say,  Rossi  acquired  no  part  of  his 
present  excellence  as  a  Sculptor.  Angelini  was  an  artist  of 
superior  talent.  He  carved  a  group  of  the  Virgin  and 
Child,  in  marble,  as  large  as  life,  and  of  which  he  unfor- 
tunately could  find  no  better  mode  of  disposing  than  by 
lottery.  He  also  carved  for  Nollekens,  and  was  often,  to 
the  no  little  mortification  of  his  employer,  mistaken  by 
strangers  as  the  master  of  the  studio,  not  only  from  his 
superior  manners,  but  by  his  dashing  mode  of  dressing  in  a 
fashionable  coat  and  red  morocco  slippers. 

Locatelli  became  an  object  of  some  notoriety,  by  a  dis- 
pute which  arose  between  him  and  his  kind  patron,  the 
Earl  of  Orford,  against  whom  the  Sculptor  was  so  highly 
enraged,  that  he  extensively  distributed  an  octavo  pamphlet 
consisting  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  pages,  in  Italian 
and  English,  entitled,  A  Dissertation  of  a  Colossal  group  of 

1  Perhaps  Joseph  Angelini  Naples,  Rome,  Paris,  and  Lon- 
(1735-1811),  who  nourished  in  don. 

58 


JOHN  BAPTIST  LOCATELLI  59 

John  Baptist  Locatelli.  By  this  little  work,  which  is  written 
in  some  parts  with  the  spleen  and  acrimony  of  a  disap- 
pointed man,  and  which  was  printed  without  date,  it  appears 
that  in  the  year  1782,  the  Earl  of  Orford  bespoke  a  colossal 
group  of  this  Sculptor,  without  asking  what  it  was  to  come 
to.  When  the  subject  was  named,  his  Lordship  approved 
of  it ;  but  when  the  model  was  produced,  he  refused  to 
take  it,  although  he  had  advanced  the  artist  350^.  on  account. 
The  design  was  Theseus  offering  assistance  to  Hercules. 

It  also  appears  by  this  narrative,  that  a  committee  of 
about  fifteen  gentlemen,  among  whom  were  Sir  James 
Wright,  Mr.  Locke,  Mr.  Sheldon  the  Anatomist,  (as  some 
of  the  limbs  were  stated  to  have  been  broken,  and  others 
out  of  joints,)  Mr.  West,  Mr.  Cipriani,  Mr.  Fuseli,  and  Mr. 
Proctor  the  Sculptor,  had  agreed  to  give  their  opinions 
upon  it.  Fuseli  and  Proctor  were  rather  severe  with  the 
Artist,  particularly  the  latter,  who  certainly  had  produced 
some  models  of  Ixion,  &c.  which  were  highly  spoken  of. 
Locatelli  declared  in  his  pamphlet,  by  way  of  setting  himself 
off,  that  he  had  been  much  noticed  by  the  English  when  at 
Verona  and  Venice,  and  that,  during  his  residence  at  Milan, 
he  was  employed  by  Count  Firmian,  Mr.  Tilot,  and  Cardinal 
Crescenzi,  and  that  he  had  executed  upwards  of  seventy 
statues  and  groups  for  the  brothers  Battoni,  &c. 

So  much  may  be  gathered  from  this  pamphlet ;  but  as 
there  are  always  two  stories,  at  least,  to  be  told  in  every 
dispute,  the  reader  is  requested  to  put  that  of  Lord  Orford 
into  the  other  scale  of  evidence. 

His  lordship,  who  had  been  extremely  kind  to  Locatelli 
when  abroad,  by  purchasing  several  of  his  models  from  the 
antique,  the  size  of  life,  at  one  hundred  guineas  each,  a 
much  better  price  than  he  had  before  been  accustomed  to 
receive, — particularly  noticed  the  Artist  when  he  arrived 
in  England.  Finding  that  he  was  unemployed,  he  ordered 
him  to  model  the  above  subject,  as  suggested  by  Locatelli, 
never  asking  the  price  ;  but  concluding  in  his  own  mind  that 


the  sum  would  be  proportionately  more  from  being  modelled 
in  England,  being  a  much  dearer  country  to  live  in  than 
Italy.  Locatelli  had,  by  degrees,  obtained  money  from  his 
patron,  amounting  altogether  to  the  sum  of  35o/.,  when  his 
Lordship  visited  his  artist's  studio  to  see  what  he  was  about, 
and  to  his  great  surprise,  he  found  the  group  was  colossal,  and, 
in  his  opinion,  very  bad.  A  dispute  then  arose,  and  his 
Lordship,  notwithstanding  the  majority  of  the  committee 
had  given  it  against  Locatelli,  generously  paid  him  a  farther 
sum,  and  sent  the  model  to  Houghton ;  where  it  was  de- 
stroyed, when  that  mansion  unfortunately  suffered  by  fire. 

Nollekens's  remarks  upon  this  group  of  Theseus  and 
Hercules,  were  sometimes  laughable  enough  :  he  said,  "  The 
figures  look  like  the  dry  skins  of  two  brick-makers  stuffed 
with  clotted  flocks  from  an  old  mattress ;  "  and  at  other 
times  he  observed,  "  I  think  Locatelli  must  have  studied 
Goltzius's  Hercules  ;  "  a  figure  well  known  to  the  collectors 
of  engravings  under  the  appellation  of  the  potato-man,  in 
consequence  of  his  muscles  appearing  more  like  that  root, 
than  any  thing  produced  either  above  or  below  the  earth.1 
Mr.  Smith,  the  Sculptor,  who  designed  and  executed  the 
cenotaph,  erected  by  the  munificent  citizens  of  London,  to 
the  memory  of  Lord  Nelson,  in  their  Guildhall,  was  the  pupil 
of  this  artist  2 ;  and  his  son,  Charles,  a  highly-talented 
Sculptor,  has,  in  his  studio  in  the  New  Road,  some  fragment, 

1  Henry  Goltz,  or  Goltzius,  figure  in  the  most  barbarous 

born  1558.    His  skill  as  an  en-  manner,  the  parts  are  scattered 

graver  of  classical  subjects  ran  and    the    whole    is    without 

sometimes    into    eccentricity,  effect." 

The    "  Hercules  "    print    here  2  James  Smith  executed  his 

referred  to  is  evidently  the  one  Guildhall  statue  of  Nelson  in 

described  by  Graves  as  follows  :  1808.     He  was  employed  by 

"  Hercules  holding  his  Club :  Flaxman,    and    assisted    Mrs. 

in  the  background  are  repre-  Darner.      He    died   in    Upper 

sented  his  Labours,  1589.    In  Norton  (now  Bolsover)  street, 

this  plate  Goltzius  has  over-  Portland-road,  April  2$th,i8i5. 
charged  the  outline  of  the 


JOHN  BAPTIST  LOCATELLI 


61 


of  Locatelli's  models,  which  exhibit  very  little  merit,  par- 
ticularly the  portions  of  a  small  one  of  Lord  Orford's  groups 
above  mentioned. 

Robert  Adam,  the  Architect,  who  occasionally  gave 
Locatelli  commissions,  among  other  things  employed  him 
to  execute  a  chimney-piece  for  Harewood  House  in  York- 
shire. 

In  August  1780,  Mr.  Nollekens  was  advised  to  go  to 
Harrowgate  for  the  benefit  of  his  health  ;  in  consequence 
of  which,  Mr.  Rossi  informs  me,  he  carved,  under  the  direc- 
tion of  his  master,  Locatelli,  the  basso-relievos,  put  up  by 
Nollekens,  on  the  outside  of  the  Sessions-house  on  Clerken- 
well  Green.1 

Locatelli,  in  1796,  left  England  for  Milan,  where  Buona- 
parte not  only  patronized  him,  but  granted  him  a  pension 
for  life.  Of  his  death,  Mr.  Rossi,  my  principal  informant, 
is  at  present  ignorant. 


1  The  Middlesex  Sessions 
House  was  erected  in  1779-80 
to  supersede  Hicks's  Hall  in 
St.  John-street.  The  sculptures 
mentioned  consist  of  the  county 
arms  in  the  tympanum  and  two 


panels  and  two  medallions  on 
the  front.  The  building,  which 
was  reconstructed  internally  in 
1860,  is  not  likely  to  serve  its 
present  purpose  much  longer. 


THOMAS    PROCTOR 


I 


PROCTOR  was  born  at  Settle,  in  the 
West-Riding  of  Yorkshire,  April  22nd,  1753. 
His  father,  being  in  humble  circumstances,  ap- 
prenticed him  to  a  tobacconist  at  Manchester, 
of  whose  occupation  he  soon  became  tired,  and  ventured 
to  London,  where  he  procured  an  engagement  in  the  counting- 
house  of  Messrs.  Harrison  and  Ansley,  merchants. 

After  remaining  in  this  house  for  some  time,  he  quitted 
it  to  study  the  arts  of  Painting  and  Sculpture ;  and,  after 
his  departure,  the  partners  of  the  firm,  in  consequence  of 
his  having  conducted  himself  so  well,  continued  their  kind- 
ness towards  him,  by  giving  him  money,  and  receiving  him 
as  one  of  the  family,  whenever  he  pleased,  at  their  houses 
at  Tottenham  and  Clapham. 

On  the  3oth  of  September,  1777,  he  was  admitted  a 
student  at  the  Royal  Academy.  He  was  induced,  from 
seeing  Barry's  picture  of  Venus  rising  from  the  Sea,  to 
paint  a  large  subject  of  Adam  and  Eve,  from  Milton's 
Paradise  Lost.  In  1782,  he  obtained  a  premium  from 
the  Society  of  Arts  ;  in  1783,  he  gained  a  silver  medal  at 
the  Royal  Academy ;  and,  in  1784,  the  gold  medal  was 
voted  him  for  an  Historical  picture.1  He  also  painted  a 
picture  of  the  Approach  of  Venus  to  the  Island  of  Cyprus. 
At  the  time  Proctor  was  a  candidate  for  the  Royal  Academy 
gold  medal,  it  was  much  doubted  whether  he  or  another 
brother-student  would  be  successful.  When  the  students 

1  Redgrave  says  that  Proc-  a  subject  taken  from  The 
tor  received  the  gold  medal  for  Tempest. 

62 


THOMAS   PROCTOR  63 

on  Proctor's  side  found  that  the  prize  was  awarded  to  him, 
they  agreed  to  seize  and  carry  him  down-stairs  in  triumph  ; 
which  they  not  only  accomplished,  but  proceeded  with  him 
publicly  on  their  shoulders  all  about  the  quadrangle  of 
Somerset-place,  at  the  same  time  vociferating,  "  Proctor  ! 
Proctor !  "  Upon  this,  Barry,  who  heartily  enjoyed  the 
sight,  exclaimed,  with  the  usual  oath  of  a  blunt  Irishman, 
"  The  lads  have  caught  the  true  spirit  of  the  ancient  Greeks." 

Proctor  likewise  produced  a  very  extraordinary  model  of 
Ixion  on  the  wheel,  which  was  thought  so  well  of  by  Sir 
Joshua  Reynolds,  Mr.  West,  and  Sir  Abraham  Hume,  that 
the  worthy  baronet  purchased  it.1  He  also  executed  a  fine 
model  of  Diomedes  thrown  to  his  horses,  but  unfortunately 
of  so  large  a  size,  that  no  one  was  tempted  to  buy  it ;  and, 
as  he  could  not  afford  to  pay  for  a  place  to  keep  it  in,  he 
actually  knocked  it  to  pieces. 

In  1794,  when  the  period  arrived  at  which  the  Royal 
Academy  was  to  send  a  student  to  Rome,  they  fixed  upon 

octor,  but  no  one  knew  where  to  find,  or  hear  any  thing  of 
im.  However,  Mr.  West,  with  his  usual  zeal,  after  much 

quiry,  discovered  him  in  an  obscure  lodging  in  a  deplorably 
reduced  state.2  Upon  this,  he  instantly  relieved  him,  in- 
vited him  to  dinner,  and  promised  him  letters  of  introduc- 
tion to  his  Roman  friends  :  but  alas  !  during  the  short 
preparation  for  his  departure,  Mr.  West  received  the  sad 
intelligence  of  his  being  found  dead  in  his  bed,  at  his  humble 
lodgings,  opposite  the  Cider-cellar,  in  Maiden-lane,  Covent- 
garden.  He  died  in  his  forty-first  year,  and  was  buried  in 
Hampstead  church-yard.3 

1  Sir  Abraham  Hume  (1749-  Clare  Market,   where  he  had 
1838)  was  a  collector  of  pic-  subsisted  for  days  on  a  penny 
tures,  minerals,  etc.,  at  Worm-  roll,  with  water  from  a  neigh- 
ley,  Hertfordshire.     Reynolds  bouring  pump  (Redgrave), 
painted     his     portrait     three  3  On  July  I3th,  1794  (Diet. 
times.  Nat.  Biography). 

2  In    a    miserable    attic    in 


Mr.  Middiman,  the  celebrated  Landscape-engraver,  who 
is  now  in  his  seventy-seventh  year, x  related  to  me  the  follow- 
ing anecdote  of  poor  Proctor.  Mr.  Rising,  a  painter  and 
picture-cleaner,2  one  of  Proctor's  most  intimate  friends, 
witnessing  his  disturbed  state  of  mind,  arising  from  pecuniary 
embarrassment,  and  a  most  honourable  and  anxious  wish  to 
leave  England  for  Rome  free  of  every  debt,  went  privately 
to  a  gentleman,  who  held  a  note  for  money  lent,  to  whom 
he  represented  Proctor's  distress.  The  gentleman,  whose 
heart,  like  those  of  many  other  Englishmen,  was  in  its  right 
place,  begged  of  him  to  desire  Proctor  to  make  himself 
perfectly  easy  on  his  account ;  and  to  convince  him  of  his 
safety,  immediately  threw  the  note  into  the  fire.  Early  the 
next  morning,  the  friendly  Rising  hastened  to  communicate 
the  liberality  of  the  gentleman  ;  when,  alas  !  he  found  that 
Proctor  had  died  in  the  preceding  night. 

Proctor  was  short  in  stature,  remarkably  well-propor- 
tioned, and  firmly  built.  His  hair  and  whiskers  were  of  a 
jet  black,  the  latter  of  which  he  suffered  to  grow  with  a 
preposterous  projection  from  his  cheeks.  His  skin  was 
swarthy,  but  his  black  eyes  were  piercingly  energetic,  par- 
ticularly when  a  grand  idea  had  struck  his  mind,  which  was 
well  stored  with  classic  reading.  He  then  instantly  grappled 
with  his  clay ;  upon  which  he  was  sure  to  leave  vigorous 
marks  of  superior  genius.  Mr.  West  classed  him  with  the 
first-rate  modellers  ;  and  indeed  he  thought  so  well  of  him, 
that  when  the  Royal  Academicians  agreed  to  send  him  to 
Rome,  Mr.  West  made  up  his  mind  to  send  his  son  Raphael 
with  him,  concluding  that  by  their  high  talents  they  would 

1  Samuel  Middiman   (1750-  2  Possibly    J.    Rising,    por- 

1831),  an  etcher  and  engraver  trait  painter,  85  Great  Port- 

for  topographical  works,  and  land-street  (Holden's  Triennial 

for  Boydell's  Shakespeare.    He  Directory,  1805-1807). 
died  in  Cirencester-place,  aged 
eighty-one. 


THOMAS   PROCTOR  65 

enjoy  a  most  interesting  intercourse.  I  received  the  follow- 
ing anecdote  of  him  from  the  venerable  Northcote,  who  is 
in  his  eighty-second  year.  Mr.  Northcote  was  born  in 
Market-street,  Plymouth,  October  22nd,  old  style,  1746. 
Proctor  sent  an  immense  picture  to  the  Royal  Academy  to 
be  exhibited ;  the  subject  of  which,  to  the  best  of  his 
recollection,  was  Druidical.  This  performance,  however, 
was  so  indifferent,  that  the  Academicians  on  the  Council 
advised  him  to  improve  it ;  and,  as  it  was  so  large  a  work, 
accommodation  was  given  him  somewhere  on  the  premises. 
After  he  had  been  at  work  upon  it  for  several  days,  some  of 
the  Council,  who  were  not  at  all  pleased  with  what  he  had 
done,  begged  of  Mr.  Northcote  to  go  and  look  at  it ;  but  it 
was  so  very  deficient  in  the  requisite  of  painting,  that  they 
could  not  admit  it  into  any  of  their  show-rooms.  However, 
as  they  thought  that  it  would  hurt  his  feelings  to  reject  it 
for  its  want  of  a  painter's  expression,  they  very  kindly 
allowed  him  to  think,  that  as  it  was  so  large,  there  was  no 
room  for  it. 

As  a  painter,  Mr,  Northcote  assured  me  that  he  could  not 
praise  Proctor,  and  yet  he  said  there  was  mind  in  most  of 
the  things  he  produced  ;  but  as  a  modeller,  he  spoke  in  the 
highest  terms  of  his  talents.  During  the  time  Proctor  was 
engaged  upon  this  figure  of  Ixion,  Nollekens,  who  was  not 
then  far  advanced  in  life,  made  the  following  remark.  "  I 
don't  see  why  Proctor  should  make  Ixion  going  round  on 
the  wheel,  with  his  eyes  almost  closed :  I  am  sure  I  could 
not  sleep  under  such  torture." 

I  heard  Nollekens  once  ask  a  painter,  who  was  modelling 
a  figure  of  Time  on  the  ground  struggling  with  a  female,  why 
he  made  Time  sprawling  on  the  ground  with  her,  "  You 
should  not  do  that.  Time  is  always  on  the  wing :  no,  no, 
you  should  make  Time  pursuing  the  girl."  Mr.  Nollekens 
used  to  say,  that  Proctor  had  less  merit  as  a  modeller  than 
a  painter ;  though  this  was  not  the  opinion  of  Professor 
Westmacott,  who  applied  to  Sir  Abraham  Hume  for  the 

VOL.  II. — F 


loan  of  the  group  of  Pirithous1and  the  figure  of  Ixion  on  the 
Wheel,  two  of  Proctor's  highly-esteemed  and  best  models. 
These  he  generously  and  openly  exhibited  during  his  last 
Lecture  delivered  at  the  Royal  Academy,  expatiated  upon 
them  as  works  of  true  genius,  and  declared  them  to  be  in 
many  respects  highly  worthy  the  attention  of  the  students 
in  Sculpture. 

1  Peirithous,  the  son  of  Ixion,     group  was  exhibited  by  Proctor 
destroyed  by  Cerberus.     This    at  the  Royal  Academy  in  1792 . 


JOHN    ZOFFANY,    R.A. 


1 


history  of  Zoffany,  the  painter  of  that  inimit- 
able picture  of  the  Members  of  the  Royal  Academy 
in  the  King's  most  splendid  collection,  being  but 
little  known;1  I  shall  introduce  the  following 
account  of  him,  received  partly  from  the  lips  of  my  friend, 
Philip  Audinet,  a  pupil  of  John  Hall,  the  Engraver,  whose 
son,  the  Rev.  Doctor  Hall,  is  now  Master  of  Pembroke 
College,  Oxford ;  and  partly  from  other  sources  of  equal 
veracity. 

Mr.  Audinet's  father  served  his  time  with  Rimbault,  a 
celebrated  Musical  Clock-maker,  who  lived  in  Great  St. 
Andre w's-street,  near  the  Seven  Dials.2  He  principally 
traded  to  Holland,  and  made,  what  were  at  that  time  called, 


1  Zoffany's  well-known  pic- 
ture, now  at  Buckingham 
Palace,  divided  with  West's 
"  Death  of  Wolfe  "  the  honours 
of  the  Academy  Exhibition  of 
1772.  The  most  prominent 
figures  are  those  of  Moser, 
Zuccarelli,  Yeo,  Dr.  William 
Hunter,  Nathaniel  Hone,  Cos- 
way,  West,  Cipriani,  Gwynne", 
Reynolds,  Hayman,  Wilton, 
Chambers,  and  Zoffany  him- 
self. The  figure  of  Gains- 
borough, who  rarely  attended 
the  Academy  meetings,  is  ab- 
sent. On  the  wall  hang  the 
portraits  of  Mary  Moser  and 
Angelica  Kauffmann. — For  a 


note  on  Audinet,  see  under 
John  Hall,  post.  Hall's  son, 
George  William  (1770-1844), 
was  Master  of  Pembroke  College 
from  1809. 

2  The  Rimbault  family  was 
prominent  in  this  neighbour- 
hood, and  the  musical-clock- 
maker  was  the  uncle  of  Stephen 
Francis  Rimbault,  music- 
teacher  and  organist  of  St. 
Giles-in-the-fields,  the  father  of 
the  learned  Dr.  Edward  F. 
Rimbault,  whose  Soho  and  Its 
Associations  was  edited  from 
the  MSS.  by  Mr.  George  Clinch 
in  1895. 


67 


68          NOLLE  KENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

"  Twelve-tuned  Dutchmen ;  "  viz.  clocks  which  played 
twelve  tunes,  with  moving  figures,  variously  occupied, 
having  scenery  painted  behind  them.  As  these  machines 
were  very  complicated,  and  therefore  required  a  combina- 
tion of  talents,  the  pricking  of  the  barrels  was  executed  by 
a  famous  hand  of  the  name  of  Bellodi,  an  Italian,  who  at 
that  period  lived  in  Short 's-gardens,  Drury-lane  :  his  son, 
an  excellent  maker  of  barrel-organs,  died  lately  at  Penton- 
ville.  This  person  solicited  Rimbault  in  favour  of  a  poor 
man,  an  artist,  who  was  almost  starving  in  a  garret,  and  an 
inmate  of  his  house.  "  Let  him  come  to  me,"  said  Rim- 
bault ;  he  accordingly  went  to  him,  and  produced  such 
extraordinary  specimens  of  his  talent,  that  he  received 
immediate  employment  in  painting  the  fronts  of  musical 
clocks. 

In  the  course  of  time,  when  the  employer  and  employed 
became  better  acquainted  with  each  other,  this  clock-face 
painter  proposed  to  paint  his  patron's  face  ;  which  he  did 
so  admirably,  that  it  raised  him  considerably  in  the  opinion 
of  Rimbault,  who  exerted  himself  to  the  fullest  extent  of 
his  ability  to  serve  him.  This  truly  animated  portrait  of 
Rimbault,  by  Zoffany,  is  carefully  preserved  over  the 
chimney-piece  of  his  nephew's  front  parlour,  at  No.  9, 
Denmark-street,  Soho.  Mr.  Rimbault  is  the  Organist  to 
St.  Giles's  in  the  Fields,  and  one  of  the  most  extensive 
collectors  of  Rowlandson's  drawings. 

Benjamin  Wilson,1  who,  at  this  period,  resided  in  Great 
Russell-street,  Bloomsbury,  No.  56,  in  the  house  in  which 
Mr.  Philip  Audinet  now  lives,  being  anxious  to  procure  an 
assistant  who  could  draw  the  figure  well,  a  branch  of  his  art 
in  which  Wilson  was  extremely  deficient,  having  confined 
his  talent  to  the  head  only, — it  so  happened  that  he  encoun- 

1  For  a  note  on  Benjamin  collections    of    Public    Char- 
Wilson,  the  versatile  Sergeant  acters  of  St.  Martin's  Lane," 
Painter  to  George  III,  see  a  post. 
note  to  Smith's  chapter,  "  Re- 


JOHN   ZOFFANY,  R.A.  69 

tered  the  above  painter  of  clock-faces,  and,  finding  his 
qualifications  exactly  to  his  purpose,  engaged  him  at  a 
salary  of  about  forty  pounds  a-year,  but  enjoined  him  to 
profound  secrecy.  Now  it  happened  that  Garrick  was  so 
convinced  that  a  picture  which  was  exhibiting  of  himself 
and  Miss  Bellamy,  in  Romeo  and  Juliet,  was  not  the  pro- 
duction of  Benjamin  Wilson,  whose  name  was  to  it,  that  he 
was  determined  to  find  out  the  painter,  and  by  his  persever- 
ance discovered  his  name  to  be  Zoffany. 

Mr.  Garrick,  then,  with  that  kindness  which  he  always 
exercised  towards  artists  of  talent,  gave  him  immediate 
employment,  and  introduced  him  to  his  friends,  particularly 
to  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  whose  liberal  conduct  in  his  favour, 
mentioned  in  Miss  Moser's  letter,  in  Chapter  III  of  this 
work,  was  so  highly  honourable  to  that  immortal  painter.1 

Mr.  Zoffany  was  as  fortunate  in  having  Garrick  for  his 
study,  as  the  public  are  in  the  possession  of  that  painter's 
delineations  of  so  wonderful  an  actor ;  and  I  believe  most 
persons  will  agree  with  me,  that,  with  all  the  powerful  dis- 
play of  the  pictorial  talent  of  Reynolds,  Dance,  Gains- 
borough, Loutherbourg,  and  Clint,  the  pencil  of  Zoffany,  in 
theatrical  representations,  has  been  unrivalled.  Nor,  in- 
deed, do  I  believe  that  at  any  period  the  painter  could 
have  had  superior  assistance  in  handing  his  fame  to  pos- 
terity, than  from  those  artists  who  have  engraved  his 
pictures ;  for  the  accuracy  of  which  assertion,  I  shall 
appeal  to  the  recollection  of  my  reader,  by  presenting  him 
with  a  list  of  the  engravings  which  have  been  executed 
from  Zoffany's  works,  which  I  have  arranged  according  to 
their  date  of  publication. 

ZOFFANY,  pinxt.  JAS.  M'ARDELL,  fecit. 

Mr.  GARRICK  and  Mrs.  CIBBER,  in  the  characters  of  Jaffier 
and  Belvidera. — Venice  Preserved,  Act  4,  Scene  2. 

1  Redgrave  and  Bryan  give  counts  of  Zoffany's  rise  into 
other  and  less  sensational  ac-  fame. 


70         NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

Published  March  25, 1764,  according  to  Act  of  Parliament, 
sold  by  J.  M'Ardell,  at  the  corner  of  Henrietta-street,  in 
Co  vent-garden. 

ZOFFANY,  pinxt.    J.  BOYDELL,  excudt.     J.  G.  HAID,  fecit. 

Mr.  FOOTE,  in  the  character  of  Major  Sturgeon,  in  the 
Mayor  of  Garret. 

Published  according  to  Act  of  Parliament,  August  I4th, 

1765,  by  John  Boydell,  Engraver,  in  Cheapside,  London. 

ZOFFANY,  pinxt.     J.  BOYDELL,  excudt.     J.  G.  HAID,  fecit. 

Mr.  GARRICK,  in  the  Farmer's  Return. 
Published  according  to  Act  of  Parliament,  March  ist, 

1766,  by  J.  Boydell,  Engraver,  in  Cheapside,  London. 

J.  ZOFFANY,  pinxt.  Published  Nov.  ist,  1768.  J.  FINLAYSON, 

fecit. 

Mr.  GARRICK,  in  the  character  of  Sir  John  Brute. 
Mr.  Vaughan,  Mr.  Hullet,  Mr.  Cough,  Mr.  Parsons,  Mr. 
Watkens,  and  Mr.  Phillips,  as  Watchmen. 

J.  ZOFFANY,  pinxt.  Published  March  ist,  1768.  J.  FIN- 
LAYSON, fecit. 

Mr.  SHUTER,  Mr.  BEARD,  and  Mr.  DUNSTALL,  in  the 
characters  of  Justice  Woodcock,  Hawthorn,  and  Hodge. — 
Love  in  a  Village,  Act  i,  Scene  6. 

Sold  by  Mr.  Zoffany,  in  Lincoln's-inn-fields,  Mr.  Finlayson, 
in  Berwick-street,  Soho,  and  Mr.  Parker,  at  No.  82,  in 
Cornhill. 

J.  ZOFFANY,  pinxt.  J.  FINLAYSON,  fecit. 

Mr.  FOOTE  and  Mr.  WESTON,  in  the  characters  of  the 
President  and  Dr.  Last. 

J.  ZOFFANY,  pinxt. 

Mr.  GARRICK,  in  the  character  of  Abel  Drugger,  Mr. 
BARTON,  and  Mr.  PALMER,  in  the  characters  of  Subtle  and 
Face. — Alchymist,  Act  2,  Scene  6. 

To  Frederick  Howard,  Earl  of  Carlisle,  this  plate  is 
humbly  inscribed,  by  his  Lordship's  obedient  servant. 


JOHN   ZOFFANY,  R.A.  71 

Published  according  to  Act  of  Parliament,  January  the 
I2th,  1771,  by  John  Dixon,  in  Kemp's  Row,  opposite 
Ranelagh,  Chelsea  ;  and  sold  by  A.  Davy,  in  Duke's-court, 
St.  Martin's-lane,  C.  Bowles,  in  St.  Paul's  Church-yard,  and 
J.  Boy  dell,  Cheapside. 

J.  ZOFFANY,  pinxt.  R.  EARLOM,  sculpt. 

Mr.  KING  and  Mrs.  BADDELEY,  in  the  characters  of  Lord 
Ogleby  and  Miss  Fanny  Sterling. — Clandestine  Marriage, 
Act  4. 

"  0,  thou  amiable  creature  !  command  my  heart,  for  it  is 
vanquished." 

Published  as  the  Act  directs,  Nov.  i,  1772,  by  Robert 
Sayer,  No.  53,  in  Fleet-street,  London. 
Published  March  3oth,  1776,  by  J.  Boydell,  Engraver,  in 
Cheapside,  London. 

[.  ZOFFANY,  pinxt.  V.  GREEN,  Engraver  to  his  Majesty, 

fecit. 

Mr.  GARRICK  and  Mrs.  PRITCHARD,  in  the  tragedy  of 

tacbeth,  Act  2,  Scene  3. 

From  the  original  picture  painted  by  Zoffany,  in  the 

)ssession  of  George  Keate,  Esq.  to  whom  this  plate  is 
ledicated  by  his  most  humble  servant,  John  Boydell. 

Sold  by  J.  Watson,  in  Litchfield-street,  Soho. 
>FFANY,  pinxt.  MARCHIE,  fecit. 

Mr.  MOODY,  in  the  character  of  Foigard. 

>FFANY,  pinxt.    T.  SIMSON,  excudit.     J.  YOUNG,  sculpt. 

Mr.  BRANSBY,  Mr.  PARSONS,  Mr.  WATKINS,  in  the  charac- 
ters of  Msop,  Old  Man,  and  Servant. — Lethe. 

Published  April  gth,  1788,  by  T.  Simpson,  St.  Paul's 
Church-yard. 

J.  ZOFFANY,  pinxt.  J.  DIXON,  fecit. 

Mr.  GARRICK,  in  the  character  of  Abel  Drugger,  in  the 
Alchymist. 

Published  i  Jan.  1791,  by  R.  Sayer  and  Co.  Fleet-street. 


72 


NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 


Painted  by  J.  ZOFFANY.     Engraved  by  JOHN  YOUNG,  En- 
graver in  Mezzotinto  to  H.R.H.  the  Prince  of  Wales. 

The  character  of  Puff,  in  the  Critic,  as  represented  by 

THOMAS  KING, 

Who,  with  most  profound  respect,  and  the  utmost  gratitude, 
dedicates  this  print  to  those  illustrious  encouragers  of  the 
liberal  arts, 

Their  Royal  Highnesses  the  Duke  and  Duchess  of  York. 

London,  Nov.  1803,  published  by  Thomas  King,  No.  9, 
New  Store-street,  Bedford-square.1 


1  Smith's  sketch  of  Zoffany 
is  more  than  usually  incom- 
plete. In  1783  the  painter 
went  to  India,  where  he  ob- 
tained large  commissions.  Re- 
turning to  England  in  1790, 
he  settled  at  Strand-on-the- 
Green,  near  Kew,  wealthy  but 
worn  out.  Here  he  painted  a 
Last  Supper  as  altar-piece  for 


old  Brentford  church,  intro- 
ducing himself  as  St.  Peter  and 
various  local  fishermen  as  other 
apostles,  these  likenesses  being 
so  close  that  the  men  were 
afterwards  known  by  apostolic 
sobriquets.  Here  Zoffany  died 
November  n,  1810.  He  was 
buried  in  Kew  churchyard, 
near  to  Gainsborough's  grave. 


JOHN    KEYSE   SHERWIN 

AER  I  had  studied  about  three  years  under 
Mr.  Nollekens,  I  became  so  delighted  with  the 
art  of  engraving,  that  I  endeavoured  to  imi- 
tate several  of  the  etchings  of  celebrated  painters, 
particularly  those  of  Rembrandt  and  Ostade  ;  some  of 
which  I  copied  so  closely,  that  my  father's  old  patron,  Dr. 
Hinchcliffe,  then  Bishop  of  Peterborough,1  kindly  showed 
them  to  Sherwin,  who  was  so  pleased  with  them,  that  he 
offered  to  take  me  at  half  the  usual  premium,  and  I  became 
his  domestic  pupil.  In  consequence  of  Sherwin  being 
frequently  from  home,  it  fell  to  my  lot,  alternately  with 
my  two  fellow-pupils,  Newnham  and  M'Kenzie,  to  attend 
the  visitors  to  the  painting-room,2  and  to  answer  their 
questions.  Being  considered  a  good-tempered  lad,  the  ladies 
noticed  me  ;  and  young  as  I  was,  in  consequence  of  my 
studying  the  human  figure,  I  became  tolerably  familiar 
with  beautiful  forms,  which  knowledge  often  induced  me 
to  contemplate  the  graceful  figures  and  fascinating  features 
of  the  fashionable  women,  who  daily  thronged  to  see  a 
drawing  which  Sherwin  was  then  engaged  upon,  the  subject 
being  the  Finding  of  Moses. 
The  ideas  of  this  extraordinary  artist  were  generally 

1  John    Hinchcliffe,    Bishop         2  Sherwin's    studio    was    in 

of  Peterborough,  was  the  son  Fox-court,  St.  James's-street, 

of  a  livery  stable   keeper  in  on  the  east  side,  above  Ryder- 

S wallow-street.      He    died    at  street.     This  court  no  longer 

Peterborough,   after  a  distin-  exists, 
guished  career ,  January  1 1 , 1 794 . 

73 


74          NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

elegant,  and  always  pleasing ;  which  led  him  to  introduce 
in  this  picture  the  portrait  of  the  Princess  Royal  of  England, 
as  Pharaoh's  daughter,  and  those  of  the  ladies  of  our  Court 
most  distinguished  for  their  beauty  as  her  attendants. 
Lady  Duncannon,  and  her  sister,  the  Duchess  of  Devon- 
shire, were  in  the  centre  of  the  composition,  surrounded  by 
the  rest  who  composed  the  group.  In  this  drawing,  were 
exhibited  Ladies  Jersey,  &c. ;  but  the  most  conspicuous 
figure  was  that  of  her  Grace  the  Duchess  of  Rutland, 
the  present  Dowager.1 

Being  frequently  in  the  room  when  these  elegant  fashion- 
ables came  to  sit,  I  had  most  enviable  opportunities  of  seeing 
them  near ;  and  lovely  as  most  of  them  unquestionably 
were,  none,  in  my  opinion,  eclipsed  her  Grace  of  Rutland. 
I  remember  placing  an  engraving  of  the  three  Ladies 
Waldegrave  on  the  carpet  before  her  Grace,2  by  the  desire 
of  Sherwin,  who  was  then  at  his  easel,  and  I  must  declare 
that  I  never  beheld  a  more  dignified  and  beautiful  woman  : 
and,  indeed,  when  I  last  had  the  honour  of  seeing  her 
Grace,  only  a  very  few  years  since,  I  still  remained  of  the 
same  opinion. 

Sherwin's  drawing,  however,  fascinating  as  it  certainly 
was,  though  it  procured  him  many  friends,  by  the  preference 
which  he  had  given  to  the  ladies  selected,  made  those  who 
were  unsolicited  his  enemies  ;  and  he  found  to  his  cost, 
that  paying  a  woman  of  high  title  a  compliment  at  the 
expense  of  a  greater  beauty  of  inferior  rank,  was  one  of  the 
great  errors  of  his  life.  Indeed,  on  the  other  hand,  he  gave 

1  Sherwin's  print  was  pub-  Reynolds's  picture  of  the  three 
lished  in  1798  and,  says  Bryan,  beautiful     daughters     of     the 
might  have  made  his  fortune  second  Earl  Waldegrave, grand- 
but  for  his  unfortunate  habits,  nieces  of  Horace  Walpole,  who 
A  year  later  this  brilliant  artist  had  commissioned  the  group, 
died  in  debt  and  misery  under  The     three     ladies,     Horatia, 
circumstances     discussed     by  Laura,  and  Maria,  are  seated 
Smith  in  Chapter  VIII.  round  a  work  table.    The  pic- 

2  This  engraving  was  from  ture  was  exhibited  in  1781. 


JOHN   KEYSE   SHERWIN 


75 


much  offence  even  to  some  of  those  ladies  whose  portraits 
he  had  introduced,  by  placing  that  of  Mrs.  Townley  Ward, 
whose  features  were  certainly  of  the  grand  cast,  near  to  a 
Duchess,  whose  beauty  could  not  stand  the  comparison.1 

The  attraction  of  this  drawing  became  so  great,  that 
footmen  were  continually  thundering  at  Sherwin's  door ; 
and,  during  the  Spring  months,  the  succession  of  carriages 
was  so  incessant,  that  the  passers-by  would  often  return  to 
see  a  celebrated  beauty  alight  or  depart.  I  was  much 
pleased,  one  morning,  by  the  visit  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Nollekens, 
who  named  most  of  the  portraits  ;  and  was  highly  delighted 
when  Mr.  Sherwin  desired  me  to  look  out  a  fine  proof  of 
his  engraving  of  the  Bishop  of  Peterborough's  picture  of 
the  Holy  Family,  painted  by  N.  Poussin,  and  give  it  to  my 
old  master  :  with  which  attention  he  was  so  much  pleased, 
that  he  invited  Sherwin  to  his  studio,  and  offered  him  the 
loan  of  any  of  his  busts  to  engrave  from. 

Sherwin  had  gained  the  gold  medal  for  an  historical 
picture  at  the  Royal  Academy ;  and  Nollekens  used  to 
observe,  that  it  was  by  painting  a  picture  that  Bartolozzi 
became  a  Royal  Academician,  and  not  as  an  Engraver.2 


1  The  lady  was  the  wife  of 
Townley  Ward,  a  well-known 
and  wealthy  solicitor,  of  Hen- 
rietta-street,  Co vent    Garden. 
As  Miss  Eleanora  Hucks  she 
married  him  in  1772. 

2  Engravers  were  not  origin- 
ally eligible  for  membership  of 
the  Royal  Academy,  and  their 
exclusion   led   to   a   series   of 
protests  and  concessions  which 
ended,  in  1855,  in  the  election 
of  Samuel  Cousins  as  the  first 
engraver  among  Royal  Acad- 
emicians.     Nollekens's    state- 
ment that  it  was  by  painting 
a  picture — and  not  as  an  en- 


graver— that  Bartolozzi  be- 
came a  Royal  Academician  is 
not  strictly  correct.  Sandby 
(History  of  the  R.A.)  says  that 
he  was  elected  as  a  designer, 
and  he  contradicts  the  state- 
ment of  Sir  Robert  Strange 
that  he  was  persuaded  to  ex- 
hibit a  single  drawing  in  order 
to  qualify  for  membership. 
Bartolozzi,  in  fact,  exhibited 
drawings  from  time  to  time. 
But  it  seems  doubtful  whether 
he  would  not  have  shared,  at 
a  later  and  less  indulgent 
period,  the  old  disability  of 
engravers. 


76          NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

However,  my  old  master,  upon  this  occasion,  said  little, 
being  in  the  presence  of  Mrs.  Nollekens,  to  whose  advice 
he  now  and  then  paid  attention. 

Sherwin  had  a  most  wonderful  faculty  in  delineating  the 
human  form ;  for  I  have  often  seen  him  begin  a  figure  at 
the  toe,  draw  upwards,  and  complete  it  at  the  top  of  the 
head  in  a  most  correct  and  masterly  manner.  He  had  also 
an  extraordinary  command  over  the  use  of  both  his  hands  ; 
and  whenever  he  has  been  engaged  on  a  very  large  plate 
that  was  difficult  to  turn,  he  would  let  the  plate  remain 
before  him,  throw  the  graver  over  from  his  right  hand  into 
his  left,  and  accurately  meet  the  sweeping  line  he  had 
commenced  with  the  former.  His  application  to  his  art 
was  by  no  means  regular  ;  he  would  draw  for  several  days, 
then  walk  about  and  visit  his  friends,  or  at  other  times 
paint :  and  one  of  his  best  pictures  of  a  female  was  a  whole- 
length  of  the  beautiful  Miss  Collins,  a  daughter  of  Dr. 
Collins  of  Winchester,  afterwards  Lady  St.  John,  which  is 
admirably  painted.1  His  most  spirited  one  of  a  gentleman 
was  that  of  Kinnaird,  the  Magistrate,  father  of  my  friend 
the  Architect,  who  has  lately  edited  Stuart's  Athens.  His 
mode  of  engraving  was  rapid  in  the  extreme  ;  for  I  have  often 
seen  him  begin  a  little  plate  for  a  ticket,  sit  up  all  night, 
and  finish  it  the  next  day  by  breakfast-time.  Tom  Da  vies, 
the  Bookseller,8  applied  to  him,  one  Saturday,  to  engrave 
a  head  of  Garrick,  for  that  actor's  life,  at  the  price  of  fifteen 
guineas,  and  it  was  to  be  done  immediately.  Sherwin, 
who  was,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  too  much  like  many  other 

1  For    a    typically    effusive  Wit   (ed.    1786),    Vol.   VI,    p. 

eighteenth-century  tribute  to  116. 

Miss  Collins's  charms,  see  the  2  Tom  Davies  was,  of  course, 

verses  "  On  seeing  the  beauti-  the  bookseller  of  No.  8  Russell- 

ful  Miss  Charlotte  Collins,  of  street,     Covent     Garden,     in 

Winchester,  copy   a   Drawing  whose  shop  Boswell  was  intro- 

of   the   Judgment   of    Paris,"  duced   to   Dr.    Johnson.     He 

dated  December,  1778,  in  the  wrote   the  first   biography  of 

New    Foundling    Hospital  for  Garrick,  and  died  in  1785. 


JOHN   KEYSE   SHERWIN 


77 


artists,  fond  of  working  upon  Sundays,  sent  this  plate  of 
Garrick  home  on  the  Monday  morning,  completely  finished, 
to  the  great  astonishment  of  Davies,  and  every  one  else 
who  knew  the  fact.  Perhaps,  however,  the  plate  which  he 
executed  in  the  shortest  time,  considering  its  quantity  of 
work,  is  the  portrait  of  the  late  Earl  of  Carlisle,  painted  by 
Romney :  this  engraving  Sherwin  produced  in  four  days, 
though  he  had  promised  it  for  more  than  three  months 
before.  It  is  a  beautiful  piece  of  art,  and  the  plate  being  a 
private  one,  the  property  of  the  family,  and  given  only  to 
particular  friends,  it  is  considered  as  a  great  rarity  among 
portrait-collectors.  There  is  a  pretty  tolerable  copy  of  it 
in  the  European  Magazine  for  November  1785,  vol.  viii. 
page  327. 

Sherwin  drew  tastefully  in  red  and  black  chalks,  in  the 
style  which  was  afterwards  considerably  improved  and 
practised  by  Cosway,  who  derived  from  it  larger  emoluments 
than  Sherwin  and  all  the  other  artists  of  his  day  put  to- 
gether. 

In  Sherwin's  studio,  I  have  frequently  seen  Mrs.  Robin- 
son, when  in  her  full  bloom  ;x  and  he  actually  engraved  her 
portrait  at  once  upon  the  copper,  without  any  previous 
drawing.  Here  I  also  saw  Mrs.  Siddons  sit,  in  an  attitude 
of  the  highest  dignity,  in  the  character  of  the  Grecian 


1  In  his  Book  for  a  Rainy  Day 
Smith  tells  how  he  received  a 
kiss  from  the  beautiful  "  Per- 
dita "  in  Sherwin's  studio. 
"  It  fell  to  my  turn  that  morn- 
ing, as  a  pupil,  to  attend  the 
visitors,  and  Mrs.  Robinson 
came  into  the  room  singing. 
She  asked  to  see  a  drawing 
which  Mr.  Sherwin  had  made 
of  her,  which  he  had  placed  in 
an  upper  room.  When  I 
assured  her  Mr.  Sherwin  was 
lot  at  home,  '  Do  try  to  find 


the  drawing  of  me,  and  I  will 
reward  you,  my  little  fellow,' 
said  she.  I,  who  had  seen 
Rosetta  in  Love  in  a  Village 
the  preceding  evening,  hummed 
to  myself,  as  I  went  upstairs, 
'  With  a  kiss,  a  kiss,  and  I'll 
reward  you  with  a  kiss.'  I 
had  no  sooner  entered  the 
room  with  the  drawing  in  my 
hand,  than  she  imprinted  a 
kiss  on  my  cheek,  and  said, 
'  There,  you  little  rogue.'  " 


78          NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

Daughter;1  which  portrait  he  also  engraved  in  a  similar 
way. 

John  Keyse  Sherwin  was  born  at  East  dean,  in  Sussex, 
and  was  noticed,  early  in  life,  by  William  Mitford,  Esq.  of 
the  Treasury, 2  who  was  his  best  friend  ;  and  this  gentleman 
is  in  possession  of  the  historical  picture  which  Sherwin 
painted,  when  he  obtained  the  gold  medal  in  the  Royal 
Academy ;  the  subject  being  Venus  soliciting  Vulcan  to 
make  armour  for  her  son.  Perhaps  no  artist  was  more 
noticed  by  the  first  families  of  his  time  than  Sherwin  ;  nor 
was  any  man  more  blessed  with  sincere  friends,  among 
whom  was  the  gentleman  above-mentioned,  and  Doctors 
Bever,  Collins,  Chelsum,  Wynne,  Vyse,  Stevens,  &c. 

Various  and  often  singularly  interesting  were  the  scenes 
which  I  witnessed  during  my  short  stay  with  Sherwin ; 
and  a  recollection  of  some  of  them,  even  now,  affords  me  no 
small  degree  of  pleasure  in  my  evening  walks.  I  well  re- 
member one  in  particular,  which  always  occurs  to  me 
whenever  I  hear  the  late  Lord  Fitzwilliam  mentioned. 3  One 
afternoon,  his  Lordship  was  shown  into  our  studio,  with 
full  expectation  of  finding  Sherwin,  according  to  the  declara- 
tion of  the  lad  who  had  opened  the  door ;  but,  upon  his 
Lordship's  being  assured  that  he  was  not  in  the  house,  a 
huge  elephant  of  a  man  arose  from  his  seat,  and  addressed 
the  nobleman  nearly  in  the  following  manner :  "  Sare,  he 
is  at  home  ;  my  name  is  Elbell ;  I  am  un  taileur  un  habit- 
maker  ;  I  live  at  No.  65,  Veils-street,  Oxford-market  ; 
he  ordere  me  to  come  here  for  amount  of  my  bill ;  an'  I 
have  been  vaiting  here  no  less  dan  dese  five  hour ;  an'  until  I 

1  Upon  her  reappearance  at  2  William  Mitford,  the  his- 

Drury-lane  Theatre,  where  she  torian  of  Greece  (1744-1827). 

had  not  acted  since  the  days  8  Richard  Fitzwilliam  (1745- 

ofjiGarrick;    with  whom  she  1816),       seventh       Viscount, 

had  played  many  parts  during  founder    of     the    Fitzwilliam 

the  last  year  of  his  perform-  Museum  at  Cambridge, 
ance.    (S.) 


JOHN   KEYSE   SHERWIN  79 

am  distinctly  satisfy,  I  vill  not  go  avay  vidout  my  money. 
I  make  for  Colonel  Topham,  Sare,  an  Major  Hanger ; 
an  dey  never  vill  serve  me  in  such  a  vay."  Lord  Fitz- 
william,  after  requesting  to  know  the  amount  of  his  bill, 
desired  him  to  write  a  receipt,  and  paid  him. 

As  soon  as  Elbell  left  the  room,  his  Lordship  rang  the 
bell,  and  ordered  the  lad  to  tell  his  master  that  the  tailor 
was  gone,  and  that  Lord  Fitzwilliam  wished  to  see  him.  In 
a  few  minutes,  Sherwin,  who  had  been  dressing  for  Sir 
Brook  Boothby's,1  entered  the  room  in  a  scarlet-lapelled 
coat,  with  large  gilt  buttons  the  size  of  a  half-crown,  a 
white  satin  waistcoat  embroidered  with  sprigs  of  jasmine,  a 
pair  of  black  satin  small-clothes  with  Bristol-stone  knee- 
buckles,  a  pair  of  Scott's  liquid-dye  blue  silk  stockings 
with  Devonshire  clocks,  long-quartered  shoes  with  large 
square  buckles,  which  covered  the  whole  of  the  lower  front 
of  his  instep  down  to  his  toes  ;  a  shirt  with  a  frill  and 
ruffles  of  lace,  his  hair  pomatumed  and  powdered  with  an 
immense  toupee,  three  curls  on  a  side,  and  tied  up  with  a 
tremendous  club  behind.  Lord  Fitzwilliam  exclaimed, 
"  Well,  Sherwin,  you  certainly  are  a  handsome  fellow ; 
but  most  extravagantly  dressed.  Pray,  whose  levee  are 
you  for  now  ?  There,  I  will  for  once  make  you  a  present 
of  Orator  Elbell's  receipt  for  making  a  fine  gentleman." 

Of  all  the  men  I  ever  knew,  Sherwin  was  the  most  diffi- 
cult to  get  money  from,  as  he  generally  lost  it  in  gambling 
soon  as  he  got  it.  His  manoeuvres  to  rid  himself  of  a 
lun  were  sometimes  whimsically  ingenious.  I  recollect  a 
)urblind  engraver,  of  the  name  of  Roberts,  the  artist  who 
stched  the  fifty  small  views  round  London,  from  drawings 
lade  by  Chatelain,2  and  who  had  frequently  importuned 

1  Sir  Brooke  Boothby  (1743-  Miss  Seward  and  her  friends. 

[824)  was  described  by  a  con-  He  published  volumes  of  verse, 

jmporary  as   "  one  of  those  and  died  at  Boulogne, 

rtio  think  themselves  pretty  2  Roberts  is  probably  James 

gentlemen  de  premier  ordre."  Roberts,  born  in  Devonshire  in 

it  Lichfield  he  saw  much  of  1725.  For  Chatelain,  see  Index. 


80         NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

him  for  cash,  being  prevailed  upon  to  partake  of  a  bottle 
of  wine,  in  order  to  drink  success  to  the  Arts,  before  he 
paid  him.  Sherwin,  after  the  second  glass,  wishing  to  leave 
him,  and  knowing  that  Roberts  could  not  see  correctly 
beyond  the  bottle,  moved  his  lay-figure,  upon  which  he 
had  put  an  old  coat,  from  the  corner  of  the  room,  and 
placed  it  as  Roberts's  companion  ;  but  before  he  stole  out 
of  the  studio,  he  requested  Mr.  Roberts  to  keep  the  bottle 
by  him,  and  to  finish  it  whilst  he  wrote  answers  to  some 
letters  for  the  post.  Roberts,  who  had  no  idea  of  his  having 
quitted  the  table,  now  and  then,  as  he  took  an  occasional 
glass,  silently  bowed,  respectfully  acknowledging  the  pre- 
sence of  his  host.  At  last,  after  some  time  had  elapsed,  he 
ventured  to  observe  that  he  had  a  great  way  to  go  ;  but 
receiving  no  remark,  he  got  up,  walked  round  the  table, 
and  modestly  requested  payment.  Upon  no  answer  being 
returned,  he  went  close  enough  to  whisper  the  real  state 
of  his  situation,  when,  discovering  the  trick,  he  left  the 
house  indignantly.  However,  Sherwin,  who  had  been  that 
evening  lucky  at  play,  upon  our  informing  him  of  poor 
Roberts's  distressed  situation,  sent  him  the  money  early 
the  next  morning,  with  an  additional  guinea  for  the  time 
he  had  lost,  with  which  he  was  desired  to  drink  the  King's 
health. 

I  must  here  declare,  that  though  Sherwin  was  so  impru- 
dent in  his  way  of  living,  he  was  a  generous  man,  and  that  I 
have  known  him  to  give  liberally  in  charitable  contributions, 
particularly  to  distressed  widows  of  clergymen,  whose 
melancholy  situations  I  have  often  heard  him  deplore  ; 
observing  that  the  children  of  a  poor  country  curate  were 
more  to  be  pitied  than  those  of  a  London  artist ;  since  the 
latter  generally  had  some  qualification  by  which  they  could 
get  a  living. 

Happily  for  the  honour  of  our  country,  our  societies  have 
augmented,  and  funds  are  fast  increasing  for  the  better 
provision  of  the  helpless  widows  and  offspring  of  debilitated 


JOHN  KEYSE  SHERWIN  81 

artists,  as  well  as  for  those  who  are  left  destitute  by  the 
less  fortunate  in  the  Church.  It  gives  me  great  pleasure 
to  state,  that  the  Artists'  Fund  dinners1  are  attended  by 
persons  of  the  highest  rank  and  fortune  in  the  kingdom, 
who  most  condescendingly  undertake  the  office  of  stewards  ; 
and  I  fully  trust,  that  in  a  few  years  a  foundation  upon  a 
plan  similar  to  that  for  the  sons  and  daughters  of  the 
Clergy,  in  St.  John's  Wood,  will  be  established  for  the 
orphans  of  artists.2 

1  The  Artists'  Fund  was  2  This  school,  for  daughters 
founded  in  1810  and  was  only,  is  in  the  St.  John's  Wood- 
granted  a  royal  charter  in  1827.  road,  and  dates  from  1749. 


VOL.  II. — G 


1 


THOMAS   GAINSBOROUGH,   R.A. 

grandfather  of  Thomas  Gainsborough  was  a 
schoolmaster ;  and  the  young  artist,  who  was 
the  most  unpromising  pupil  he  had,  was  never 
better  pleased  than  when  he  could  prevail  upon 
his  father  to  request  a  holiday  for  him  ;  for  which  he  wrote 
in  the  following  manner,  "  Give  Tom  a  holiday."  Tom, 
not  wishing  to  apply  to  his  father  so  often  as  he  desired 
a  day's  sketching,  hit  upon  the  expedient  of  forgery,  and 
copied  this  order  to  the  extent  of  about  fifty ;  but  not 
having  any  place  to  put  them  in,  thought  of  secreting  them 
in  the  warming-pan,  concluding  that,  as  it  was  the  summer 
season,  that  utensil  would  not  be  in  requisition,  and,  as  it 
hung  up  in  the  kitchen,  he  could  watch  an  opportunity  of 
taking  out  an  order  as  he  wanted  it.  In  this  supposition, 
however,  he  was  disappointed,  as  one  of  the  family  being 
taken  ill  during  his  absence,  the  warming-pan  was  to  be 
made  use  of ;  and  no  sooner  was  it  taken  down,  than  the 
remaining  stock  of  these  forged  papers  was  scattered  over 
the  place,  to  the  no  small  surprise  of  those  present ;  and, 
upon  their  being  shown  to  his  father,  he  observed,  from  their 
nicety  of  imitation,  that  Tom  would  certainly  come  to  an 
untimely  end.1 

1  These  particulars  of  Gains-  master  of  the  family  was  his 
borough's  boyhood  require  maternal  uncle,  the  Rev.  Hum- 
some  correction.  Gains-  phrey  Burroughs,  head-master 
borough's  grandfather,  Robert  of  the  grammar  school.  The 
Gainsborough,  was  not  a  school-  warming-pan  and  its  contents 
master,  but  was  Chief  Con-  are  an  addition  to  the  usual 
stable  of  Sudbury.  The  school-  story  of  the  juvenile  forgery 

82 


THOMAS  GAINSBOROUGH,  R.A.         83 

In  consequence  of  this  discovery,  the  next  time  he  was 
absent  from  school,  his  father,  who  knew  nothing  of  his 
sketching-days,  watched  him,  suspecting  that  he  kept 
idle  company,  but  in  this  he  was  agreeably  astonished,  when 
he  saw  him  seat  himself  upon  the  side  of  a  bank,  and  begin 
to  make  a  drawing  of  a  cluster  of  dock-leaves  ;  and,  upon 
his  return  home,  he  found  a  quantity  of  his  son's  sketches 
of  stumps  of  trees,  styles,  sheep,  and  shepherd  boys,  which 
had  been  secreted  in  various  holes  and  corners.  For  this 
anecdote,  as  well  as  several  others,  T  am  obliged  to  my 
friend  John  Jackson,  Esq.  R.A.  who  is  in  possession  of  several 
beautiful  portraits  by  Gainsborough. 

Mr.  Gainsborough  was  a  lively  writer,  as  we  may  see  in 
the  two  following  letters  addressed  to  his  friend  Henderson, 
the  Actor,  inserted  in  "  Letters  and  Poems,  by  the  late 
Mr.  John  Henderson,  by  John  Ireland,"  printed  for  John- 
son, St.  Paul's  Church-yard,  in  1786. 

Bath,  27th  June,  1773. 

DEAR  HENDERSON, 

IF  you  had  not  wrote  to  me  as  you  did,  I  should 
lave  concluded  you  had  been  laid  down ;  pray,  my  boy, 
take  care  of  yourself  this  hot  weather,  and  don't  run  about 
London  streets,  fancying  you  are  catching  strokes  of  Nature, 
at  the  hazard  of  your  constitution.  It  was  my  first  school, 
and  deeply  read  in  petticoats  I  am,  therefore  you  may  allow 
me  to  caution  you. 

Stick  to  Garrick  as  close  as  you  can,  for  your  life ;  you 
should  follow  his  heels  like  his  shadow  in  sunshine. 

No  one  can  be  so  near  him  as  yourself,  when  you  please  ; 
and  I'm  sure,  when  he  sees  it  strongly  as  other  people  do, 
he  must  be  fond  of  such  an  ape.  You  have  nothing  to  do 
now  but  to  stick  to  the  few  great  ones  of  the  earth,  who  seem 
to  have  offered  you  their  assistance  in  bringing  you  to  light, 
and  to  brush  off  all  the  low  ones  as  fast  as  they  light  upon 

which  made  his  father  exclaim,  drawings  he  exclaimed  more 
"  Tom  will  one  day  be  hanged."  hopefully,  "Tom  will  be  a 
On  discovering  the  truant's  genius." 


84          NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

you.  You  see  I  hazard  the  appearing  a  puppy  in  your  eyes, 
by  pretending  to  advise  you,  from  the  real  regard  and 
sincere  desire  I  have  of  seeing  you  a  great  and  happy 
man.  Garrick  is  the  greatest  creature  living,  in  every 
respect :  he  is  worth  studying  in  every  action.  Every 
view,  and  every  idea  of  him  is  worthy  of  being  stored  up  for 
imitation  ;  and  I  have  ever  found  him  a  generous  and 
sincere  friend.  Look  upon  him,  Henderson,  with  your 
imitative  eyes,  for,  when  he  drops,  you'll  have  nothing  but 
poor  old  Nature's  book  to  look  in.  You'll  be  left  in  +Tie 
dark,  or  by  a  farthing  candle.  Now  is  your  time,  my  lively 
fellow !  And,  do  ye  hear,  don't  eat  so  devilishly ;  you'll 
get  too  fat  when  you  rest  from  playing,  or  get  a  sudden 
jigg  by  illness  to  bring  you  down  again. 

Adieu,  my  dear  H. 

Believe  me  your's,  &c. 

T.  G. 

Bath,  July  18,  1773. 

DEAR  HENDERSON, 

If  I  may  judge  by  your  last  spirited  epistle,  you  are 
in  good  keeping  ;  no  one  eats  with  a  more  grateful  counte- 
nance, or  swallows  with  more  good-nature  than  yourself. 

If  this  does  not  seem  sense,  do  but  recollect  how  many 
hard-featured  fellows  there  are  in  the  world  that  frown  in 
the  midst  of  enjoyment,  chew  with  unthankfulness,  and 
seem  to  swallow  with  pain  instead  of  pleasure ;  now  any 
one  who  sees  you  eat  pig  and  plum  sauce,  immediately 
feels  that  pleasure  which  a  plump  morsel,  smoothly  gliding 
through  a  narrow  glib  passage  into  the  regions  of  bliss,  and 
moistened  with  the  dews  of  imagination,  naturally  creates. 

Some  iron-faced  dogs,  you  know,  seem  to  chew  dry  in- 
gratitude, and  swallow  discontent.  Let  such  be  kept  to 
under  parts,  and  never  trusted  to  support  a  character.  In 
all  but  eating  stick  to  Garrick  ;  in  that  let  him  stick  to  you, 
for  I'll  be  curst  if  you  are  not  his  master  !  Never  mind  the 
fools  who  talk  of  imitation  and  copying ;  all  is  imitation, 
and  if  you  quit  that  natural  likeness  to  Garrick,  which  your 

mother  bestowed  upon  you,  you'll  be  flung Ask  Garrick 

else. 


THOMAS   GAINSBOROUGH,  R.A.         85 

Why,  Sir,  what  makes  the  difference  between  man  and 
man,  is  the  real  performance,  and  not  genius  or  conception. 
There  are  a  thousand  Garricks,  a  thousand  Giardinis,  and 
Fishers,  and  Abels.  Why  only  one  Garrick  with  Garrick's 
eyes,  voice,  &c.  ?  One  Giardini  with  Giardrni's  fingers, 
&c.  ?  But  one  Fisher  with  Fisher's  dexterity,  quickness, 
&c.  ?  Or  more  than  one  Abel  with  Abel's  feeling  upon  the 
instrument  ?  All  the  rest  of  the  world  are  mere  hearers 
and  see'ers.1 

Now,  as  I  said  in  my  last,  as  Nature  seems  to  have  in- 
tended the  same  thing  in  you  as  in  Garrick,  no  matter  how 
short  or  how  long,  her  kind  intention  must  not  be  crossed. 
If  it  is,  she  will  tip  the  wink  to  Madam  Fortune,  and  you'll 
be  kicked  down-stairs. 

Think  on  that,  Master  Ford, 

God  bless  you, 

T.  G. 

Gainsborough,  when  advising  Henderson  to  copy  Garrick, 
forgot  that  Nature  had  been  his  own  idol ;  and  also  the 
remark  so  often  attributed  to  Michel  Angelo,  that  "  The 
man  who  walks  after  another,  must  always  be  behind 
him." 

Did  Shakspeare  serve  an  apprenticeship  to  any  one  ? 
o  taught  Hogarth  to  paint  the  pictures  of  the  Marriage 

-la-mode  ?    Did  Garrick  follow  the  manner  of  any  actor  ? 

as  not  Wilson,  the  Landscape-painter,  Nature's  child  ? 

id  Kemble  act  in  the  style  of  others  ?    Did  not  Sir  Joshua, 

ho  held  the  palette  as  the  first  of  painters,  after  all  his 
ttention  to  the  works  of  the  old  masters,  both  in  design 

d  colouring,  acknowledge  Nature  to  be  his  loveliest  mis- 

ss  ?     The  pulses  of  my  young  countrymen  must  ever 

1  Felix    Giardini    came    to  ished  in   his   hands. — Johann 

London    from     Piedmont    in  Christian  Fischer,  the  oboeist, 

1750.    Gainsborough,  who  had  married  Gainsborough's  daugh- 

a  half-talent  for  music,  bought  ter,  Mary,  not  very  happily. — 

his  viol-di-gamba  at  Bath,  only  Karl  F.  Abel  is  referred  to  in 

to  find  that  its  qualities  per-  Chapter  VII.    See  Index, 


86          NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

beat  high,  when  they  recollect  that  all  the  persons  above- 
mentioned  were  Englishmen  born  and  bred,  and  may  correctly, 
I  believe,  be  considered  six  of  the  greatest  men  the  world 
has  produced.  Sir  Joshua  has  observed,  that  "  too  much 
attention  to  other  men's  thought,  by  filling  the  mind, 
extinguishes  the  natural  power,  like  too  much  fuel  on  fire." 
The  reader  will  recollect,  too,  in  a  letter  from  Sir  Joshua 
to  N.  Pocock,1  given  by  Northcote  in  his  second  edition  of 
Sir  Joshua's  Works,  at  page  90  of  the  second  volume,  thai 
he  says,  "  I  would  recommend  to  you,  above  all  things,  to 
paint  from  nature  instead  of  drawing  ;  to  carry  your  palette 
and  pencils  to  the  water-side.  This  was  the  practice  of 
Vernet,  whom  I  knew  at  Rome  ;  he  then  showed  me  his 
studies  in  colours,  which  struck  me  very  much,  for  that 
truth  which  those  works  only  have,  which  are  produced 
while  the  impression  is  warm  from  nature." 

Mr.  Gainsborough,  after  seeing  some  of  my  pen-imita- 
tions of  Rembrandt's  and  Ostade's  etchings,  which  I  made 
for  my  honoured  patron  Dr.  Hinchcliffe,  then  Bishop  of 
Peterborough,  gave  me  permission  to  copy  some  of  his 
small  pictures,  and  allowed  me  frequently  to  stand  behind 
him  to  see  him  paint,  even  when  he  had  sitters  before  him. 
I  was  much  surprised  to  see  him  sometimes  paint  portraits 
with  pencils  on  sticks  full  six  feet  in  length,  and  his  method 
of  using  them  was  this  :  he  placed  himself  and  his  canvass 
at  a  right  angle  with  the  sitter,  so  that  he  stood  still,  and 
touched  the  features  of  his  picture  exactly  at  the  same 
distance  at  which  he  viewed  his  sitter.  I  have  heard  him 
say,  that  the  sight  of  a  letter  written  by  an  elegant  pen- 
man, pleased  him  beyond  expression  ;  and  I  recollect  being 
with  him  one  day,  when  the  servant  brought  him  one  from 
his  schoolmaster  in  Suffolk,  which,  after  reading,  he  held  at 

1  Nicholas  Pocock,  the  ma-  after  Pocock  had  exhibited  his 
rine  painter,  to  whom  Rey-  first  oil-painting  at  the  Royal 
nolds  wrote  this  friendly  letter  Academy  of  1780. 


THE    WOODMAN 
t'aintt'rf  by  Thomas  Gainsborough,  R,A,     Engraved  ly  Peter  Sitnon 


THOMAS   GAINSBOROUGH,  R.A.         87 

a  distance,  as  John  Bridge,  the  Jeweller,1  would  a  necklace, 
first  inclining  his  head  upon  one  shoulder  and  then  on  the 
other ;  after  which  he  put  it  upon  the  lower  part  of  his 
easel,  and  frequently  glanced  at  it  during  the  time  he  was 
scraping  the  colours  together  upon  his  palette.  I  recollect 
seeing  his  excellent  picture  of  the  Woodman  stand  for 
years  against  the  wall  unsold ;  and  though  the  sum  he 
asked  for  it  was  only  one  hundred  guineas,  it  remained  in 
his  room  until  some  time  after  his  death,  when  Lord  Gains- 
borough purchased  it  for  the  price  of  five  hundred  guineas, 
the  sum  the  artist's  widow  thought  proper  then  to  put  upon 
it.2  There  is  a  fine  print  of  it  by  Peter  Simon,3  which  was 
engraven  for  Alderman  Boydell.  Mrs.  Gainsborough  gave 
me  a  small  model  of  the  Woodman's  head,  which  her  husband 
made  from  the  man  who  had  stood  for  the  picture,  and 
who  lately  died  in  the  Borough  at  a  venerable  age  ;  this 
model  I  still  possess,  and  it  exhibits  all  the  vigour  of  Van- 
dyke. 

Gainsborough  was  interred  at  Kew,  on  the  gth  of  August, 
1788. 

1  John    Gawler    Bridge,    of  8  Peter  Simon,  the  younger, 
Rundell  and  Bridge,  the  Lud-  born  in   London  about  1750, 
gate-hill    jewellers    and    plate  engraved  plates  for  Worlidge's 
designers.     See  Index.  Antique  Gems  and  the  Boydell 

2  The  sum  was  500^.    Lord  Shakespeare.     He  died  about 
Gainsborough  bought  the  pic-  1810. 

ture  at  the  sale  at  Schomberg 
House.  It  was  destroyed  in  a 
fire  at  Exton  Park. 


JOHN   BACON,    R.A. 

BEFORE  I  commence  a  biographical  sketch  of  this 
celebrated  Artist,  who  was  one  of   the  earliest 
exhibitors  in  the  Royal  Academy,  and  the  first 
individual   who   received   the   gold   medal   as   a 
Modeller  in  that  institution,  I  think  my  readers  will  be 
interested  by  the  following  song,  relative  to  the  formation 
of  the  Academy  itself.     It  was  written  by  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Franklin,  who  was  chosen  the  first  Chaplain  to  the  Establish- 
ment,1 and  was  sung  by  Mr.  Beard  at  its  institutory  dinner. 
As  it  was  never  printed  accurately,  I  here  introduce  a  copy 
from  the  original  manuscript,  with  which  I  was  favoured 
by  the  author's  daughter,  Maria  Franklin. 

THE   PATRONS. 

A  SONG. 

HERE'S  a  health  to  the  Great,  who  are  Patrons  of  Arts, 
Who  for  good  British  hands  have  true  British  hearts  ; 
Abroad  who  disdain  for  their  pleasures  to  roam, 
But  encourage  true  merit  and  genius  at  Home. 

If  I  was  not  mistaken,  I  heard  some  folks  say, 
That  our  guests  seem'd  to  relish  the  feast  of  to-day  ; 
That  with  candour  they  own,  we  at  least  have  aim'd  well, 
And  those  deserve  praise  who  but  strive  to  excel. 

1  Dr.  Thomas  Franklin,  Pro-  in   his  list   of  the   Chaplains, 

fessor  of  Greek  at  Cambridge,  is  Leslie    and    Taylor    (Life    of 

mentioned  by  Sandby  as  Pro-  Reynolds)  state,  however,  that 

fessor  of  Ancient  History  to  he    was    appointed    Chaplain 

the    Royal    Academy    (1774-  soon  after  the  foundation  of  the 

1784)  in  succession  to  Oliver  Academy. 
Goldsmith,  but  is  not  included 

88 


JOHN   BACON,  R.A.  89 

But  our  artists, — the  fact  to  our  shame  is  well-known, — 
Like  our  wives,  are  neglected,  because  they're  our  own  : 
Whilst  Italia's  fair  harlots  with  rapture  we  view, 
And  embrace  the  dear  strangers — to  show  our  Virtu. 

When  good  Master  Christie  tricks  out  his  fine  show, 
All  is  not  pure  gold  which  there  glitters,  we  know  ; 
But  with  pompous  fine  titles  he  humbugs  the  town, 
If  the  names  are  but  foreign,  the  trash  will  go  down  : 

For  this  purpose,  some  shrewd  picture-merchants,  they  say, 
Keep  many  a  good  Raphael  and  Rubens  in  pay  ; 
And  half  the  Poussins  and  Correggios  you  meet 
Were  daub'd  in  a  garret  in  Aldersgate-street : 

There  with  pencils  and  brushes  they  drive  a  snug  trade  : 
There  Ancients  are  form'd  and  Originals  made  ; 
New  trifles  are  shelter'd  beneath  an  old  name, 
And  pictures,  like  bacon,  are  smoked  into  fame. 

Such  arts  we  disclaim,  and  such  tricks  we  despise, 
On  their  own  little  pinions  our  eaglets  shall  rise  ; 
And  upheld  by  your  praises,  perchance  they  may  soar 
To  the  summit  of  Fame,  which  they  ne'er  reach'd  before. 

When  strong  prepossession  no  longer  shall  blind, 
Nor  the  shackles  of  Prejudice  fetter  the  mind  ; 
The  beauties  of  Truth  then  old  Time  shall  unveil, 
And  merit  o'er  folly  and  fashion  prevail. 

Then  let's  drink  to  the  Great,  who  are  Patrons  of  Arts, 
Who  for  good  British  hands  have  good  British  hearts  ; 
Abroad who  disdain  for  their  pleasures  to  roam, 
But  encourage  true  merit  and  genius  at  Home. 

The  meetings  of  the  Royal  Academy,  at  its  commence- 
ment, were  at  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening,  as  will  appear 
from  the  following  invitation,  which  was  sent  to  Benjamin 
West,  Esq. 

SIR  Royal  Academy,  3oth  day  of  Oct.  1769. 

You  are  desired  to  meet  the  President,  and  the  rest 
of  the  Visitors,  at  the  Royal  Academy,  in  Pall-Mall,  on 
Friday  next,  the  3d  day  of  November,  at  seven  o'clock  in 
the  evening,  to  examine  the  layman. 
I  am,  Sir, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

F.  M.  NEWTON,  SEC.  R  A. 


90 


NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 


John  Bacon,  whose  father  Thomas  was  a  Cloth-worker, 
was  born  in  London  on  the  24th  of  November,  1740,  and 
was  employed,  when  a  boy,  in  a  Pottery  at  Lambeth,  and 
afterwards  by  Mrs.  Coade,  in  her  Artificial  Stone  Manu- 
factory, during  which  time  he  obtained  no  fewer  than  nine 
prizes  in  the  Society  of  Arts.  Mrs.  Coade's  Artificial  Stone 
Manufactory  was  erected  in  the  year  1769,  at  the  King's 
Arms  Stairs,  Narrow  Wall,  Lambeth.  In  a  descriptive 
catalogue  of  the  contents  of  this  manufactory,  published 
in  1784,  what  were  at  that  time  deemed  the  advantages  of 
Artificial  Stone,  are  minutely  set  forth.  At  page  82,  of 
Nichols's  History  and  Antiquities  of  the  Parish  of  Lambeth, 
speaking  of  this  establishment,  the  author  says,  "  Here 
are  many  statues,  which  are  allowed  by  the  best  judges  to 
be  master-pieces  of  Art,  from  the  models  of  that  celebrated 
artist,  John  Bacon,  Esq."1 

Mr.  Bacon  commenced  carving  in  marble  in  1763.  He 
then  resided  in  George-yard,  near  Soho-square,  in  Oxford- 


1  This  remarkable  factory 
for  the  production  of  sculpture 
in  artificial  stone  stood  at  the 
corner  of  Pedlar's  Acre,  now 
Belvidere-road,  on  the  south 
side  of  Westminster  Bridge. 
Hughson  gives  1768  as  the 
date  of  its  establishment.  It 
was  claimed  that  fire,  frost, 
and  damp  had  no  effect  on 
Lithodepyra,  as  the  composi- 
tion was  called.  The  process 
seems  to  have  originated  in  a 
patent  granted  in  1722  to 
Thomas  Ripley  and  Richard 
Holt  for  a  "  compound  liquid 
metall,  by  which  artificiall 
stone  and  marble  is  made  by 
casting  the  same  into  moulds 
of  any  form,  as  statues, 
columns,  capitalls."  The  Lam- 


beth business  comes  into  clearer 
view  in  1768,  when  a  Mrs. 
Coade  apparently  acquired  the 
patent  and  established  her 
premises  in  Pedlar's  Acre.  Mrs. 
Coade,  or  her  daughters,  took 
into  partnership  a  cousin,  Mr. 
Sealy,  and  the  firm  became 
Coade  and  Sealy.  It  is  evident 
that  John  Bacon's  abilities  as 
a  designer  were  of  the  first  im- 
portance to  the  business  in  its 
early  years  ;  the  moulds  from 
his  designs  became  valuable 
stock-in-trade.  Later  a  show 
gallery  was  added  to  the  pre- 
mises ;  its  imposing  entrance 
was  ornamented  by  Bacon 
with  a  design  representing 
"  The  Attempts  of  Time  to 
destroy  Sculpture  and  Archi- 


JOHN    BACON,    R.A. 

From  an  engrtaring  by  T.  Blood  for  tlic  "  European  Magazine"  after 
John  Russell,  R.A. 


JOHN  BACON,  R.A. 


91 


road,1  and  exhibited  at  the  Royal  Academy  a  medallion 
of  King  George  the  Third,  and  a  group  of  Bacchanalians.  In 
the  succeeding  year,  he  produced  a  model  in  bas-relief,  the 
subject  the  Good  Samaritan. 

Ini77i,he  was  elected  an  Associate  of  the  Royal  Academy; 
and  exhibited  a  cast  from  his  model  of  Mars,  a  very  beautiful 
performance,  of  which  he  carved  in  marble  a  statue  as  large 
as  life,  for  the  Hon.  Mr.  Pelham,  afterwards  Lord  Yar- 


tecture  by  vitrifying  Aid  of 
Fire."  The  following  lines 
were  moulded  in  the  design  : 

1  In  vain  thy  threats,  O  Time,  these 

arts  assail, 
The  power   of  Fire   shall  o'er  thy 

strength  prevail, 
Till  Thou  and  Fire,  with  this  great 

Globe,  shall  fail." 

An  engraving  of  the  entrance 
is  given  in  the  European  Maga- 
zine of  1802.  The  sculptures 
produced  at  this  factory  seem 
to  have  had  all  the  durability 
claimed  for  them,  and  their 
artistic  merit  was  such  as 
could  be  secured  by  the  em- 
ployment of  Bacon,  Flaxman, 
Banks,  Rossi,  and  other  sculp- 
tors of  repute.  Royal  and 
Government  commissions  were 
given  freely  to  Coade  and 
Sealy,  who  executed  the  Gothic 
screen  in  St.  George's  Chapel, 
the  ornamental  entrance  of 
many  barracks,  various  adorn- 
ments of  Carlton  House,  the 
statue  of  Nelson  on  the  Yar- 
mouth column,  &c.  A  good 
example  of  their  work  may  be 
seen  in  the  emblematical  group 
above  the  Pelican  Office  in 
Lombard-street,  modelled  after 
some  of  Lady  Diana  Beau- 
clerk's  designs  for  an  illus- 


trated edition  of  Dryden's 
Fables  and  carried  out  in  the 
artificial  stone  by  M.  De  Vaare. 
In  many  London  churchyards, 
such  as  Old  Paddington,  tombs 
executed  in  Coade's  artificial 
stone  may  be  seen.  For  a 
good  description  of  the  busi- 
ness and  extracts  from  its 
prospectus  and  catalogue,  see 
David  Hughson's  London,  Vol. 

IV,  pp.  538-545-  Also  a  de- 
tailed account  by  Mr.  W.  P. 
Courtney  in  Notes  and  Queries, 
May  2ist,  1910,  and  further 
information  in  the  number  of 
June  4th.  Jewitt  states  that 
Messrs.  Croggan  sold  the  busi- 
ness to  Messrs.  Routledge, 
Greenwood,  and  Keene,  who 
were  succeeded  by  Messrs. 
Routledge  and  Lucas.  The 
firm  was  finally  dissolved  and 
the  stock  sold  about  1840. 
The  last  traces  of  the  factory 
in  Pedlar's  Acre  disappeared 
about  five  years  ago,  but 
Coade's-place,  in  Fitzalan- 
street,  Lambeth,  perpetuates 
the  name. 

1  Probably  the  George-yard, 
now  named  Dansey-yard,  in 
Wardour-street. 


92          NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

borough,  now  in  the  hall  of  the  present  Lord's  town-residence 
in  Arlington-street  ;x  where  there  are  also  numerous  busts 
in  marble  by  Nollekens.  The  following  year,  Bacon  ex- 
hibited a  model  of  a  Child  ;  and  in  1773,  a  bust  in  marble, 
and  a  design  for  his  own  door-plate  in  artificial  stone. 

Johnson,  the  builder  of  Berners-street,2  who  had  been 
extremely  kind  to  Bacon  in  the  early  part  of  his  life,  made 
a  purchase  of  very  extensive  premises  in  Newman-street 
purposely  for  him,  but  entirely  without  his  knowledge. 
As  soon  as  he  communicated  to  him  what  he  had  done, 
Bacon  exclaimed,  "  How  could  you  do  so  ?  I  am  not  able 
to  enter  upon  any  thing  of  the  kind." — "  Yes,  you  are," 
replied  Johnson.  "  Go  into  them,  and  I  shall  never  expect 
the  money,  unless  you  are  quite  capable  of  reimbursing 
me."  In  what  way  this  act  of  kindness  ended,  I  am  ignorant; 
but  I  have  been  also  credibly  informed,  that  after  Johnson 
became  a  banker  in  Bond-street,  and  when  he  feared  a 
serious  run  upon  his  house,  Bacon  stepped  nobly  forward, 
and  lent  his  kind  benefactor  forty  thousand  pounds  !  !  ! 
From  this  circumstance,  whether  the  loan  amounted  to 
such  a  sum  or  not,  we  are  to  conclude,  that  a  man  of  Bacon's 
integrity  must  have  repaid  his  truly  kind  friend,  Johnson, 
in  the  sum  he  had  advanced  for  the  purchase  of  his 
premises,  before  he  offered  to  lend  him  money.3  In 
1774,  Mr.  Bacon  took  possession  of  these  premises,  No. 
17,  Newman-street,  and  exhibited  a  bust  of  King  George 
III.  in  marble.  In  1775,  he  produced  a  model  for  a  marble 
statue  of  Minerva  in  artificial  stone ;  and  in  1778,  he  was 


1  Lord  Yarborough  lived  at  Smallpox  Hospital,  on  the  site 
No.  17  Arlington-street,  built  which  the  Great  Northern  Rail- 
by   Kent,  on  the  site  of  Sir  way  Station,  at  King's  Cross, 
Robert  Walpole's  house.    The  now  occupies. 

house  is  now  the  residence  of  3  Allan  Cunningham  throws 

Mr.  Henry  Gordon  Selfridge.  reasonable  doubt  on  this  story, 

2  J.    Johnson,    of    Berners-  which  is  not  in  Robert  Cecil's 
street.    He  built  in  1793-4  the  biography  of  Bacon. 


JOHN  BACON,  R.A. 


93 


chosen  an  Academician,  and  presented  to  the  Royal  Academy 
a  bust  representing  Sickness  as  his  reception-piece. 

The  principal  of  his  other  public  works  are,  a  bronze 
statue  of  King  George  III.  in  the  court-yard  of  Somerset- 
place,1  and  also  the  attic  decorations  on  the  street,  and 
back  fronts  of  the  same  edifice  ;2  the  cenotaph  in  Guild- 
hall ;  and  the  monument  in  Westminster  Abbey,  erected 
to  the  memory  of  the  Earl  of  Chatham  ;8  the  figure  of  King 


1  This  statue  faces  the  Strand 
entrance.    The  King  in  Roman 
dress  stands  above  a  couchant 
lion,    resting   his   hand   on   a 
rudder.    Below  is  the  figure  of 
Father  Thames  which  Queen 
Charlotte  disliked  so  much  that 
she  asked  Bacon,  "  Why  did 
you  make  so  frightful  a  figure?" 
To  which  the  sculptor  replied, 
"  Art,  madam,  cannot  always 
effect  what  is  ever  within  the 
reach  of  nature — the  union  of 
beauty    and    majesty." — The 
"  cenotaph  "  in  the  Guildhall 
is  the  monument  to  the  Earl  of 
Chatham. 

2  So  states  the  late  Joseph 
Baretti,    when    Secretary    for 
Foreign  Correspondence  to  the 
Royal  Academy,  in  his  work, 
entitled,  A   Guide  through  the 
Royal  Academy.     This  curious 
and  rare   pamphlet   is  unfor- 
tunately printed  without  a  date ; 
but,  from  internal  evidence,  I 
conjecture    it    to    have    been 
published  about  the  year  1780. 
The    following     extracts     are 
from  pages  6   and  8. — "  The 
attic  terminates  with  a  group, 
consisting  of  the  Arms  of  the 
British  Empire,  supported  on 
one  side  by  the  Genius  of  Eng- 


land, on  the  other  by  Fame 
sounding  her  trumpet.  The 
whole  is  a  much  approved  per- 
formance of  Mr.  Bacon." 
Speaking  of  the  south,  or 
quadrangular  front,  the  same 
Author  observes,  "  The  Couron- 
nement,  or  attic  finishing,  by 
Mr.  Bacon,  like  that  of  the 
Strand  front,  is  composed  of 
the  British  Arms,  placed  on  a 
cartel,  surrounded  with  sedges 
and  sea-weeds.  It  is  supported 
by  Tritons  armed  with  tridents, 
and  holding  a  festoon  of  nets 
filled  with  fish  and  other 
marine  productions."  (S.) 

8  I  have  been  informed  by 
a  gentleman,  who  declared  he 
knew  it  to  be  a  fact,  that  the 
engraved  inscription  of  Chat- 
ham's monument,  in  West- 
minster Abbey,  was  partly 
written  by  Bacon ;  and  he 
stated  the  circumstance  to 
have  taken  place  thus  : — Bacon 
had  waited  a  considerable 
time  for  the  inscription,  which 
had  undergone  so  many  altera- 
tions, that  at  last  he  was  bold 
enough  to  venture  on  its  com- 
pletion himself,  which,  with 
his  usual  diffidence,  he  sub- 
mitted to  the  consideration  of 


94          NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

Henry  VI.  in  the  Ante-chapel  of  Eton  College  ;  a  monument 
to  the  memory  of  Guy,  erected  in  the  Chapel  of  his  Hospital ; 
and  also  two  figures  at  the  front  of  that  building. 

In  1795,  he  executed  a  statue  of  the  great  and  good  Dr. 
Samuel  Johnson,  for  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  which  was  the 
first  monument  permitted  to  be  raised  in  that  stupendous 
fabric.1  He  also  executed  a  statue  of  Howard  the  Philan- 
thropist, in  the  same  Church  ;  a  monument  to  the  memory 
of  Sterne's  Eliza  in  Bristol  Cathedral ;  one  in  Salisbury 
Cathedral  to  the  memory  of  James  Harris,  the  author  of 
Hermes,  which  consists  of  a  figure  of  Moral  Philosophy 
contemplating  a  medallion  portrait ;  a  statue  of  Judge 
Blackstone,  for  All  Souls  College,  Oxford ;  a  bust  of  Milton, 
erected  against  a  column  on  the  north  side  of  St.  Giles's, 
Cripplegate  ;2  a  statue  of  Lord  Rodney,  erected  at  Kingston, 
Jamaica ;  a  statue  of  Lord  Cornwallis  for  India,  sent 
thither  after  the  Sculptor's  death  ;  a  design  for  the  monu- 
ment of  Captain  Duff,  to  be  erected  in  St.  Paul's  Cathedral  ;3 
a  memorial  in  honour  of  the  late  Marquis  Cornwallis,  by 
public  subscription  at  Bombay  ;  a  group  in  honour  of  the 
most  noble  Marquess  Wellesley,  to  be  erected  at  Calcutta, 
by  order  of  the  British  inhabitants  of  that  place  ;  a  design 
for  the  statue,  &c.  in  honour  of  the  same  nobleman,  to  be 

his  employers ;    and  his  pro-  Joshua     Reynolds     and     Sir 
posed  completion  meeting  their  William     Jones.       The     four 
entire  approbation,  it  was  ac-  occupy  corner  positions  under 
cordingly   ordered   to   be   cut  the  Dome, 
upon  the  tablet.    (S.)  2  This  bust,  originally  placed 
1  It  is  usually  stated  that  as  described,  was  long  ago  re- 
the  first  monument  admitted  moved  to  the  south  aisle  facing 
to  new  St.  Paul's  Cathedral  was  the  north  door  of  the  church. 
Bacon's  statue  of  John   Ho-  It  was  the  gift  of  Samuel  Whit- 
ward.    This  was  first  seen  by  bread,  whose  great  brewery  was 
the  public  on  February  23rd,  in  the  parish. 
1796.     Johnson's  statue,  how-  8  Captain  George  Duff  was 
ever,  was  erected  at  about  the  killed  at  Trafalgar.    His  monu- 
same  time.     These  were  fol-  ment  is  in  the  crypt, 
lowed  by  the  statues  of  Sir 


THE   ARTIFICIAL   STONE    FACTORY,    WESTMINSTER   BRIDGE.       [SHOWING   THE 

SCULPTURES    BY  JOHN    BACON,    R.A. 
Drawn  and  engraved  by  S.  Rawlefor  the  "European  Magazine" 


JOHN  BACON,  R.A.  95 

erected  at  Bombay,  by  order  of  the  British  inhabitants  ; 
and  a  monument  of  Lord  Lavington,  (late)  Governor  of  the 
Leeward  Islands,  voted  by  the  Council  and  Assembly  of 
Antigua. 

As  an  invitation  to  the  youth  of  talent  to  persevere 
assiduously  in  his  studies,  I  shall  now  give  a  chronological 
list  of  the  various  prizes  adjudged  to  Bacon  during  his  un- 
remitted  application  to  his  beloved  art.  To  his  eternal 
honour  be  it  spoken,  he  received  the  whole  of  these  en- 
couragements between  the  age  of  nineteen  and  thirty-seven 
—a  period  of  seventeen  of  his  earliest  years,  which,  in  the 
life  of  man,  I  regret  to  say,  have  hitherto  been  seldom 
filled  with  so  much  credit. 

£    s-    d. 
In   1759,  For  a  model  in  clay   .         .         .          .     10  10     o 

1760,  For  a  model  in  clay   .          .          .          .     15  15     o 

1761,  For  a  model  in  clay   .          .          .          .     15  15     o 

1763,  For  a  basso-relievo  in  clay .          .  10  10    o 

1764,  A  basso-relievo  in  clay       .         .  .     15  15    o 

1765,  A  basso-relievo  in  clay        .          .  .2100 
1771,  For  a  human  figure  as  large  as  life  .     21     o     o 
1774,  For  a  human  figure  as  large  as  life  .     52  10    o 
1776,  For  a  human  figure  as  large  as  life  .     52  10     o 

£215     5    o 

My  reader  will  recollect,  that  Bacon  was  the  first  artist 
who  had  the  honour  of  being  presented,  in  1769,  with  the 
gold  medal  from  the  Royal  Academy,  as  a  modeller.  Such 
a  distinguished  mark  of  the  estimation  of  his  talents  by  so 
honourable  a  body,  consisting  of  the  most  eminent  artists 
of  his  day,  together  with  the  preceding  sums,  amounting  to 
215^.  55.,  voted  to  him  by  the  Society  of  Arts,  must  excite 
a  blush  upon  the  cheek  of  those  who  have  trifled  away  their 
time,  whilst  it  also  acts  as  a  stimulus  to  others,  who  are 
only  commencing  their  career. 

Mr.  Thornton,  a  gentleman  already  mentioned  in  this 


96          NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS  TIMES 

work,1  who  married  a  daughter  of  Bacon,  had  frequent 
conversations  with  his  father-in-law,  respecting  the  works 
of  Roubiliac  ;  particularly  upon  two  of  the  six  monuments 
erected  in  Westminster  Abbey,  viz.  Mrs.  Nightingale's, 
and  that  of  the  Duke  of  Argyle.  Of  the  former,  Mr.  Bacon 
said,  that,  fine  as  it  was,  he  considered  it  to  be  far  inferior 
to  that  of  the  latter.  The  figure  of  Eloquence  he  looked 
upon  as  the  finest  specimen  of  Sculpture,  and  acknow- 
ledged its  merit  to  be  such,  that  he  was  sure  he  could  never 
equal  it.  In  his  opinion  of  this  figure,  Mr.  Bacon  is  not 
singular,  as  every  person  of  taste  who  stands  before  it  for 
five  minutes  will  be  convinced.  Canova  spoke  of  Waterloo- 
bridge2  in  the  highest  terms  of  approbation  ;  and  whenever 
he  had  occasion  to  speak  of  Sculpture,  he  declared  that  the 
figure  of  Eloquence,  in  Roubiliac's  monument  in  West- 
minster Abbey,  was  the  finest  work  of  modern  art  which 
he  had  seen  in  this  country. 

Mr.  Bacon  died  on  the  seventh  of  August,  1799,  and  was 
buried  in  Whitefield's  Chapel,  Tottenham-court-road,3 
under  the  north  gallery,  where  the  following  inscription 
has  been  cut  to  his  memory  : — 

What  I  was  as  an  Artist, 

Seemed  to  me  of  some  importance 

While  I  lived; 

But 
What  I  really  was  as  a  Believer 

In  Christ  Jesus, 

Is  the  only  thing  of  importance 

To  me  now. 

1  Evidently     the     Mr.     T.  England,  what  struck  him  most 
Thornton,  of  Kennington,  here-  forcibly,  is  said  to  have  replied 
after  mentioned  in  a  paragraph  — that  the  trumpery  Chinese 
in  the  biographical  sketch  of  Bridge,    then   in    St.    James's 
James  Barry,  to  which,  in  his  Park,  should  be  the  production 
second  edition,  this  paragraph  of  the  Government,  whilst  that 
was  transferred  by  Smith  from  of  Waterloo  was  the  work  of  a 
Vol.  I,  Chapter  I.  private    company  "  (Quarterly 

2  "  Canova,    when    he    was  Review,  No.  112). 

asked     during     his    visit     to         3  This  was  the  first  of  the 


THE   STATUE   OF    DR.  JOHNSON    IN    ST.   PAUL'S    CATHEDRAL 

BY  JOHN    BACON,    R.A. 
From  an  engraving  by  James  Heath 


JOHN  BACON,  R.A.  97 

There  is  an  animated  bust  of  Bacon,  modelled  by  his  son, 
a  cast  of  which  is  preserved  with  the  utmost  veneration, 
by  the  Sculptor's  old  and  worthy  friend,  John  Simmons, 
Esq. 

In  a  letter  to  Prince  Hoare,  Esq.  dated  from  Newman- 
street,  January  i,  1809,  and  printed  in  that  gentleman's 
work  entitled  Academic  Annals,  Bacon's  son,  and  successor, 
John,1  gives  the  following  notices  of  the  works  he  had  in 
hand  at  that  time. 

DEAR  SIR, 

The  tedious  continuance  of  our  works  under  the 
brain  and  the  chisel,  often  makes  one  year's  description  of 
the  works  in  hand  the  description  of  a  second,  a  third,  and 
even  a  fourth  year  (I  refer  to  our  more  extensive  works) . 

Those  which  I  shall  presently  describe  are  still  unfinished. 
My  equestrian  statue  in  bronze  of  King  William  III.  is  com- 
pleted, and  placed  in  the  situation  designed  for  it,  in  the 
centre  of  St.  James's-square.2 

Believe  me  to  remain, 

Sir,  &c.  &c. 

JOHN  BACON. 

three  Tabernacles  which  have  spot  a  brass  statue  of  William 

stood  on  the  same  site.  Bacon's  III,  but  the  matter  dropped, 

death  is  incorrectly  dated  Aug.  and  a  quarter  of  a  century  later 

4  by  some  writers,  and  by  the  there  was  talk  of  erecting  an 

Diet.  Nat.  Biography.  equestrian  statue  of  George  I. 

1  John    Bacon    (1777-1859),  This     plan    languishing,     the 
second  son  of  John  Bacon,  R.A.,  original  intention  was  revived 
executed    monuments    in    St.  by  a  legacy  left,  in  1724,  by 
Paul's  and  Westminster  Abbey.  Samuel    Travers    to  purchase 
His  equestrian  bronze  statue  and  erect  "an  equestrian  statue 
of  William  III  in  St.  James's-  in  brass  to  the  memory  of  my 
square  was  set  up  in  1808.  master     King     William     the 

2  The  erection  of  this  statue  Third."    Eleven  years  later  a 
by  the  younger  Bacon   com-  pedestal  made  its  appearance, 
pleted   a   scheme   which    had  and  appears  to  have  remained 
been  in  suspension   for  more  vacant  for  more  than  seventy 
than  a  century.    In  1697  it  had  years.     In  1808  Travers's  be- 
been  proposed  to  place  on  this  quest  was  discovered   among 

VOL.  II. — H 


98 


NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 


P.S.  I  have  just  now  in  commencement  a  statue  in 
marble  of  our  beloved  King,  a  little  above  the  size  of  life, 
to  be  placed  in  the  Bank  of  Ireland,  by  order  of  the  Directors. 
This  commission  I  glory  in.1 

To  Prince  Hoare,  Esq.  &c. 


unclaimed  dividends,  and  was 
used  to  commission  John  Bacon, 
junior,  to  execute  in  bronze  the 
present  statue  of  the  King  in 
the  dress  of  a  Roman  emperor. 
For  these  and  other  details  see 
Mr.  Arthur  Irwin  Dasent's 
valuable  History  of  St.  James's 
Square  (1895). 


1  The  father  of  the  benevo- 
lent Archdeacon  Markham,  the 
late  Archbishop  of  York,  was 
the  elder  Bacon's  greatest 
patron ;  and  that  amiable 
divine  prevailed  upon  King 
George  III.  to  sit  to  the  Sculptor 
for  his  bust.  (S.) 


THE   EQUESTRIAN    STATUE,    IN    BRONZE,    OF    KING    WILLIAM    THE   THIRD, 

BY  JOHN    BACON,   JUN.,    IN    ST.  JAMES'S   SQUARE 

Drawn  and  engraved  by  S.  Kavle 


JOSEPH   WILTON,    R.A. 

JOSEPH  WILTON  was  born  in  London,  July  i6th, 
1722.    He  was  the  son  of  a  plasterer,  who,  by  a  vast 
increase  of  income,  arising  principally  from  a  manu- 
factory, in  imitation  of  that  in  France,  which  he  estab- 
lished for  making  the  papier-mache  ornaments  for  chimney- 
pieces,  and  frames  for  looking-glasses,  was  enabled  to  rebuild 
his  premises  on  the  south-west  corner  of  Hedge-lane,  Charing- 
cross ;    at  the  same  time  enlarging  his  workshops  on  the 
west  side  of  Edward-street,  Cavendish-square,1  where  his 
ornamental  works  were  carried  on  :   in  which  hundreds  of 
people,  including  children  as  well  as  grown  persons,  were 
for  several  years  constantly  employed. 

Joseph,  having  a  strong  natural  inclination  to  become  a 
Sculptor,  was  carried  by  his  father  to  Nivelle,  in  Brabant, 
to  study  under  Laurent  Delvaux,  an  artist  who  had  for 
several  years  resided  in  London.2  From  Nivelle,  in  1744, 
he  went  to  Paris,  where  he  assiduously  studied  in  the 
Academy  directed  by  the  famous  Sculptor  Pigalle,3  so 
warmly  patronised  by  Voltaire,  of  whom  Pigalle  made  a 

1  These  premises,  for  many  since  been  merged  in  Portland- 
years  after  Wilton  left  them,  place. — For  a  note  on  the 
were  occupied  by  a  glass-  introduction  of  fiapier-mdche 
manufacturer  of  the  name  of  to  London,  see  the  Co  vent 
Hancock,  for  whom  Doctor  Garden  dialogue  in  Chapter 
Samuel  Johnson  wrote  a  shop-  VIII. 

bill.   (S.) — Hedge-lane  is  now         2  For  Delvaux,  see  Index. 
Whitcomb  -  street.  —  Edward-         3  Jeanne    Baptiste    Pigalle, 

street  was  absorbed  by  Lang-  born  in  Paris,  1714,  died  1785. 
ham-place,  part  of  which  has 

99 


100        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

truly  spirited  bust,  casts  of  which  may  be  had  at  the  plaster- 
figure  shops. 

In  1747,  after  gaining  the  silver  medal,  and  having 
acquired  the  power  of  cutting  marble,  he,  accompanied  by 
Roubiliac,  the  Sculptor,  went  to  Rome ;  where,  in  1750, 
he  not  only  had  the  honour  of  receiving  the  Jubilee  gold 
medal,  engraven  by  Hamerani,  given  by  Pope  Benedict 
XIV.,  but  acquired  the  patronage  of  William  Locke,  Esq. 

The  Locke  family  was  always  pre-eminently  conspicuous 
for  superior  talents,  as  well  as  elegance  of  manners.  The 
above-mentioned  gentleman,  who  was  a  descendant  of  the 
famous  author  of  the  Essay  on  the  Human  Understanding,1  in 
addition  to  an  amiable  disposition,  not  only  exercised  his 
taste  for  the  Fine  Arts  during  his  travels,  by  purchasing 
antiques,  models  in  terracotta,  and  fine  pictures,  which  he 
brought  into  England,  but  also  by  his  patronage  of  modern 
artists.  To  Wilton  he  was  generous ;  and  when  in  Italy 
they  were  inseparable  companions ;  Barrett,  the  Royal 
Academician,  he  employed  in  painting  that  beautiful  room 
at  his  seat  in  Norbury  Park  ;2  and  in  him,  Cipriani  found  so 
generous  a  friend,  that  for  years  he  took  most  of  the  drawings 
which  that  artist  made,  for,  whenever  Cipriani  had  filled  a 
book  with  sketches,  he  received  a  draft  for  twice  the  amount 
he  asked  for  it.  England  is  much  indebted  to  Mr.  Locke 
for  many  fine  specimens  of  Sculpture  ;  and  among  others, 

1  The  connoisseur   of  Nor-  ceiling  being  made  to  repre- 
bury  Park,  on  whom  a  note  sent  the  sky  and  the  carpet  to 
has  been  given  in  Chapter  I,  resemble  a  mown  lawn.     The 
could  claim  only  a  family  con-  mansion  has  long  disappeared, 
nection  with  John  Locke,  who  but  when  Smith  wrote  he  was 
had  no  descendants.  able  to  append  this  note  :  "It 

2  George  Barrett,  R.A.   In  his  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  state, 
mural    paintings    around    the  that  the  present  possessor  of 
great  room  at  Norbury  Park,  this  classic  spot,  in  his  recent 
near  Leatherhead,  the  scenery  repairs,  has  left  Barrett's  room 
was  designed  to  appear  as  a  uncontaminated." 
continuation  of  the  view,  the 


JOSEPH  WILTON,  R.A.  101 

for  the  statue  of  the  Discobolus,  now  the  property  of  Mr. 
Duncombe,  the  possessor  of  the  marble  called  Alcibiades' 
Dog,  which  was  consigned  to  this  country  by  Noel  Con- 
stantine  Jennings,  Esq.  a  very  singular  character,  but  a 
gentleman  of  high  taste,  who  expended  a  large  fortune  in 
works  of  virtti.  Mr.  Locke  also  brought  to  England  that 
beautiful  picture,  by  Claude,  of  Saint  Ursula,  now  in  the 
British  Gallery ;  and  possessed  Zuccarelli's  picture  of 
Macbeth  and  the  Witches,  that  painter's  masterpiece,  so 
admirably  engraven  by  Woollett.  This  picture  was  after- 
wards the  property  of  the  late  Mr.  Purling,  at  whose  sale 
it  was  purchased  by  Hanbury  Tracey,  Esq.  Benjamin  West, 
Esq.  the  second  son  of  the  late  venerable  President,  showed 
me  the  original  pen-and-ink  study  for  the  principal  figures 
in  this  picture,  which  is  a  truly  spirited  drawing.  I  have 
now  an  opportunity  of  correcting  a  popular  opinion  as  to 
Claude's  incapacity  of  introducing  the  human  figure  into 
his  landscapes.  There  are  in  the  British  Museum  altogether 
nearly  two  hundred  and  fifty  drawings  by  Claude,  in  about 
three-fourths  of  which  there  are  figures  evidently  drawn 
with  the  same  hand  and  pen  as  designed  the  landscapes, 
and  in  many  instances  most  spiritedly  executed.  It  is 
astonishing  to  me  that  persons  should  have  fallen  into  this 
error,  when  so  many  of  Claude's  beautiful  etchings,  which 
have  ever  been  before  the  eye  of  the  public,  contain  figures 
most  beautifully  introduced,  and  by  the  same  hand  and 
needle  which  etched  the  trees.1 

In  1751,  Wilton  travelled  to  Florence,  where  he  executed 
numerous  statues  from  the  antique,  as  large  as  the  originals, 
which  he  sold  to  foreigners,  as  well  as  to  noblemen  and 
gentlemen  of  high  rank  in  England,  by  whom  he  was  always 

1  For    a    consideration    of  Dillon,  M.A.,  who  thinks  that 

Claude's  indebtedness  to  other  the  assistance  he  received  in 

artists     for     his    figures    see  this  direction  has  been  much 

"Claude,"  pp.  138-140  ("Little  exaggerated). 
Books  on   Art,"    by   Edward 


102        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

highly  noticed  and  his  works  esteemed.  In  1755,  he  re- 
turned to  his  native  city,  accompanied  by  Giovanni  Baptista 
Cipriani,  William  Chambers,  and  Capitsoldi,  a  Sculptor, 
who  modelled  in  a  very  superior  style. 

Mr.  Chambers,  (afterwards  Sir  William,)  before  he  came 
to  this  country,  was  a  supercargo  of  a  Swedish  East-India- 
man,  and  soon  after  his  arrival  commenced  the  trade  of  a 
carpenter.  How  he  acquired  the  knowledge  in  architecture 
to  qualify  him  for  the  situation  of  Surveyor-general,  I  have 
never  been  able  to  learn.1 

Capitsoldi,  upon  his  arrival,  took  the  attic  story  of  a 
house  in  Warwick-street,  Golden-square,  and  being  short 
of  furniture,  painted  chairs,  pictures,  and  window-curtains, 
upon  the  walls  of  his  sitting-room,  most  admirably  deceptive, 
so  that  with  two  chairs  and  a  small  table,  he  entertained  a 
friend  with  a  breakfast,  or  an  oyster  and  a  pot  of  porter, 
in  a  room  completely  furnished.  At  such  repasts  my  father 
has  frequently  been  his  companion.  Capitsoldi  was  a 
scholar  of  Algardi,  a  Roman  Sculptor.  He  subsequently 
returned  to  Italy,  where  he  died. 

Upon  Wilton's  arrival  in  London,  his  family  and  friends 
received  him  with  open  arms  ;  and  he  occupied  his  father's 
house  at  Charing-cross,  where  he  remained  carrying  on  his 
works,  which  at  that  time  were  in  very  high  requisition. 

In  1758,  in  conjunction  with  his  amiable  friend  Cipriani,  he 
was  chosen,  by  his  patron  the  Duke  of  Richmond,  Director 
to  his  Grace's  Statue-Gallery  in  Privy-Gardens. 

This  Gallery  was  most  liberally  erected  for  the  use  of 
students  in  the  Arts.  It  consisted  of  about  thirty  casts  from 
antique  statues  and  basso-relievos  ;  and  premiums  for  merit 
were  promised  by  the  noble  Duke ;  but  in  consequence  of 

1  Smith  misconceived  Cham-  developed  at   Kew  and  else- 

bers's  career.     As  supercargo  where,    and    at    eighteen    he 

he    visited    China    and    made  visited  Italy  to  study  archi- 

those  studies  of  pagoda  archi-  tecture,  and  was  afterwards  a 

tecture   which   he   afterwards  pupil  of  Clerisseau  in  Paris. 


JOSEPH  WILTON,  R.A.  103 

his  Grace  receiving  orders  to  join  his  regiment  immediately, 
there  was  no  time  for  their  distribution.  Upon  which, 
some  of  the  students  most  shamefully  posted  up  the  follow- 
ing notice  against  the  studio-door. 

The  Right  Honourable  the  Duke  of  Richmond,  being 
obliged  to  join  his  regiment  abroad,  will  pay  the  premiums 
as  soon  as  he  comes  home. 

This  paper  was  very  properly  taken  down,  but,  upon  the 
Duke's  return  from  Germany,  his  Grace  found  one  stuck  up, 
apologizing  for  his  poverty,  and  expressing  his  sorrow  for 
having  promised  premiums.  For  this  most  malicious 
conduct  of  the  students  concerned,  his  Grace,  for  a  time, 
shut  up  the  Gallery,  and  some  of  the  casts  became  the 
property  of  the  Royal  Academy,  upon  its  establishment. 
The  above  account  I  received  from  my  father,  who  was  one 
of  many  other  students  who  suffered  by  the  misconduct 
of  his  disorderly  companions.1 

The  Duke's  liberality  is  thus  extolled  by  Hayley,  in  his 
Epistle  to  his  friend  Romney,  who  was  one  of  the  most 
constant  and  well-behaved  students  in  his  Grace's  gallery. 

The  youthful  noble,  on  a  princely  plan, 
Encouraged  infant  art,  and  first  began 
Before  the  studious  eye  of  youth  to  place 
The  ancient  models  of  ideal  grace. 

Doctor  Smollett,  who  was  his  Grace's  chaplain,  states  that 
premiums  were  given  by  the  Duke,  but  in  this  the  Doctor 
is  certainly  in  error.  The  following  letter  from  Woollett, 
the  Engraver,  which  was  inserted  in  The  Public  Advertiser 
of  Tuesday,  August  I4th,  1770,  will  show  how  sensible  the 
Society  of  Artists  was  of  his  Grace's  liberality  in  re-opening 
his  Gallery. 

Henry    Angelo,     in     his  increasing  parsimony  on  the 

Reminiscences,    leans    to    the  Duke's   part,  adducing    John 

side  of  the  rebellious  students,  Raphael  Smith's  testimony  to 

and  accepts  the  stories  of  an  this  effect. 


104        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

His  Grace  the  Duke  of  Richmond,  having  been  pleased 
to  put  his  Statue-room  under  the  direction  of  the  Society 
of  Artists  of  Great  Britain,  the  Society,  at  their  last  general 
meeting,  resolved  on  presenting  the  following  letter  to  his 
Grace. 

TO   HIS   GRACE   THE  DUKE   OF   RICHMOND. 
MY  LORD, 

We,  the  President,  Directors,  and  Fellows  of  the 
Incorporated  Society  of  Artists  of  Great  Britain,  beg  your 
Grace  will  be  pleased  to  accept  our  best  and  sincerest  ac- 
knowledgments for  the  many  and  efficacious  instances  of 
encouragement  and  attention  to  the  Fine  Arts  in  general,  for 
which  your  Grace  is  so  eminently  distinguished,  and  for 
that  very  valuable  degree  of  both  now  bestowed  on  our 
Body  in  particular. 

The  pleasing  consideration,  that  so  many  of  the  most 
eminent  and  promising  geniuses  these  kingdoms  can  boast 
of,  have  imbibed  their  excellences  from  those  inestimable 
fountains  of  science  afforded  them  by  your  Grace's  muni- 
ficence, encourages  us  to  hope  that  the  number  may  be 
happily  and  considerably  increased  by  the  advantage  and 
assistance  your  Grace's  admirable  collection  of  statues 
must  afford  to  the  endeavours  of  this  Society.  Few  of  those 
illustrious  personages  who  have  introduced,  or  were  the 
first  encouragers  of  the  Arts,  have  lived  to  see  them  brought 
to  any  degree  of  perfection.  But  it  is  your  Grace's  peculiar 
happiness  to  see  those  Arts,  which  you  found  in  their 
infancy,  carried,  through  your  judicious  assistance,  to  a 
degree  of  maturity,  which  posterity  will  hardly  believe 
possible  for  them  to  have  attained  in  so  small  a  number 
of  years.  That  your  Grace  may  long  enjoy  the  glorious 
satisfaction  of  supporting  dawning  genius,  and  protecting 
merit,  is  the  earnest  and  unanimous  wish  of  this  grateful 
society,  j  have  the  honour  of  subscribing  myself, 
Your  Grace's  most  devoted, 

And  obedient  servant, 

WM.  WOOLLETT,  SEC. 

Academy,  Maiden-lane,  By  order  of  the  Society. 

August  gth,  1770. 


JOSEPH  WILTON,  R.A.  105 

Being  appointed  State-coach  Carver  to  the  King,  Wilton 
erected  suitable  and  extensive  workshops  opposite  Maryle- 
bone-fields  on  the  south  side  of  what  was  afterwards  named 
Queen  Anne-street  East,  now  called  Foley-place, 1  and  occu- 
pied the  large  house  now  remaining  at  the  south-east  corner 
of  Portland-street  adjoining.  Here  King  George  the  Third's 
state-coach  for  his  coronation  was  built,  as  it  has  been 
before  stated ;  the  small  model  of  which,  I,  when  a  boy, 
was  carried  to  see  by  Mr.  Nollekens  and  my  father,  it  then 
being  preserved  in  a  backshop  where  it  remained  for  many 
years.  Wilton  copied  the  antique  with  correct  measure- 
ment, and  he  also  cut  the  stone  with  freedom  and  fleshi- 
ness ;  and  his  abilities  as  a  designer,  if  we  may  judge  from 
models  which  he  brought  with  him  to  England  from  Rome 
and  Florence,  bade  fair  to  have  produced  something  highly 
superior  in  Sculpture  to  any  thing  by  an  Englishman  of  his 
own  times. 

Notwithstanding  he  had  received  some  sittings  from  the 
King,  who  had  farther  honoured  him  by  appointing  him 
his  Sculptor,  the  edge  of  his  inclination  for  Art  was  con- 
siderably blunted  by  his  father  leaving  him  a  great  portion 
of  his  property ;  which  induced  him  to  comply  with  the 
fashionable  habits  of  his  friends,  by  living  in  rather  a  sump- 
tuous manner.  I  recollect  his  having  a  house  at  Snares- 
brook,  and,  in  1785,  occupying  one  in  the  Mall  at  Hammer- 
smith, as  well  as  a  town-residence  ;2  a  family-coach,  a  phaeton, 
and  numerous  saddle-horses,  for  himself  and  his  sons, 
to  whom  he  gave  a  University  education.  His  daughter, 
Miss  Wilton,  was  thus  noticed  by  Dr.  Johnson  to  Boswell, 
in  a  letter  dated  March  5th,  1774.  "  Chambers  is  either 
married,  or  almost  married,  to  Miss  Wilton,  a  girl  of  sixteen, 
exquisitely  beautiful,  whom  he  has,  with  his  lawyer's 
tongue,  persuaded  to  take  her  chance  with  him  in  the 
East."  They  were  married  ;  and  Mr.  Chambers,  afterwards 

1  And  now  Langham-street. 

2  At  No.  69  Dean-street,  Soho. 


106        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

Sir  Robert,  dying,  Lady  Chambers  returned  to  England, 
and  is  now  residing  at  Putney.1 

Wilton  produced  a  few  busts ;  but  Nollekens,  soon 
after  his  arrival  in  England,  deprived  him  of  that  part  of 
the  encouragement  of  the  country.  Amongst  those  of 
eminent  men,  modelled  by  Wilton,  are  the  following : 
Sir  Francis  Bacon,  Oliver  Cromwell,  from  the  famous  mask 
at  Florence,  Lord  Camden,  Lord  Dartrey,  Thomas  Hollis, 
Admiral  Holmes,  the  Earl  of  Huntingdon,  Doctor  Hokey, 
Martinelli,  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  Swift,  General  Wolfe,  Admiral 
West,  and  the  Earl  of  Chatham. 

Some  of  his  busts  have  considerable  merit  as  to  character, 
particularly  that  of  the  famous  Earl  of  Chesterfield,  carved 
by  my  father,  which  now  adorns  the  south-west  chimney- 
piece  of  the  Print-room  in  the  British  Museum,  the  in- 
valuable treasures  of  which  I  have  now  had  the  honour 
and  heartfelt  pleasure  of  having  had  the  care  of  for  upwards 
of  twelve  years. 

As  for  Wilton's  statues,  few  of  them  afforded  him  a 
favourable  opportunity  of  displaying  his  anatomical  know- 
ledge ;  that  of  our  late  King,  in  the  dress  of  a  Roman 
Emperor,  lately  taken  down  from  its  niche  in  the  south-west 
corner  of  the  Royal  Exchange,  was  by  no  means  a  success- 
ful performance.  The  vacant  niche  lately  occupied  by  the 
above-mentioned  marble  statue  is  the  last  on  the  eastern 
side  towards  the  south.  Why  it  was  taken  down  I  have 
not  been  able  to  learn  ;  but  I  fully  trust  that  the  Mercers' 
Company  will  not  suffer  the  "  Royal  Exchange  "  to  remain 
long  without  a  statue  of  our  late  beloved  Monarch.  Upon 
farther  inquiry,  I  find  the  statue  is  in  the  possession  of  Mr. 
George  Bubb,  of  Grafton-street,  the  artist  employed  by 
the  Mercers'  Company  to  execute  the  statues  and  other 

1  Lady    Robert    Chambers  was  prefaced  to   a    privately 

(nie  Fanny  Wilton),  who  died  printed  catalogue  of  the  Sans- 

at  Brighton  in  1839,  wrote  a  krit  Manuscripts  collected  by 

memoir  of  her  husband  which  him  in  India  (1838). 


JOSEPH  WILTON,  R.A.  107 

ornaments  lately  put  up  on  the  front  of  the  Royal  Ex- 
change.1 

The  monument  erected  in  Ireland,  to  the  memory  of 
Lady  Anne  Dawson,  the  first  wife  of  the  late  amiable  Lord 
Dartrey,  afterwards  Earl  of  Cremorne,  is,  in  many  respects, 
admirable ;  but  I  believe,  of  all  his  productions,  that  of 
Wolfe's  monument,  in  Westminster  Abbey,  may  fairly  be 
considered  his  masterpiece  (though  that  of  Admiral  Holmes 
has  also  been  well  spoken  of).  Mr.  Wilton  has  been  fre- 
quently found  fault  with  in  respect  to  this  monument,  for 
having  entirely  stripped  the  figure  of  General  Wolfe  of  his 
shirt  and  stockings,  and,  at  the  same  moment,  for  suffering 
the  soldier  in  the  background  to  remain  in  his  uniform, 
in  the  presence  of  a  figure  of  Fame,  who  proclaims  the 
victory,  and  is  ready  to  crown  the  victor  with  a  wreath  of 
laurels.2  My  father,  who  was  employed  for  the  space  of 
three  years  in  carving  this  figure  of  General  Wolfe,  and  the 
surrounding  attendants,  informed  me,  that  Wilton's  motive 
for  exhibiting  the  figure  without  his  clothes  was  purposely 

1  The  Mercers'  Company  en-  Exchange    was   the    series   of 

joys  a  very  large  control  of  the  statues  of  English  Kings  from 

Royal    Exchange    under    the  Edward  I  down.    Caius  Gibber 

terms  of  Sir  Thomas  Gresham's  carved  all  down  to  Charles  I. 

will.     The  building  here  men-  The    first    two    Georges    had 

tioned  is,  of  course,  the  second  statues  by  Rysbrack,  and  Wil- 

Royal  Exchange,  built  by  Jer-  ton's  George  III   followed  in 

man  after  the  Great  Fire.   The  1764.     Most  of  these  statues 

taking  down  of  Wilton's  statue  were  originally  gilt. 
of  George  III  was  incidental         2  Of   this   monument   Dean 

to  the  renovation  of  the  build-  Stanley  says  :  "It  marks  the 

ing  carried  out  between  1820  critical  moment  of  the  culmina- 

and   1826   by   George   Smith,  tion  and  decline  of  the  classical 

architect  to  the  Mercers'  Com-  costume  and  undraped  figures 

pany,  when  much  new  work  of  the  early  part  of  the  century, 

was  added,   including  statues  Already  in  West's  picture  of 

by  J.  G.  Bubb,  for  the  main  the  '  Death  of  Wolfe,'  we  find 

front  in  Cornhill,  representing  the  first  example  of  the  reali- 

the  four  quarters  of  the  globe,  ties  of  modern  dress  in  art." 
A  feature  of  the  second  Royal 


108        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

to  display  his  anatomical  knowledge.  The  figures  of  the 
General  and  the  Grenadier  are  carved  out  of  one  block. 
The  spirited  and  interesting  bronze  basso-relievo,  inlaid 
in  the  lower  part  of  this  monument,  exhibiting  the  siege 
of  Quebec,  was  designed  and  modelled  by  Capitsoldi. 

Whilst  Wilton  was  living  in  splendour,  for  I  believe  few 
artists,  or  even  men  of  considerable  fortune,  supported 
a  more  liberal  table,  or  could  be  happier  in  the  company 
of  his  friends,  his  house  was  frequented  by  men  of  the  first 
celebrity ;  such  as  the  late  Lord  Charlemont,  Doctor 
Johnson,  the  late  Mr.  Locke  of  Norbury  Park,  Sir  Joshua 
Reynolds,  Sir  William  Chambers,  Bartolozzi,  Cipriani,  the 
immortal  Landscape-painter  Richard  Wilson,  to  whom  he 
was  truly  kind,  and  Joseph  Baretti,  who,  at  that  time,  lived 
at  No.  10,  Edward-street,  Cavendish-square.1  This  last- 
mentioned  visitor  was  not  like  the  former  characters,  since  he 
never  waited  for  invitation,  being  what  is  generally  called  a 
"  mutton-fixture ;  "  for  at  Wilton's  he  always  found  a  plate  at 
the  table, 2  and  a  chair  by  the  fire,  as  well  as  at  Mr.  Thrale's 
and  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds 's.  He  was  a  fawning  flatterer,  and, 
upon  some  occasions,  very  awkwardly  puffed  off  his  host ;  as 
the  reader  will  perceive  by  the  way  in  which  he  attempted  to 
flatter  him,  in  the  following  passages,  extracted  from  his 
pamphlet,  entitled  A  Guide  through  the  Royal  Academy. 

1  Edward-street    was   taken  Chapel  clock  announced  "five," 
down  some  time  since,  to  make  the  hour  of  Joseph  Wilton's 
way  for  Langham-place  ;    the  dinner.     I  have  the  figures  of 
site  of  Baretti's  house  is  now  these  men  still  in  my  mind's 
occupied  by  Marks's  Carriage  eye.    Baretti  was  of  a  middling 
Repository.     (S.)  stature,  squabby,  round-shoul- 

2  At  the  end  of  Union-street,  dered,  and  near-sighted  ;    and 
Middlesex  Hospital,  stood  two  the     Landscape-painter     was 
magnificent  rows  of  elms,  one  rather  tall,  square-shouldered, 
on  each  side  of  a  ropewalk  ;  and  well-built,  but  with  a  nose, 
and    beneath    their    shade    I  poor  man,  that  had  increased 
have   frequently  seen   Joseph  to   an   enormous   size.     They 
Baretti    and    Richard   Wilson  both    wore    cocked-hats,    and 
perambulate,    until    Portland  walked  with  canes.     (S.) 


POKTRAITSOF  JOHN  HAMILTON  MORTIMER,  A.  R.  A.  (seatea),  JOSEPH  \VII.TO\,R.  A. 
AND   OF    A    LAI)    NAMKI)   THURY    WHO    USED    TO   SWEEP    OUT   THE    ROOMS   OF 

THE    ROYAL    ACADEMY    AT   SOMERSET    HOUSE 

From  the  painting  by  John  Hamilton  Mortimer,  A.R.A.,  in  the  Diploma  Gallery 
at  Burlington  House 


JOSEPH  WILTON,  R.A.  109 

At  page  5,  speaking  of  the  colossal  masks  on  the  Strand- 
front  of  Somerset-place,  representing  Ocean  and  the  eight 
great  Rivers,1  he  says, 

The  last  of  these  is  the  work  of  Signor  Carlini ;  the  other 
four  of  Mr.  Wilton,  all  executed  with  a  taste  and  skill  that 
do  great  credit  to  these  two  able  artists. 

Here  he  boldly  ranks  the  productions  of  Wilton  with 
those  of  Carlini,  a  very  superior  artist  in  every  point  of 
view.  Again,  on  the  same  page,  after  describing  the  mask 
of  the  Tweed,  he  observes, 

And  though  it  be  the  last,  is  certainly  not  the  least  able 
performance  of  Mr.  Wilton. 

Again,  at  page  8, 

The  statues  of  the  attic  represent  the  four  parts  of  the 
globe  ;  America,  armed,  and  breathing  defiance  ;  the  rest 
loaded  with  tributary  fruits  and  treasures.  They  are  all 
executed  in  a  very  masterly  manner  by  Mr.  Wilton. 

It  is  very  curious  to  see  how  far  some  people  will  venture 
out  of  their  depth  to  pay  a  -fulsome  compliment.  In  the 
above  instance,  Baretti  has  fallen  deeply  into  the  pit ;  as 

1  The  nine  masks  seen  from  in    the   centre    being   due   to 

the   Strand   and   taken   from  Carlini.       The     corresponding 

east  to  west  (or  left  to  right)  figures  on  the  courtyard  side 

are  as  follows  :  Severn,  Tyne,  are  by  Wilton,  who  also  exe- 

Tweed,       Medway,       OCEAN,  cuted  the  busts  of  Sir  Isaac 

Thames,  Humber,  Mersey,  Dee.  Newton   and   Michael  Angelo 

The     attributions     made     by  which  appear  in  the  vestibule. 

Messrs.     Raymond    Needham  The  armorial  decorations  sur- 

and    Alexander    Webster    in  mounting   the   attic   on   both 

their  valuable  work,  Somerset  the   Strand   and   the   interior 

House  Past  and  Present  (1905),  fronts   are   by   John   Bacon." 

are  as  follows  :  "  Of  the  four  In  addition,  it  is  stated  that 

figures  fronting  the  attic  to-  Nollekens  executed  the  three 

wards  the  Strand,  the  two  at  keystones  in  the  arches  on  the 

the  extremities  are  the  work  courtyard  side  of  the  vestibule, 

of  Giuseppe  Ceracchi,  the  two  and  two  others. 


110        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

it  is  well  known  that  the  whole  of  the  carvings  on  the 
various  fronts  of  Somerset-place, — excepting  Bacon's  bronze 
statue  of  King  George  III.  and  the  figure  of  Father  Thames, 
below  his  Majesty's  feet, — were  carved  from  finished  draw- 
ings made  by  Cipriani.  What  is  still  more,  John  Atkins, 
who,  in  1761,  gained  the  first  premium  of  thirty  guineas 
given  by  the  Society  of  Arts  for  an  historical  basso-relievo 
in  Sculpture,  and  Nathaniel  Smith,  my  father,  modelled 
and  carved  the  whole  of  them  for  Wilton,  immediately 
from  the  drawings,  he  never  having  put  a  tool  to  them: 
not  that  they  are  perhaps  the  better  for  this  circumstance  ; 
but  such  is  the  fact. 

Again,  at  page  15,  speaking  of  a  cast  of  Mr.  Locke's 
beautiful  Torso,  which  that  gentleman  gave  to  the  Royal 
Academy,  Baretti  says, 

Venus,  that  is,  the  Torso,  or  Body  of  a  Virgin,  the  original 
of  which  is  in  Mr.  Locke's  collection,  at  his  house  in  Port- 
man-square,  restored  by  Mr.  Wilton,  in  his  usual  masterly 
manner,  and  made  again  into  a  whole  statue.  In  Cipriani's 
opinion,  and  I  heard  him  say  it  several  times,  this  body  is 
more  beautiful  than  that  of  the  Medicean  Venus,  of  which 
we  shall  speak  when  in  the  next  room.  It  is  easily  to  be 
remarked,  that  the  Medicean  exhibits  a  young  mother, 
but  Mr.  Locke's  a  virgin ;  and  this,  I  suppose,  contributes 
to  give  a  superiority  in  point  of  beauty  to  this  over  that, 
which  really  appears  somewhat  heavy,  or  goffa,  as  the 
Italians  term  it,  when  examined  by  the  side  of  Mr.  Locke's. 
This  Torso  was  found  at  Nettuno,  a  town  in  the  Roman 
territory,  near  the  spot  where  ancient  Antium  stood,  and 
where  Nero  had  a  palace,  containing  a  choice  collection  of 
antique  statues.  The  Apollo  Pythias,  and  the  Gladiator 
repellens,  to  be  mentioned  anon,  were  also  found  at  Nettuno. 
Hence  the  probable  supposition,  that,  like  this  virgin- 
Venus,  they  belonged  to  that  collection.  This  cast  was  a 
present  of  Mr.  Locke's  to  the  Royal  Academy. 

Restored,  as  Baretti  boldly  asserts  this  Torso  to  have  been, 
by  being  made  again  into  a  whole  statue  by  Wilton,  in  his 


JOSEPH  WILTON,  R.A.  Ill 

usual  masterly  manner.  I  can  assure  my  reader,  that  soon 
after  it  was  sent  home  to  Mr.  Locke,  the  parts  added  by 
Wilton  were  taken  away,  and  the  Torso  was  suffered  to 
remain  ever  after  uncontaminated  by  modern  limbing. 
Of  the  latter  history  of  this  beautiful  specimen  of  art,  I 
beg  leave  to  offer  the  following  statement. 

At  the  time  that  Mr.  Locke  was  parting  with  his  valuable 
collection  of  pictures  and  antiques,  he  sold  the  above  Torso 
to  his  Grace  the  Duke  of  Richmond  for  a  considerable  sum 
of  money,  though  certainly  not  more  than  it  was  worth. 
In  consequence  of  a  fall,  during  a  fire  which  had  taken  place 
in  a  part  of  Richmond  House,1  this  Torso  had  been  broken 
into  many  pieces,  which  were,  however,  put  together  by  Mr. 
Wilton,  at  the  wish  of  his  Grace ;  but,  unfortunately,  the 
mutilated  joinings  were  so  visible,  that  the  Torso  was  no 
longer  pleasing  to  the  Duke,  who  ordered  it  to  be  put  down 
in  a  lower  apartment.  Here  it  remained  unnoticed  for 
many  years,  until  an  auction  which  took  place  after  the  late 
Duke's  death,  in  Richmond  House,  in  Privy-Gardens,  just 
before  that  stately  mansion  was  taken  down  to  make  way 
for  the  present  terrace.  Mazzoni,  the  well-known  Figure- 
moulder,2  bought  the  Torso  for  one  guinea  ;  and,  after  he 
had  taken  it  home,  the  late  Mr.  A.  W.  Devis,  the  artist 
who  painted  the  picture  of  Nelson's  death,  now  in  the  Hall 
of  Greenwich  Hospital,3  purchased  it  of  him  for  fifteen 
guineas.  One  day,  shortly  afterwards,  when  I  was  dining 

1  Richmond    House,    whose         2  Matthew     Mazzoni,      377 

statue   gallery   has    been    de-  Strand. 

scribed  by  Smith  a  few  pages  3  Arthur  William  Devis 
back,  stood  on  the  site  of  (1763-1822).  To  obtain  the 
the  present  Richmond-terrace,  material  for  this  picture  Devis 
Whitehall.  The  fire  mentioned  went  out,  after  the  battle  of 
is  clearly  that  which  destroyed  Trafalgar,  to  meet  the  Victory, 
the  house  on  December  2ist,  on  board  which  he  made  a 
1791,  when  its  valuables  were  series  of  accurate  sketches, 
removed  by  soldiers.  The  re-  His  painting,  now  at  Green- 
built  Richmond  House  was  wich,  was  engraved  by  Brom- 
demolished  in  1841.  ley. 


112        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 


with  Devis,  he  said,  "  Smith,  the  Museum  ought  to  have 
that  Torso,  and  the  Trustees  may  give  me  their  own  price." 
I  consequently  requested  my  colleague,  the  late  Mr.  Combe,1 
to  propose  it ;  but  as  no  price  was  fixed,  the  Hon.  Trustees 
declined  the  offer  ;  upon  which,  Mr.  Devis  said  they  should 
have  it  at  the  price  he  gave  for  it ;  it  was  then  accepted,  I 
was  commissioned  by  Mr.  Combe  to  pay  that  sum  to  Mr. 
Devis,  and  it  is  now  in  the  gallery  of  the  British  Museum.2 

I  am  sorry  to  declare,  that  that  miserable  specimen  of 
leaden-figure  taste,  the  equestrian  statue  of  King  George 
III.  lately  standing  in  the  centre  of  Berkeley-square,  was 
executed  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Wilton,  on  his  premises, 
in  Queen  Anne-street,  East.  It  was  modelled  by  a  French 
artist,  of  the  name  of  Beaupr£,  recommended  to  Wilton 
by  Pigalle,  as  an  excellent  carver  of  flowers.3 


1  Taylor  Combe,  Keeper  of 
the  Department  of  Antiquities 
from   1807   till  his   death    in 
1826. 

2  This  torso,  known  as  the 
Richmond    Venus,    was    pur- 
chased in  1821.   It  is  attributed 
to  a  Greek  artist  under  Rome. 

3  Nothing  seems  to  be  known 
about   the   French   carver   of 
flowers     who     was     quaintly 
chosen  to  model  this  equestrian 
statue   of   a  British  monarch 
in    the    character    of    Marcus 
Aurelius.        His     unfortunate 
work  was  placed  in  the  square 
in  1766  at  the  instance  of  the 
Princess  Amelia.    It  is  referred 
to  in  a  letter  written  by  the 
Rev.  William  Mason  to  Horace 
Walpole,  November  I2th,  1779, 
in   which   he   says :    "I   con- 
gratulate you  on  your  removal 
to  Berkeley-square.    May  you 
enjoy  the  comforts  of  your  new 


situation  as  long  as  the  Phidian 
work,  which  is  placed  in  the 
centre  of  that  square,  con- 
tinues to  be  its  chief  ornament." 
The  statue  is  commonly  said 
to  have  been  removed  in  1827, 
but  as  early  as  1812  the  fol- 
lowing paragraph  appeared  in 
the  Northampton  Mercury 
(January  nth)  :  "  The  eques- 
trian statue  of  the  King  in 
Berkeley-square  has  within  the 
last  year  been  gradually  giving 
way,  till  more  lately  it  has  been 
retained  in  its  position  by 
various  Supports  and  Props  ; 
but  it  has  been  found  impossible 
to  sustain  it  any  longer,  and 
workmen  have  been  employed 
to  take  down  the  statue.  This 
circumstance,  associating  itself 
with  the  actual  state  of  our 
beloved  Sovereign,  has  become 
the  topic  of  conversation  in  the 
Neighbourhood." 


JOSEPH  WILTON,  R.A.  113 

Mr.  Wilton,  who  was  for  many  years  extensively  em- 
ployed in  producing  richly  ornamented  chimney-pieces, 
for  most  of  the  mansions  which  were  then  building  by  his 
intimate  friend,  Sir  William  Chambers,  had  considerable 
dealings  with  the  Carrara  Marble  merchants,  which  enabled 
him  frequently  to  accommodate  his  brother  artists  with 
marble. 

Mr.  Nollekens,  who  always  avoided  the  possession  of  too 
great  a  stock,  was  now  and  then  Mr.  Wilton's  customer. 
At  one  of  their  dealings,  a  dispute  arising  between  them 
respecting  the  measurement  of  the  last-delivered  block, 
Mr.  Wilton  commissioned  his  agent  to  toss  up  with  Mr. 
Nollekens,  whether  it  should  stand  at  the  measurement 
delivered  with  it ;  and  though  it  was  doubtful  whether 
the  difference  would  amount  to  one  shilling,  Nollekens 
accepted  the  proposed  mode  of  decision  which,  unfortunately 
for  him,  was  declared  in  favour  of  Mr.  Wilton. 

Charlemont-house,  Dublin,  was  built  by  Sir  William 
Chambers.1  It  has  a  most  magnificent  library,  the  ceiling 
of  which  was  painted  by  Cipriani ;  at  one  end,  stands 
Wilton's  copy  of  the  Venus  de'  Medici,  carved  in  marble, 
the  size  of  the  original,  the  bust  of  the  Marquess  of  Rocking- 
ham,  and  many  others  by  the  same  artist.  The  copy  of 
Venus,  beautiful  as  it  is,  I  have  been  informed,  loses  much 
of  the  effect  of  the  original  by  being  highly  polished.  In 
this  splendid  mansion  there  is  also  one  of  Sir  Joshua 
Reynolds's  finest  pictures ;  a  portrait  of  Lord  Aylesbury 
holding  a  letter  addressed  to  his  friend  Lord  Charlemont. 
It  will  be  recollected  by  lovers  of  painting,  who  have  visited 
the  mansion,  that  in  a  bedchamber  of  this  house  hangs 
that  most  beautiful  of  all  Hogarth's  pictures,  called  "  The 
Lady's  last  Stake."  My  friend  Colonel  Phillips  was  in- 

1  In  1770.  Here  James  Caul-  his  home  the  centre  of   Irish 

feild,  first  Earl  of  Charlemont,  culture.     Grattan  said :  "  The 

who   was   a    member    of   Dr.  very  rabble  grew  civilized  as 

Johnson's  Literary  Club,  made  it  approached  his  person." 

VOL.  II.— I 


114        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

formed  by  the  late  Lord  Charlemont,  with  whom  he  had 
been  extremely  intimate,  that  Hogarth  had  promised  his 
Lordship  to  write  a  description  of  his  plates,  which  he  said 
the  public  had  most  ignorantly  misconceived ;  and  it  was 
his  intention,  at  one  time,  to  have  given  a  breakfast  lecture 
upon  them  in  the  presence  of  his  Lordship,  Horace  Walpole, 
Topham,  Beauclerk,  and  others  ;  but  time  passed  on,  and 
the  promise,  like  many  others  made  by  great  geniuses,  was 
never  put  into  execution.1  I  most  sincerely  wish  that  this 
notice  may  invite  H.  P.  Standly,  Esq.2  who  is  in  possession 
of  such  rich  materials,  both  in  prints  and  manuscripts, 
to  favour  the  admirers  of  Hogarth  with  an  explanation 
of  his  subjects  as  far  as  he  can  go.  I  am  sure  that  that 
gentleman's  remarks  alone  could  throw  much  valuable 
light  upon  his  works,  which  if  not  drawn  out  within  fifty 
years,  perhaps  that  grim-visaged  visitor,  the  Grand  Master 
of  all  the  Lodges,  may  shut  it  up  for  ever. 

After  the  close  of  the  American  war,  fewer  monuments 
were  wanted ;  and  Mr.  Wilton,  finding  his  extensive 
premises  by  much  too  great  a  concern,  without  an  increase 
of  orders,  particularly  so  for  a  man  declining  in  years,  sold 
his  property  by  auction,  which  principally  consisted  of 

1  This  picture,   also  known  the   lady.      The   picture    has 

as  "  Picquet  "  and  "  Virtue  in  been  engraved  by  Cheesman. 

Danger,"  was  purchased  from  The  original  painting,  says  Mr. 

Hogarth  by  Lord  Charlemont  Austin   Dobson,    was   sold   at 

for  £100.    Hogarth  explains  it  Christie's  in  1874  for  1585^.  los. 

thus :    "  The  story  I  pitched  and  came  into  the  possession 

upon  was  a  young  and  virtuous  of  Mr.  Louis  Huth. 
married  lady  who,  by  playing         2  Henry    Peter    Standly,    a 

at  cards  with  an  officer,  loses  magistrate    of    Paxton  -  place, 

her  money,  watch,  and  jewels  ;  St.  Neots,  was  an  indefatigable 

the   moment    when   he   offers  and  learned  collector  of  Ho- 

them  back  in  return  for  her  garth's   prints   and   drawings, 

honour,   and  she  is  wavering  and  his  name  is  frequent  in  the 

at  his  suit,  was  my  point  of  literature  of  the  subject.    See 

time."      Mrs.    Piozzi    claimed  Index, 
that  she  sat  for  the  portrait  of 


JOSEPH  WILTON,  R.A.  115 

blocks  of  marble,  models,  and  busts,  and  several  elegantly- 
ornamented  chimney-pieces,  which  had  been  executed 
upon  speculation.  Mr.  Wilton,  not  liking  the  idea  of  re- 
tiring from  society,  accepted  the  Keeper's  chair,  in  the 
Royal  Academy,  vacated  by  the  demise  of  Signer  Carlini. 
This  seat  he  filled  till  his  death,  which  took  place  on  the 
25th  of  November,  1803,  in  his  apartments  in  Somerset- 
place.  His  funeral  was  most  respectfully  attended  by 
many  old  friends,  who  saw  him  interred  at  Wanstead,  in 
Essex,  on  the  2d  of  December,  1803. 

Mr.  Wilton  was  in  height  about  five  feet  ten  inches, 
portly  and  well-looking  :  he  always  dressed  in  the  height 
of  fashion,  and  for  many  years  wore  a  bag-wig,  which,  in 
his  latter  days,  he  changed  for  one  with  a  long  tail,  and 
walked,  as  Gay  might  have  said,  with  dignity  and  a  gold- 
headed  cane  —  "  wrapt  in  my  virtue  and  a  good  surtout."1 
As  to  his  manners,  they  were  perfectly  gentlemanlike, 
which  rendered  him  an  agreeable  companion.  He  was  one 
of  the  Founders  of  the  Royal  Academy,  and  continued  to 
exhibit  with  that  honourable  body  of  artists  until  he  was 
appointed  Keeper.  Roubiliac  modelled  a  bust  of  Wilton, 
in  which  he  introduced  his  right  arm,  with  a  sculptor's 
hammer  in  his  hand.  It  was  sent  by  Mr.  Wilton's  daughter, 
Lady  Chambers,  to  Mr.  Nollekens's  to  be  repaired,  previous 
to  that  Lady's  presenting  it  to  the  Royal  Academy  ;  on  the 
front  of  the  pedestal  is  the  following  inscription,  dictated 
by  Lady  Chambers. 

JOSEPH  WILTON, 

Died  Nov.  25,  1803. 

This  bust,  by  Roubiliac, 

Is  presented  to  the  Royal  Academy 

By  his  daughter,  Lad}^  Chambers. 


1  A  good  portrait  of  Wilton  National  Portrait  Gallery;  there 

is  that  in   John   Francis   Ri-  is  also  a  crayon    portrait   of 

gaud's   group   of    Sir    Joshua  Wilton  by  Dance,  and  the  inter- 

Reynolds,  Sir  William  Cham-  esting  one  by  Mortimer,  here 

bers  and  Wilton,  now  in  the  reproduced. 


116        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

Mr.  Wilton's  models  and  casts  were  sold  June  the  8th 
and  gth,  1786 ;  Lot  40  consisted  of  masks  of  Garrick, 
Roubiliac,  and  Hogarth,  which  sold  for  two  pounds  seven 
shillings.  I  have  endeavoured  to  ascertain  the  purchaser, 
but  have  been  unsuccessful. 


THOMAS    BANKS,    R.A. 

BEFORE  I  commence  giving  some  account  of  this 
gentleman,  I  beg  leave  to  introduce  a  few  remarks 
upon  the  early  state  of  Sculpture  in  England  ; 
which  may  not,  perhaps,  be  considered  irrelevant 
to  our  subject,  as  they  will  tend  to  prove,  that,  however 
respectable  were  the  talents  of  the  two  artists  whose 
works  I  have  just  mentioned,  England  had  no  great 
Sculptor  of  mind  until  the  appearance  of  Thomas  Banks. 
Perhaps  there  are  few  classes  of  biography  for  which  it  is 
more  difficult  to  obtain  materials  than  that  of  the  early 
English  Sculptors ;  particularly  those  who  flourished 
under  the  first  Henrys  and  Edwards,  prior  to  whose  reigns 
England  can  boast  of  little  sculptural  skill.  In  the  time 
of  the  above  splendid  monarchs,  numerous  sacred  images 
and  monumental  effigies  were  executed  ;  and  nearly  all  our 
cathedrals  and  churches,  even  to  the  remotest  parts  of  our 
land,  were  adorned  and  enriched  by  the  sculptor's  as  well 
as  by  the  painter's  art.  I  am  willing  to  agree  with  many 
of  my  friends,  in  believing  that  the  greater  number  of  works 
of  that  description,  produced  in  the  reign  of  Henry  the 
Third,  were  the  productions  of  foreigners ;  we  must,  in 
those  early  days,  have  derived  our  knowledge  from  them  ; 
but,  at  the  same  time,  I  cannot  help  stating,  that  many  of 
our  exquisite  works  were  from  the  hands  of  Englishmen, 
particularly  in  the  reigns  of  Edward  III.,  Henry  IV.,  and 
Richard  II.  Indeed  I  was  enabled  to  prove  that  to  be  the 
case,  during  my  inquiries  for  the  materials  for  the  Anti- 
quities of  Westminster,  as  I  met  with  an  astonishing  series 

117 


118        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

of  particulars,  not  only  as  to  the  stone  and  the  various 
articles  used  in  painting  and  glass-staining  in  those  days, 
but  also  with  the  names  of  the  master-mason  and  others 
engaged,  as  well  as  the  subjects  of  their  proposed  designs  ; 
and  the  true  Englishman  will  feel  pleasure,  when  he  is 
assured  that  every  artist  employed  upon  the  decorations 
of  the  Palace  of  Westminster  was  a  native  of  this  country. 
For  instance,  in  the  reign  of  Edward  III.  Master  Thomas, 
of  Canterbury,  was  Master-mason  in  the  rebuilding  of 
St.  Stephen's  Chapel,  Westminster ;  and  John,  of  Coventry, 
and  Henry,  of  St.  Alban's,  were  his  assistants  :  Master 
Richard,  of  Reading,  made  two  images  of  Saint  Edward  and 
Saint  John,  for  which  he  received  the  sum  of  three  pounds 
six  shillings  and  eight-pence  :  Hugh  de  St.  Alban's  was 
master  of  the  painters,  and  John  de  Chester  was  master  of 
the  glaziers.1  These  names,  however,  are  not  mentioned 
by  Lord  Orford,  nor  his  labouring-oar  Vertue  ;  and  perhaps 
they  neither  knew  where  to  look,  nor  had  the  power  of 
obtaining  such  valuable  information ;  but  it  is  much  to  be 
regretted  that  our  early  historians,  Camden,  Stow,  Speed, 
&c.  have  not,  like  Vasari,  handed  down  to  us  the  names 
of  the  artists  their  contemporaries.  The  biographer  of 
such  persons  finds,  in  that  valuable  and  most  interesting 
of  all  books  upon  the  arts,  not  only  the  names  of  hundreds 
of  artists,  but  in  some  instances  an  accurate  description  of 
their  works.  We  certainly  read  of  our  Odos,  as  the  proposed 
constructors  of  sacred  images  and  decorators  of  tombs,  but 
we  have  no  proof  of  their  being  actually  the  artists ;  and 
my  opinion  is,  that  as  they  are  named  as  the  King's  Gold- 
smiths, they  were  similar  to  our  present  goldsmiths,  Messrs. 
Rundell  and  Bridge,2  and,  like  them,  employed  their 

1  These  names  occur  in  cer-  2  Messrs.  Rundell  and  Bridge 

tain  account  rolls,  bearing  the  were  the  commercial  autocrats 

date    of    the    fourth   year   of  of  Old  Ludgate  Hill,  at  No.  32, 

Edward  III,  which  are  quoted  three  doors  below  Ave  Maria- 

in  full  by  Smith  in  his  Antiqui-  lane.     Here  Flaxman's  shield 

ties  of  Westminster,  of   Achilles   was   executed   in 


THOMAS   BANKS,    R.A. 
Drawn  anil  engraved  by ./.  Conde 


THOMAS  BANKS,  R.A.  119 

Flaxmans  and  their  Stothards  in  the  production  of  works 
in  art.  We  ought  not  to  suppose  that  our  Odos  were  positively 
carvers  in  stone  and  ivory  ;  nor  indeed  that  they  were  the 
actual  lapidaries  or  inlayers  of  the  precious  stones,  or  even 
setters  of  their  splendid  works  of  jewellery :  but  how 
delighted  should  we  be,  if  the  Keepers  of  our  Public  Records 
were  to  give  us  an  account  of  our  ancient  English  Cavallinis, 
our  Torregianos,  and  our  Benvenuti  Cellinis  !  They  know 
well  where  to  search  for  treasures  ;  and  if  they  are  allowed 
to  derive  profit  by  the  publication  of  certain  documents, 
I  do  most  earnestly  entreat  of  them,  for  the  honour  of  our 
country,  to  produce  and  publish  such  accounts  as  they  may 
discover  of  the  early  English  artists.  I  am  quite  certain, 
that  such  materials  of  rare  and  valuable  information,  which 
wait  only  to  be  drawn  from  their  concealment,  would,  in  a 
great  measure,  set  aside  the  wretched  repetitions  of  the 
miserably  poor  mass  of  materials  which  our  presses  at  present 
are  so  often  employed  to  produce. 

So  shamefully  negligent,  however,  were  the  older  English 
writers  as  to  inquiries  after  the  history,  or  even  the  names 
of  the  greater  part  of  the  Sculptors  whose  works  they  had 
seen,  and  possibly  admired,  that  they  have  handed  very 
little  or  nothing  to  us  concerning  them.  As  to  the  names 
of  Cavallini  and  Torregiano,1  which  are  the  first  mentioned 

silver  gilt,  and  also  the  crown  Abbey  for  Henry  III,  and  also 
worn  by  George  IV  at  his  many  of  the  Eleanor  Crosses. 
Coronation.  The  magnificent  Whether  he  is  to  be  identified 
scale  on  which  Rundell  and  with  Pietro  Cavallini,  the  dis- 
Bridge  traded  may  be  gauged  ciple  of  Giotto,  is  very  doubt- 
by  the  fact  that  Philip  Run-  ful. — To  the  Florentine  sculp- 
dell,  dying  in  1827,  left  a  tor  Pietro  Torrigiano  (1472- 
million  sterling.  1522)  we  owe  the  matchless 
1  The  sculptor  whom  Smith  tombs  of  Henry  VII  and  his 
names  as  Cavallini  is  more  mother,  Margaret  Countess  of 
often,  and  more  safely,  known  Richmond,  in  Henry  VIFs 
as  Peter  the  Roman  Citizen,  Chapel.  This  sculptor  also 
who  executed  the  shrine  of  lives  in  history  as  the  youth 
Edward  the  Confessor  in  the  who  broke  Michel  Angelo's 


120        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 


without  the  appellation  of  Goldsmith,  I  firmly  believe  more 
works  are  attributed  to  those  great  men,  than  they  could 
have  executed  had  they  lived  to  the  present  time  ;  but 
they  were  foreigners,  and  though  they  practised  in  this 
country,  are  distant  from  my  present  purpose. 

Nicholas  Stone,  born  at  Woodbury,  near  Exeter,  in  1586, 
is,  I  believe,  according  to  printed  authority,  the  first  to  be 
mentioned  with  any  certainty  ;  and  he  has,  among  numerous 
truly  praiseworthy  productions1  distributed  in  various 
places,  enabled  us  to  judge  of  his  abilities,  or  of  those  he 
employed,  more  particularly  by  the  best  of  his  monuments, 
which  he  erected  in  November,  1615,  in  the  Chapel  of  the 
Charter  House,  to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  its  benevolent 
founder,  "  Good  Old  Thomas  Button."2  If  we  could  discover 
the  names  of  the  Sculptors  who  executed  the  monument  to 
the  memory  of  Shakspeare,  at  Stratford-upon-Avon,  and 


nose.  He  retained  his  pugilis- 
tic proclivities,  and  boasted  in 
Florence  of  his  prowess  among 
"  those  beasts,  the  English." — 
Smith's  very  sketchy  account 
of  the  work  of  the  early  sculp- 
tors in  England  may  be  sup- 
plemented by  reference  to  Mr. 
E.  Beresford  Chancellor's  Lives 
of  the  British  Sculptors  (1911). 
See  also  a  short  series  of  papers 
in  the  Gentleman's  Magazine, 
beginning  April,  1818. 

1  Nicholas  Stone  (1586- 
1647),  master  mason  to  James 
I  and  architect  at  Windsor  to 
Charles,  was  employed  by 
Inigo  Jones  on  the  Banqueting 
House,  Whitehall,  the  York 
House,  Water  Gate,  and  the 
portice  to  old  St.  Paul's  Cathe- 
dral. The  first  tomb  and  monu- 
ment maker  of  his  time,  he 
executed  the  figure,  in  St. 


Paul's  Cathedral,  of  John 
Donne  in  a  winding-sheet 
which  survived  the  great  Fire  ; 
also  some  important  monu- 
ments in  the  Abbey.  Stone's 
account-book,  a  valuable  docu- 
ment, is  now  in  the  Soane 
Museum.  He  lived  in  Long 
Acre  and  was  buried  at  St. 
Martin  's-in-the-Fields . 
$S 2  Walpole  quoted  in  his 
Anecdotes  from  Stone's  Diary  : 
"  In  November,  1615,  Mr. 
Jansen  in  Southwark  and  I 
did  sett  up  a  tomb  for  Mr. 
Sutton  at  Charter-house,  for 
the  which  we  had  400^.  well 
payed,  but  the  little  monu- 
ment of  Mr.  Lawes  was  in- 
cluded, the  which  I  made  and 
all  the  carven  work  of  Mr. 
Sutton's  tomb."  Sutton's 
monument  may  be  seen  in  the 
Chapel. 


THOMAS  BANKS,  R.A.  121 

of  that  put  up  to  Camden,  in  Westminster  Abbey,1  as  well 
as  many  others  which  I  could  name,  probably  they  might 
take  precedence  of  Stone  in  talent,  as  well  as  in  date,  as 
I  strongly  conjecture  them  to  have  been  Englishmen  also. 
Francis  Bi^d,  born  in  Piccadilly  in  1667,  was  second ; 
but  though  tolerable  in  some  respects,  especially  in  the 
monument  to  the  memory  of  the  noted  Dr.  Busby,  erected 
in  Westminster  Abbey,  yet  he  ought  not  in  any  way  to 
be  compared  with  his  predecessor,  or  the  artists  employed 
by  him.  His  Conversion  of  Saint  Paul,  and  the  style  of 
the  other  figures,  particularly  that  of  the  statue  of  Queen 
Anne,  (lately  repaired  by  John  Henning,  Jun.)2  raised 
as  ornaments  to  our  Metropolitan  church,  are  so  despicable, 
that  I  am  inclined  to  believe,  that  the  praise  due  to  Busby's 
figure,  for  surely  no  other  part  of  the  monument  merits 
notice,  should  be  attributed  to  the  skill  of  some  one  em- 
ployed by  him,  who,  like  many  a  flower,  was  "  born  to  blush 
unseen."  The  miserable  effigy  of  Sir  Cloudesley  Shovel,  by 
Bird,  the  statues  of  Cutler,  in  the  College  of  Physicians  and 
Grocers'  Hall,  together  with  a  host  of  such  trash,  sufficiently 
testify  the  deplorable  state  in  which  Sculpture  was  in  his 
time  : 3  and  I  sincerely  believe,  anxious  as  I  am  to  ascertain 
the  names  of  ancient  Sculptors,  that  it  will  not  be  in  my 
power  to  give  an  instance  of  very  superior  strength  of  mind, 

1  William  Camden,  the  anti-  equal :   his  derided  monument 
quary.      See    the    account    of  to  Sir  Cloudesley  Shovel  was 
the  mutilation  of  this  monu-  called  "  the  bathos  of  sculp- 
ment  in  Chapter  VII.  turc  "   by  Pope.     His   Queen 

2  Son  of  John  Henning  men-  Anne  statue,  in  front  of  St. 
tioned  in  Chapters  XI  and  XVI.  Paul's,    is    now    replaced    by 

3  Francis  Bird  (1667-1731),  Belt's     replica.       Time     and 
the   leading    sculptor    of    his  weather    have    long    justified 
day,  was  employed  by  Wren  Walpole's  remark  on  his  sculp- 
to  decorate  St.  Paul's.    Smith's  tures  around  the  roof  of  St. 
suggestion  that  another  hand  Paul's  :    "  Any    statuary   was 
executed  the  fine  Busby  statue  good  enough  for  an  ornament 
has  not  been  seriously  enter-  at  that  height." 

tained.      Bird's    art    was   un- 


122        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

till  the  starting  of  that  most  worthy  man,  the  late  Thomas 
Banks  ;  who  was  noticed  by  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  as  the 
first  of  our  country  who  had  produced  any  thing  like  classic 
Sculpture  in  England, — farther  observing,  that  his  mind 
was  employed  upon  subjects  worthy  of  an  ancient  Greek  ! 

Banks  was  born  in  Lambeth,  on  the  22d  of  December, 
1735,  and  served  his  apprenticeship  to  a  Wood-carver, 
during  which  time  he  obtained  several  premiums  in  the 
Society  of  Arts.  In  1770,  he  received  the  gold  medal  from  the 
hand  of  his  warm  friend,  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  ;  and  ex- 
hibited with  the  Royal  Academicians  in  Pall-Mall,  two  very 
superior  models  in  clay  of  jEneas  and  Anchises  escaping  from 
Troy,  at  different  points  of  time.  He  produced,  in  the  follow- 
ing year,  a  Cherub  decorating  an  urn,  and  also  an  excellent 
likeness  of  an  old  man,  who  stood  as  a  model  in  the  Academy, 
whose  wife  was  the  first  housekeeper  of  that  honourable 
establishment. 

In  1772,  he  sent  for  exhibition  his  group  of  Mercury, 
Argus,  and  lo,  which  was  highly  spoken  of  by  the  public 
at  large,  but  more  particularly  by  those  Academicians  who 
could  so  well  feel  its  merits,  and  who  had  voted  so  liberally 
for  his  going  to  Rome  at  the  expense  of  the  Royal  Academy. 
Among  many  other  friends,  my  father  gave  him  a  letter 
of  introduction  to  his  old  fellow-student  Capitsoldi,  an 
artist  whose  discernment  could  fairly  appreciate  Banks 's 
merit.  In  the  same  year,  he  and  his  wife  left  their  modest 
mansion  in  Bird-street,  Oxford-street,  for  the  splendid 
Vatican,  where  they  arrived  in  the  month  of  August. 

The  following  extracts  from  a  letter  addressed  to  my 
father,  dated  Rome,  July  3ist,  1773,  may  probably  be 
considered  as  interesting. 

Among  the  students  in  Painting,  Fuseli  cuts  the  greatest 
figure  ;  last  season  he  had  pictures  bespoke  to  the  amount 
of  I300/.,  good  encouragement  for  a  student,  yet  nothing 
more  than,  from  his  great  abilities,  he  is  justly  entitled  to. 
Little  Wickstead  has  had  most  of  the  portraits  to  paint  last 


THOMAS  BANKS,  R.A. 


123 


season,  owing  to  the  endeavours  of  Messrs.  Norton  and 
Byres  to  carry  every  gentleman  they  could  get  hold  of  to  see 
him  ;  but  Barron  arriving  here  the  beginning  of  the  season, 
and  having  great  merit  in  the  portrait  way,  and  a  good  cor- 
respondence with  the  gentlemen,  got  so  many  portraits  to 
paint,  as  proved  no  small  mortification  to  the  aforesaid 
gentleman,  as  well  as  his  helpers.1 

Barron  is  a  young  man  of  very  conspicuous  merit,  has 
the  most  of  Sir  Joshua's  fine  manner  of  any  of  his  pupils, 
and  it  is  beyond  a  doubt,  that  when  he  returns  to  England, 
he  will  cut  a  great  figure  in  his  way.2  Since  I  have  been  in 


1  Philip  Wickstead  received 
instructions  from  Zoffany  ;  he 
painted  small  whole-length  por- 
traits with  great  taste,  but 
his  large  pictures  wanted  that 
force  which  few  persons  accus- 
tomed to  paint  in  miniature 
can  acquire.  Cosway's  large 
pictures,  for  instance,  were  too 
feebly  painted  for  their  size, 
and  betrayed  the  hand  of  one 
who  had  been  more  familiar 
with  small  things,  in  which  he 
shone  so  conspicuously  beyond 
most  artists  of  his  time.  The 
same  objections  may  be  made 
to  the  large  works  of  Cipriani ; 
but  Angelica  Kauffmann,  when 
she  was  employed  upon  pic- 
tures beyond  her  usual  size, 
gave  more  force  than  either, 
particularly  in  colour,  as  may 
be  seen  in  those  she  painted 
on  the  ceiling  of  the  Council- 
room  in  the  Royal  Academy ; 
of  which  Baretti,  in  his  Guide 
through  that  edifice,  thus 
speaks  :  "  The  four  large  oval 
pictures  which  adorn  the  two 
extremities  of  the  ceiling,  are 
works  of  the  celebrated 


Angelica  Kauffmann,  whose 
various  accomplishments,  as 
well  as  her  great  skill  in  the 
art  she  professes,  have  long 
been  the  subject  of  admiration. 
They  represent  Invention,  Com- 
position, Design,  and  Colouring, 
and  are  executed  with  all  that 
grace,  elegance,  and  accuracy, 
which  distinguish  the  best  pro- 
ductions of  this  extraordinary 
lady."  (S.) 

2  Hugh  Barron  played  beau- 
tifully on  the  violin ;  and 
he  was,  as  Mr.  Banks  has 
stated,  a  good  portrait-painter, 
and  a  truly  amiable  man  ;  being 
well  known  to  my  father.  He 
was  unfortunate  in  having 
exercised  his  mimic  powers 
upon  Edward  Edwards,  so  as 
to  draw  down  that  little  man's 
ill  opinion  of  his  works  ;  and 
my  father  related  the  following 
anecdote  of  his  imitative  skill, 
as  delivered  in  two  voices  by 
Barron.  First,  however,  I 
must  premise,  that  Mortimer, 
the  Painter,  was  remarkably 
tall,  and  Edwards  a  very  short 
man,  and,  unfortunately,  de- 


124        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 


Rome,  there  has  arrived  here  the  above-mentioned  Mr. 
Barren,  Mr.  Marchant,  and  Mr.  Townley ;  Mr.  Whalley, 
Mr.  Darner,  and  Mr.  Keene,  and  lastly,  Messrs.  Humphrey 
and  Romney  :  I  had  forgot  one  Mr.  Foy  though — a  Sculptor, 
a  very  ingenious,  worthy  young  man ;  he  is  doing  a  copy 
of  the  Apollo  Belvidere  in  marble,  about  five  feet  and  a 
half  high. 

In  another  letter  to  my  father,  dated  February  4th, 
in  the  following  year,  he  says,  "  Your  good  friend  Capitsoldi 
has  been  truly  kind  to  me  ;  he  has  improved  me  much  by 
the  instructions  he  has  given  me  in  cutting  the  marble,  in 
which  the  Italians  beat  us  hollow." 

In  1779,  Banks  returned  to  England,  and  ventured  to  take 
the  house,  No.  5,  Newman-street; 1  soon  after  which  he  went 
to  St.  Petersburg,  where  he  was  received  by  the  Empress 
Catherine  with  high  marks  of  favour ;  and  he  had  the 
honour  of  leaving,  among  other  specimens  of  his  art,  a 
beautiful  model  of  Cupid  pursuing  a  Butterfly.  On  his 
return  to  England,  he  exhibited,  in  1782,  a  portrait  of  her 
Royal  Highness  the  Duchess  of  Gloucester,  in  terracotta ; 
and  the  next  year  a  head  of  a  majestic  beauty,  composed 


formed ;  though  he  always 
stood  erect,  to  make  the  most 
of  himself. 

These  artists  painted  each  a 
picture  of  the  same  subject, 
the  Cavern  of  Despair,  from 
Spenser,  which  they  sent  to 
the  Society  of  Arts  for  a  prize  : 
and  during  the  time  their  works 
were  hanging  up,  it  happened 
that  Mortimer  and  Edwards 
were  standing  by  the  side  of  each 
other,  looking  at  Edwards's 
picture.  Edwards,  quite  erect, 
with  his  usual  importance, 
striking  his  cane  perpendicu- 
larly on  the  floor,  at  arm's- 
length,  thus  addressed  his  an- 


tagonist :  "  Well,  Mr.  Mortimer, 
how  do  you  like  my  picture  ?  " 
— "  Sir,  there  are  some  good 
parts  in  it ;  but  why  did  you 
make  your  reptiles  so  small  ?  " 
Edwards,  putting  his  left  hand 
upon  his  hip,  or,  what  may  be 
better  conceived,  his  arm  a- 
kimbo,  looking  up  to  Mortimer, 
observed,  "  The  smaller  the 
more  venomous."  (S.) 

1  Upon  the  death  of  Mr. 
Banks,  my  worthy  friend  Mr. 
Howard,  the  Historical-painter, 
and  Secretary  to  the  Royal 
Academy,  took  the  house,  and 
has  continued  to  reside  in  it 
to  the  present  day.  (S.) 


THOMAS  BANKS,  R.A.  125 

on  Mr.  Cozens's  principles.1  In  1784,  he  produced  a  figure  of 
Achilles  enraged  for  the  loss  of  Briseis  ;2  and,  in  1785,  he 
was  chosen  an  Academician,  to  the  Council-room  of  which 
establishment  he  sent  his  Falling  Giant ;  a  work  far  superior 
to  any  before  produced  in  England,  and  which,  perhaps, 
never  will  be  surpassed. 

His  principal  works  are  a  colossal  figure  of  Achilles,  a 
model ;  a  basso-relievo  of  Shakspeare,  on  the  front  of  the 
Shakspeare  Gallery,  executed  for  Alderman  Boydell ;  a 
statue  of  Sir  Eyre  Coote,  in  the  India  House ;  the  Dipping  of 
Achilles,  for  Col.  Johnes,  of  Cardiganshire  ;  a  monument  of 
Bishop  Newton,  in  Bow  Church ;  a  monument  of  Mr.  Hand, 
in  Cripplegate  Church ;  the  monument  of  Woollett,  in 
the  cloisters  of  Westminster  Abbey ;  the  monument 
of  Baretti,  erected  under  the  South  Gallery  of  Saint 
Mary-le-bone  Old  Church ;  the  monument  of  Sir  Eyre 
Coote,  in  Westminster  Abbey ;  and  the  monument  of 
Captain  Westcott,  in  St.  Paul's.3 

1 "  Composed  on  Mr.  Cozens's  A  view  of  its  front,  showing 

principles  "  refers  to  Alexander  Banks's  alto-relievo,  is  in  Wat- 

Cozens's  Principles  of  Beauty  ford's   Old  and  New   London, 

Relative  to  the  Human  Head,  a  Vol.  IV,  p.  138  ;    but  the  im- 

work  which  the  Dictionary  of  mediate  entrance  and  relievo 

National  Biograp hy  describes  as  are   better  illustrated   in   the 

more  ingenious  than  valuable.  European   Magazine   of    July, 

2  This    basso-relievo,    com-  1804.      The    sculpture    repre- 
monly    called    "  The    Frantic  sented  Shakespeare  seated  on 
Achilles,"  is  to  be  found  in  the  a  rock  between  the  Muses  of 
halls  of  Jackson,    Baily,   and  Drama  and  Painting.     Smith 
other  persons  of  eminence  in  the  has  this  note  :  "  This  beautiful 
Arts.    (S.) — The  original  was  specimen  of  English  art  is  still 
presented    by  Banks's  widow  remaining  in  its  original  place, 
to  the  British  Institution  ;   it  The    building   is    now    better 
was  formerly  in  the  entrance  known  under  the  appellation 
hall  at  Burlington  House.  of  the  British  Gallery." 

3  Alderman  Boydell's  Shake-        The  "  Dipping  of  Achilles  " 
speare  Gallery,  afterwards  the  portrayed     Mrs.     Johnes     as 
British   Institution,   stood  on  Thetis,  and  the  Colonel's  son 
the  north  side  of  Pall  Mall,  a  as  the  child. 

little  east  of  St.  James's-street.        Thomas      Newton      (1704- 


126        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

The  following  prizes  were  awarded  to   Banks  by  the 

Society  of  Arts. 

£    s.  d. 

In  1763,  For  a  basso-relievo  in  Portland  stone  .     31  10  o 

1765,  For  a  basso-relievo  in  marble        .               26     5  o 

1766,  For  a  basso-relievo  in  marble        .  .     10  10  o 
1769,  For  a  model  in  clay     .         .         .               21     o  o 
1769,  For  a  design  for  ornamental  furniture  .     2100 


Opposite  as  Nollekens  and  Banks  were  in  their  modes 
of  study,  they  were  on  very  good  terms  as  neighbours  ;  the 
latter  frequently  visited  the  former,  and  would  stand  over 
him  when  he  was  modelling  a  bust,  conversing  upon  the 
abilities  of  the  rising  generation.  Banks  was  ever  warm 
in  his  praises  of  Flaxman,  whose  talents,  he  said,  would  shine 


1782),  who  had  been  Dr.  John- 
son's schoolfellow,  was  rector 
of  St.  Mary-le-Bow  Church  for 
twenty-four  years.  His  auto- 
biography caused  scandal  and 
amusement  by  its  picture  of 
"  preferment-hunting  as  the 
great  occupation  of  an  ecclesi- 
astical life "  (Gibbon).  New- 
ton wrote  Milton's  life  and 
edited  Paradise  Lost.  Of  his 
Dissertation  on  the  Prophecies 
Dr.  Johnson  said  that  it  is 
"Tom's  great  work,  certainly, 
but  how  much  of  it  is  good 
and  how  much  of  it  is 
Tom's  is  another  question." 
Banks's  monument  is  a  ceno- 
taph, Newton  being  buried  in 
St.  Paul's ;  it  has  been  re- 
moved from  its  original  posi- 
tion, and  its  old  railings  are 
now  in  St.  Osmund's  Church 
at  Parkstone,  Dorset. 


The  Hand  monument  in  St. 
Giles  Cripplegate  Church  is  to 
Ann  Martha  Hand,  and  repre- 
sents her  dying  in  the  arms  of 
her  husband. 

Woollett's  mural  monument 
in  the  south  walk  of  the  Abbey 
cloisters  represents  him  in  the 
act  of  engraving,  with  angels 
looking  on. 

Baretti's  tablet  in  Maryle- 
bone  Old  Church  has  a  medal- 
lion portrait. 

Banks's  huge  monument  to 
Sir  Eyre  Coote  stands  in  the 
north  transept  of  the  Abbey, 
back  to  back  with  Nollekens's 
"  Three  Captains,"  and  in- 
cludes in  its  design  an  elephant 
and  a  Mahratta  prisoner. 

The  monument  to  George 
Blagdon  Westcott  fills  a  bay 
in  the  north  aisle  of  St.  Paul's 
nave. 


THOMAS  BANKS,  R.A.  127 

beyond  any  thing  at  present  visible  in  modern  art.  "  He 
blends,"  said  Banks,  "  a  deep  knowledge  of  the  antique, 
with  native  beauty  in  its  simplest  state.  I  perceive  no 
violation  of  form,  no  strained  exertion,  excepting  when 
nervous  energy  is  called  for." 

NOLLEKENS.  "  I  don't  like  him  ;  he  holds  me  very  cheap, 
and  he's  always  talking  of  the  simple  line  in  the  antique : 
why,  he  has  never  been  at  Rome  ;  he  has  never  been  over 
the  Alps  ;  he  has  never  been  at  the  top  of  Mount  Vesuvius, 
where  I  have  washed  my  hands  in  the  clouds  :  what  can 
he  know  about  the  matter  ?  he  never  stays  a  minute 
longer  than  to  speak  with  Smith,  when  he  comes  into  my 
studio." 

BANKS.  "  Well,  well,  we  shall  see,  he  will  be  going  to 
Rome  one  of  these  days." 

NOLLEKENS.  "  Pray  did  you  go  to  Christie's,  to  see  the 
fine  collection  of  models  that  belonged  to  Hudson,  Sir 
Joshua's  master  ?  he  had  some  pictures  and  some  bronzes." 

BANKS.  "  No." 

NOLLEKENS.  "  Why,  they  was  sold  in  February  last ; 
I  bought  a  very  pretty  lot,  of  two  figures  of  Painting  and 
Sculpture,  that  Roubiliac  modelled  for  Hudson's  front 
parlour  chimney-piece." 

BANKS.  "  What  did  you  give  for  them  ?  " 

NOLLEKENS.  "  Why,  one  pound,  three  shillings.  Lot 
36,  the  model  Roubiliac  made  for  Mr.  Garrick's  figure  of 
Shakspeare  at  Hampton,  was  bought  by  Monsieur  Le  Bran. 
Nat  Smith  bought  lot  37,  the  model  of  Handel's  figure  in 
Vauxhall  Gardens ;  he  gave  five  guineas  for  it,  and  he's 
going  to  let  me  have  it  at  the  same  money." 

This  sale  took  place  February  25th  and  26th,  in  1785, 
several  years  after  the  death  of  Thomas  Hudson  :  it  con- 
sisted partly  of  numerous  models  by  Roubiliac,  which  had 
been  mostly  purchased  at  that  artist's  sale,  which  took 
place,  in  Saint  Martin's-lane,  immediately  after  his  death. 
They  had  been  left  by  Hudson  to  a  gentleman  who  resided 


128        NOLLEKENS  AND   HIS   TIMES 

many  years  after  the  death  of  Hudson  in  his  house  at 
Twickenham.1 

Hudson  observed  to  his  pupil,  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  who 
had  a  villa  on  the  summit  of  Richmond-hill,  "  Little  did  I 
think  we  should  ever  have  had  country-houses  opposite 
to  each  other ;  "  to  whom  Sir  Joshua  replied,  "  Little  did  I 
think,  when  I  was  a  young  man,  that  I  should  at  any  time 
look  down  upon  Mr.  Hudson." 

In  order  to  show  the  benevolence  of  Banks,  and  how  truly 
happy  he  must  have  been  in  rendering  assistance  to  modest 
genius,  I  shall  request  the  reader's  pardon  for  the  insertion 
of  an  anecdote,  related  in  an  interesting  little  book,  written 
by  a  celebrated  author  under  a  feigned  name,  entitled, 
The  Looking-Glass :  a  True  History  of  the  Early  Years  of 
an  Artist ;  calculated  to  awaken  the  attainment :  particularly 
in  the  cultivation  of  the  Fine  Arts.  By  Theophilus  Mar  cliff  e. 

The  author,  in  Chapter  VIII.  states  the  visits  made  to 
Mr.  Banks  by  a  youth,  who  wished,  at  the  age  of  thirteen 
years,  to  gain  admittance  to  draw  in  the  Royal  Academy, 
in  the  following  words. 

He  remembered  the  lesson  he  had  learned  of  exercising 
the  knocker  of  the  door  in  such  a  manner,  as  to  announce  to 
the  people  within,  that  it  was  a  person  not  to  be  despised 
who  stood  on  the  outside.  By  some  inadvertence  or  per- 
turbation, the  knocker  slipped  from  his  hand  after  a  single 
rap.  Remarking  his  error,  he  now  raised  it  again,  and  from 
the  same  perturbation,  produced  a  much  louder  report  than 
he  had  intended.  Mrs.  Banks,  or  a  servant,  opened  the 
door  to  him,  and  inquired  his  business.  He  answered, 
articulately  and  at  full,  that  he  wanted  to  know  whether  Mr. 
Thomas  Banks,  R.A.  and  Sculptor  to  the  Royal  Academy, 
lived  there.  Mr.  Banks  made  his  appearance.  Our  little 
fortune-hunter  could  not  have  met  with  a  more  gentle  and 
friendly-hearted  man,  to  whom  to  open  his  adventurous 
application. 

1  Hudson  died  January  26,  persed  in  that  year  on  March 
1779  ;  his  drawings  were  dis-  15  and  eleven  following  days. 


THOMAS   BANKS,  R.A.  129 

"  Well,  my  little  man,"  said  Mr.  Banks,  "  what  is  your 
business  with  me  ?  " — "  I  want,  Sir,  that  you  should  get  me 
to  draw  at  the  Royal  Academy." — "  That  is  not  in  my 
power.  Things  are  not,  in  that  respect,  as  they  used  to  be. 
Nobody  is  admitted  to  draw  there  but  by  ballot ;  and  I 
am  only  one  of  the  persons  upon  whose  pleasure  it  depends. 
But  what  have  you  got  there  ?  Let  me  look  at  your  drawing. ' ' 
— Mr.  Banks  looked  at  it.  "  Humph  !  Ay  !  Time  enough 
yet,  my  little  man  !  Do  you  go  to  school  ?  " — "  Yes,  Sir." 
— "  Well ;  go  home,  and  mind  your  schooling  ;  and  try 
and  make  a  better  drawing  of  the  Apollo  ;  and  in  a  month 
you  may  come  again  and  let  me  see  it." 

He  now  applied  with  threefold  diligence ;  thought  and 
thought  again,  sketched  and  obliterated ;  and  at  last,  as 
nearly  as  possible  at  the  expiration  of  the  month,  repeated 
his  visit  to  Mr.  Banks.  Mr.  Banks  was  better  pleased  with 
his  second  specimen.  He  now  took  him  into  his  study, 
bade  him  look  about  him,  and  asked  him  what  he  thought 
of  one  thing  and  another.  He  encouraged  him,  told  him 
to  go  on  with  his  drawing,  and  said  he  might  come  again 
in  a  week.  Under  the  eye  of  Mr.  Banks,  the  boy's  proficiency 
was  visible,  and  the  artist  began  to  conceive  a  kindness 
for  him.1 

Little  did  Mr.  Banks  think,  when  he  was  questioning  this 
youth,  that  Nature  had  enriched  him  with  some  of  her 
choicest  gifts,  and  that  the  Royal  Academy  would  in  him, 
at  this  moment,  have  had  to  boast  of  one  of  its  brightest 
members,  in  the  name  of  Mulready. — Mr.  Banks  died  at  his 
house,  No.  5,  Newman-street,  and  was  buried  at  Padding- 
ton,  February  8th,  1805,  aged  67.2 

1  Mulready's  little  book  The  boy's  interview  with  Banks  led 

Looking-glass,  from  which  the  to  his  entering  a  drawing-school 

above   passage   is   taken,   ap-  in   Furnival's   Inn-court,   and 

peared  in  1805,  and  is  supposed  afterwards    in    the    sculptor's 

to  have  been  written  by  Wil-  studio,  with  the  result  that  he 

Ham  Godwin  from  Mulready's  was  admitted  a  student  of  the 

information.    It  was  reprinted,  Royal  Academy  in  1800. 
with   explanatory   matter   by        2  Banks  was  buried   in  the 

F.  G.  Stephens,  in  1889.    The  ground  behind  Paddington  Old 
VOL.  n. — K 


130        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

Shortly  after  Mr.  Banks's  death,  the  present  Mr.  Christie, 
while  selling  the  contents  of  his  studio,  incurred  the  mo- 
mentary displeasure  of  Flaxman,  by  the  following  observa- 
tion, made  when  expatiating  upon  the  fine  form  of  the 
antique.  "  You  see  in  these  the  beauties  which  our  late 
artist  has  incorporated  in  his  works."  Flaxman  hastily, 
and  perhaps  with  more  warmth  than  he  was  accustomed 
to  exercise,  said,  in  rather  a  high  tone,  "  Mr.  Banks  wanted 
no  assistance ;  "  so  highly  were  his  talents  appreciated  by 
our  late  departed  Phidias. 

In  this  auction,  the  late  Mr.  Blundell,  of  Ince,1  bought  a 
large  fragment  of  an  antique  figure,  supposed  to  have  been 
one  of  the  Arundel  Marbles,  which  was  discovered  in  the 
following  curious  manner.  When  Sir  William  Chambers 
was  extending  the  embankment  of  Somerset-place  into  the 
Thames,  to  dig  a  foundation  for  the  Terrace  of  the  present 
building  of  Somerset-place,  the  above  fragment  was  dug 
up.  After  many  conjectures,  it  was  recollected  that  the 
Earl  of  Arundel,  who  had  moved  the  fragments  of  his  fine 
collection  from  his  house  in  the  Strand,  over  to  a  garden 
which  he  then  had  on  the  opposite  shore,  might  have  lost 
this  in  the  attempt  to  convey  it  thither.  As  it  was  marble, 
it  was  sent  to  Mr.  Banks  by  Sir  William.  Upon  comparing 
this  fragment  with  the  etchings  of  several  of  the  Arundelian 
fragments  given  in  Nichols's  History  of  Lambeth,  it  was 
found  to  corroborate  in  marble  and  style  of  sculpture. 
These  gardens  were  afterwards  held  by  Boydell  Cuper,  a 
gardener  of  the  Earl's,  and  were  for  many  years  well-known 
as  a  place  of  public  resort  for  music,  dancing,  &c.  under  the 
appellation  of  Cuper's  Gardens ;  and  occasionally,  as  they 

Church,  and  it  is  the  hardly  legal  responsibilities  involved 

credible  fact  that  the  grave-  in  bringing  it  to  the  surface 

stone    of    this    distinguished  appear  to  be  the  explanation 

sculptor  lies  in  a  known  spot,  of  its  concealment, 

under  a  tree,  about  one  "  spit  "  1  See  Index, 
below  the  grass.    The  indirect 


THOMAS  BANKS,  R.A. 


131 


were  frequented  by  several  fine  women,  they  were  called 
"  Cupid's  Gardens."  I  walked  over  them,  when  they  were 
occupied  by  Messrs.  Beaufoy,  by  their  Wine  and  Vinegar 
Works,  and  I  then  saw  many  of  the  old  lamp-irons  along  the 
paling  of  the  gardens.  The  road  on  the  Surrey  side  of 
Waterloo-Bridge  passes  over  the  site  of  these  gardens.1 


1  The  Arundel  collection  of 
antique  sculptures  was  formed 
at  Arundel  House,  in  the 
Strand,  in  the  seventeenth 
century,  by  Thomas  Howard, 
second  Earl  of  Arundel.  It 
included  statues,  busts,  altars, 
and  sarcophagi.  This  was  the 
first  collection  of  its  kind  made 
in  England,  and  it  engaged  the 
attention  of  John  Selden  and 
other  antiquaries.  A  strange 
neglect  befell  it  when  the  Earl 
went  to  Italy.  Many  fine 
statues  were  removed  to  a 
colonade  at  the  bottom  of  the 
garden  of  Arundel  House,  and 
were  there  injured.  His  grand- 
son and  heir,  Henry  Duke  of 
Norfolk,  does  not  seem  to  have 
valued  these  treasures,  and  in 
1646  Evelyn  found  them  scat- 
tered up  and  down  the  garden. 
He  prevailed  on  the  Duke  to 
present  them  to  the  University 
of  Oxford,  where  they  are  now 
preserved.  Those  which  had 
been  removed  to  the  opposite 


side  of  the  river  are  said  to 
have  been  actually  buried, 
later,  under  earth  and  rubbish 
brought  from  the  foundations 
of  St.  Paul's.  Fragments  were 
found  in  many  places,  and  we 
hear  of  an  ancient  column  being 
used  as  a  garden  roller,  and  of 
precious  relics  turning  up  in 
Arundel-street  cellars.  A  fine 
bust  of  Homer  came  into  the 
possession  of  Dr.  Mead,  and 
is  now  in  the  British  Museum. 
For  these  and  other  details,  see 
Nichols's  Literary  Anecdotes, 
Vol.  II. — Cuper's  Gardens  was 
adorned  by  fragments  of  the 
Arundel  collection  until  1717, 
when  they  were  sold  for  75^. 
Mr.  Warwick  Wroth  gives  the 
name  of  the  Earl's  gardener  as 
Boyder  (not  Boydell)  Cuper,  in 
his  London  Pleasure  Gardens 
of  the  Eighteenth  Century.  The 
last  of  the  gardens  was  seen 
in  1814,  when  the  south  ap- 
proach to  Waterloo  Bridge 
was  formed. 


AGOSTINO   CARLINI,    R.A. 

A'OSTINO    CARLINI,   though    an    Italian    who 
associated  mostly  with  foreigners,  as  an  early 
member  of  our  Royal  Academy,  should  not  be 
forgotten  in  this  work.     He  lived  and  died  in 
the  house,  now  No.  14,  in  Carlisle-street,  Soho,  at  the  corner 
of  King's-square-court. 

Carlini  was  a  man  of  talent ;  he  executed  the  colossal 
masks,  representing  the  rivers  Dee,  Tyne,  and  Severn, 
three  of  the  nine  on  the  key-stones  of  the  Strand  front  of 
Somerset-place,  and  likewise  the  two  centre  statues  against 
the  same  edifice.  The  statue  of  Doctor  Ward,  who  was 
commonly  called  a  quack,  and  which  was  presented  to  the 
Society  of  Arts,  is,  though  it  possesses  no  small  share  of 
foreign  affectation,  a  pretty  fair  specimen  of  his  abilities. 
Joshua  Ward,  for  whom  Dr.  Johnson  had  a  most  sovereign 
contempt,  was  originally  a  Friar,  and  not  only  maker  of 
that  popular  nostrum  usually  called  "  Friar's  Balsam,"  but 
also  of  the  drops  well  known  under  his  name.  He  lived  in 
Pall  Mall ;  gave  advice  to  the  poor,  gratis,  at  Whitehall ; 
and  boldly  and  extensively  styled  himself,  "  The  Restorer 
of  Health,  and  Father  to  the  Poor."  He  was  large  and 
cumberous,  highly  consequential,  and  that  kind  of  person 
denominated  by  some  people  a  comely  man,  but  he  had, 
unfortunately  for  his  features,  what  is  called  a  claret  face  ; 
though  that,  like  Bardolph's  nose,  was  a  perpetual  adver- 
tisement to  him ;  for  wherever  he  went,  this  mark  of 
Fortune's  frolic  was  noticed  by  the  passengers,  and  drew 
upon  him  the  blessing  of  every  gin-drinking,  furmity  woman, 

132 


AGOSTINO  CARLINI,  R.A. 


133 


or  shoe-black,  who  at  that  time  stood  at  the  corners  of  most 
of  the  streets  in  London.  But  notwithstanding  this  popu- 
larity, which  he  had  gained  by  throwing  money  to  them 
from  his  splendid  coach,  to  impede  his  progress  when  in 
great  haste  to  visit  a  patient,  he  was  often  annoyed  by  the 
rude  and  sometimes  pointedly  witty  remarks  made  upon 
his  claret  face  ;  and  Hogarth  did  not  suffer  him  to  pass 
unnoticed.  His  vanity  induced  him  to  have  his  portrait 
frequently  painted  by  Bardwell,  Loving,  &c.  ;  but  as  these 
portrayings  exhibited  his  peculiar  stigma,  he  hit  upon  an 
expedient  of  handing  himself  down  to  posterity  without  it, 
by  having  his  effigy  carved  in  white  marble.  He  therefore 
employed  his  old  friend  Carlini,  who  had  frequently,  in 
early  days,  assisted  him  in  preparing  his  Balsam,  to  produce 
a  statue  of  him,  as  large  as  life,  in  his  usual  dress  and 
pompous  wig  ;  and  in  order  to  make  this  statue  talked  of, 
and  seen  at  the  Sculptor's  studio,  he  proposed  to  allow 
Carlini  two  hundred  guineas  per  annum,  to  enable  him  to 
work  at  it  occasionally  till  it  was  finished  ;  and  this  sum 
the  Artist  continued  annually  to  receive  till  his  death.  The 
statue  was  then  sent  to  the  Society  of  Arts,  where  it  was 
fixed  in  their  great  room,  in  the  presence  of  Barry's  grand 
pictures,  so  immortalized  by  Dr.  Johnson  for  their  "  grasp 
of  mind  ;  "  though  some  of  my  readers  will  recollect,  that 
the  Doctor  never  professed  any  knowledge  as  to  painting.1 


1  Ward's  quackery  was  suffi- 
ciently successful  to  become  a 
subject  of  controversy,  and  his 
name  is  slightly  associated  with 
those  of  Bolingbroke,  Gibbon, 
Fielding,  and  Lord  Chester- 
ield.  In  1734  his  antimony 
)ill  and  drop  were  stigmatized 
as  worthless  and  dangerous  in 
the  Grub  Street  Journal.  Ward 
sued  for  libel,  and  found  stout 
champions,  but  lost  his  action. 
He  died  November  2ist,  1761. 


His  modest  desire  to  be  buried 
in  Westminster  Abbey,  "as 
near  to  the  altar  as  might  be," 
was  not  fulfilled.  Hogarth 
introduces  Ward's  head  into  his 
"  Consultations  of  Physicians  " 
in  juxtaposition  to  Mrs.  Mapp, 
the  bone-setter,  and  Pope  tells 
how  "  Ward  tried  on  puppies, 
and  the  poor,  his  Drop." 
Carlini's  life-like  statue  of  Ward 
now  stands  in  the  entrance  hall 
of  the  Society  of  Arts,  John- 


134        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

Perhaps  the  design  for  Beckf ord's  cenotaph,  of  which  there 
is  a  large  bold  engraving  by  his  friend  Bartolozzi,  is  the  best 
of  Carlini's  works.  Carlini  was  extremely  intimate  with 
Cipriani,  to  whom,  according  to  the  usual  modern  mode 
of  slandering  the  Sculptors,  it  has  been  said,  he  was  often 
indebted  for  his  designs. 

My  father,  who  also  made  a  model,  and  Carlini,  were  the 
unsuccessful  candidates  for  Beckford's  monument ;  and 
Moore,  then  living  in  Wells-street,  Oxford-street,  was 
employed  to  execute  the  cenotaph  in  Guildhall — a  glaring 
specimen  of  marble  spoiled ;  of  which  scandal  said,  the 
task  was  given  to  him  because  he  was  a  native  of  Hanover. 
This  report,  however,  when  we  consider  its  total  want  of 
plausibility  ought  never  again  to  be  circulated ;  for  is  it 
likely  that  the  City  would  have  given  the  preference  to  a 
native  of  Hanover  for  the  Sculptor,  out  of  compliment  to 
the  King,  when  they  were  about  to  engrave  upon  its  tablet 
the  very  speech  which  must  have  been  most  obnoxious  to 
the  Monarch  ? 

J.  F.  Moore  was  the  Sculptor  who  carved  the  figure  of 
Mrs.  Macaulay,  for  the  monument  put  up  in  St.  Stephen's, 
Walbrook,  by  her  doating  admirer,  Dr.  Thomas  Wilson ; 
which,  it  is  said,  the  same  divine  had  pulled  down  when  that 
lady  offended  him  by  marrying  a  brother  of  Graham,  the 
Quack  Doctor.  I  believe  the  Bishop  insisted  upon  its 
removal,  though  some  one  ordered  the  figure  to  be  given 
back  to  Moore,  with  full  permission  to  do  whatever  he 
pleased  with  it.1 

street,  but  not  (as  Smith  seems  death  she  continued  it  at  Bath, 
to  indicate)  in  Ward's  life-time ;  where  she  infatuated  Dr. 
it  was  presented  to  the  Society  Thomas  Wilson,  the  absentee 
by  Ralph  Ward,  the  quack's  rector  of  St.  Stephen's,  Wai- 
grand-nephew,  in  1792.  brook.  Wilson  placed  a  white 
1  Catharine  Macaulay  (1731-  marble  statue  of  Mrs.  Macaulay 
1791)  produced  the  first  part  within  the  altar  rails  of  that 
of  her  History  of  England  in  church,  representing  her  as  the 
1763.  After  her  husband's  Muse  of  History  with  a  pen  in 


AGOSTINO  CARLINI,  R.A. 


135 


The  Doctor  also  employed  Moore  to  execute  a  monument 
to  the  memory  of  his  wife,  leaving  the  dexter  side  of  the 
tablet  plain,  for  the  insertion  of  his  own  death.  It  was 
put  up  in  the  chancel  of  the  same  church  of  St.  Stephen,  in 
March  1773,  eleven  years  previous  to  the  Doctor's  death, 
which  took  place  on  the  I5th  of  April,  1784.  This  monu- 
ment is  full  as  worthless  a  specimen  of  the  Sculptor  as  that 
erected  to  Alderman  Beckford,  in  Guildhall. 

Carlini  also  made  an  excellent  model,  about  two  feet  in 
height,  of  William  Duke  of  Cumberland,  with  a  peculiar 
three-cornered  hat,  commonly  called  the  "  Cumberland 
Cock."  It  was  purchased  by  my  father  at  the  Sculptor's 
sale,  after  his  death,  which  took  place  in  1790. 

Among  Carlini's  best  works  were  a  model  of  an  equestrian 
statue  of  King  George  III.  and  an  emblematical  figure 
representing  Maritime  power  and  riches.1  When  Carlini 
was  keeper  of  the  Royal  Academy,  he  used  to  walk  from 
his  house  to  Somerset-place,  with  a  broken  tobacco-pipe 
in  his  mouth,  and  dressed  in  a  deplorable  great  coat ;  but 
when  he  has  been  going  to  the  Academy-dinner,  I  have  seen 
him  getting  into  a  chair,  and  full-dressed  in  a  purple  silk 
coat,  scarlet  gold-laced  waistcoat,  point-lace  ruffles,  and  a 
sword  and  bag. 


her  hand  and  leaning  on  the 
volumes  of  her  own  work.  He 
also  built  a  vault  to  receive  her 
remains.  On  her  marriage  to 
Graham,  brother  of  the  ' '  Ce- 
lestial Bed  "  quack,  she  travel- 
led, and  finally  lived  at  Bin- 
field,  Berkshire,  where  a  monu- 
ment was  raised  to  her  in  the 
parish  church  by  her  second 
husband ;  this  includes  the 
figure  of  an  owl,  symbolizing 
wisdom. — John  Francis  Moore, 
the  sculptor  of  the  St.  Stephen's 
Walbrook  monument,  was  a 


native  of  Hanover.  He  lived 
in  Berners-street  and  died  in 
York  Buildings,  New-road, 
January  2ist,  1809.  For  his 
Beckford  monument,  now  in 
the  Guildhall,  the  Corporation 
paid  13002. 

1  This  model  was  executed 
in  wax  by  Carlini,  who  in 
November,  1768,  advertised  re- 
productions in  plaster  of  Paris 
at  six  guineas  each  from  his 
house  "  in  Dean  -  street,  St. 
Ann's,  Soho,  next  door  but  one 
to  the  tinman's." 


DR.    CHARLES   BURNEY 

DR.    BURNEY'S    conversazioni    were    extremely 
well  attended  by  persons  of  title,  though  he 
was  seldom  present  at  these  meetings  himself  ; 
for  being  a  very  laborious  man,  he  remained 
shut  up  in  his  study,  unless  they  were  truly  brilliant,  and  he 
heard  that  Lord  Brudenell,1  or  some  other  great  star,  was 
present,  when  he  would  immediately  dress  himself  in  his 
sword  and  bag,  and,  upon  entering  the  room,  observe  that 
he  had  just  left  the  Duke  of  Cumberland's.    He,  however, 
gave  bad  tea  and  worse  suppers,  for  his  polished  table  was 
disgraced  by  so  poor  an  entertainment,  that  a  dish  of  hard- 
baked  pears  had  been  nightly  rejected  to  the  extent  of  full 
six  weeks. 

The  following  anecdote,  communicated  to  me  by  Lieu- 
tenant-colonel Phillips,2  respecting  this  gentleman,  is  that 
referred  to  in  a  preceding  page.  When  Doctor  Burney 
lived  in  St.  Martin's-street,  he  frequently  indulged  his 
friends  in  small  recherchS  musical  parties,  at  one  of  which, 
whilst  Piozzi  and  Signora  Corri  (le  Minitrici)  were  singing 
a  duettino  enchantingly,  accompanied  by  her  husband 
Dominica  on  the  violin,  (the  father  of  Madame  Dussek,)3 
Nollekens  happened  to  drop  in  by  accident ;  and  after  the 

1  James    Baron    Brudenell,  8  Domenico     Corri     (1746- 
afterwards  fifth  Earl  of  Cardi-  1825),    the    composer,    whose 
gan  (1725-1811).  daughter,      Sophia,      married 

2  For  a  note  on  Phillips,  who  Dussek,  the  pianist, 
married  Dr.  Burney's  daughter, 

Susannah,  see  Chapter  II. 

136 


DR.   CHARLES  BURNEY  137 

bravos,  bravissimos,  and  all  the  expressive  ogles  of  admira- 
tion had  diminished,  Nollekens  called  out,  "  Doctor  Burney, 
I  don't  like  that  kind  of  music,  I  heard  a  great  deal  of  it 
in  Italy,  but  I  like  the  Scotch  and  English  music  better." — 
Doctor  Burney,  with  some  degree  of  irritation,  stepping 
forward,  replied,  "  Suppose  a  person  to  say,  '  Well,  I  have 
been  to  Rome,  saw  the  Apollo,  and  many  fine  works,  but 
for  all  that,  give  me  a  good  barber's  block.'  " — "  Ay,  that 
would  be  talking  like  a  fool,"  rejoined  the  Sculptor. 

Dr.  Burney's  terms  for  teaching  music  were  half  a  guinea 
a  lesson,  and  five  guineas  entrance.  The  late  Lady  Banks1 
was  one  of  his  pupils,  but  he  was  considered  by  most  men  of 
true  science  as  a  very  indifferent  musician ;  Sir  Joseph, 
who  played  the  flute  remarkably  well,  whenever  he  heard 
the  Doctor  at  the  piano,  always  shook  his  head  ;  this  mark 
of  disapprobation  being  also  accompanied  with  a  shrug 
of  the  shoulders.  The  Greek  with  which  his  labours  abound, 
was  corrected,  and  indeed  mostly  provided  by  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Twining  ;2  who  held  frequent  intercourse  with  him  as 
to  his  literary  matters.  Burke,  who  was  uncommonly  kind 
to  him,  procured  him  the  situation  of  organist  at  Chelsea 
Hospital,  with  an  increase  of  salary.3 

The  Doctor  was  rendered  uncomfortable  beyond  measure, 

1  Apparently  the  wife  of  Sir     by    his    grand  -  nephew,    Mr. 
Joseph  Banks  :  their  marriage     Richard  Twining. 

took  place  in  1779.  3  In  December,  1783,  Burke 

2  Thomas    Twining     (1735-  performed  this  act  of  kindness 
1804),    eldest    son    of    Daniel  when  leaving  office.   The  salary 
Twining,  the  second  head  of  was  advanced  from  30^.  to  50^. 
Twining's    tea    business,    was  Fanny    Burney    writes :     "  I 
described  by  Samuel  Parr  as  could  almost  have  cried  when 
one  of  the  best  scholars  of  his  he  said,  '  This  is  my  last  act 
time.       He     translated    Aris-  in  office  '  :  he  said  it  with  so 
totle's  Poetics,  and  his  life  of  manly  a  cheerfulness,  in  the 
taste  and  culture  is  recorded  midst    of   undisguised   regret, 
in  Recreations  and  Studies  of  a  What  a  man  he  is  !  "    Burney 
Country  Clergyman  of  the  Eigh-  and  his  family  resided  at  the 
teenth   Century   (1882),   edited  Hospital,  and  here  his  wife  died. 


138        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 


by  the  publication  of  a  small  work,  in  which  he  was  ridiculed 
under  the  appellation  of  "  Joel  Collier."  Upon  this  squib, 
he,  according  to  calculations,  expended  full  two  hundred 
pounds  in  buying  up  copies  wherever  they  were  offered  for 
sale.  George  Steevens  was  charged  with  its  authorship, 
which,  by  a  smiling  silence  peculiar  to  himself,  he  knew 
very  well  how  to  appear  to  acknowledge  :  however,  after 
the  death  of  Mr.  Bicknell,  it  was  discovered,  among  that 
gentleman's  papers,  that  he  wrote  it.1 

Severe  as  Steevens  was  when  speaking  of  those  persons 
he  avowedly  detested,  perhaps  the  following  anecdote  will 
exhibit  the  bitterest  dose  of  his  spleen  of  any  recorded.  When 
he  was  looking  at  a  portrait  of  Sir  John  Hill,  the  Herbalist,2 
at  my  father's  house,  he  exclaimed,  "He  was  the  handsomest 
man  in  England,  and  the  biggest  scoundrel  in  the  world." 


1  John    Bicknell    published 
anonymously,     in     1771,     his 
Musical  Travels  through  Eng- 
land, by  Joel  Collier,  Organist, 
to  burlesque  Burney's  account 
of  his  travels  on  the  Continent. 
A  second  and  enlarged  edition 
followed  a  year  later.    Boswell 
says  that  the  book  contained  a 
slight  attempt  to  ridicule  Dr. 
Johnson,    and    was    at    first 
ascribed    to    Soame    Jenyns. 
Some  of  its  humour  is  of  an 
outrageous    character.      It    is 
dedicated  to  the  Governors  of 
the    Foundling    Hospital    in 
satirical  approval  of  a  school 
of    music    which    had    been 
founded  for  the  orphans  with 
Dr.  Burney's  support.     "  We 
have  already  (to  our  shame  be 
it  spoken)   more  sailors  than 
singers,  and  better  farmers  than 
fiddlers." 

2  John   Hill  was  the  quack 


herbalist  and  voluminous 
writer  of  whom  Garrick,  smart- 
ing under  many  attacks,  wrote 

"For   Farces    and    Physic  his  equal 

there  scarce  is ; 

His  Farces  are   Physic,  his   Physic 
a  farce  is." 

Churchill  said  that  he  knew 
"  at  once  to  play,  prescribe, 
compound,  compose."  For  his 
work,  The  Vegetable  System,  in 
twenty-six  folio  volumes,  Hill 
was  made  Knight  of  the  Pole 
Star  by  the  King  of  Sweden. 
At  one  time  he  kept  a  chemist's 
shop  in  James-street,  Co  vent 
Garden,  selling  herbs,  which  he 
cultivated  in  Bayswater.  He 
died  in  Golden-square,  Novem- 
ber 2ist,  1775.  "  He  was  an 
ingenious  man,  but  had  no  ver- 
acity," was  Dr.  Johnson's  com- 
ment, and  his  career  was  more 
elaborately  stigmatized  byChris- 
topher  Smart  in  The  Hilliad. 


DR.  CHARLES  BURNEY 


139 


The  Doctor  lived  for  many  years  in  Poland-street,  but  at 
the  time  he  held  his  meetings,  he  resided  in  St.  Martin's- 
street,  Leicester-fields,  next  door  to  Orange-street  Chapel, 
where  I  have  frequently  heard  Mr.  Toplady  preach  ;x  and 
in  the  very  house  now  standing,  No.  36,  in  which  Sir  Isaac 
Newton  lived,  whose  observatory  still  remains  above  the 
attics.2 


1  As  a  boy  of  nine  to  eleven 
Smith  might  have  heard  the 
author  of  "  The  Rock  of  Ages  " 
at  the  Orange-street  Chapel  at 
the    corner    of    Orange-street 
and  St.  Martin's-street.     Top- 
lady  was  then  in  consumption. 
In  this  pulpit  Toplady  preached 
on  June  I4th,  1778,  the  sermon 
which    he    published    as    his 
"  dying  avowal  of  his  religious 
sentiments." 

2  It  is  doubtful  whether  the 
observatory  was  ever  used  by 
Newton.    According  to  Timbs, 
it  was  ' '  built  by  a  subsequent 
tenant,  a  Frenchman,  but  long 
shown    as    Newton's."      This 
French  tenant  would  be  Paul 
Dominique,     who     succeeded 
Newton  in  the  house.     Tom 
Taylor,  in  his  history  of  Leices- 
ter-square,  adopts   this  view, 
and  says  that  the  Frenchman 
fitted  up  the  instruments.  The 
Burneys    fully    accepted    the 
tradition.      As    late    as    1843 
Lord  Macaulay  wrote  of  this 
house  that  it  "  will  continue 
to  be  well  known  as  long  as 
our  island  retains   any   trace 
of  civilisation  ;    for  it  was  the 
dwelling  of  Newton,  and  the 
square    turret    which    distin- 
guishes it  from  all  the  surround- 


ing buildings  was  Newton's 
observatory."  Yet  this  pre- 
diction was  partly  falsified  in 
Macaulay's  lifetime,  for  the 
house  was  stuccoed  over  in 
1849,  and  at  some  date  be- 
tween then  and  1870  the  ob- 
servatory was  taken  down. 
Mr.  Holden  Macmichael  (Char- 
ing Cross  and  its  Immediate 
Neighbourhood)  says  that  it 
was  sold  to  supply  material  for 
pews  in  the  chapel  next  door. 
In  1870  the  following  notice 
was  printed  in  Notes  and  Queries 
of  August  I3th :  "  The  Obser- 
vatory of  Sir  Isaac  Newton, — 
This  most  interesting  relic,  in 
which  the  astronomer  is  said 
to  have  spent  most  of  his 
time,  and  written  his  immortal 
Principia  and  other  works, 
being  in  the  market  for  the 
comparatively  reasonable  sum 
°f  33°  guineas,  it  is  proposed 
to  raise  that  sum  by  public 
subscription,  and  present  the 
building  to  the  British  nation 
for  erection  either  at  South 
Kensington  or  elsewhere,  as 
may  be  hereafter  determined. 
Subscriptions  will  be  received 
by  J-  W.  Lowndes,  Esq., 
Journal  Office,  Oxford,  and 
J.  H.  Blofield,  Esq.,  F.G.S., 


140        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

The  following  are  copied  from  letters  with  which  I  was 
favoured  by  Mrs.  Cosway,  and  as  they  exhibit  the  coquettish 
manner  in  which  Dr.  Burney  granted  the  favour  of  his 
presence  in  company  when  invited,  I  conclude  they  will 
not  prove  unamusing  to  the  reader. 

DR.  BURNEY  presents  his  best  compliments  to  Mrs. 
Cosway,  and  is  very  much  flattered  by  her  remembrance. 
He  did  not  know  she  was  in  England,  or  would  certainly 
have  made  inquiries  after  her  health,  without  any  other 
selfish  view  than  the  hope  of  finding  it  perfect. 

Dr.  B.  has,  unluckily,  engagements  for  every  evening 
next  week ;  but  he  will  try  his  utmost  dexterity  to  steal  a 
few  minutes,  at  least,  from  those  of  to-morrow  and  Wednes- 
day, for  the  gratification  of  his  wish  to  avail  himself  of  the 
invitation  with  which  he  has  been  honoured  by  Mrs.  Cosway. 

St.  Martin's-street,  Sunday, 
2nd  March,  1788. 

Chelsea  College,  Tuesday,  Dec.  16,  1799. 

DEAR   MADAM, 

I  have  long  known  the  difficulty  of  arranging 
parties  in  London  ;  i  Diavolini  degl'  impedimenti  are  always 
so  busy  on  such  occasions  !  and  even  you,  who  are  prattica- 
tissima  in  these  matters,  I  perceive,  cannot  escape  their 
claws  ! 

It  was,  however,  lucky  for  me,  that  Friday  next  would 
not  suit  Signer  Damiani,  as  I  am  engaged  to  a  Christmas 
party  at  a  friend's  villa  on  that  day,  and  shall  not  return  to 
Chelsea  till  Tuesday  or  Wednesday.  Thursday,  therefore, 
the  26th  December,  will  be  perfectly  convenient  for  the 
happiness  of  waiting  upon  you,  to 

Your  much  obliged, 
And  very  affectionate  servant, 

CHARLES  BURNEY. 

secretary,  4  Basing-road,  Not-  1913,  the  Newton-Burney  house 
ting-hill,    London,    N."      The  has  been  demolished,  but  pro- 
pages  of  Notes  and  Queries  do  vision  has  been  made  for  its 
not  record  the  result  of  the  possible  re-erection  elsewhere, 
appeal.     In  the  present  year, 


DR.  CHARLES  BURNEY  141 

The  contents  of  Mr.  Bicknell's  tract,  which  cut  so  deeply, 
are  highly  laughable,  and  it  is  now  very  rare.  No  creature 
had  a  more  cunning  or  cautious  mode  of  putting  out  its 
feelers  than  Dr.  Burney.  Whenever  a  new  singer  or  per- 
former appeared,  he  would  attend  the  Duke  of  Cumberland, 
who  had,  as  indeed  all  the  present  Royal  Family  have,  a 
most  excellent  taste  in  music,  and  listen  to  his  Royal  High- 
ness's  remarks  upon  the  talents  of  the  person  in  question ; 
after  which,  he  would,  in  the  next  house  he  entered,  give 
the  Duke's  opinion  and  observations  as  his  own  ;  so  that  by 
first  listening  before  he  extended  his  proboscis,  he  appeared 
extremely  knowing,  and  was  looked  up  to.  As  there  is  some 
pleasure  in  being  acquainted  with  the  names  of  the  eminent 
characters  who  formerly  assembled  at  such  meetings,  I 
insert  a  few  of  those  who  attended  Doctor  Burney's,  from 
the  recollection  of  one  of  the  few  survivors.  The  Hon. 
Daines  Barrington,  Baretti,  Barry,  the  painter ;  Lord 
Brudenell,  Mrs.  Bryon,  Mrs.  Carter,  Lady  Mary  Duncan, 
Garrick,  Mrs.  Garrick,  Dr.  Hutton,  Dr.  Johnson,  Latrobe, 
Nollekens,  Mrs.  Nollekens,  Miss  Palmer,  (Sir  Joshua  Rey- 
nolds's  niece,  who  died  Marchioness  of  Thomond),  General 
Paoli,  (godfather  to  Napoleon),  Dr.  Shepherd,  George 
Steevens,  Dr.  Johnson's  Mrs.  Williams,  Colonel  Phillips, 
one  of  the  two  surviving  gentlemen  who  accompanied 
Captain  Cook  in  his  last  voyage  round  the  world,  who  is 
most  honourably  mentioned  in  the  account  of  that  excur- 
sion.1 

1  For  many  references  to  Phillips,  see  Index. 


ISAAC   WARE,    AND    HIS   COMPANIONS   AT 
OLD  SLAUGHTER'S 

I  NEVER  pass  Whitehall  without  recollecting  the 
following  anecdote,  related  to  me  by  my  father 
nearly  in  these  words. 
A  thin  sickly  little  boy,  a  chimney-sweeper,  was 
amusing  himself  one  morning  by  drawing,  with  a  piece  of 
chalk,  the  street-front  of  Whitehall  upon  the  basement- 
stones  of  the  building  itself,  carrying  his  delineations  as 
high  as  his  little  arms  could  possibly  reach ;  and  this  he 
was  accomplishing  by  occasionally  running  into  the  middle 
of  the  street  to  look  up  at  the  noble  edifice,  and  then  re- 
turning to  the  base  of  the  building  to  proceed  with  his 
elevation.  It  happened  that  his  operations  caught  the  eye 
of  a  gentleman  of  considerable  taste  and  fortune,  as  he  was 
riding  by.  He  checked  the  carriage,  and  after  a  few  minutes' 
observation,  called  to  the  boy  to  come  to  him  ;  who,  upon 
being  asked  as  to  where  he  lived,  immediately  burst  into 
tears,  and  begged  of  the  gentleman  not  to  tell  his  master, 
assuring  him  he  would  wipe  it  all  off.  "  Don't  be  alarmed," 
answered  the  gentleman,  at  the  same  time  throwing  him  a 
shilling,  to  convince  him  he  intended  him  no  harm. 

His  benefactor  then  went  instantly  to  his  master,  in 
Charles-court,  in  the  Strand,1  who  gave  the  boy  a  most  ex- 
cellent character,  at  the  same  time  declaring  him  to  be  of 
little  use  to  him,  in  consequence  of  his  natural  bodily 

1  Charles-court  led  from  the  ket,  and  is  now  lost  in  the  fore- 
Strand  into  Hungerford  Mar-  court  of  Charing  Cross  Station. 

142 


ISAAC  WARE  AND  HIS  COMPANIONS    143 

weakness.  He  said  that  he  was  fully  aware  of  his  fondness 
for  chalking,  and  showed  his  visitor  what  a  state  his  walls 
were  in,  from  the  young  artist  having  drawn  the  portico  of 
St.  Martin's  Church  in  various  places  upon  them.  The 
gentleman  purchased  the  remainder  of  the  boy's  time ; 
gave  him  an  excellent  education  ;  then  sent  him  to  Italy  ; 
and,  upon  his  return,  employed  him,  and  introduced  him 
to  his  friends,  as  an  architect.1 

This  narrative  my  father  heard  the  Architect  himself 
relate,  while  he  was  sitting  to  Mr.  Roubiliac  for  his  bust. 
He  became  possessed  of  considerable  property,  and  built 
himself  a  country  mansion  at  Westbourn,  north  of  Bays- 
water,  the  very  house  in  which  Mr.  Cockerell,  the  Architect,2 
now  resides.  His  town-residence  at  that  time  was  in 
Bloomsbury-square,  on  the  western  side,  in  the  first  house 
from  Hart-street,  in  which  Mr.  D'Israeli,  the  author  of 
several  esteemed  literary  works,  now  resides.3  When  he 
was  at  the  height  of  his  celebrity,  he  compiled  a  Palladio, 
in  folio,  prefixed  to  which  the  anxious  reader  will  find  his 
name — Isaac  Ware.  Early  in  life,  I  engraved  a  very  in- 
different plate  of  Ware's  bust,  which  was  one  of  Roubiliac's 
best  performances.4  I  have  heard  my  father  declare,  that 
Ware  retained  the  stain  of  soot  in  his  skin  to  the  day  of  his 
death. 

1  Ware's    patron    was    pos-  Bloomsbury-square,  having  its 
sibly   Lord    Burlington    (Diet,  entrance  in  Hart-street,  where- 
Nat.  Biography).  as  Isaac  D'Israeli  lived  at  No. 

2  Samuel     Pepys    Cockerell  6,  this  house  being  the  first  on 
(1754-1827).  He  lived  at  West-  the  west  side  with  its  entrance 
bourne  Lodge  in  Harrow-road  :  in  the  square  itself.  Mr.  Rutton 
Ware     had    called    it    West-  also  shows  that  contrary  to  the 
bourne-place.  statement    of    the  Diet.  Nat. 

3  In     the    Home    Counties  Biography  that  Ware  died  in 
Magazine  (Vol.  IV,  p.  197),  Mr.  Bloomsbury-square,  he  died  at 
W.   L.   Rutton  shows   by  an  Hampstead,  and  was  buried  in 
elaborately   careful    argument  old  Paddington  Church. 

that  Ware  probably  lived  in  *  Ware's  English  edition  of 
the  house  now  numbered  5  Palladio  appeared  in  1738. 


144        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 


Ware  was  a  pretty  constant  visitor  of  Old  Slaughter's 
Coffee-house,  St.  Martin's-lane,  formerly  the  rendezvous  of 
Pope,  Dryden,  and  other  wits,  and  much  frequented  by 
several  eminently  clever  men  of  his  day  ; x  and  as  the  reader, 
if  I  may  judge  from  my  own  curiosity,  may  like  to  know  some 
of  their  names,  I  shall  here  insert  a  few,  with  their  places 
of  residence  at  the  time  they  and  Ware  made  this  their  house 
of  meeting. 

GRAVELOT  lived  on  the  south  side  of  the  Strand,  nearly 
opposite  to  Southampton-street,  where  he  kept  a  drawing- 
school.  The  designs  of  this  artist  are  numerous,  and  all 
of  them  tasteful  ;2  particularly  those  which  he  etched  him- 
self for  Sir  John  Hanmer's  smallest  edition  of  Shakspeare.3 
His  drawings  were  always  minutely  finished ;  as  if  he  had 
said,  "  I  will  leave  the  engraver  nothing  to  conjecture  ;  " 
and  he  was  particularly  fortunate  in  having  so  decided  an 
etcher  and  engraver  in  poor  old  Charles  Grignon,4  though 


1  Whether  Pope  and  Dryden 
frequented     Old     Slaughter's 
seems  doubtful,  but  it  became 
a  favourite  haunt  of  Jonathan 
Richardson,  George  Lambert, 
Hogarth,  Roubiliac,andWilson; 
later,  of  Haydon  and  Wilkie.  Its 
atmosphere  of  jest,  discussion, 
and   gastronomy  is   probably 
well  captured  in  Pyne's  Wine 
and  Walnuts,  Chapter  VIII. 

2  Hubert  Frangois  Gravelot, 
whose    real   name  was  Bour- 
gingnon,  was  born  in  Paris  in 
1699,  and  settled  in  London. 
He  illustrated  Dryden's  plays, 
the  Dunciad,  Tom  Jones,  and 
Gay's    Fables.      His    view    of 
Westminster    Hall,    with    the 
shops   in   it,    is   often   repro- 
duced.   He  directly  influenced 
Gainsborough's  early  efforts  in 
London. 


3  Sir  Thomas  Hanmer,  who 
was  Speaker  of  the  House  of 
Commons  for  a  few  months  in 
1714-15,  produced  an  edition 
of  Shakespeare  in  six  volumes 
in  1743-44.     Dibdin  describes 
it  as  the  first  "  which  appeared 
in  any  splendid  typographical 
form."      It  was  the  subject  of 
a     furious     quarrel     between 
Hanmer  and  Warburton   (see 
Nichols's    Literary    Anecdotes, 
Vol.    V,    588-90).     Gravelot's 
work    was    not    all    original, 
many     of     the     plates    being 
engraved  by  him  from  Frank 
Hay  man's  designs.     The  price 
of  the  edition,  which  has  small 
critical  value,  rose  from  three 
to  nine  guineas. 

4  For    other    references    to 
Grignon,  see  Index. 


ISAAC  WARE  AND  HIS  COMPANIONS    145 

indeed  their  advantages  were  mutual,  and  their  names, 
when  the  works  they  embellished  are  mentioned,  are 
inseparable. 

JOHN  GWYNN  resided  in  Little-court,  Castle-street, 
Leicester-fields.  He  was  an  Architect,  and  he  built,  among 
other  works,  the  bridge  at  Shrewsbury ;  with  which  the 
inhabitants  were  so  much  pleased,  that  a  portrait  of  him 
was  voted  to  be  put  up  in  their  Town-hall.  He  was  sup- 
ported by  his  steady  friend,  Doctor  Johnson,  who  wrote 
several  powerful  letters  concerning  his  talent  and  integrity  ; 
particularly  when  Gwynn  held  a  long  and  serious  competi- 
torship  with  Milne  for  the  designing  and  building  of  Black- 
friars-bridge.  Gwynn  was  the  professed  author  of  that 
most  ingenious  and  entertaining  work,  entitled,  London 
and  Westminster  Improved.  His  friend,  the  Doctor,  wrote 
the  preface,  and,  in  many  instances,  corrected  the  book  ;J 
and,  to  the  credit  of  this  production,  the  public  have  availed 
themselves  of  his  suggestions,  and  very  copiously  too,  in  the 
late  extensive  and  liberal  improvements  of  New  London, 
for  so  it  must  now  be  considered. 

HOGARTH,  at  the  Golden-head,  on  the  eastern  side  of 
Leicester-fields,  now  the  northern  half  of  the  Sabloniere 
Hotel.2  This  head  he  cut  out  himself,  from  pieces  of  cork 
glued  and  bound  together.  I  well  remember  that  it  was 
placed  over  the  street-door. 

1  "  A  fine,  lively,  rattling  easy  to  find  anything  noble  or 
fellow  "  is  Boswell's  descrip-  even  felicitous  in  this  Dedica- 
tion of  John  Gwynn,  the  archi-  tion." 

tect.  Smith  probably  exag-  2  The  SabloniSre  Hotel,  num- 
gerates  Johnson's  part  in  bered  30  Leicester-square,  was 
Gwynn's  remarkably  prophetic  on  the  site  of  the  present  Arch- 
book  London  and  Westminster  bishop  Tenison's  school,  and 
Improved  :  he  did  not  write  had  a  foreign  clientele.  It  was 
the  preface.  Boswell  says  he  afterwards  known  as  Jaquier's 
wrote  the  "  noble  dedication  Hotel.  A  good  view  of  it  is 
to  the  King,"  but  Dr.  Birkbeck  engraved  in theEuropeanMaga- 
still  thought  that  "it  is  not  zine  of  June,  1801. 

VOL.  II.— L 


146        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

ROUBILIAC  was  an  opposite  eastern  neighbour  of  Old 
Slaughter's.  His  house  and  other  premises  were  behind  the 
houses  in  Saint  Martin's-lane,  the  approach  to  which  was 
by  a  long  passage  and  gateway,  under  tenements  in  the 
street  which  were  not  occupied  by  him.1 

HUDSON  lived  in  Great  Queen-street,  Lincoln's-Inn-fields, 
in  the  house  in  which  Hoole,  the  Translator  of  Tasso,  lived, 
and  the  one  lately  occupied  by  Chippendale.2  It  is  now 
divided  into  Nos.  55  and  56.  Hudson  painted  most  of  the 
numerous  portraits  of  the  Dilettanti  Society,  which  now 
surround  their  dining-room  at  the  Thatched-house  Tavern, 
in  St.  James's-street.  His  manner  of  painting  was  woolly, 
possessing  little  variety  of  attitude,  and  no  depth  of  know- 
ledge in  reflected  lights.  All  that  Hudson  was  famous  for 
was,  that,  in  consequence  of  his  having  money  at  his  com- 
mand, he  was  enabled  to  purchase  many  fine  drawings  by 
the  great  painters,  of  which  he  possessed  a  choice  collec- 
tion ;  particularly  from  the  powerful  hand  of  Rembrandt, 
a  master  so  mighty,  that  his  productions  in  drawing,  etching, 
and  painting,  have  been  increasing  in  value,  ever  since  his 
death,  to  a  tenfold  degree.  I  conclude,  however,  that 
Rembrandt  made  but  little  money,  as  I  have  been  assured, 
that  at  his  death  his  pictures  and  effects  were  sold  by  an 
order  of  the  magistrate,  or  some  person  empowered,  in  order 
that  the  produce  should  be  distributed  among  his  creditors. 
I  have  also  been  informed,  that  there  is  a  printed  copy  of 

1  See  a  more  particular  de-  E.  Sylvia  Shaw,  who  states : 
scription of Roubiliac's quarters  "The  house,  56  Great  Queen- 
in  the  chapter  on  St.  Martin's-  street,  was  in  the  possession  of 
lane,  post.  my  great-grandfather,  William 

2  Probably    William    Chip-  Chippindall     (solicitor),     and 
pindall,  solicitor,  as  stated  in  a  family,      1815-1860."       This 
note  to  a  similar  passage  in  beautiful   old    house   is    now 
Chapter  VIII.     This   belief  is  (December,    1913)    threatened 
confirmed  by  a  letter  addressed  by  an  extension  of  the  Free- 
to     the     Pall    Mall    Gazette,  masons'  Hall. 

December  I5th,  1913,  by  Miss 


ISAAC  WARE  AND  HIS  COMPANIONS    147 

the  sale-catalogue  still  extant,  but  I  have  never  been  able 
to  meet  with  one.  Hudson's  name  is  frequently  mentioned, 
when  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  is  spoken  of,  as  having  been  his 
master ;  but  Sir  Joshua's  mind  and  talent  were  his  own, 
and  a  host  of  Hudsons  could  have  rendered  him  but  little 
service.1 

M'ARDELL  resided  at  the  Golden  Ball,  Henrietta-street, 
Co  vent-garden.  Of  the  numerous  and  splendid  productions 
of  this  excellent  engraver  from  pictures  by  Sir  Joshua, 
nothing  can  be  said  after  the  declaration  of  Reynolds  him- 
self, that  "  M'Ardell's  prints  would  immortalize  him."2 
However,  I  will  venture  to  indulge  in  one  remark  more, 
namely,  that  that  Engraver  has  conferred  immortality  also 
upon  himself  in  his  wonderful  print  from  Hogarth's  picture 
of  Captain  Coram,  the  founder  of  the  Foundling  Hospital. 
A  brilliant  proof  of  this  head,  in  its  finest  possible  state  of 
condition,  in  my  humble  opinion,  surpasses  any  thing  in 
mezzotinto  now  extant. 

LUKE  SULLIVAN,  a  native  of  Ireland,  lodged  at  the  White 
Bear,  Piccadilly.  I  believe  nothing  has  ever  surpassed 

1  Smith's  devotion  to  Rey-  silvery  tone."    His  portrait  of 

nolds  leads   him  to  do  scant  Samuel  Scott  is  in  the  National 

justice  to  Hudson,  whose  claim  Gallery,  and  in  the  Goldsmiths' 

to  be  remembered  is  far  higher  Hall  hangs  his  "  Benn's  Club 

than  that  of  a  collector.    He  of  Aldermen."   In  the  National 

was  the   master  not  only  of  Portrait  Gallery  are  his  por- 

Reynolds,    but     of     Cosway,  traits  of    George  II,  Handel, 

Mortimer,    Toms,    and    other  Sir  John  Willes,  and  Prior. 
painters  of  real  note.     He  was         2  The  Golden  Ball,  the  house 

the    earliest    well-established  occupied  by  James  M'Ardell, 

English  portrait  painter,  and  or  Macardell,  was  at  the  corner 

his  best  works  are  of  high  in-  of  Henrietta-street  and  Covent- 

terest.  At  Blenheim  Palace  may  garden.   M'Ardell  died  in  1765, 

be  seen  his  "Charles,  Duke  of  and  was  buried  in  Hampstead 

Marlborough,  and  Family,"  de-  churchyard.  He  engraved  more 

scribed  by  Scharf  as  "executed  than  thirty  of  Reynolds's  pic- 

in  a  most  refined  manner,  highly  tures. 
finished,  and  in  a  very  delicate 


148        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

his  etching  of  the  March  to  Finchley,  from  Hogarth's  picture 
in  the  Foundling  Hospital.  It  is  full  of  the  Painter's  effect, 
and  though  only  an  etching,  every  part  is  perfectly  made 
out ;  and  I  most  heartily  wish,  fine  as  the  finished  plate 
unquestionably  is,  that  Hogarth  had  also  published  it  in  its 
earliest  state.  Of  this  beautiful  etching  I  have  an  impres- 
sion under  my  care  in  the  British  Museum  ;  it  formerly 
belonged  to  my  old  and  stedfast  friend,  William  Packer, 
Esq.  of  Great  Baddow,  Essex  ;  whose  collections  of  Ho- 
garth's works  the  Honourable  Trustees  were  pleased  to 
purchase  for  the  Print-room.  Luke  Sullivan  was  also  a 
most  exquisite  Miniature-painter,  particularly  of  females. 
He  was  a  handsome  lively  fellow ;  but,  being  too  much 
attached  to  what  are  denominated  the  good  things  of  this 
world,  he  died  in  a  miserable  state  of  disease  and  poverty.1 

THEODORE  GARDELLE  lived  on  the  south  side  of  Leicester- 
fields,  now  No.  36.  Gardelle  was  a  Portrait-painter,  and 
was  executed  for  the  murder  of  Mrs.  King,  his  landlady. 
In  Samuel  Ireland's  Graphic  Illustrations  of  Hogarth, 
there  is  a  head  of  a  man  with  a  white  cap  on,  said  to  have 
been  taken  by  Hogarth  from  Gardelle  on  the  day  of  his 
execution.  Foote  has  noticed  the  gibbet  of  Gardelle  in  his 
Mayor  of  Garret.2 

OLD  MOSER  dwelt  in  Craven-buildings,  Drury-lane. 
At  this  time  he  was  Keeper  of  the  Drawing  Academy  in 
Peter's-court,  St.  Martin's-lane ;  held  in  the  very  room 
which  Roubiliac  occupied  before  he  removed  to  the  premises 

1  Sullivan  died  at  the  Picca-  in  chains  on  Hounslow  Heath, 
dilly  tavern  in  1771.  — In  Foote's  play  Major  Stur- 

2  Theodore  Gardelle   (1721-  geon,  describing  his  sham- fight 
1761)  was  born  at  Geneva,  and  operations  to  Sir  Jacob  Jollup, 
came  to  London  in  1760.    His  says  that  Major  Molasses  "made 
murder  of  King  was  atrocious,  a    fine    disposition  :      on    we 
and  he  was  hanged  in  the  Hay-  marched,  the  men  all  in  high 
market,  at  the  corner  of  Pan-  spirits,   to   attack   the  gibbet 
ton-street,  April  4th,  1761,  his  where  Gardel  is  hanging." 
body   being   afterwards   hung 


ISAAC  WARE  AND  HIS  COMPANIONS    149 

opposite  to  Slaughter's,  where  he  died,  and  where  his  effects 
were  sold  to  pay  his  funeral  and  other  debts. 

RICHARD  WILSON,  the  Landscape-painter,  lodged  in  the 
great  Piazza,  Co  vent-garden.  He  occupied  the  front  apart- 
ments, now  used  as  breakfast-rooms  by  the  proprietor  of 
the  Tavistock  Hotel ;  having  held  these  rooms  before  he 
left  England,  and  also  on  his  return  from  Rome.  He  was 
not  a  regular  customer  of  Old  Slaughter.  His  favourite 
house  was  the  Constitution,  Bedford-street,  Co  vent-garden  ; 
where  he  could  indulge  in  a  pot  of  porter  more  freely,  and 
enjoy  the  fun  of  Mortimer,  the  Painter,  who  also  preferred 
this  house,  as  it  was  at  no  great  distance  from  his  own  in 
church-passage. l  Wilson  told  the  late  Sir  George  Beaumont, 
who  repeated  the  anecdote  to  me  the  very  last  time  I  had  the 
honour  of  seeing  him,  that  Mortimer  made  Dr.  Arne,  who 
had  a  very  red  face  with  staring  eyes,  furiously  angry,  by 
telling  him,  that  "  his  eyes  looked  like  two  oysters  just 
opened  for  sauce  put  upon  an  oval  side-dish  of  beet-root."2 

PARRY  resided  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Haymarket, 
within  a  door  of  the  Orange  Coffee-house.  He  was  a  Welsh 
Harper,  and  was  much  noticed  by  Sir  Watkin  Williams 
Wynn,  who  was  unfortunately  killed  by  a  fall  from  his 
horse.  Although  Parry  was  totally  blind,  he  was  acknow- 
ledged to  be  one  of  the  first  draught-players  in  England,  and 
occasionally  played  with  the  frequenters  of  Old  Slaughter's. 
He  had  a  son,  an  Historical-painter,  whom  Sir  Watkin 
sent  to  Italy  ;  and  the  copy  of  Raffaelle's  grand  picture  of 
the  Transfiguration,  which  now  adorns  the  staircase  of  Sir 
Watkin's  house,  in  St.  James's-square,  was  painted  by 

1  The    "  Constitution  "   was  Day  Smith  gives  the  jibe  to 
on  the  east  side  of  Bedford-  Sheridan.    A  caricature  of  the 
street,  two  doors  above  Hen-  composer  of  "  Rule  Britannia," 
rietta-street. — John   Hamilton  by  Bartolozzi,  in  the  National 
Mortimer  occasionally  supplied  Portrait  Gallery,  does  not  con- 
the  figures  in  Wilson's  land-  flict  with  this  description  of 
scapes.  his  features. 

2  In  his  Book  for  a  Rainy 


150        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

young  Parry,  of  whom  there  is  a  small  portrait,  etched  by 
Edwards.  Of  the  blind  father,  there  is  a  pretty  little 
etching  by  his  son,  wherein  he  is  seated  playing  the  harp.1 
NATHANIEL  SMITH,  my  father,  at  this  time  lodged  with 
Mr.  Roubiliac.  He  obtained  in  the  course  of  four  years, 
six  premiums  for  productions  in  art,  all  whilst  under  nine- 
teen years  of  age  :  in  his  twenty-first  year,  in  consequence 
of  a  bet  at  Old  Slaughter's,  he  was  introduced  by  Mr. 
Roubiliac,  to  play  at  draughts  with  the  famous  Parry,  above- 
mentioned,  which  game  lasted  about  half  an  hour.  My 
father,  perceiving  the  venerable  blind  man  to  be  much 
agitated,  would  most  willingly  have  lost  the  game ;  but 
as  there  were  bets  depending  on  it,  his  integrity  overpowered 
his  inclination,  and  he  won  the  game.  This  circumstance 
being  made  known  to  the  other  famous  players,  Sturges, 
Batridge,2  &c.  my  father  was  soon  annoyed  with  challenges. 
The  Dons  at  the  Barn,  a  public-house  then  so  called,  in 
St.  Martin's-lane,  nearly  opposite  to  the  church,3  invited 

1  This  draughts-player  was  Tavern  ;  its  modern  successor 
no  other  than  John  Parry,  the  still  stands  at  the  corner  of 
Welsh  blind  harpist,  of  whose  Hanway-street  and  the  Tot- 
music  Thomas  Gray  wrote  to  tenham  court-road.  He  pub- 
Mason  from  Cambridge  in  May,  lished  in  1800  a  Guide  to  the 
X757  :  "Such  ravishing  blind  Game  of  Draughts,  dedicated  by 
harmony,  such  tunes  of  a  permission  to  the  Prince  of 
thousand  years  old,  with  names  Wales.  He  was  buried,  ac- 
enough  to  choke  you."  He  cording  to  Smith  (Book  for  a 
died  at  his  native  place,  Rua-  Rainy  Day,  under  1773),  in  St. 
bon,  in  1782. — His  son,  William  James's  burial  ground,  Hamp- 
Parry,  A.R.A.,  studied  at  Ship-  stead-road,  but  his  long  and 
ley's,  and  at  the  St.  Martin's-  laudatory  epitaph  is  quoted  in 
lane  Academy,  and  was  a  pupil  Notes  and  Queries,  July  28th, 
of f  Reynolds.  He  attained'  1860,  as  from  "St.  Pancras 
moderate  success,  was  much  in  churchyard." — A  note  on  Bat- 
Rome,  and  died  February  I3th,  ridge,  the  barber,  is  given  in 
1791. — Edwards  was  Edward  Chapter  VIII. 
Edwards,  author  of  Anecdotes  8  St.  Martin's-lane  then  de- 
of  Painters.  scended  as  a  compact  street  of 

*  Joshua    Sturges    was    the  houses  to  the  Strand, 
landlord    of    the    Blue    Posts 


THOMAS   HUDSON 
Front  «  drawing  by  Jonathan  Ricliardson  the  Elder  in  the  Print  Room,  British  Museum 


ISAAC  WARE  AND  HIS  COMPANIONS    151 

him  to  become  a  member ;  but  all  these  temptations  he 
withstood  for  the  Arts,  which  he  then  studied  with  avidity. 
The  Barn,  for  many  years,  was  frequented  by  all  the  noted 
players  of  chess  and  draughts,  and  it  was  there  that  they 
often  decided  games  of  the  first  importance,  played  between 
persons  of  the  highest  rank  living  in  different  parts  of  the 
world.  Those  readers  who  have  been  deprived  of  the  society 
of  a  valuable  parent  will  readily  pardon  the  enumeration 
of  the  premiums  voted  by  the  Society  of  Arts  to  my  father. 
In  1758,  for  a  model  in  clay  of  Saint  Andrew,  he  received 
I5/. ;  in  1759,  for  a  drawing  in  black  and  white  chalk,  5/.  5$. ; 
in  the  same  year,  for  a  drawing  of  Sheep,  in  Indian  ink, 
3/.  35. ;  in  1760,  for  a  model  of  a  Buck  and  Hounds, 
9/.  95. ;  in  1761,  for  a  model  of  the  Continence  of  Scipio, 
I5/.  155. ;  and  in  1762,  for  a  model  of  Coriolanus  and  his 
Mother,  2il. 

T.  RAWLE  lived  in  the  Strand,  and  was  the  inseparable 
companion  of  Captain  Grose,  the  Antiquary.1  Shortly 
after  the  demise  of  Mr.  Rawle,  who  was  one  of  his  Majesty's 
Accoutrement-makers,  a  sale  of  his  effects  took  place  at 
Mr.  Hutchins's,  in  King-street,  Covent-garden,  among 
which  were  a  helmet,  a  sword,  and  several  letters  of  Oliver 
Cromwell ;  and  also  an  article  declared  to  have  been  the 
identical  doublet  in  which  Cromwell  dissolved  the  Long 
Parliament.  Another  singular  lot  was  a  large  black  wig, 
with  long  flowing  curls,  which  was  stated  to  have  been  worn 
by  King  Charles  II.,  for  which  Suett  the  Actor,  a  great 
collector  of  wigs,  was  a  bidder,  and  to  prove  to  the  company 
that  it  would  suit  him  better  than  his  harum-scarum 
opponent,  put  it  upon  his  head,  and  thus  dignified,  went 
on  with  his  biddings,  which  were  sometimes  sarcastically 
serious,  and  at  others  ludicrously  comic.  The  company, 
however,  though  so  highly  amused,  thought  it  ungenerous 

1  William,  not  "  T  "  Rawle.     tioned  in  Captain  Grose's  Hist- 
He  died  in  the  Strand,  Novem-     ory  of  English  Armour. 
ber   8th,    1789.     He  is  men- 


152        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

to  prolong  the  biddings,  and  therefore  one  and  all  declared 
that  it  ought  to  be  knocked  down  to  him  before  he  took  it 
off  his  head  :  upon  this  Suett  immediately  attempted  to 
take  it  off,  but  the  ivory  hammer,  with  the  ruffled  hand  of 
the  auctioneer,  after  being  once  flourished  over  his  head, 
gave  it  hi  favour  of  the  eccentric  comedian.  Suett  con- 
tinued to  act  in  this  wig  for  many  years  in  Tom  Thumb, 
and  other  pieces,  till  unfortunately,  it  was  burnt  when  the 
Theatre  at  Birmingham  was  destroyed  by  fire.  Mrs.  Booth, 
the  mother  of  the  justly  celebrated  actress,  my  informant, 
was  met  by  Suett,  the  morning  after  the  conflagration, 
who  accosted  her  by  exclaiming,  "  Mrs.  Booth,  my  wig's 
gone." 

A  report  is  current,  with  respect  to  Slaughter's  Coffee- 
house, that  there  never  had  been  a  person  of  that  name  as 
master  of  the  house  ;  but  that  it  received  its  appellation  of 
Slaughter  from  its  earliest  period,  on  account  of  its  having 
been  erected  for  the  use  of  the  men  who  slaughtered  the 
cattle  for  the  butchers  of  Newport-market,  in  an  open  space 
then  adjoining.  This  may  be  the  fact,  if  we  believe  that 
coffee  was  taken  as  refreshment  by  slaughter-men,  instead 
of  purl  or  porter ;  or  that  it  was  so  called  by  the  neigh- 
bouring butchers,  in  derision  of  the  numerous  and  fashion- 
able coffee-houses  of  the  day ;  as  for  instance,  "  The  Old 
Man's  Coffee-house,"  and  "The  Young  Man's  Coffee- 
house "  ;  or  just  as  the  Italian  Operas  were  satirised,  by 
the  introduction  of  that  by  Gay,  entitled  The  Beggar's 
Opera. 

Be  this  as  it  may,  in  my  father's  time,  and  also  within 
memory  of  the  most  aged  people,  this  Coffee-house  was 
called  "  Old  Slaughter's,"  and  not  The  Slaughter,  or  The 
Slaughterer's  Coffee-house.  As  for  the  other  Coffee-house 
lower  down  the  lane,  over  which  is  now  written  "  New 
Slaughter's,"  that  was  formerly  called  Young  Slaughter's, 
by  way  of  distinction  ;  which,  in  my  opinion,  unquestion- 
ably indicates  that  there  might  have  been  persons  of  that 


ISAAC  WARE  AND  HIS  COMPANIONS    153 


name,  and  perhaps  of  the  same  family,  masters  of  each 
concern.1 

On  May  2d,  1827,  in  the  fifteen  days'  sale  of  the  Rev. 
Theodore  Williams's  valuable  library,  which  took  place  at 
Messrs.  Stewart,  Wheatley,  and  Adlard's,2  a  picture,  lot 
1947,  attributed  to  the  pencil  of  Hogarth,  was  knocked 
down  for  the  sum  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  guineas.  The 
catalogue,  in  which  it  was  most  lavishly  extolled,  stated 
that  it  was  a  conversation  over  a  bowl  of  punch  at  Old 
Slaughter's  Coffee-house,  in  St.  Martin's-lane,  and  that  the 
figures  were  portraits  of  the  Painter,  Doctor  Monsey,3 
and  the  landlord,  Old  Slaughter. 


1  Peter  Cunningham  states 
that    the    coffee  -  house    was 
named      after     its      founder, 
Thomas   Slaughter,   who   died 
about  1740. 

2  These  auctioneers  had  their 
rooms  at  No.  191  Piccadilly. 

3  Dr.      Messenger     Monsey 
(1693-1788)  was  physician  at 
Chelsea    Hospital.      His    free 
conversation    and    eccentrici- 
ties pleased  Garrick  and  dis- 
turbed Johnson.    There  is  an 
amusing  sketch  of  Monsey  in 
J.    Cordy    Jeaffreson's    Book 
About    Doctors,    and    a    very 
startling    story    of    his    table 
manners  in  John  Taylor's  Re- 
cords of  My  Life,  Vol.  I,  p.  80. 
— Smith  appends  the  following 
note   to   his   mention   of   the 
eccentric  Doctor. 

"  For  the  following  anecdote, 
I  am  obliged  to  my  intelligent 
friend,  Colonel  Molesworth 
Phillips. 

"  Dr.  Monsey,  with  whom 
the  Colonel  was  intimately 
acquainted,  went  to  one  of 


Mrs.  Montague's  evening  par- 
ties in  a  filthy  dirty  shirt, 
attended  by  his  old  servant, 
who  had  the  care  of  a  clean 
one,  which  the  Doctor,  upon 
his  arrival  at  that  lady's  house 
in  Portman-square,  requested 
to  put  on  in  a  private  room. 
He  and  his  man,  as  most  of 
the  apartments  were  occupied, 
were  put  into  a  small  one,  which 
occasionally  opened  into  that 
where  the  company  were  to 
assemble.  The  Doctor,  think- 
ing he  heard  some  one  coming, 
instead  of  giving  his  shirt  to 
his  servant  to  tie  up,  put  it 
into  one  of  several  china  jars, 
closing  it  with  its  cover,  in 
order  to  know  where  to  find  it 
when  he  retired.  The  evening 
being  extremely  sultry,  and 
Mrs.  Montague's  party  ex- 
ceeding her  expectation  in 
number,  she  not  only  ordered 
the  doors  to  be  thrown  open 
which  led  into  the  room  in 
which  the  Doctor  had  changed 
his  shirt,  but,  recollecting  she 


154       NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

From  the  favourable  opinion  of  the  merit  of  this  picture, 
entertained  by  my  friend  Mr.  Lewis,  of  Sussex-place, 
Regent's-park,  I  was  induced  to  make  some  inquiries  con- 
cerning it,  and,  to  my  great  surprise,  found  it  to  be  a  picture 
that  had  been  for  the  first  eleven  years  of  my  life  in  my 
sleeping-room ;  and  it  gives  me  no  small  gratification  to 
state,  that  this  picture,  so  roundly  asserted  to  be  from  the 
pencil  of  Hogarth,  was  produced  by  Mr.  Highmore.  I  agree 
with  Mr.  Lewis  as  to  its  being  wonderfully  well  painted  ; 
indeed,  it  is  equal,  in  my  opinion,  to  many  productions  of 
Hogarth  in  the  portrait  way  :  but  the  picture  was  painted 
by  Highmore  for  Nathaniel  Oldham,  my  father's  godfather, 
and  one  of  the  Artist's  patrons.  It  is  neither  a  scene  at  Old 
Slaughter's,  nor  are  the  characters  depicted  portraits  of 
the  persons  to  whom  they  are  attributed  in  Messrs.  Stewart's 
catalogue.1 

My  father's  account  of  this  picture  was,  that  Mr.  Oldham 
had  invited  three  friends  to  dine  with  him  at  his  house  at 
Baling  ;  but  being  a  famous  and  constant  sportsman,  he  did 
not  arrive  till  they  had  dined  ;  and  then  he  found  them  so 
comfortably  seated  with  their  pipes  over  a  bowl  of  negus, 

had   placed   some   exquisitely  Hans  Sloane  and  Dr.   Mead, 

delicious   pdt-pourri  into   one  collected  natural  history  speci- 

of   her   china   jars,   unfortun-  mens  and  patronized  the  Arts, 

ately,  to  the  exposure  of  the  with  the  result  that  he  im- 

poor    old    Doctor's    infirmity,  poverished  himself  and  went 

opened  the  one  into  which  he  to   the   King's   Bench  prison, 

had  stuffed  what  the  laundry-  where  he  is  supposed  to  have 

maid   might   strictly  consider  died.    The  account  of  Oldham 

foul  linen."  in  Caulfield's  work  was  sup- 

1  Nathaniel  Oldham,  of  Eal-  plied  by  Smith, 

ing  House,  described  by  Caul-  Joseph     Highmore     (1692- 

field  in  his  Remarkable  Persons  1780)  was  a  capable  painter  of 

as   "an  extravagant  collector  portraits    and    "  conversation 

of    curiosities."      An    accom-  pieces."  His  portrait  of  Samuel 

panying  portrait,  after  High-  Richardson,  whose  Pamela  he 

more,  represents  him  with  a  illustrated,  is  in  the  National 

dog  and  gun.    Oldham,  in  mere  Portrait  Gallery, 
imitation    of    his    friends    Sir 


NATHANIEL   OLDHAM 
From  an  engraving  by  R.  Grave  (Caufield's  "  Remarkable  Persons  ") 


ISAAC  WARE  AND  HIS  COMPANIONS    155 

that  he  commissioned  Highmore  to  paint  the  scene,  and 
desired  that  he  might  be  introduced  in  it  just  as  he  then 
appeared. 

A  man  on  the  right,  with  a  .white  wig  and  black  coat, 
was  an  old  schoolmaster  ;  and  one  opposite  to  him  a  farmer, 
both  of  Ealing  ;  another  in  the  middle,  in  a  red  cap,  was  the 
artist  Highmore ;  and  one  with  his  hat  on,  behind  the 
farmer's  chair,  was  Nathaniel  Oldham.  When  Mr.  Oldham 
died,  his  property  was  sold  ;  but  this  and  one  or  two  other 
family  pictures  were  given  to  a  relative,  of  whom  my 
father  purchased  it,  as  it  contained  the  portrait  of  his  god- 
father. It  afterwards  became  the  property  of  Mr.  Bellamy, 
a  Linen-draper,  residing  in  Queen-street,  by  the  Mansion- 
house. 

In  thus  again  incidentally  speaking  of  Hogarth,  I  will 
take  the  opportunity  of  introducing  to  the  reader  the 
following  observation  concerning  him,  of  my  friend  H.  R. 
Willett,  Esq.  with  which  I  was  so  much  gratified,  that  I 
requested  that  gentleman  to  favour  me  with  it  in  his  own 
words. 

"  A  curious  instance  of  Hogarth's  attention  to  most 
minute  traits  of  character,  occurs  in  the  sixth  plate  of  the 
Marriage-d-la-mode ;  where,  as  a  farther  instance  of  the 
avarice  and  miserable  penury  of  the  Alderman,  who  is 
stripping  his  dying  daughter  of  her  trinkets,  a  close  observer 
will  perceive,  that  the  servant  lad  is  clothed  in  one  of  his 
master's  old  coats,  which  has  been  shortened,  and  that  the 
cloth  cut  off  is  turned  and  made  into  new  cuffs  :  this  is 
more  plainly  seen  in  the  picture,  by  the  contrast  of  the  colour 
of  them  with  the  faded  hue  of  the  coat." 

Mr.  Willett,1  whose  taste  fully  appreciates  excellence  in 

1  Henry  Ralph  Willett,  who  Hogarth  (Dj'c^. Nat.  Biography). 

died  in  the  Albany  in  Decem-  Hogarth's  Rosamond  Pond  pic- 

ber,  1857,  collected  coins  and  ture  was  in  the  possession  of 

pictures,   and  owned  twenty-  the  late  Louisa,  Lady  Ashbur- 

six  paintings  and  sketches  by  ton. 


156        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 


art,  has,  at  his  seat  at  Shooter's  Hill,  a  room  filled  with 
Hogarth's  pictures  ;  among  which  is  a  grand  view  of  St. 
James's  Park,  exhibiting  numerous  figures  of  ladies  and 
gentlemen  walking  in  front  of  Rosamond's  Pond.  This 
Pond  was  filled  up  in  1770. * 


1  This  pond,  which  may  have 
had  some  old  association  with 
the  "Fair  Rosamond"  of  Henry 
II,  was  famous  as  a  place  of 
assignation  and  of  lovers' 
suicides.  Warburton,  writing 
to  Hurd,  describes  it  as  "  long 
consecrated  to  disastrous  love 


and  elegiac  poetry,"  and  refer- 
ences to  its  character  occur  in 
the  writings  of  Pope,  Congreve, 
Steele,  and  others.  It  lay 
near  the  present  Wellington 
Barracks,  and  was  filled  up  by 
order  of  George  III,  when  he 
occupied  Buckingham  House. 


RECOLLECTIONS   OF   PUBLIC  CHARACTERS 

SOMETIME   INHABITANTS   OF  ST.   MARTIN'S- LANE1 

SAINT  MARTIN'S-LANE  affords  so  rich  a  mine  for 
anecdote,  that   I   never  pass  through  it  without 
receiving  a  ray  of  recollection  from  almost  every 
window.    I  shall  therefore  venture  to  relate  a  few 
of  these  reminiscences,  as  they  have  at  various  times  occurred 
to  me,  confining  myself  principally  to  those  connected  with 
the  Fine  Arts. 

The  first  house  from  the  corner  of  Newport -street,  on  the 
right  hand,  leading  to  Charing-cross,  now  Reid  and  Co/s 
Hotel,  was  for  many  years  inhabited  by  Beard,  the  famous 
singer,  who  married  Lady  Harriet  Powis ;  and  afterwards 
became  a  son-in-law  of  Mr.  Rich,  of  Co  vent-garden  Theatre. 
The  parlour  of  this  house  has  two  windows  facing  the  south. 
In  this  room,  my  father,  who  had  accompanied  Roubiliac, 
smoked  his  pipe  with  Rich,  Quin,  Woodward,  and  George 
Lambert,  the  founder  of  the  original  Beef -steak  Club, 
which  was  first  held  in  the  painting-room  of  Covent-garden 
Theatre.  Some  of  Lambert's  scenes  were  extremely  beauti- 

1  In  reading  this  chapter  it  the    numbering    system    has 

is  well  to  remember  that  St.  never  been  changed,  with  the 

Martin's-lane  has  been  short-  result  that  at  the  north  end 

ened  at   both  ends :     at   the  several   numbers   are   missing 

north    end    slightly,    by    the  on  each  side,  and  many  more 

formation  of  Garrick  and  Cran-  at  the  south  end,  where,  indeed, 

bourne-streets,  and  at  the  south  the  numbering  begins  on  the 

end  by  the  formation  of  Trafal-  east  side,at  the  Chandos  tavern, 

gar-square.   On  the  other  hand,  with  No.  28. 


158        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

ful ;   but  they  were  unfortunately  all  consumed  when  that 
theatre  was  burned,  September  20,  1808. 1 

Next  to  Reid's  is  the  Coffee-house  before-mentioned,  still 
retaining  the  appellation  of  "  Old  Slaughter's."  The 
next  house  of  attraction  is  a  spacious  mansion,  now  divided 
into  two :  No.  76  is  inhabited  by  F.  Thomas,  and  No.  77 
by  Dr.  Golding.2  It  was  built  by  old  Payne,  the  architect, 

1  Lady  Beard  was  interred  in  was  erected  to  her  memory, 
the  church-yard  of  St.  Pancras,  upon  which  is  engraven  the 
where  an  expensive  monument  following  inscription  : — 

Sacred  to  the  remains 

Of  LADY  HENRIETTA  BEARD, 

Only  daughter  of  James,  late  Earl  of  Waldegrave. 

In  the  year  1734, 

She  was  married  to  Lord  Edward  Herbert, 

Second  son  to  William  Marquis  of  Powis, 

By  whom  she  had  issue  one  daughter, 

Barbara,  now  Countess  of  Powis. 

On  the  8th  of  January,  1738-9, 

She  became  the  wife  of  Mr.  John  Beard, 

Who,  during  an  happy  union  of  fourteen  years, 

Tenderly  loved  her  person,  and  admired  her  virtue  ; 

Who  sincerely  feels  and  laments  her  loss, 

And  must  for  ever  revere 

Her  memory, 
To  which  he  consecrates  this  monument. 

Obiit  31  May  MDCCLIII.  IE.  36.    (S.) 

The  marriage  of  Lady  Harriet  lost  in  the  formation  of  Cran- 
Powis  to  John  Beard  was  as  bourne-street, 
happy  for  the  parties  as  it  was  2  The  sites  of  Old  Slaughter's 
distasteful  to  their  friends,  who  and  of  No.  76  are  now  merged 
(says  Leigh  Hunt)  "have  con-  in  Cranbourne-street.  That  of 
tinued  to  omit  the  circumstance  No.  77,  where  ,  Dr.  Golding 
in  the  peerage  books  to  this  lived,  is  covered  \by  a  large 
day."  The  omission  is  still  cloth  warehouse. '^Benjamin 
maintained.  Beard,  for  whom  Golding  (1793-1863)  was  the 
Handel  wrote  tenor  parts  in  virtual  founder  of  Charing 
his  oratorios,  died  in  1791.  Cross  Hospital,  where  he  la- 
His  second  wife,  Charlotte  Rich,  boured  from  its  foundation  in 
survived  until  1818,  dying  at  1831  until  1862.  He  invented 
the  age  of  ninety-two. — The  "  Robb's  Biscuits,"  which  are 
house  inhabited  by  Beard  was  still  sold  at  Robb's  old-fash- 


PUBLIC  CHARACTERS  159 

who  designed  Salisbury-street,  in  the  Strand,  and  also  the 
original  Lyceum,  &c.  ;  and  here  he  resided.1  Payne  was 
very  friendly  to  Gwynn,  the  Architect,  and  also  to  Samuel 
Wale,  Lecturer  on  Perspective  in  the  Royal  Academy, 
who  was  the  designer  of  an  immense  number  of  subjects 
for  books,  which  were  mostly  engraved  by  Grignon.  Mr. 
Payne  built  two  small  houses,  at  the  end  of  his  garden, 
purposely  to  accommodate  Gwynn  and  Wale  :  the  entrances 
were  in  Little-court,  Castle-street,  and  are  still  standing.2 

No.  82  is  New  Slaughter's  Coffee-house  ;3  No.  85  is  now 
occupied  by  J.  Van  Eyndhoven  and  Co.  and  lately  by  Mr. 
Collick,  hair  manufacturer,  the  father  of  Mrs.  Hatchet,  late 
of  Long-acre. 

In  former  times,  the  street  before  these  houses,  com- 
mencing at  Beard's  and  extending  to  a  short  distance  beyond 
St.  Martin's-court,  was  called  the  "  Pavement ;  "  and  the 
road  at  that  time  was  about  three  feet  lower  than  it  is  at 
present.4  A  bookseller,  of  the  name  of  Harding,5  occupied 
one  of  these  houses  below  Payne's,  and  among  other  works, 
he  published  a  little  book  of  Monograms  of  Engravers, 
in  octavo.  He  also  sold  old  prints,  for  which  Hudson,  the 
Painter,  was  one  of  his  principal  customers  ;  and  it  was  at 
this  shop  that  he  purchased  Benjamin  Wilson's  landscape, 
etched  in  imitation  of  the  manner  of  Rembrandt.  I  heard 
Wilson  relate  the  circumstance  to  the  late  venerable  Presi- 

ioned    confectionery    shop    at  3  The  site  of  New  Slaughter's 

No.  79.     (See  Mr.    J.   Holden  is  now  covered  by  the  County 

Macmichael's     Charing    Cross  Court,  recently  rebuilt. 

and  its  Neighbourhood,  p.  181.)  4  Strype     (1720)     mentions 

1  James    Payne,    or    Paine  "the  fine  free-stone  pavement," 
(1725-1789) ,  is  mentioned  more  a  convenience  then  rare  enough 
particularly  in   the  sketch  of  to  suggest  the  name. 

Ozias  Humphry,  post.  5  Samuel  Harding,  the  book- 

2  Castle-street  is  now  lost  in  seller,  flourished  at  the  "  Bible 
the  Charing  Cross-road.   These  and  Anchor,  on  the  Pavement, 
two  houses,  standing  alone  in  St.  Martin's-lane."   He  died  at 
Little    Court,   are  marked   in  Edgware,  January  i8th,  1755. 
Horwood's  map  of  London,  1799 . 


160        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

dent  West,  nearly  in  the  following  words  :  "  Hudson  upon 
all  occasions  maintained,  that  no  one  could  etch  like  Rem- 
brandt,— here  he  was  right ; — that  no  one  could  deceive 
him,  and  that  he  could  always  discover  an  imitation  of 
Rembrandt  directly  he  saw  it ;  wherein  I  maintained  he 
was  wrong.  To  prove  this,  I  one  evening  scratched  a  land- 
scape, and  took  a  dirty  impression  of  it  to  a  man  who  sold 
books  and  prints  upon  the  Pavement  in  Saint  Martin' s- 
lane,  and,  after  endeavouring  to  cry  down  Rembrandt, 
showed  him  the  impression,  for  which  he  offered  to  give  me 
a  fine  Vandyke  head.  As  the  fellow  caught  the  bait,  the 
next  day  I  called  to  look  at  some  more  of  Vandyke  heads, 
when  he  observed,  that  he  had  sold  the  Rembrandt,  but 
I  could  not  obtain  from  him  the  name  of  the  purchaser ; 
however,  it  turned  out  just  as  I  expected.  Hudson  was 
showing  it  about  to  his  friends  as  a  rare  Rembrandt,  not 
at  all  described  in  the  Catalogue.  He  admired  it  beyond 
every  thing  he  possessed.  When  I  told  Hogarth  of  this, 
'  D — n  it ; '  said  he,  '  let  us  expose  the  fat-headed-fellow.' 
I  took  the  hint,  and,  without  telling  any  one  what  I  meant 
to  do,  invited  Hogarth,  Scott,  Lambert,  and  others,  to  meet 
Hudson  at  Supper ;  and  I  was  wicked  enough  to  allow 
Kirby  to  partake  of  my  exultation,  without  stating  to  him 
that  Hudson  was  coming,  for  they  hated  each  other  most 
cordially.  Before  the  cold  sirloin  was  carried  in,  I  stuck 
it  full  of  skewers,  charged  with  impressions ;  and  when 
supper  was  announced,  Scott,  the  Marine-painter,  who 
followed  Hudson,  sang  out, '  A  sail !  a  sail ! ' — West.  '  What 
did  Hogarth  say,  Sir  ?  ' — '  He  !  an  impudent  dog  !  he 
did  nothing  but  laugh  with  Kirby  the  whole  evening. — 
Hudson  never  forgave  me  for  it.'  "1 

1  The  imitation  Rembrandt  proof   print   from   this   plate, 

print  which  produced  all  this  designed    and    etched    by    B. 

hilarity  was  a  small  landscape,  Wilson,   was   sold   as   a   very 

6f  in.  by  2.\  in.,  and  was  in-  fine  Rembrandt,  to  one  of  the 

scribed    in    one    corner :    "A  greatest   Connoisseurs  for  six 


a  w 


PUBLIC  CHARACTERS 


161 


Benjamin  Wilson,  the  father  of  the  present  Sir  Robert 
Wilson,  was  a  Portrait-painter,  and  was  made  Sergeant- 
painter  to  the  King,  when  his  Majesty  withdrew  that 
appointment  from  Hogarth,  in  consequence  of  his  dedicating 
his  print  of  the  March  to  Finchley  to  the  King  of  Prussia, 
as  "an  encourager  of  the  Arts  and  Sciences  !  "l  Benjamin 


shillings,  the  I7th  of  April, 
1751."  A  copy  of  Wilson's 
imitation  may  be  seen  in  the 
British  Museum  Print  Room. 
A  different  and  more  compli- 
cated account  of  the  jest  is 
found  in  Randolph's  life  of 
Wilson's  third  son,  General  Sir 
Robert  Thomas  Wilson,  accord- 
ing to  which  Wilson  made  a 
careful  copy  of  Rembrandt's 
rare  etching  called  "Companion 
to  the  Coach  "  and,  placing  it 
in  a  portfolio  with  several 
genuine  Rembrandts,  sent  it  to 
Hudson  by  the  hand  of  a 
Dutchman.  Hudson  bought  it 
for  six  shillings,  and  praised  it 
as  a  fine  example.  Hogarth, 
hearing  of  the  hoax,  persuaded 
Wilson  to  repeat  the  experi- 
ment with  another  forged  etch- 
ing of  an  old  man's  head,  which 
successfully  imposed  on  Hard- 
ing, the  printseller.  Several 
other  connoisseurs  were  as 
easily  taken  in,  and  finally 
Wilson  spent  the  proceeds  of 
his  humorous  fraud  in  a  supper, 
much  as  related  by  Smith.  But 
the  joke  has  at  last  been  turned 
against  its  author,  because  high 
authorities  have  decided  that 
the  "Companion  to  the  Coach" 
etching,  which  served  as  its 
basis,  is  not  by  Rembrandt, 

VOL.  II.— M 


but  from  an  inferior  hand.  It 
is  a  pity  that  Hudson,  dis- 
tinguished alike  as  a  painter 
and  connoisseur,  should  be 
known  to  many  only  by  this 
lumbering  eighteenth-century 
joke. 

1  This  is  incorrect.  The 
"  March  to  Finchley "  print 
was  published  in  December, 
1750,  and  Hogarth  was  not 
appointed  Serjeant- Painter  (in 
succession  to  Sir  James  Thorn- 
hill)  until  June,  1757.  More- 
over, Benjamin  Wilson  was 
only  appointed  Serjeant- Pain- 
ter on  Hogarth's  death. — Wil- 
son is  now  much  forgotten,  but 
he  enjoyed  a  great  reputation 
as  a  portrait  painter.  His 
versatility  extended  to  electric 
science,  on  which  he  wrote 
several  books,  and  to  the  Stock 
Exchange,  on  which  he  was 
declared  a  defaulter.  He  was 
consulted  as  to  the  placing  of 
lightning  conductors  on  St. 
Paul's  Cathedral.  He  shone, 
too,  as  a  caricaturist.  Wilson 
died  at  56  Great  Russell- 
street,  and  was  buried  in  St. 
George  the  Martyr's  burial 
ground.  Sir  Robert  Thomas 
Wilson,  Governor  of  Gibraltar, 
was  his  third  son. 


162        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 


Wilson  was  succeeded  as  Sergeant-painter  by  Mr.  Pitt 
Cobbett,  of  Bedford-street,  Covent-garden,  who  continues 
to  enjoy  the  appointment.1 

I  shall  pass  Young,  now  called  New  Slaughter's  Coffee- 
house, to  the  houses  now  Nos.  88  and  89,  built  upon  the 
site  of  a  very  large  one,  the  staircase  of  which  was  adorned 
with  allegorical  subjects  in  brown,  yellow,  and  white.  This 
house  was  inhabited  by  one  of  Hogarth's  particular  friends, 
Pine,  the  publisher  of  the  plates  from  the  tapestry  in  the 
house  of  Lords,  exhibiting  the  defeat  of  the  Spanish  Armada. 
Pine  the  Portrait-painter,  who  produced  one  of  the  best 
likenesses  of  Garrick,  succeeded  his  father  in  this  building  ;2 
and  after  him,  Dr.  Garthshore  resided  in  it  for  many  years.3 

The  house  now  No.  96  is  one  of  the  oldest  colour-shops  in 
London,  and  has  one  of  the  very  few  remaining  shop- 
fronts,  where  the  shutters  slide  in  grooves  :  the  street  door 
frame  is  of  the  style  of  Queen  Anne,  with  a  spread-eagle, 


1  Pitt    Cobbett    is    unmen- 
tioned  by  Redgrave,  Bryan,  and 
other  lexicographers  of  art.    In 
Holden's   Triennial   Directory, 
1805-1807,  he  is  entered  thus : 
"Cobbett,  Pitt,  painter  to  his 
Majesty,     12     Maiden    Lane, 
Co  vent  Garden." 

2  Nos.  88  and  89  St.  Martin's- 
lane  are  now  covered  approxi- 
mately by  the  New  Theatre. — 
John    Pine    was    known    as 
"  Friar  Pine  "  after  his  friend 
Hogarth    had   introduced    his 
portrait  into  his  print  of  Calais 
Gate.    He  engraved  as  well  as 
published  the  Spanish  Armada 
plates.     He  died  in  1756,  in 
Herald's  College,  where  he  held 
the  post  of  Bluemantle.     His 
son,    Robert   Edge    Pine,    the 
portrait  painter,  did  not  stay 
long  in  St.  Martin's-lane  ;    he 


was  settled  at  Bath  between 
1771  and  1779,  and  in  1782  he 
went  with  his  family  to 
America,  where  Washington 
sat  to  him ;  and  he  died  in 
Philadelphia  in  1790.  His 
portrait  of  Garrick  is  now  in 
the  National  Portrait  Gallery. 

3  Dr.  Maxwell  Garthshore 
(1732-1812),  physician  to  the 
British  Lying-in  Hospital,  was 
the  "double"  of  the  great 
Lord  Chatham.  "This  like- 
ness," says  a  writer  in  the 
Gentleman's  Magazine  (April, 
1812),  "  once  produced  con- 
siderable sensation  in  the  House 
of  Commons.  Lord  Chatham 
was  pointed  to  in  the  gallery ; 
all  believed  him  to  be  there  ; 
the  person  really  present  was 
Dr.  Garthshore." 


Ul. 


J 


BENJAMIN    WILSON,    PORTRAIT    PAINTER   AND    MAN    OF    SCIENCE 

Etched  by  himself 


PUBLIC  CHARACTERS  163 

foliage,  and  flowers  curiously  and  deeply  carved  in  wood 
over  the  entrance,  similar  to  those  remaining  in  Carey- 
street,  and  in  Great  Ormond-street.  The  late  Mr.  Powel, 
the  colourman,  and  family,  inhabited  it  ;*  and  I  have  heard 
him  say,  that  his  mother,  for  many  years,  made  a  pipe  of 
wine  from  the  grapes  which  grew  in  their  garden,  which  at 
that  time  was  nearly  one  hundred  feet  in  length,  before  the 
smoke  of  so  many  surrounding  buildings  destroyed  their 
growth.  This  house  has  a  large  staircase,  curiously  painted, 
of  figures  viewing  a  procession,  which  was  executed  for  the 
famous  Dr.  Misaubin,  about  the  year  1732,  by  a  painter  of 
the  name  of  Clermont,  a  Frenchman,  who  boldly  charged 
one  thousand  guineas  for  his  labour ;  which  charge,  how- 
ever, was  contested,  and  the  artist  was  obliged  to  take  five 
hundred.  Behind  the  house,  there  is  a  large  room,  the  inside 
of  which  Hogarth  has  given  in  his  Rake's  Progress,  where 
he  has  introduced  portraits  of  the  Doctor  and  his  Irish 
wife. 

This  plate  of  Hogarth's,  which  has  never  been  understood 
by  the  collectors  of  that  Artist's  works,  Mr.  Powel  ventured 
to  explain  thus : — The  Rake,  who  has  accompanied  the 
girl  to  whom  Dr.  Misaubin  had  given  his  vicious  pills,  is 
threatening  to  cane  him.  The  Doctor's  wife,  who  has  been 
cleaning  a  lancet  after  a  recent  operation,  eyes  the  Rake 
with  a  full  determination  to  enforce  her  vengeance,  should 
he  offer  to  put  his  threats  into  execution.2 

1  Edward     Powell,     oilman  World  ' ;  intimating  that  there 
(Kent's  Directory,  1802).    The  were  few  people  in  it  to  whom 
site  of  his  house,  No.  96,  is  now  his  great  reputation  was  not 
lost  in  Burleigh  Mansions.  known  "    (Tom    Jones,    Book 

2  Dr.  Misaubin  was  a  quali-  XIII,    Chap.    II).     Hogarth's 
fied  French  physician,  who  was  Plate  III  of    "Marriage  £  la 
greatly  disliked  for  his  arro-  Mode  "  represents  the  doctor's 
gance.       "The     learned    Dr.  consulting-room  in  St.  Martin's- 
Misaubin  used  to  say,  that  the  lane,  he  figuring  as  a  vile  quack, 
proper  direction  to  him  was,  The   precise   meaning   of   this 
'To    Dr.    Misaubin,    in    the  picture,  which  the  colourman 


164        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

Of  Dr.  Misaubin,  who  brought  a  famous  pill  into  England, 
there  is  a  beautifully  finished  miniature,  in  the  possession  of 
George  Musgrave,  Esq.  of  Apsley  End  House,  Bedfordshire, 
who,  by  the  hand  of  our  mutual  friend,  Henry  Moyley,  Esq. 
of  Gray's-inn-square,  has  favoured  me  with  the  following 
interesting  statement. 

The  family  picture  of  Dr.  Misaubin  contains  the  portraits 
of  his  father,  wife,  and  son.  The  latter  was  murdered  when 
returning  from  Marylebone-gardens,  aged  twenty-three 
years.  This  picture  was  bought  of  his  grandson,  Mr.  Angi- 
band,  of  St.  Martin's-lane,  in  the  year  1799. 

Mr.  Angiband  died,  aged  ninety-nine  years  and  three 
weeks.  Dr.  Misaubin's  father  was  a  clergyman,  and  preached 
at  the  Spitalfields  French  Church ;  he  was  rather  a  cele- 
brated preacher.  The  Doctor  realized  a  great  fortune  by 
pills,  &c.  and  left  it  all  to  his  grandson,  Angiband,  who 
dissipated  it,  and  died  in  St.  Martin's  Workhouse  :  he  sup- 
ported himself  entirely  by  drinking  gin,  and  died  at  last 
for  want  of  it. — The  picture  alluded  to  is  about  seven  inches 
by  six,  painted  in  body-colour,  by  Joseph  Goupy,1  and 
represents  the  Doctor  in  a  library  with  his  arm  on  a  table, 
the  hand  holding  a  pen,  and  with  the  other  hand  giving  a 
letter  to  his  wife,  who  is  standing  by  him,  his  son,  apparently 
about  seven  years  old,  standing  at  his  knees,  and  his  father, 
in  canonicals,  writing  at  the  table  behind  him.  He  himself 
is  in  a  kind  of  lilac  silk  coat,  his  son  in  sky  blue  and  silver, 
and  his  wife  in  a  stone-colour  gown.  The  name  of  the  artist 
is  on  a  book. 

Mr.  Standly2  is  also  in  possession  of  an  original  drawing 
by  Hogarth,  containing  portraits  of  Dr.  Misaubin  and  Dr. 

claimed  to  give,  has  never  been  plates  after  Salvator  Rosa.    A 

settled.    For  the  various  inter-  set  of  engravings  of  Raphael's 

pretations,  see  Mr.  Austin  Dob-  cartoons,  tinted  by  Goupy,  was 

son's   Hogarth   (ed.    1898),    p.  owned    by    the    Right    Hon. 

81-83.  W.  E.    Gladstone   (Diet.  Nat. 

1  Joseph  Goupy,   who   died  Biography).    See  Index. 

in    1763,    painted    in    water-  2  Henry  Peter  Standly.    See 

colours  and  etched  a  series  of  Index. 


PUBLIC  CHARACTERS  165 

Ward,  which  he  has  had  engraved  ;  the  plate  being  destroyed 
after  twelve  impressions  had  been  taken. 

The  next  house  claiming  attention  is  No.  104,  for  many 
years  kept  by  Williams,  a  Button-maker.  Here,  in  a  large 
house  behind,  Sir  James  Thornhill  once  lived, 1  who  painted 
the  staircase  with  subjects  of  allegory;  which  pictures  are 
still  upon  the  walls,  and  in  very  excellent  condition,  as  they 
have  never  been  cleaned.  The  Junior  Van  Nost,  the 
Sculptor,2  afterwards  lived  in  it,  who  took  the  famous 
mask  of  Garrick  from  his  face,  which  my  father  had  for 
many  years  ;  it  afterwards  became  the  property  of  Mr. 
Thomas  Grignon,  and  was,  at  his  death,  purchased  by  Mr. 
Mathews,  the  Comedian,  and  is  now  deposited  in  his  curious 
and  interesting  gallery  of  theatrical  pictures,  busts,  &c.  at 
his  villa,  near  the  foot  of  Highgate-hill. 3  In  this  house,  after 
Van  Nost's  time,  Francis  Hayman  once  lived ;  and  also 
Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  before  his  knighthood,  and  before  he 
went  to  live  in  the  house,  now  No.  5,  on  the  north  side  of 
Great  Newport -street,4  whence  he  went  to  Leicester-fields, 

1  "W.Williams  &  Son,  Button  the  Garrick  Club.     There  is  a 
and   Plated  Manufactory,"   is  woodcut  of  Mathews's  cottage 
the  entry  in  Kent's  Directory,  in  Howitt's  Northern  Heights  of 
1803  ;  but  the  number  is  given  London  (1869),  p.  419.    Charles 
as  103. — Sir  James  Thornhill's  Lamb  said  that  with  the  ex- 
house    was     demolished    not  ception  of  a  Hogarth  exhibi- 
many  years  ago ;  it  stood  on  tion  in  Pall  Mall  the  Mathews 
the  site  of  the  Duke  of  York's  Collection    at    Highgate    was 
Theatre.  the  most  delightful  he  had  ever 

2  John  Van  Nost,  son  of  the  seen    (Mr.   Lucas's  edition  of 
Piccadilly  lead   figure   maker.  Lamb,  Vol.  II,  294). 

Most  of  his  work  was  done  in  4  Reynolds    settled    at    104 

Dublin  and  Cork,  and  he  died  St.  Martin 's-lane  with  his  sister 

in  Dublin  in  1787.  Frances  in  1752  or  1753.     He 

3  The  fine  theatrical  collec-  soon  removed  to  No.  5  Great 
tion  formed  by  Charles  Mat-  Newport-street,  now  occupied 
hews   at   Fern    Cottage,   Mill-  by  a  firm  of  picture-restorers 
field-lane  (for  many  years  the  and  called  the  Reynolds  Gal- 
residence  of  the  late  Mr.  Elliott  lery.    Here  he  raised  his  prices 
Stock),  is  now  the  property  of  to  those  charged  by  his  master, 


166        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

where  he  died.  Upon  the  site  of  the  present  Meeting-house 
for  Friends,  vulgarly  called  Quakers,  in-Saint  Peter' s-court, 
stood  the  first  studio  of  Roubiliac.1  There,  among  other 
works,  he  executed  that  famous  statue  of  Handel,  for 
Vauxhall  Gardens.  Upon  his  leaving  this  studio,  it  was 
fitted  up  as  a  drawing-academy,  supported  by  a  subscrip- 
tion raised  by  numerous  artists,  Mr.  Michael  Moser  being 
unanimously  chosen  as  their  Keeper.  Hogarth  was  much 
against  this  establishment,  though  he  presented  to  it  several 
casts,  and  other  articles  which  had  been  the  property  of  his 
father-in-law,  Sir  James  Thornhill.  He  declared,  that  it 
was  the  surest  way  to  bring  artists  to  beggary,  by  rendering 
their  education  so  easy  as  one  guinea  and  a  half,  and  two 
guineas  per  quarter ;  since  it  would  induce  hundreds  of 
foolish  parents  to  send  their  boys  to  keep  them  out  of  the 
streets,  whether  they  had  talent  or  not.2  However,  the 
school  commenced.  Reynolds,  Mortimer,  M'Ardell,  Nol- 
lekens,  Spang,  Taylor,  so  frequently  mentioned  in  this  work,8 
and  my  father,  with  numerous  others,  became  members. 
Richard  Dalton,  Esq.  the  late  King's  Librarian,4  gave  this 
Academy  a  Greek  dress  for  the  use  of  the  students  when  they 
studied  drapery.  It  was  agreed  by  the  members,  that  they 
should  ballot  for  the  member  who  should  put  on  this  dress, 

Hudson.  In  1760  he  removed  that  certain  regulations,  con- 
to  his  famous  house,  No.  47  ducive  to  equality  of  control 
Leicester  -  square,  celebrating  among  the  students,  should  be 
the  occasion  by  giving  a  ball.  adopted.  In  1762  he  was  able 

1  St.  Peter 's-court  lay  on  the  to  write  :  "  By  the  regulations 
site  of  Messrs.  Chatto  &  Win-  I  have  mentioned,  of  a  general 
dus's    publishing    offices,    and  equality,  etc.,  it  has  now  sub- 
contained  the  Quaker  meeting-  sisted  near  thirty  years  ;    and 
house  now  represented  by  the  is,    to   every   useful   purpose, 
present  meeting-house  at  No.  equal  to  that  in  France,  or  any 
52,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  other." 

lane.     St.  Peters-,  or  Peter's-,  8  John  Taylor.    See  Index, 

court,   with    Hemming's-row,  4  See  Index  for  other  refer- 

was  demolished  1886-91.  ences  to  Dalton. 

2  Hogarth  was  only  anxious 


PUBLIC  CHARACTERS  167 

and  stand  for  the  space  of  one  hour,  for  the  others  to  draw 
from  it.  The  black  ball  fell  to  Taylor,  who  remained  in  the 
same  position  for  that  time  without  discomposing  the  folds, 
and  he  declared  to  me  that  it  was  one  of  the  most  arduous 
tasks  he  had  ever  performed.  Nollekens,  well  knowing  the 
fatigue,  always  fought  shy  of  his  turn,  by  getting  M'Ardell 
to  stand  for  him. 

Independently  of  their  possessing  a  tolerable  good  col- 
lection of  plaster  casts,  they  had  living  models,  both  male 
and  female,  and  often  grouped  two  and  three  men  as 
combatants  ;  so  that  Mr.  Flaxman,  who  sometimes  placed 
the  models  in  the  Royal  Academy,  was  not  the  first  artist 
who  introduced  that  mode  of  study.  Upon  the  institution 
of  the  Royal  Academy,  when  this  academy  was  fast  declining, 
parents  found  that  they  could  send  their  sons  to  study  in  a 
national  establishment  free  of  any  expense  whatever.  I 
am  happy  to  say,  that  the  admission  is  not  now  so  easy  as 
it  was  originally.  Now,  a  lad  must  draw  well,  understand 
anatomy,  and  conduct  himself  respectably ;  so  that, 
should  he  love  his  art,  he  will  be  attentive,  respect  the 
Keeper,  and  conform  to  the  regulations  of  the  Institution  : 
indeed,  the  well-disposed  parents  of  youths,  so  cautiously 
admitted,  will  feel  double  satisfaction  in  knowing  that  their 
sons  are  strictly  and  properly  disciplined. 

The  house,  No.  112,  now,  and  for  many  years  inhabited 
by  Messrs.  Woodburn,1  four  highly  respectable  brothers, 
was  one  of  those  old  apothecaries'  shops  where  immense 
snakes  were  exhibited  in  spirits,  to  allure  the  multitude.  It 
was  in  my  boyish  days  kept  by  Leake,  the  inventor  of  the 
"  Diet  Drink ; "  now,  like  Lockyer's  once  famous  pills, 
nearly  forgotten.2 

1  Woodburn  Brothers,  112  2  Leake  the  "  apothecary  " 
St.  Martin's-lane,  were  picture  was  John  Leake,  M.D.,  the  man- 
dealers.  Samuel  Woodburn  is  midwife,  who  at  one  time  had 
mentioned  as  an  excellent  judge  a  house  and  lecture-room  in 
of  art  in  Chapter  VII.  Craven-street.  He  was  buried 


168        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

The  house  adjoining  Messrs.  Woodburn,  now  No.  113, 
was  built  upon  the  site  of  one  for  many  years  held  by 
Thomas  Major,  a  good  husband,  father,  and  a  sincere 
friend.  He  was  born  in  London  in  1719,  studied  at  Paris 
under  the  inimitable  Le  Bas,  and  was  an  excellent  Engraver, 
particularly  in  his  subjects  from  Teniers.  Major  left  St, 
Martin's-lane  for  No.  6,  Tavistock-row,  Covent-garden 
Upon  the  death  of  the  Die-engraver  to  the  Stamp-office 
Major  was  appointed  his  successor,  a  post  which  he  filled 
with  the  strictest  integrity.  He  died  in  1799,  in  his  eightieth 
year,  deeply  regretted  by  all  who  knew  him,  and  was 
buried  in  Camberwell  Church-yard. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Nollekens  were  very  intimate  with  Mr, 
Major  and  his  family,  and  their  visits  were  frequent  in  Mor- 
timer-street. I  once  attended  Mr.  Nollekens  when  he  moulded 
one  of  his  daughter's  arms,  which  were  very  beautiful 
and  were  frequently  his  examples  for  fine  form,  particularly 
when  a  monumental  figure  gave  him  an  opportunity  of  dis- 
playing it  to  advantage.  I  remember  he  copied  it  closely 
whenever  youthful  round  fleshiness  was  his  aim.  Mr, 
Major  was  a  celebrated  Engraver  of  Landscapes,  which 
display  a  boldness  of  style  peculiar  to  himself ;  or,  if  we 
discern  any  imitation  of  manner,  possibly  it  may  be  thai 
of  Le  Bas,  under  whom  he  studied.  His  engravings  of  the 
Seasons,  after  exquisitely  finished  pictures  by  Paul  Ferg, 
one  of  the  artists  employed  with  Sir  James  Thornhill  and 
others  in  the  Chelsea  China-manufactory,1  do  him  infinite 
credit.  My  father  was  well  acquainted  with  Ferg.  Among 
other  etchings  by  him,  there  are  seven  small  upright  ones 
of  pastoral  figures,  executed  with  a  clear  and  spirited 

in  the  north  cloister  of  West-  1792.    For  a  more  direct  refer- 

minster    Abbey.      The    Des-  ence  to  Lionel  Lockyer's  pills, 

sertaiion  he  wrote  on  his  Diet  see  Index. 
Drink  is  a  dubious  production.         1  See  note  on  Ferg  at  end 

Leake   died   at   his   house   in  of  Chapter  VII. 
Parliament-street,  August  8th, 


PUBLIC  CHARACTERS 


169 


needle,  a  little  in  touch  like  the  ten  landscapes  by  Both  ; 
they  were  not  unfrequently  to  be  met  with  when  I  was  a 
boy,  but  now  old  impressions  are  rather  scarce.  Mr,  Major's 
plates  from  Teniers's  pictures  have  great  force,  particularly 
those  of  the  Four  Seasons.1 

The  large  Cheesemonger's,  No.  114,  formerly  Girdlee  and 
Slaughter's,  but  now  Sloane,  Leedham,  and  Co.'s,  stands 
upon  the  site  of  Salisbury-house,  a  mansion  occupied  by 
several  Earls  of  that  title :  there  were  lately,  before  the 
recent  alterations,  a  few  vestiges  of  the  old  building  re- 
maining, particularly  in  the  kitchen.  It  has  been,  I  under- 
stand, a  constant  tradition,  that  in  Lord  Salisbury's  house 
in  St.  Martin's-lane,  in  the  reign  of  James  II.  the  seven 
Bishops  were  lodged  before  they  were  conveyed  to  the 
Tower.2 

Among  the  many  hundred  circumstances  which  render 
the  old  Watch-house  interesting  to  me,  I  may  notice  two  in 
particular  ;  the  first  is  a  rare  and  curious  etching,  exhibiting 
its  front  during  a  riot ;  the  second,  the  elaborately  carved 
stocks  which,  within  my  memory,  were  standing  near  the 
wall  of  the  Watch-house,  opposite  to  the  centre  of  the  portico 
of  the  Church.  Upon  the  post  or  upright  body  of  these 
stocks,  were  two  figures  most  admirably  well  executed,  of 


1  See    Smith's    biographical 
sketch    of    Major,    post.    The 
site  of   Major's  house  in   St. 
Martin's-lane  is  now  covered 
by  the  Public  Library. 

2  No  Salisbury  House  in  St. 
Martin's-lane    seems    to    have 
been  occupied  by  several  Earls 
of  Salisbury.    Robert  Cecil,  the 
first  Earl,  built  Salisbury  House 
in  the  Strand  about  the  year 
1600,    and    Queen    Elizabeth 
dined  there  in  1602.   The  Seven 
Bishops   were    not    lodged   in 
St.  Martin's-lane,  nor  yet  at 


Salisbury  House  in  the  Strand, 
which,  however,  was  attacked 
by  the  mob  during  the  rejoic- 
ings on  the  acquittal  of  the 
bishops.  But  the  Earls  of 
Salisbury  owned  land  in  St. 
Martin's-lane  :  hence  the  name 
Cecil-court.  Cecil  House,  on 
the  north  side  of  the  Strand, 
the  home  of  the  great  Lord 
Burleigh,  belonged  at  one  time 
"  to  the  parson  of  St.  Martin's- 
in  -  the  -  fields  "  (Stow) .  On 
these  facts  Smith's  statements 
seem  to  be  erected. 


170        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

a  man  flogging  another  with  the  cat-o' -nine-tails.  The 
strength  and  energy  with  which  the  executioner  was  scourg- 
ing the  culprit  was  as  vigorous  as  any  design  by  Michel 
Angelo.  These  stocks  being  much  decayed,  were  taken 
down ;  but  I  was  happy  to  see  that  the  fragment  of  this 
carving,  though  wretchedly  mutilated,  was  in  some  degree 
preserved  in  the  vault  under  the  church,  which  also  contains 
many  interesting  portions  of  monuments  taken  down  from 
the  old  structure.1  It  is  a  curious  fact,  that  Mrs.  Rudd 
requested  to  be  placed  near  the  coffins  of  the  Perreaus. 
Melancholy  as  my  visits  to  this  vault  have  been,  I  frankly 
own  that  pleasant  recollections  have  almost  invited  me 
to  sing,  "  Did  you  not  hear  of  a  jolly  young  waterman  ?  " 
when  passing  by  the  coffin  of  my  father's  old  friend,  Charles 
Bannister.  Such  are  the  impressions  made  in  youthful 
days.2 

I  must  now  move  on  from  the  site  of  the  stocks  to  a 
building,  the  door-way  of  which  has  been  recently  stopped 
up,  the  present  entrance  to  it  being  from  the  King's  Mews. 
It  was  for  many  years  called  "  The  Barn,"  but  is  now  changed 
to  the  sign  of  "  The  Canteen  :  "  which  Barn  is  the  same 
before  described  as  frequented  by  the  chess  and  whist 
players. 

1  When  in   quest  of   these  communion  table.    The  vaults 
parish  stocks,  Mr.  Holden  Mac-  were'grossly  overcrowded  with 
michael  was  informed  that  they  coffins.    Their  gruesome  condi- 
were    "chopped   up    for    fire-  tion   more   than   thirty  years 
wood"    by   a    former    sexton  after  Smith  wrote  these  recol- 
about  twenty  years  ago.  lections  is  revealed  in  Frank 

2  The  brothers  Robert  and  Buckland's     account     of     his 
Daniel     Perreau,     merchants,  search   for   the   coffin   of   Dr. 
were  executed  for  forgery  in  John  Hunter  in  1859,  when  its 
1776,   and   were   buried  in   a  reinterment     in     Westminster 
vault  of  St.  Martin's  Church.  Abbey    was     proposed.       He 
Mrs.    Rudd,    the    mistress    of  found  it   after  some  days  of 
Daniel,  was   admitted    King's  disagreeable     and     dangerous 
evidence.  —  Bannister       was  search. 

buried  in  a  vault  under   the 


PUBLIC  CHARACTERS  171 

Before  I  begin  with  the  other  side  of  the  lane,  I  must 
invite  the  reader  to  accompany  me  to  the  equestrian  statue 
of  King  Charles  I.  at  Charing-cross,  to  which  I  solicit  his 
most  particular  attention ;  and  this  request  I  make,  in 
order  to  prove  how  persons  are  apt  to  take  things  for  granted 
from  report  only.  This  statue  is  the  production  of  Le 
Sueur  ;  and  a  report  has  been  industriously  circulated  that 
the  horse  is  without  a  girth,  and  that  in  consequence  of  the 
omission  the  artist  destroyed  himself.  This  report  has  been 
propagated  by  various  persons  ;  and,  among  others,  Mr. 
Malcolm,  the  author  of  Londinium  Redivivum,  who  roundly 
asserts  that  the  horse  is  without  a  girth.  If  my  reader 
will  take  the  trouble,  as  Mr.  Malcolm  should  have  done, 
to  look  under  the  horse,  he  will  see  that  there  is  a  girth, 
and  also  that  it  presses  upon  the  veins  of  the  animal.1 

Returning  to  the  spot  which  we  left,  the  pleasures  of 
memory  induce  me  to  state  that  that  noble  building,  North- 
umberland-house, which  has  lately  undergone  a  total  repair, 
can  now  vie  with  some  of  our  palaces  in  the  splendour  of 
its  internal  architectural  improvements,  as  well  as  in  its 
magnificence  of  furniture  ;  all  of  which,  with  the  exception 
of  a  foreign  cabinet  or  two,  is  of  English  manufacture. 
The  staircase  is  superb,  and  entirely  new.2  The  present 
Duke,  who  condescended  (from  the  introduction  of  my 

1  On  the  left  fore-foot  of  the  Restoration  he  produced  the 
horse  is  the  rather  damaged  entire  statue,  which  was  erected 
inscription,  "  Hubert  Leseuer  on  the  present  pedestal  de- 
fecit,  1633."  The  date  may  signed,  it  is  said,  by  Grinling 
be  1638.  This  was  the  first  Gibbons.  Le  Sceur,  who  was  a 
equestrian  statue  erected  in  Parisian  by  birth,  had  his 
England.  It  occupies  the  site  workshops  in  Bartholomew 
of  the  Eleanor  Cross  at  Charing.  Close. 

Before  its  erection  the  Civil  2  On  the  demolition  of 
War  broke  out  and  the  statue  NorthumberlandHouseini874, 
was  sold  to  a  Holborn  brazier  this  marble  staircase  was  re- 
named Rivett  to  be  broken  up  ;  moved  to  the  late  Mr.  F.  R. 
he  professed  to  sell  fragments  Leyland's house,  No. 49  Prince's 
as  mementoes,  but  at  the  Gate. 


172        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

worthy  friend,  John  Gawler  Bridge,  Esq.  of  Ludgate-hill, 
whose  house  had  supplied  his  Grace  with  one  of  Flaxman's 
Shields  of  Achilles)  to  show  me  the  house,  gave  orders  for 
many  fine  pictures  to  be  brought  out  from  all  the  spare 
rooms  and  upper  apartments,  which  his  Grace  has  had 
cleaned,  framed,  and  hung  up :  an  example  to  the  other 
great  families,  who  may  at  this  moment  have  in  their 
various  country  residences  portraits  which,  if  thus  rescued, 
might  probably,  in  many  instances,  prove  of  the  highest 
moment  to  English  history.  In  being  permitted  to  examine 
Titian's  picture  of  the  Cornaro  Family,  so  often  spoken  of, 
I  am  perfectly  convinced  that,  under  the  hands  of  a  proper 
cleaner,  much  of  the  filth  and  colour  with  which  it  has 
been  loaded,  may  be  removed  with  safety.  It  must  have 
been  gloriously  painted.1 

I  never  think  of  rescued  portraits  without  recollecting 
with  pleasure  the  truly  spirited  manner  in  which  Lord 
Colchester,  when  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Commons, 
established  the  Gallery  of  portraits  of  Speakers  ;2  and  I 
am  sure,  that  if  every  formidable  association,  like  the 
Kit-cat  Club,  the  Dilettanti  Society,  and  the  Beef-steak 
Club,  were  to  follow  their  examples,  by  procuring  portraits 
of  their  former  members,  and  also  to  keep  up  the  collection 
by  sitting  for  their  portraits,  we  should  then  not  only 
know  where  to  search  for  portraits  of  some  of  the  most 
celebrated  characters  of  modern  times,  but  the  resemblances 
of  many  persons  would  thus  be  preserved,  which  might  be 
otherwise  forgotten  or  unknown. 

1  This  picture  is  said  to  have  1817.      But    the    custom    of 
been  purchased  by  Algernon,  adorning     it     with     portraits 
Earl  of  Northumberland,  from  of   successive    Speakers   dates 
Vandyke,    for    1000    guineas,  from  the  time  of  Addington 
Evelyn    admired    it    in   1658,  (1789-1801).     See  Mr.  Arthur 
when    the   mansion   was    still  Irwin   Dasent's    The  Speakers 
called  Suffolk  House.  of  the  House  of  Commons  (ign), 

2  Charles  Abbot,  Lord  Col-  p.  xxxi. 
Chester,    was    Speaker    1802- 


PUBLIC  CHARACTERS  173 

The  very  next  house  east  of  the  Duke  of  Northumber- 
land's is  No.  i  in  the  Strand ;  it  is  rendered  curious  by 
being  the  first  house  in  London  that  was  numbered.1  The 
house  opposite  to  it  is  No.  487,  standing  at  the  south-west 
corner  of  St.  Martin' s-lane,  upon  the  site  for  so  many  years 
occupied  by  Jefferys,  the  Geographer  to  the  late  King.2 

I  cannot  pass  the  Church,  without  repeating  the  observa- 
tion made  to  me  by  the  late  Bishop  Horsley. — "  Mr.  Smith, 
I  admire  your  attention  to  old  houses  :  my  father  was  Clerk 
in  Orders  of  St.  Martin's-in-the-fields,  and  I  should  like  to 
live  in  the  old  house  which  he  inhabited  ;  but  then  I  must 
have  the  old  furniture  just  as  it  stood  when  I  was  a  boy." 
His  Lordship  added,  that  in  his  father's  time,  the  Church 
was  literally  in  the  fields,  and  that  he  had  often  heard  him 
say  that  there  was  a  turnpike  in  St.  Martin's-lane,  leading 
to  Co  vent-garden.  No.  20  is  a  Public-house,  called  "  The 
Portobello,"  with  the  date  1638  on  the  front.  I  remember 
it  had  Admiral  Vernon's  ship,  extremely  well  painted  by 

1  To   determine  where   and  Chancery,"  as  early  as  1708. 

when  the  numbering  of  houses  Cunningham    may    have    had 

began  in  London  is  hardly  pos-  in  mind  Hughson's  statement 

sible.     The    Strand   was   cer-  that    brass    plates    were    first 

tainly  not  the  first  street  to  be  seen  in  New  Burlington-street 

numbered,  but  it  may  be  that  (Hughson's    London,    Vol.     I, 

several  houses  in  it  bore  num-  p.    536).      Inasmuch    as    the 

bers  at  an  early  date.     Cun-  numbering  of  houses  was  tried 

ningham's  statement  that  New  on  a  small  scale  in  Paris  as 

Burlington-street  was  the  first  early  as  1512,  it  is  probable 

London  street  to  be  numbered  that  similar  experiments  were 

is  often  quoted,  but  it  seems  made  in  London  earlier  than 

to  have  no  foundation ;    in-  the  eighteenth  century ;    but 

deed,  the  date  he  gives,  1764,  the    distinction    which    Smith 

disproves  it,  because  we  have  gives  to  the  Strand  belongs, 

the  explicit  statement  of  Hat-  by    weight    of    evidence,    to 

ton,  the  topographer,  that  in  Prescot-street. 

Prescot  -  street,     Whitechapel,  2  Thomas  Jefferys,  the  map 

the  houses  were  "  distinguished  engraver,  died  November  2oth, 

by  numbers,  as  the  staircases  1771.   He  published  many  geo- 

in    the    Inns    of    Court    and  graphical  works. 


174        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

Monamy,  for  its  sign.  This  Public-house,  with  many  other 
miserable  dwellings,  has  given  way  for  the  public  improve- 
ments which  are  now  in  progress.1 

Tradition  states  that  the  space  of  ground  called  Moor's- 
yard  was  in  early  times  a  place  for  the  execution  of  male- 
factors.2 The  Turnpike-house,  mentioned  by  the  Bishop 
of  Rochester,  stood,  as  I  have  been  informed,  on  the  site  of 
Pullen's  Wine-vaults,  No.  28  ;3  and  it  is  stated  by  many  of 
the  oldest  inhabitants,  that  the  Earl  of  Salisbury,  whose 
house  stood  nearly  opposite,  compromised  with  the  parish 
for  its  removal,  it  being  deemed  so  great  a  nuisance.  The 
Westminster  Fire-office  was  first  established  in  this  lane, 
and  stood  between  Chandos-street  and  May's-buildings ; 
it  was  then  moved  to  Bedford-street,  and  since  to  King- 
street,  Covent-garden,  upon  the  site  originally  occupied 
by  Lenthall,  the  Speaker.4 

May's-buildings,  bearing  the  date  of  1739,  was  built  by 
Mr.  May,  who  ornamented  the  front  of  No.  43,  in  Saint 
Martin' s-lane,  in  which  he  resided,  consisting  of  two  pilasters 
supporting  a  cornice ;  and  it  is,  in  my  opinion,  one  of  the 
neatest  specimens  of  architectural  brick- work  in  London.5 

The  site  of  the  White  Horse  Livery-stables,  now  occupied 
by  Hornby,  was  originally  Tea-gardens ;  and  south  of 
them  was  a  hop-garden,  which  still  retains  that  appellation. 
The  house  over-hanging  Hornby's  gateway  is  supposed  to 

1  See  note  on  Monamy  and  on    the    site    of    Buckingham 
this  tavern,  Chapter  I.  Palace  (A.  I.  Dasent,  Speakers 

2  In  Horwood's  map  of  1799  of  the  House  of  Commons). 
Moore's  Yard  is  marked  as  an  5  The  court  known  as  May's 
irregular    space    between    St.  Buildings    has    been    widened 
Martin's  Church  and  Chandos-  recently,  but  on  the  wall  of 
street.  the  north  corner  house  may  be 

3  John  Pullen's  wine  vaults  seen  the  original  stone  tablet, 
were  on  the  site  of  the  present  inscribed    "  May's    Building." 
Chandos  tavern.  Two  doors  from  the  opening  is 

4  Lenthall  lived  here  in  the  Mr.  May's  old  house,  No.  43, 
early  days  of  his  Speakership  preserving    the    pilasters    and 
before    taking    Goring    House  cornice  mentioned  by  Smith. 


PUBLIC  CHARACTERS  175 

be  the  oldest  building  remaining  in  the  Lane,  and  from  an 
inspection  of  the  premises  behind,  I  am  inclined  to  consider 
that  supposition  to  be  correct.1 

The  extensive  premises,  No.  60,  now  occupied  by  Mr. 
Stutely,  the  Builder,  were  formerly  held  by  Chippendale, 
the  most  famous  Upholsterer  and  Cabinetmaker  of  his  day, 
to  whose  folio  work  on  household-furniture  the  trade  for- 
merly made  constant  reference.2  It  contains,  in  many 
instances,  specimens  of  the  style  of  furniture  so  much  in 
vogue  in  France  in  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV.  but  which  for 
many  years  past  has  been  discontinued  in  England.  How- 
ever, as  most  fashions  come  round  again,  I  should  not 
wonder,  notwithstanding  the  beautifully  classic  change 
brought  in  by  Thomas  Hope,  Esq.3  if  we  were  to  see  the  un- 
meaning scroll  and  shell-work,  with  which  the  furniture  of 
Louis's  reign  was  so  profusely  incumbered,  revive ;  when 
Chippendale's  book  will  again  be  sought  after  with  redoubled 
avidity,  and,  as  many  of  the  copies  must  have  been  sold  as 

1  George     Hornby's     livery  was  Sydney  Smith's  descrip- 
stables  were  at  No.  52  in  1826  tion    of    Thomas    Hope,    the 
(Pigot's  London  Directory).  wealthy      connoisseur,       who 

2  Martin  Stutely,  the  builder,  filled  his  house,  No.  I  Mansfield- 
was  at  No.  60  in  1826.    This  street,  Cavendish-square,  with 
site  is   now   absorbed  in   the  fine  sculptures  and  furniture, 
premises  of  the  Charing  Cross  This  mansion  is  described  and 
and  West  End  and  City  Elec-  illustrated     in     Britton     and 
trie  Supply  Company. —Thomas  Pugin's    Public    Buildings    of 
Chippendale,  the  great  furni-  London.    Its  gallery,  attached 
ture-maker    and    upholsterer,  to  the  house,  was  in  Duchess- 
had  made  the  house  known  by  street.     The  furniture  was  in 
its  sign  "  The  Chair."    In  1754,  accordance    with    the    classic 
he  published  his  "  folio  work,"  principles  illustrated  in  Hope's 
The    Gentleman    and    Cabinet-  work,  Household  Furniture  and 
Maker's    Director.      Dying    in  Interior     Decorations     (1807). 
1779,    ne   was   buried   in    St.  Hope's    romance,    Anastasius, 
Martin's    Church  ;      his    son,  made  Lord  Byron  weep,  as  he 
Thomas,  succeeded  him.  said,  for  two  reasons — because 

3  "  The  man  of  chairs  and  he  had  not  written  it,  and  be- 
tables,  the  gentleman  of  sofas,"  cause  Hope  had. 


176        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

waste  paper,  the  few  remaining  will  probably  bear  rather 
a  high  price. 

No.  63,  in  Roubiliac's  time,  accommodated  him  with  a 
distinct  passage  through  to  his  premises,  which  site  is  now 
held  by  three  persons  ;  one  is  the  Printer  of  a  Sunday  paper 
entitled  The  Watchman. 

Finding  myself  in  want  of  information  respecting  the  last 
two  houses  to  be  mentioned  in  this  place,  which  was  in  the 
power  of  a  Mr.  Banks  to  furnish,  I  went  to  his  house,  No.  3, 
Litchfield-street,  when  I  particularly  noticed  the  ceiling 
of  the  principal  room  on  his  first  floor.  It  is  divided  into  two 
compartments,  and  I  am  much  inclined  to  believe  was 
painted  by  the  hand  of  Hogarth,  not  only  from  the  style  of 
colouring  and  the  spirited  manner  of  its  pencilling,  but  from 
the  expression  of  the  heads  of  the  figures  so  peculiar  to 
him.1 

The  subject  of  the  largest  portion  of  the  ceiling  nearest 
the  windows,  consists  of  five  figures,  the  size  of  life.  They 
appear  to  me  to  be  Time  rescuing  Truth  from  Hatred,  sur- 
rounded by  snakes ;  and  Malice,  holding  a  dagger  in  one 
hand,  and  a  flaming  torch  in  the  other ;  a  boy  is  flying 
above  with  the  emblem  of  Eternity.  This  subject  is  in  a 
circle  within  a  square,  the  corners  of  which  are  decorated 
with  busts  and  flowers  spiritedly  painted.  The  smaller  com- 
partment consists  of  four  boys  in  the  clouds.  The  principal 
one  in  the  centre  represents  Fame  with  a  trumpet;  the  others, 
Painting,  Sculpture,  and  Architecture.  They  are  confined 
within  an  oval  border.  At  the  west  end,  are  trophies  of 
war,  and  at  the  east,  two  boys  supporting  drapery.  Mr. 
Banks  informed  me  that  the  house  had  been  the  residence 
of  Lady  Betty  Paulet ;  and  that  Lord  Hinchinbrook,  who 
was  then  the  owner  of  considerable  property  in  that  quarter, 
assured  him  that  it  had  been  a  mansion  originally  of  high 

1  "  Mr.  Banks,"  of  Litchfield-    pears  to  be  the  only  record  of 
street,  was  Benjamin  Banks,  a    these  decorations, 
cabinet  -  maker.     Smith's    ap- 


PUBLIC  CHARACTERS  177 

importance.  When,  about  thirty  years  since,  Mr.  Banks 
made  the  purchase,  he  found  the  cornice  and  even  the 
hinges  of  the  doors  gilt.  From  the  heavy  panelling  of  the 
rooms,  and  the  large  circular  balls  on  the  staircase,  I  should 
conjecture  the  house  to  have  been  built  in  the  time  of  Oliver 
Cromwell,  or  Charles  the  Second  ;  but  the  front  is  evidently 
modern,  and  the  premises  originally  must  have  been  more 
extensive. 

In  the  large  room  behind  Mr.  Mouchet's,  now  No.  70, 
Mr.  Hone  had  his  Exhibition.1 

The  corner  house  of  Long-acre,  now  No.  72,  formed  a 
small  part  of  the  extensive  premises  formerly  occupied  by 
that  singularly  haughty  character,  Cobb,  the  Upholsterer, 
who  occasionally  employed  Banks,  the  Cellaret-maker,  to 
whom  I  applied  for  information  respecting  him.  Cobb,  he 
said,  was  perhaps  one  of  the  proudest  men  in  England ; 
and  always  appeared  in  full  dress  of  the  most  superb  and 
costly  kind,  in  which  state  he  would  strut  through  his  work- 
shops, giving  orders  to  his  men.  He  was  the  person  who 
brought  that  very  convenient  table  into  fashion  that  draws 
out  in  front,  with  upper  and  inward  rising  desks,  so  healthy 
for  those  who  stand  to  write,  read,  or  draw.  The  late  Sir 
Nathaniel  Dance  Holland,  when  he  was  a  Portrait-painter, 
in  Tavistock-row,  Co  vent-garden,  considered  Cobb's  tables 
so  useful,  that  he  easily  prevailed  upon  the  adonised  Up- 
holsterer, to  allow  him  to  paint  his  portrait  for  one  ;  which 
picture,  after  it  had  remained  in  Cobb's  show-room  for  some 
time,  purposely  to  be  serviceable,  as  he  said,  to  the  "  poor 
Painter,"  he  conveyed,  in  his  own  carriage,  to  his  seat  at 
Highgate.  It  is  curious  to  notice  how  often  little  events 
lead  to  others  of  high  importance :  it  was  in  consequence 
of  this  portrait  of  Cobb,  that  Mr.  Garrick  became  acquainted 
with  Dance ;  whose  acquaintance  produced  his  most  excellent 
picture  of  Richard  the  Third,  which  became  the  property  of 
Sir  Watkin  Williams  Wynne,  Bart. 

1  For  a  long  account  of  this  exhibition,  see  Chapter  VI. 

VOL.  II.— N 


178        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

The  late  King  frequently  employed  Cobb,  and  often  smiled 
at  his  pomposity.  One  day,  when  Mr.  Cobb  was  in  his 
Majesty's  library  at  Buckingham-house,  giving  orders  to 
a  workman,  whose  ladder  was  placed  before  a  book  which 
the  King  wanted,  his  Majesty  desired  Cobb  to  hand  him 
the  work,  which  instead  of  obeying,  he  called  to  his  man, 
"  Fellow,  give  me  that  book  !  "  The  King,  with  his  usual 
condescension,  arose,  and  asked  Cobb,  what  his  man's 
name  was.  "  Jenkins,"  answered  the  astonished  Upholsterer. 
"  Then,"  observed  the  King,  "  Jenkins,  you  shall  hand  me 
the  book." 

His  present  Majesty,  when  passing  through  an  avenue 
in  Windsor-park,  leading  to  the  Royal  Lodge,  was  once  as- 
sailed by  a  rude  boisterous  fellow,  standing  astride  with 
folded  arms,  who  declared  he  would  not  pull  off  his  hat  to 
any  King.  His  Majesty  stopped  his  curricle,  took  off  his 
hat,  and  with  a  smile  said,  "  I  will  take  off  mine  to  the 
meanest  of  my  subjects  !  "  which  so  completely  subdued  his 
rude  opponent,  that  he  walked  away  hanging  down  his  head 
with  shame. 


~,ra--elot.  detin.  Publish' d  according  to  Act  of  Parliament,  I  Nov..  1745.  C.  Grignion,  scnlf. 

Printed Jbr  John  Bowles  at  Rlack  Horse  in  Corn  hill 

STRANGE    UNDER    MISS    LUMSDEX'S    HOOP   SKIRT 
From  an  engraving  in  possession  of  Charles  Henry  Hart,  Esq.,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  U.S.A. 


SIR    ROBERT    STRANGE 


1 


"^HE  following  anecdote  of  Sir  Robert  Strange  was 
related  to  me  by  the  late  Richard  Cooper,1  who 
had  the  honour  of  instructing  Queen  Charlotte 
in  drawing,  and  was  for  some  time  Drawing- 
master  to  Eton  School.  I  shall  endeavour  to  relate  it  as 
nearly  as  possible  in  his  own  words.  "  Robert  Strange," 
said  he,  "  was  a  countryman  of  mine,  a  North  Briton,  who 
served  his  time  to  my  father  as  an  engraver,  and  was  a 
soldier  in  the  rebel  army  of  1745.  It  so  happened,  when 
Duke  William  put  them  to  flight,  that  Strange,  finding  a 
door  open,  made  his  way  into  the  house,  ascended  to  the 
first  floor,  and  entered  a  room  where  a  young  lady  was 
seated.  She  was  at  her  needle-work  and  singing.  Young 
Strange  implored  her  protection.  The  lady,  without  rising 
or  being  the  least  disconcerted,  desired  him  to  get  under 
her  hoop.2  He  immediately  stooped,  and  the  amiable 
woman  covered  him  up.  Shortly  after  this,  the  house  was 
searched ;  the  lady  continued  at  her  work,  singing  as 
before,  and  the  soldiers,  upon  entering  the  room,  considering 
Miss  Lumsdale  alone,  respectfully  retired. 

"  Robert,  as  soon  as  the  search  was  over,  being  released 
from  his  covering,  kissed  the  hand  of  his  protectress,  at 

1  Richard        Cooper        the        2  At  that  time  ladies  wore 

younger.    The  anecdote  must  immense  hoops,  as  may  be  seen 

have   been   derived   from   his  in  all  the  portraits  of  the  day, 

father,  to  whom  Strange  was  particularly   in    the    print    of 

pupil  in  Edinburgh.    See  Chap-  Kitty  Clive,  in  the  character 

ter  XI.  of  the  Fine  Lady  in  Lethe.  (S.) 

179 


180        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

which  moment,  for  the  first  time,  he  found  himself  in  love. 
He  married  the  lady ;  and  no  persons,  beset  as  they  were 
with  early  difficulties,  lived  more  happily." 

Strange  afterwards  became  a  loyal  man ;  though  for  a 
length  of  time  he  sighed  to  be  pardoned  by  his  King,  who, 
however,  was  graciously  pleased  to  be  reconciled  to  him, 
and  afterwards  knighted  him.  For  this  information,  I  am 
obliged  to  my  worthy  friend,  Benjamin  West,  Esq.  second 
son  of  the  late  venerable  President  of  the  Royal  Academy. 

Lady  Strange  was  a  native  of  Edinburgh ;  her  maiden 
name  was  Lumisden.1  She  has  been  frequently  known, 
with  all  the  openness  of  a  truly  liberal  mind,  to  relate- 
particularly  when  within  the  hearing  of  persons  whose  fine 
feelings  were  always  shocked  at  even  the  very  recollections 
of  life's  vicissitudes, — that,  for  a  considerable  time  after  her 
marriage,  in  consequence  of  the  obdurate  persecutions  in- 
flicted by  her  family  on  account  of  her  union  with  Mr. 
Strange,  she  sat  at  her  spinning-wheel,  occasionally  rocking 
her  infant  in  its  cradle  with  her  foot :  and  that,  many  a 
time,  after  a  severely  cold  or  sultry  day's  work,  as  soon  as 
creeping  twilight  had  dimmed  the  vulgar  and  prying  eye  of 
curiosity,  she  ventured  to  steal  out  in  a  threadbare  plaid 
gown,  the  best,  and  indeed  only  one  of  which  she  then 
was  mistress,  in  order  to  dispose  of  that  work  which  seldom 
cleared  her  more  than  sixpence,  after  deducting  for  the 
materials.  Small,  however,  as  the  produce  of  these  labours 
were,  she  has  honestly  declared  that  she  felt  the  proudest 
independence  in  being  able  to  add  even  that  little  to  the 
equally  industrious  and  scanty  gains  of  one  of  the  best  of 
husbands,  fathers,  and  men. 

Lady  Strange,  who  continued  her  friendship  to  Mrs. 

1  Misprinted      "  Lumsdale  "  of  Andrew  Lumisden,  who  was 

by  Smith.     Isabella  Lumisden  secretary    to    Prince    Charles 

was  the  daughter  of  William  Edward,  and  fought  at  Cullo- 

Lumisden,    or    Lumsden,    an  den. 
Edinburgh  lawyer    and  sister 


SIR    ROBERT   STRANGE 
From  the  print  engraved  fry  liimselt 


SIR  ROBERT  STRANGE  181 

Nollekens,  with  whom  she  had  been  intimate  ever  since  their 
youthful  days,  gave  her  several  impressions  of  the  en- 
gravings of  her  husband,  who  was  unquestionably  the  best 
engraver  England  ever  produced.  Who  can  look  at  his 
most  wonderful  print  of  St.  Cecilia,  from  Raffaelle,  without 
astonishment  at  its  brilliancy  of  effect  ?  His  close  atten- 
tion to  the  texture  of  each  particular  article,  the  sky,  the 
clouds  and  earth,  the  linen,  silk  embroidered  and  woollen 
draperies,  the  metallic  and  polished  surfaces,  the  hair  of 
the  youthful,  the  manly,  and  the  robust  figures,  comprising 
the  composition,  and  the  several  varieties  of  flesh,  perhaps 
no  one  in  any  part  of  the  world  has  ever  equalled. 

No  man  was  more  incessant  in  his  application,  or  fonder 
of  his  art,  than  Sir  Robert  Strange  ;  nor  could  any  publisher 
boast  of  more  integrity  as  to  his  mode  of  delivering  sub- 
scription-impressions. He  never  took  off  more  proofs  than 
were  really  bespoken,  and  every  name  was  put  upon  the 
print  as  it  came  out  of  the  press,  unless  it  were  faulty ; 
and  then  it  was  destroyed,1  not  laid  aside  for  future  sale, 
as  has  been  too  much  the  practice  with  some  of  our  late 
publishers.  Impositions,  I  regret  to  say,  amounting  to 
fraud,  have  been  recently  exercised  upon  the  liberal  en- 
couragers  of  the  Art,  by  sordid  publishers,  who  have  taken 
hundreds  of  proofs  more  than  were  subscribed  for,  pur- 
posely to  hoard  them  up  for  future  profit.  Nay,  I  am  shocked, 
when  I  declare  that  some  of  our  late  print-publishers  have 
actually  had  plates  touched  up  after  they  have  been  worn 
out ;  and  have  taken  the  writing  out,  in  order  that  im- 

1  As    Etchings    and    Proof  Graces,    Etching ;     Cleopatra, 

impressions  of  Strange's  plates  Proof  ;    Belisarius,   Etchings  ; 

are  considered  great  rarities,  I  King  Charles  the  First  with  his 

shall,  for  the  information  of  Horse,    Etching    and    Proof  ; 

collectors,  insert  a  list  of  those  Queen    Henrietta    Maria,    (its 

preserved  in  the  British  Mu-  companion,)       Etching       and 

seum  : — The  Offspring  of  Love,  Proof  ;    Apotheosis  of   Prince 

Etching  and  Proof  ;    Fortune,  Octavius,  Etching  and  Proof. 

Proof ;    Venus  attired  by  the  (S.) 


182        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

pressions  might  be  taken  off,  which  they  have  most  bare- 
facedly published  and  sold  as  original  proof  impressions  ! 

Lady  Strange  died,  most  highly  respected,  at  Acton,  in 
Middlesex,  on  the  28th  of  February,  1806.  Sir  Robert 
Strange  died  equally  beloved,  on  the  5th  of  July  1792,  and 
was  buried  in  the  churchyard  of  St.  Paul,  Co  vent-garden. 
Sir  Robert  was  an  Orkney  man,  and  may  be  considered  by 
far  the  first  Historical-engraver  this  or  any  country  ever 
produced. 


THOMAS   VIVARES    AND  WILLIAM  WOOLLETT 


I  WELL  remember  Vivares  :  he  was  a  little  thin  man, 
who  usually  wore  a  velvet  cap,  which  was  the  custom 
in  his  time.    He  lived  in  Great  Newport -street,  in  the 
house  now  No.  12.   He  was  a  beautiful  etcher  of  trees, 
and  was  often  assisted  by  Chatelain,  a  spirited  picturesque 
etcher.     Woollett  was  also  a  little  man,  and  when  I  first 
saw  him,  lived  in  Green-street,  Leicester-fields,  in  the  house 
now  No.  n. 

Woollett's  plates/  particularly  his  early  ones,  are  mostly 
engraved  by  himself ;  and  I  will  relate  an  anecdote  con- 
cerning him,  which  I  received  from  the  late  Mr.  Alderman 
Boydell,  during  the  time  he  visited  me,  to  notice  the  pro- 
gress of  my  work,  entitled  "  Antiquities  of  Westminster," 
one  of  the  most  anxious  and  unfortunate  tasks  of  my  life.1 


1  Smith's  "unfortunate  task," 
The  Antiquities  of  Westminster, 
The  Old  Palace,  St.  Stephen's 
Chapel,  etc.  etc.,  was  published 
on  June  gth,  1807.  It  origin- 
ated in  the  discovery  in  1800 
of  some  important  mural  paint- 
ings behind  the  wainscoting 
of  the  Chamber.  These  were 
brought  to  Smith's  notice  by 
his  friend  Dr.  Charles  Gower, 
of  Middlesex  Hospital.  Little 
official  interest  seems  to  have 
been  taken  in  these  paintings, 
but  Smith  resolved  to  copy 
them.  He  matched  his  pencil 


against  the  crowbars  to  accom- 
plish the  task,  beginning  his 
work  at  daylight  each  morning, 
giving  way  at  nine  o'clock  to 
the  workmen,  who  often  re- 
moved in  the  course  of  the  day 
the  painting  he  had  just  copied. 
His  method  was  to  draw  the 
subject  and  make  careful  mem- 
oranda of  their  colouring. 
Smith  then  began  the  prepara- 
tion of  his  volume  in  collabora- 
tion with  John  Sidney  Hawkins, 
the  antiquary,  eldest  son  of  Sir 
John  Hawkins,  but  this  gentle- 
man, whose  "  talents  were  over- 


183 


184        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

The  Alderman  assured  me,  that  when  he  himself  com- 
menced publishing,  he  etched  small  plates  of  landscapes, 
which  he  produced  in  sets  of  six,  and  sold  for  sixpence ; 
and  that,  as  there  were  very  few  print-shops  at  that  time 
in  London,  he  prevailed  upon  the  sellers  of  children's  toys, 
to  allow  his  little  books  to  be  put  in  their  windows.  These 
shops  he  regularly  visited  every  Saturday,  to  see  if  any 
had  been  sold,  and  to  leave  more.  His  most  successful  shop 
was  the  sign  of  the  "  Cricket-bat,"  in  Duke's-court,  St. 
Martin's-lane,1  where  he  found  he  had  sold  as  many  as 
came  to  five  shillings  and  sixpence.  With  this  success  he 
was  so  pleased,  that,  wishing  to  invite  the  shopkeeper  to 
continue  in  his  interest,  he  laid  out  the  money  in  a  silver 
pencil-case  ;  which  article,  after  he  had  related  the  above 
anecdote,  he  took  out  of  his  pocket,  and  assured  me  he 
never  would  part  with.  He  then  favoured  me  with  the 
following  history  of  Woollett's  plate  of  the  Niobe ;  and, 
as  it  is  interesting,  I  shall  endeavour  to  relate  it  in  Mr. 
Boydell's  own  words. 

"  When  I  got  a  little  forward  in  the  world,"  said  the 
venerable  Alderman,  "  I  took  a  whole  shop,  for  at  my 
commencement  I  kept  only  half  a  one.  In  the  course  of  one 

shadowed  by  a  sour  and  jealous  consumed  Bensley's  printing 
temper "  (Gentleman's  Maga-  works  in  Bolt-court,  Fleet- 
zine),  proved  a  difficult  partner,  street,  on  November  5th, 
The  progress  of  the  work  was  1807,  in  which  400  remain- 
delayed,  and  Hawkins,  who  had  ing  copies  of  the  work  were 
written  the  preface  and  the  destroyed,  besides  5600  prints, 
first  144  pages  of  the  work,  of  which  2000  had  been  coloured 
required  Smith  to  remove  his  and  gilded  by  Smith  and  his 
name  from  the  title  page.  wife.  Smith's  folio,  to  which 
Smith's  explanation  to  the  sub-  the  leading  connoisseurs  of  the 
scribers,  embodied  in  the  work,  day  were  subscribers,  remains 
led  to  a  controversy  with  indispensable  to  students. 
Hawkins  which  is  now  without  1  Duke's-court  was  opposite 
interest.  The  success  of  the  St.  Martin's  Church  in  the 
volume  was  further  jeopardized  portion  of  the  lane  now  lost 
by  the  disastrous  fire  which  in  Trafalgar-square. 


ALDERMAN    JOHN     BOYDELI,.     I'ATRON    OF    ARTISTS    AND    I'RI  NTSKI.LKK 


hroni  an  engraving  by  B.  Smith  after  C.  Borckhardt 


VIVARES  AND  WOOLLETT  185 

year  I  imported  numerous  impressions  of  Vernet's  celebrated 
Storm,  so  admirably  engraved  by  Lerpiniere  ;J  for  which  I 
was  obliged  to  pay  in  hard  cash,  as  the  French  took  none 
of  our  prints  in  return.  Upon  Mr.  Woollett's  expressing 
himself  highly  delighted  with  this  print  of  the  Storm,  I  was 
induced,  knowing  his  ability  as  an  engraver,  to  ask  him 
if  he  thought  he  could  produce  a  print  of  the  same  size, 
which  I  could  send  over,  so  that  in  future  I  could  avoid  pay- 
ment in  money,  and  prove  to  the  French  nation  that  an 
Englishman  could  produce  a  print  of  equal  merit ;  upon 
which  he  immediately  declared  that  he  should  like  much 
to  try. 

"  At  this  time,  the  principal  conversation  among  artists 
was  upon  Mr.  Wilson's  grand  picture  of  Niobe,  which  had 
just  arrived  from  Rome.2  I,  therefore,  immediately  applied 
to  his  Royal  Highness  the  Duke  of  Gloucester,  its  owner, 
and  procured  permission  for  Woollett  to  engrave  it.  But 
before  he  ventured  upon  the  task,  I  requested  to  know  what 
idea  he  had  as  to  the  expense,  and,  after  some  consideration, 
he  said  he  thought  he  could  engrave  it  for  one  hundred 
guineas.  This  sum,  small  as  it  may  now  appear,  was  to 
me  an  unheard-of  price,  being  considerably  more  than  I 
had  given  for  any  copper-plate.  However,  serious  as  the 
sum  was,  I  bade  him  get  to  work,  and  he  proceeded  with  all 
possible  cheerfulness,  for,  as  he  went  on,  I  advanced  him 
money ;  and  though  he  lost  no  time,  I  found  that  he  had 
received  nearly  the  whole  amount  before  he  had  half  finished 
his  task.  I  frequently  called  upon  him,  and  found  him 
struggling  with  serious  difficulties,  with  his  wife  and  family, 
in  an  upper  lodging  in  Green's-court,  Castle-street,  Leicester- 
fields  ;  for  there  he  lived  before  he  went  into  Green-street. 

1  Daniel  Lerpiniere,  a  pupil  2  The  copy  of  this  picture 

DfVivares,  practised  in  London,  which  Wilson  painted  for  Sir 

and  died  in  Lambeth  in  1785.  George  Beaumont  is  now  in 

He  engraved  two   companion  the  National  Gallery, 
sea  -  pieces,      "  Calm  "      and 
"  Storm,"  after  Vernet. 


186        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

However,  I  encouraged  him,  by  allowing  him  to  draw  upon 
me  to  the  extent  of  twenty-five  pounds  more  ;  and,  at  length, 
that  sum  was  paid,  and  I  was  unavoidably  under  the 
necessity  of  saying,  '  Mr.  Woollett,  I  find  we  have  made 
too  close  a  bargain  with  each  other ;  you  have  exerted 
yourself,  and  I  fear  I  have  gone  beyond  my  strength,  or, 
indeed,  what  I  ought  to  have  risked,  as  we  neither  of  us 
can  be  aware  of  the  success  of  the  speculation.  However, 
I  am  determined,  whatever  the  event  may  be,  to  enable 
you  to  finish  it  to  your  wish  ;  at  least  to  allow  you  to  work 
upon  it  as  long  as  another  twenty-five  pounds  can  extend, 
but  there  we  positively  must  stop.'  The  plate  was  finished  ; 
and,  after  taking  a  very  few  proofs,  I  published  the  print  at 
five  shillings,  and  it  succeeded  so  much  beyond  my  expecta- 
tion, that  I  immediately  employed  Mr.  Woollett  upon 
another  engraving,  from  another  picture  by  Wilson  ;  and  I 
am  now  thoroughly  convinced,  that  had  I  continued  in 
publishing  subjects  of  their  description,  my  fortune  would 
have  been  increased  tenfold." 

Of  Woollett's  glorious  engraving  of  Niobe,  we  have  a  most 
brilliant  proof  on  India  paper  in  the  British  Museum,  a 
similar  one  to  which  has  been  sold  for  fifty  pounds.  Should 
this  page  meet  the  eyes  of  Mr.  Burke,  and  such  liberal 
gentlemen  who  are  willing  to  persevere  in  their  encourage- 
ment of  Modern  Art,  I  trust,  for  the  honour  of  England, 
should  our  landscape-Engravers  possess  talent  and  inclina- 
tion to  produce  similar  works  to  those  of  Woollett's  Niobe, 
Phaeton,  Celadon  and  Amelia,  Ceyx  and  Alcyone, — pro- 
ductions hitherto  standing  alone, — that  they  will  sanction 
the  labours  of  artists  who  have,  as  well  as  our  respectable 
publishers,  so  seriously  of  late  felt  an  unprecedented  depres- 
sion, in  consequence  of  the  most  glaring  misconduct  of  several 
speculators  :  and  I  hope  a  time  will  soon  arrive,  when  the 
grand  pictures  of  Turner,  Callcott,  Arnald,  &c.  will  be 
selected  by  some  spirited  publishers,  for  the  purpose  of 
producing  other  Woolletts. 


VIVARES  AND  WOOLLETT 


187 


As  Mr.  Strutt,  in  his  Dictionary  of  Engravers,  has  neither 
given  the  time  of  Vivares's  birth,  death,  nor  place  of  burial, 
it  will  be  some  information  to  state,  that  Francis  Vivares 
was  born  in  the  village  of  St.  John,  in  France,  July  nth, 
1709  ;  that  he  came  to  England  in  1718,  where  for  some  years 
he  followed  the  trade  of  a  tailor  ;  and  that  he  died  November 
26th,  1780,  and  was  buried  at  Paddington.1 

William  Woollett  was  born  at  Maidstone,  August  27th, 
1735,  and  died  May  23rd,  1785,  being  buried  in  the  church- 
yard of  the  old  church  of  St.  Pancras.2 


1  Vivares,    who    is    said    to 
have  been  the  father  of  thirty- 
one  children,  was  born  at  St. 
Jean    de    Bruel,    near    Mont- 
pelier.     He  kept  a  print  shop 
in  Great  Newport-street.    The 
Diet.  Nat.  Biography  gives  the 
date  of  his  death  in  1780  as 
November     28th,     Redgrave, 
November  26th. 

2  The  inscription  in  the  en- 
graving  of   Woollett 's   grave- 
stone  in    Smith's    own    Anti- 
quities of  London  (1791)  shows 
the  date  of  Woollett's  birth  as 
August  1 5th,  the  date  given 
by  Redgrave  and  adopted  by 
the  Diet.  Nat.  Biography.    But 
Allen's  History  of  London  (1828) 
has  August  29th,  while  in  the 
inscription    on    the    Woollett 
monument   in  the  cloisters  of 
Westminster   Abbey    we   read 


August  22nd.  On  Woollett's 
gravestone,  which  may  still  be 
seen  in  St.  Pancras  old  church- 
yard, someone  wrote  the  fol- 
lowing lines  with  a  pencil : 

"  Here  Woollett  lies,  expecting  to  be 

sav'd, 

He  grav'd  well,  but  is  not  well  en- 
grav'd." 

Smith  quotes  these  lines  be- 
neath his  own  print  of  the 
tomb  in  his  Antiquities  of  Lon- 
don (1791),  and  adds  :  "  It  is 
not  improbable  that  these  lines 
gave  rise  to  a  noble  subscription 
for  erecting  a  monument  to 
Woollett's  memory  in  West- 
minster Abbey,  to  which  Ben- 
jamin West,  Esq.,  and  Mr. 
Alderman  Boydell  were  very 
liberal  subscribers.  The  tablet 
is  in  the  west  cloister. 


FRANCESCO    ZUCCARELLI,    R.A. 


Z"  UCCARELLI  was  a  native  of  Pitigliano,  near 
Sienna.  After  studying  under  Morandi  and  Nelli, 
he  was  much  noticed  by  Mr.  Smith,  the  British 
Consul,1  who  encouraged  him  to  visit  England, 
where  he  was  employed  at  the  Opera-house  as  a  Scene- 
painter  ;  though  he  soon  quitted  that  employment  for  the 
patronage  of  the  late  King,  and  some  of  the  first  nobility. 
Frederick  Prince  of  Wales  collected  his  pictures ;  and  those 
large  circles  which  were  engraved  by  Vivares,  and  many 
others  formerly  at  Kew,  are  now  in  the  royal  apartments  at 
Windsor ;  in  which  splendid  palace  there  are  also  many 
by  Canaletti  in  his  finest  style.  It  is  a  curious  fact,  that  the 
latter  Artist  frequently  painted  the  buildings  in  Zuccarelli's 
Landscapes. 

Most  of  Zuccarelli's  pictures  were  painted  in  turpentine 
only,  covered  with  a  coat  of  varnish,  which  always  produces 
a  cheerful  effect.  The  late  venerable  President,  Mr.  West, 
who  first  met  him  at  the  English  Coffee-house  at  Rome, 
informed  me  that  he  died  at  Florence,  the  30th  of  December, 
1788,  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-six. 

Zuccarelli  was  one  of  the  first  members  of  the  Royal 
Academy  ;  and  during  the  first  three  years  of  its  exhibition, 

1  The   well-known    "Consul  large  collection  of  choice  Italian 

Smith,"  a  collector  of  pictures,  books    now    in     the     King's 

books,  etc.,  from  whom  George  Library  at  the  British  Museum. 
Ill    bought    (for    io,ooo/.)    a 

1 88 


FRANCESCO  ZUCCARELLI,  R.A.       189 


resided  in  Piccadilly.1  He  is  wholly  unmentioned  by 
Fuseli,  in  the  Appendix  to  his  edition  of  Pilkington's  Dic- 
tionary. 


1  Sandby  says  that  between 
1752  and  1773  Zuccarelli 
"  seemed  to  reign  over  the 
public  taste  of  England." 
There  are  fine  examples  of  his 
art  in  the  Glasgow  Gallery.  It 
was  Zuccarelli  who,  in  Venice, 
prompted  Richard  Wilson  to 


turn  from  portrait  painting  to 
landscape.  This  advice  was 
given  on  the  evidence  of  a 
sketch  in  oil  made  from  the 
window  of  Zuccarelli's  apart- 
ment. (T.  Wright  :  Life  of 
Richard  Wilson,  1824.) 


MARCELLUS  LAROON  (THE  YOUNGER) 

CAPTAIN  LAROON  practised  the  Arts  at  the 
same  period  as  Hogarth;  and  as  he  often  wit- 
nessed the  nocturnal  revels  at  Moll  King's1 
and  Mother  Douglas's,  (alias  Mother  Cole,) 
which  so  delighted  Hogarth,  the  Captain's  productions 
often  resemble  in  subject  those  of  the  great  painter  of 
human  character  and  manners.  I  have  seen  at  Strawberry- 
hill,  a  large  and  spirited  drawing,  in  red  chalk,  by  Captain 
Laroon,  exhibiting  the  inside  of  Moll  King's.  Kirgate, 
Mr.  Walpole's  domestic  printer,2  bought  it  for  him  at  an 
evening  auction  about  forty  years  ago.  There  is  also  an 
engraving  of  the  same  room,  in  which  a  whole-length  of  Mr. 
Aprice  is  introduced  in  a  full  court-dress.  An  impression 
of  this  plate,  which  is  extremely  rare,  is  carefully  preserved 
by  H.  P.  Standly,  Esq.  of  the  Middle  Temple,  as  an  addition 
to  Hogarth's  first  print  of  the  Four  Times  of  the  Day,  in 
which  that  Artist  has  introduced  Moll  King's  house. 

Laroon  drew  sometimes  with  red  chalk,  but  more  fre- 
quently with  a  black-lead  pencil.  His  drawings  are  truly 
spirited,  and  display  a  liquid  flow  of  touch  peculiar  to 

1  For    fuller    references    to  Catalogue  of  the  Valuable  and 
Moll  King  and  Mother  Douglas,  Curious   Collections,    late   the 
see  Index.  property  of  Thomas  Kirgate." 

2  Thomas  Kirgate,  who  died  He  was  Walpole's  secretary  as 
in   1810,   was  for  more   than  well  as  printer,  and  references 
thirty  years  printer  to  Horace  to  him  in  Walpole's  letters  are 
Walpole   at    Strawberry   Hill,  frequent. 

After  his  death  appeared  "A 

190 


MARCELLUS  LAROON  191 

himself ;  but  what  is  highly  honourable  to  his  memory, 
is,  that  his  productions  are  entirely  his  own,  not  assisted 
in  the  least  by  the  hand  of  another  man.  An  ungentleman- 
like  practice  often  resorted  to  by  some  of  our  would-be 
amateurs,  is  regularly  to  invite  three  or  four  artists  separately 
to  dine  with  them,  in  order  to  coax  and  wheedle  them  to 
touch  upon  their  pictures  ;  which  they  afterwards  have  the 
barefaced  audacity  to  display  in  public  exhibitions,  as 
specimens  of  their  own  talented  productions,  and  positively 
declare  themselves  slighted  if  their  pictures  are  not  hung 
in  the  best  places,  in  preference  to  the  works  of  those  men 
who  avowedly  make  the  Arts  their  profession,  and  support 
their  establishments  by  their  labours. 

Upon  reference  to  Walpole's  Anecdotes  of  Painting  in 
England,  and  finding  so  little  of  the  Laroon  family,  and 
fortunately  being  in  possession  of  a  manuscript  life  drawn 
up  by  the  Captain,  in  his  own  hand,  I  shall  here  insert  a 
copy  of  it,  as  a  curious  addition  to  Mr.  Major's  late  splendid 
edition  of  the  work  of  Lord  Orford ;  which  the  Editor,  the 
Rev.  James  Dallaway,1  has  rendered  more  interesting  by 
inserting  lists  of  the  portraits  executed  by  some  of  the 
principal  Painters,  and  also  the  names  of  their  present 
possessors ;  which  is  valuable  to  the  traveller  and  collector, 
and  particularly  so  to  those  who  illustrate  the  interesting 
reign  of  that  splendid  patron  of  the  Arts,  King  Charles 
the  First. 

The  following  is  Captain  Laroon's  statement : — 2 
"  I  write  the  following  memorandums,  not  as  a  regular 
account  of  battles,  sieges,  or  other  actions  I  have  seen,  but 

1  Dallaway's  edition  of  Wai-  out  of  the  fact  that  in  1707 
pole's   Anecdotes   appeared   in  Laroon  was  introduced  to  the 
five  volumes,   1826-1828.     It  Duke  of  Marlborough,  and  in 
was  published  by  John  Major,  consequence  served  in  the  Earl 
who  issued  many  sumptuously  of  Orkney's  regiment,  and  was 
printed  works,  and  was  a  noted  present   at   the  operations  at 
bibliographer.  Oudenarde,  Lille,  and  Ghent. 

2  This  long  narrative  arises  Two  years  later  he  was  serving 


192        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

for  the  satisfaction  of  my  particular  friends,  who,  perhaps, 
might  be  desirous  to  know  how  I  have  spent  my  life.  I 
leave  out  all  private  occurrences.  My  father's  as  well  as 
grandfather's  name  was  spelt  Marcellus  Lauron  ;  I  was 
christened  by  the  same,  but  being  called  Marcellus  Laroon, 
I  wrote  my  name  always  so.1  I  was  born  the  second  day  of 
April,  1679,  at  my  father's  house  in  Bow-street,  in  the 
Parish  of  Co  vent-garden,  London.  My  grandfather,  Mar- 
cellus Lauron,  was  a  native  of  France,  by  profession  a 
Painter,  and  lived  in  Holland  many  years.  It  never  came 
to  my  knowledge  where  he  married,  or  of  what  country  his 
wife  was.  At  the  Hague,  he  had  several  children.  My 
father's  elder  brother,  as  well  as  my  father,  was  a  Painter, 
and  remained  in  Holland  and  died  there  ;  his  performances 
were  not  greatly  esteemed.  My  father  came  to  England  a 
young  man  ;  he  died  at  the  age  of  fifty-three,  at  Richmond 
in  Surrey,  and  was  buried  there.  He  studied  closely  and 
made  great  improvements,  and  the  impartial  must  allow 
him  a  great  degree  of  merit,  as  some  portraits,  and  many 
easel-pieces,  demonstrate.  He  married  an  Englishwoman, 
the  daughter  of  Jeremiah  Keene,  Builder,  of  Little  Sutton, 
near  Chiswick,  and  by  her  had  many  children.  We  were 
three  sons  left,  brought  up  by  him  to  painting,  and  my 
father  gave  us  other  necessary  learning  and  accomplish- 
ments ;  we  had  French-masters,  learned  writing,  arithme- 
tic, fencing,  and  dancing.  He  entertained  in  his  house  a 
very  good  master  of  music,  whose  name  was  Moret,  who 

under    General    Stanhope    in  Army   in  1732,    and   died   at 

Spain,    where    he    was    taken  York  in  1772. 

prisoner.      On    exchange    of  1  "  Pliny  mentions  the  city 

prisoners  he  returned  to  Lon-  or  town  of  Lauron,  and  such 

don   and  again  served  under  a  place  is  also  mentioned  by 

Stanhope  during  the  Rebellion  Plutarch.    It  was  in  Spain,  and 

of  1715.    After  being  on  half-  was    besieged    and    taken    by 

pay   for   eight   years   he   was  Sertorius,     in     the     sight     of 

given    a    troop    in    Brigadier  Pompey."    (S.) 
Kerr's  Dragoons.    He  left  the 


MARCELLUS  LAROON  193 

performed  on  several  instruments, — with  design,  as  my 
father  had  a  very  good  ear,  to  learn  of  him  to  play  on  the 
six-stringed  viol ;  but  my  elder  brother,  ten  years  old,  took 
up  the  instrument,  and  executing  Moret's  instructions 
better  than  my  father,  he  ordered  him  to  teach  my  brother. 
We  had  frequent  concerts  of  music  at  our  house.  I  was  then 
about  seven  or  eight  years  of  age,  and  was  judged  to 
have  an  inclination  to  music,  by  being  often  found  scraping 
on  a  fiddle  in  some  private  place.  I  was  then  put  under 
Moret's  discipline,  to  learn  to  play  on  the  violin.  We  both 
made  such  progress,  that  in  about  two  years  we  could  per- 
form d  lime  ouverte. 

"We  still  went  on  with  our  painting.  I  was  about 
eighteen  years  of  age,  when  the  Congress  met  at  Ryswick. 
My  father  was  willing  that  I  should  see  foreign  parts,  and 
I  was  made  one  of  the  six  pages  to  Sir  Joseph  Williamson,1 
one  of  the  English  Plenipotentiaries.  Mr.  De  la  Faye  was 
then  his  Secretary.  We  set  sail  for  Helvoet  Sluys,  in  com- 
pany with  a  great  number  of  ships  ;  we  were  surprised  by 
a  violent  storm,  which  lasted  three  days,  in  a  very  dangerous 
situation ;  the  wind  blowing  into  land ;  we  were  near  the 
coast  of  Holland  and  at  anchor;  but  the  storm  abating, 
we  got  safe  on  shore.  We  went  to  the  Hague,  where  Sir 
Joseph  resided  till  the  peace  was  concluded.  About  the 
time  of  signing  the  peace,  the  Earl  of  Manchester  (then  sent 
Ambassador  to  the  Venetians)  passed  through  the  Hague. 
My  father  had  taken  measures  to  place  me  with  the  Earl, 
and  I  was  made  his  page.  We  were  one  and  twenty  in 
family,  almost  all  English.  Mr.  Slangau  was  then  with  us 
as  Secretary  to  the  Embassy. 

1  Sir  Joseph  Williamson  which  resulted  in  the  signature 
(1633-1701),  the  diplomatist  of  the  Peace  of  Ryswick  Sep- 
and  President  of  the  Royal  tember  20th,  1697.  He  re- 
Society,  accompanied  the  Earl  mained,  however,  at  the  Hague 
of  Pembroke  and  Lord  Villiers  until  March,  1699. 
to  the  Congress  at  Nimeguen, 

VOL.   II.  — O 


194        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

"  We  passed  through  Cleves  to  Cologne,  where  we  all 
embarked  on  board  two  large  vessels  (fastened  together, 
with  all  our  baggage)  on  the  Rhine,  and  were  drawn  against 
that  strong  stream  by  a  great  number  of  horses  to  Frank- 
fort, from  whence  my  Lord  and  all  his  suite  travelled  hi 
different  voitures  by  Inspruk,  and  through  the  Tyrol 
mountains  to  Muran  ;  from  whence  we  were  transported 
in  proper  vessels  to  Venice.  My  Lord's  residence  was  in  a 
large  palace  upon  Canal  Regio  ;  he  made  his  entry  in  very 
magnificent  gondolas,  two  whereof  were  very  richly  carved, 
gilt,  and  ornamented.  We  stayed  at  Venice  about  four 
months,  in  which  time  I  was  at  their  operas,  and  saw  all 
that  was  usually  shown  to  strangers.  My  Lord  then  set  out 
on  his  return  to  England.  We  went  from  Venice  to  Padua, 
and  passed  on  to  Verona,  Vicenza,  Bergamo,  Brescia,  Milan, 
so  to  Turin,  where  we  stayed  three  days ;  then  we  passed 
over  Mount  Cenis  in  very  severe  weather ;  went  by  Mont- 
mellian,  Verceil,  and  embarked  on  the  rapid  river  Rhone, 
and  came  to  Lyons  ;  from  thence  to  Paris,  where  we  stayed 
some  time,  and  from  thence  to  Calais,  where  we  embarked, 
and  landed  safe  in  England.  I  then  returned  to  my  father's 
house.  The  whole  expedition  was  in  the  compass  of  a 
year. 

"  As  my  father's  circumstances  were  not  such  as  would 
enable  him  to  give  us  fortunes,  we  were  obliged  to  learn  to 
earn  a  living  ;  we  then  went  on  in  painting  ;  but  a  quarrel 
I  had  with  my  younger  brother,  (for  we  were  three,)  which 
I  thought  unjustly  supported  on  his  side  by  my  father, 
made  me  resolve  to  leave  him.  Having  some  knowledge 
in  music,  I  threw  myself  on  the  theatre  in  Drury-lane, 
about  the  year  1698,  where  I  continued,  not  as  an  actor, 
but  a  singer,  for  about  two  years.  I  grew  weary  of  that 
manner  of  life,  left  it,  and  returned  to  painting,  which  I 
practised  till  the  year  1707,  when  I  got  acquainted  with 
Colonel  Gorsuch,  commandant  of  the  battalion  of  Foot 
Guards,  then  upon  service  in  Flanders,  in  which  I  resolved 


MARCELLUS  LAROON  195 

to  carry  arms.  I  was  so  happy  as  to  have  for  my  friend 
Colonel  Molesworth,  aide-de-camp  to  the  Duke  of  Marl- 
borough  :  with  him  I  had  the  favour  to  pass  the  sea  in  the 
yacht  with  the  Duke,  to  whom  I  was  introduced  on  board. 
We  arrived  safe  in  Holland. 

"  I  then  joined  the  battalion  of  Guards,  with  Colonel 
Gorsuch,  and  did  sometimes  duty  in  the  regiment  as  a 
cadet ;  and  we  took  the  field.  That  campaign  we  had 
neither  battle  nor  siege  :  the  enemy,  as  it  was  rumoured, 
had  formed  a  design  to  attack  the  Duke  of  Marlborough's 
quarters,  to  carry  him  off  in  the  night.  His  quarters  being 
some  distance  from  the  grand  army,  and  covered  only 
by  the  battalion  of  Guards,  the  out-guards  and  sentries  were 
doubled,  and  a  sentry  was  to  be  placed  at  the  door  of  the 
Duke's  bedchamber.  I  desired  to  have  that  post,  and 
chose  not  to  be  relieved  the  whole  night,  which  passed 
without  any  disturbance  from  the  enemy. 

"  At  the  end  of  this  campaign,  the  Duke  of  Marlborough 
gave  me  a  Lieutenant's  commission  in  the  Earl  of  Orkney's 
first  battalion,  and  I  was  sent  to  England  to  raise  recruits. 
The  next  spring,  I  returned  to  Flanders  with  ten  men :  I 
served  the  campaign  in  1708 ;  and  at  the  battle  of  Oude- 
narde,  our  regiment  was  ordered  to  dislodge  the  enemy, 
who  had  posted  themselves  in  some  very  strong  inclosures, 
and  we  pushed  them  out  with  small  loss.  We  had  a  Lieu- 
tenant killed,  and  a  few  men  wounded.  Our  battalion 
made  part  of  the  detachment,  of  about  six  thousand  men, 
under  the  command  of  General  Webb.  At  the  battle  of 
Winnendall,  two  spent  musket-balls  struck  me,  one  on 
the  forehead,  another  on  the  left  arm,  which  caused  a 
contusion,  which  was  a  month  healing.  The  enemy  were 
about  twenty  thousand  men ;  but  we  had  the  advantage 
of  woods  on  each  side,  into  which  were  ordered  two  regiments 
whose  fire  did  great  execution  on  the  enemy's  flanks.  As 
night  came  on,  they  retired  with  considerable  loss  ;  and  the 
convoy  of  provisions  and  ammunition  to  finish  the  siege 


196        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

of  Lisle,  got  safe  to  our  grand  army.    I  was  left  that  night 
with  thirty  men  on  the  skirts  of  our  camp. 

"  At  the  siege  of  Ghent  I  had  the  advanced-guard  at  the 
opening  of  the  trenches.  The  morning  after  the  trench  was 
completed,  I  was  in  conversation  with  some  of  our  officers 
and  some  of  the  battalion  of  Guards  :  it  being  a  very  thick 
fog,  one  of  the  town  came  and  fired  among  us,  and  shot  me 
through  the  shoulder,  and  the  next  day  I  was  sent  to 
Brussels.  In  the  campaign  of  1709,  I  served  at  the  siege 
of  Tournay,  and  had  the  advanced-guard  at  the  opening 
of  the  trenches;  served  in  the  trenches  the  whole  siege, 
several  duties  on  battering-pieces,  and  bomb-batteries. 

"  The  latter  end  of  1709,  I  came  to  London.  Mr.  Craggs1 
desired  me  to  go  to  Spain  with  him  and  General  Stanhope, 
who  commanded  the  English  forces  then  in  Spain.  I  quitted 
my  commission  in  Lord  Orkney's  regiment,  and  attended 
General  Stanhope  to  Spain.  I  and  Mr.  Craggs's  Secretary 
went  post  from  Utrecht  through  Germany  to  Genoa  ;  we 
stayed  at  Genoa  fifteen  days,  and  then  General  Stanhope, 
Mr.  Craggs,  and  all  the  servants,  baggage,  &c.  went  on  board 
a  man  of  war,  accompanied  by  another,  and  sailed  to 
Barcelona,  and  I  immediately  took  the  field.  The  beginning 
of  the  summer  1710,  having  no  commission,  General 
Stanhope  made  me  Deputy-quartermaster-general  of  the 
English  troops,  in  which  employment  I  served  the  whole 
campaign. 

"  The  enemy,  whose  army  was  superior  to  ours,  marched 
to  Balaquer,  where  we  were  encamped.    Marechal  Starem 
berg  drew  up  our  troops  upon  some  hills,  and  posted  the 
army  advantageously.    At  the  foot  of  the  eminence  was  an 
old,  demolished  fort,  where  he  had  placed  a  good  detach 
ment,  and  a  battery  of  cannon.    The  enemy  came  on  in  two 
lines  upon  an  open  plain,  and  the  battery  from  an  old  fort 
played  upon  them  with  success.     The  hills  were  not  so 
difficult  of  ascent  as  to  hinder  the  horse  of  both  armies 
1  James  ("  Secretary  ")  Craggs,  the  friend  of  Addison. 


MARCELLUS  LAROON  197 

from  gaining  the  top,  where  their  cavalry  and  ours  faced 
each  other  for  two  hours  :  Colonel  Borgard  had  planted  a 
battery,  from  which  he  fired  with  great  slaughter  among 
the  Spanish  horse,  who  stood  it  with  incredible  resolution 
for  a  considerable  time.  The  enemy  finding  us  in  good 
posture  to  receive  them,  declined  the  attack,  and  marched 
away. 

"  Some  time  after,  happened  the  battle  of  Almenara. 
Upon  our  march  we  saw  the  enemy  advancing  very  fast  to 
get  possession  of  a  high  hill.  We  marched  with  all  expedition 
also,  and  were  met  on  the  height  of  the  mountain,  upon  a 
plain  scarce  wide  enough  to  draw  up  our  foot  in  two  lines. 
The  horse  on  both  sides  advanced  in  two  lines  ;  General 
Stanhope,  turning  to  our  men,  cried  out,  '  In  the  name  of 
God  we  will  beat  them  ! '  and  charged  the  enemy  with  great 
resolution,  broke  through,  and  routed  them  entirely; 
many  were  driven,  horse  and  man,  down  the  precipice; 
and  had  not  night  come  on,  their  army  would  have  suffered 
greatly :  unhappily,  one  of  our  batteries  playing  mistook 
Count  Hassau's  regiment  for  the  enemy,  and  by  a  shot, 
Count  Hassau,  a  cornet,  and  a  dragoon  were  killed. 

"At  the  battle  of  Saragosa,  as  I  had  no  commission,  I 
desired  to  go  on  a  volunteer  with  Colonel  du  Bourgay's 
regiment  of  foot,  then  commanded  by  Lieutenant-colonel 
Burgess,  to  whom  I  applied.  He  made  me  a  compliment, 
and  lent  me  his  own  fusee,  bayonet,  and  cartouch-box. 
We  lay  on  our  arms  all  night.  I  was  placed  on  the  right  of 
the  grenadiers  ;  our  regiment  was  in  the  front  line.  Upon 
the  discharge  of  a  piece  of  artillery,  which  was  the  sign  for 
advancing  towards  the  enemy,  we  marched  forward  to  meet 
them,  they,  at  the  same  time,  advancing  to  meet  us.  We 
marched  upon  a  rising  ground,  and  did  not  see  the  enemy 
till  we  were  within  twenty  yards  of  him.  We  had  orders  to 
receive  their  fire,  and  accordingly  went  on  with  our  arms 
recovered  ;  but,  being  so  near,  it  obliged  one  side  to  begin, 
which  they  did,  and  gave  us  their  full  discharge,  but  did  not 


198        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

kill  many  of  our  men,  for  most  of  their  shot  went  over  our 
heads,  and  killed  more  in  Dormer's  regiment,  which  was  in 
our  rear.  We  then  levelled  at  them,  and  sent  a  well-directed 
discharge  among  them,  which  broke  their  ranks,  and  they 
fled.  We  pursued  them  with  great  slaughter  a  great  way, 
and  took  about  five  or  six  thousand  prisoners.  We  were 
then  masters  of  Saragosa. 

"  From  thence  we  marched  to  Madrid,  and  stayed  some 
time  ;  and  from  thence  eight  or  nine  regiments  of  dragoons, 
Harvey's  horse,  and  a  battalion  of  the  Scotch  Guards, 
marched  to  Brihuega,  under  the  command  of  General 
Stanhope,  all  which  regiments  were  very  weak  by  battles, 
sickness,  and  desertion. 

"  While  we  were  at  Madrid,  not  having  intelligence, 
being  in  an  enemy's  country,  we  were  surprised  and  en- 
compassed by  the  French  and  Spanish  forces ;  General 
Stanhope  immediately  sent  Captain  Cansby  (one  of  his  aide- 
de-camps)  to  Marechal  Staremberg,  with  an  account  of  our 
situation.  The  enemy  began  to  fire  from  several  batteries 
of  cannon,  and  with  ease  beat  down  an  old  Moorish  wall  of 
no  strength.  Our  men  were  all  dismounted,  and  defended 
bravely  at  the  breach.  The  Scotch  Guards  suffered  much ; 
but  notwithstanding  the  whole  power  of  the  enemy,  if  our 
men  had  not  been  scanty  of  ammunition,  they  had  not  en- 
tered the  place.  As  we  suspected  no  army  near  us,  that 
article  had  been  neglected. 

"  During  the  preparations  for  our  defence,  General 
Stanhope,  General  Carpenter,  Colonel  Dormer,  &c.  &c.  &c. 
from  a  tower,  were  viewing  their  approaches  :  General 
Stanhope  had  ordered  a  parapet  to  be  made  for  our  men  to 
fire  over ;  he  saw  that  it  was  not  high  enough,  and  sent 
me  with  his  orders  to  have  it  raised  higher.  I  had  no  way 
to  go  down  to  the  officers  but  through  the  gateway,  and  down 
the  side  of  a  hill,  quite  exposed  to  the  enemy ;  which  I  did, 
but  received  no  hurt,  though  a  good  number  of  shot  were 
levelled  at  me.  I  delivered  the  orders,  and  returned  the 


MARCELLUS  LAROON  199 

same  way,  through  the  same  fire,  to  the  General,  with  the 
answer  of  the  officer,  that  his  orders  should  be  obeyed  ;  but 
it  not  being  immediately  done,  I  was  a  second  time  sent, 
and,  by  great  good  fortune,  escaped  many  more  shot  that 
was  discharged  at  me. 

"  The  Marshal  not  coming  to  our  relief,  the  enemy  having 
entered  some  parts  of  the  town,  General  Stanhope  ordered 
the  chamade  ;  and  capitulated,  that  the  generals  and  all 
the  officers  should  keep  their  own  equipages,  but  the  troops 
to  surrender  prisoners  of  war,  and  give  up  all  their  horses 
and  arms.  Accordingly  we  marched  out  prisoners  ;  General 
Stanhope  and  some  officers  were  sent  to  Valladolid,  and  the 
troops  were  dispersed  to  different  towns. 

"  King  Philip  (who,  after  the  battle  of  Saragosa,  was  on 
his  way  towards  France,)  returned  to  Saragosa,  where  the 
Court  was  kept.  The  Duke  of  Vendome,  who  commanded 
the  troops,  was  also  there.  General  Stanhope  was  sent  for 
to  Saragosa  to  treat  upon  the  exchange  of  the  troops. 
The  General  went,  attended  by  Mr.  Furley,  his  secretary, 
Colonel  Moyser,  Captain  Killigrew,  and  myself.  We  stayed 
there  about  a  month,  but  nothing  was  concluded ;  and 
General  Stanhope,  with  the  same  suite  and  his  servants,  were 
sent  to  remain  at  a  town  called  Najera,  upon  the  confines 
of  Biscay,  where  we  remained,  till  we  were  exchanged : 
we  were  prisoners,  with  liberty  to  go  out  where  we  pleased 
to  divert  ourselves,  about  twenty  months. 

"  As  soon  as  released,  we  passed  by  Pampeluna,  over  the 
Pyrenean  Mountains,  and  came  to  Pau  in  Bearne,  where 
Henry  the  Fourth  of  France  was  born.  Here  we  stayed  till 
the  ratification  of  the  exchange  of  the  prisoners  was  com- 
pleted ;  this  was  in  the  year  1712.  We  went  from  thence  to 
Bordeaux,  where  at  that  time  the  Marechal  de  Montrevil 
was  Governor.  General  Stanhope  and  his  suite  were 
invited  to  dine  with  him;  his  entertainment  was  very 
noble.  From  Bordeaux,  we  travelled  to  Paris  ;  myself  and 
Captain  Killigrew  went  post  to  Paris,  and  from  thence 


200        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

to  Calais,  and  passed  the  sea  to  Dover,  and  returned  to 
London.1 

"  In  the  year  1715,  when  the  Rebellion  began  in  the 
North,  several  new  regiments  of  dragoons  were  raised  ; 
Colonel  William  Stanhope  (now  Earl  of  Harrington)  had 
one,  in  which  I  was  made  Captain-lieutenant ;  the  regiment 
was  completed  at  Leicester,  and  we  were  ordered  to  march 
to  Lancashire.  Our  regiment  only  was  at  Lancaster. 
When  the  rebels  advanced  towards  us,  we  retired  to  Preston, 
and  from  thence  to  Wigan,  where  General  Wills  joined  us 
with  several  regiments  of  dragoons,  and  Colonel  Preston's 
regiment  of  foot.  We  then  marched  towards  the  enemy, 
and  met  him  in  the  road  between  Preston  and  Wigan. 
They  had  a  design  of  turning  off  towards  Manchester,  but 
finding  us  so  near  them,  retired  with  some  precipitation  to 
Preston,  (without  defending  Kibble  Bridge,)  and  barricaded 
the  avenues  ;  all  the  dragoons  were  dismounted,  and  the 
horses  were  linked  together  and  put  into  the  adjacent 
fields  with  a  sufficient  number  of  men  to  take  care  of  them. 
General  Wills  then  invested  the  place,  and  sent  to  Liverpool 
for  two  or  three  pieces  of  cannon  to  force  the  barricades. 
In  the  interim,  he  ordered  an  attack  to  be  made  by  Preston's 
regiment  and  a  good  body  of  dragoons,  but  with  bad 
success  ;  they  being  quite  exposed,  and  the  enemy  firing 
from  behind  the  barricades,  and  from  windows,  and  other 
holes  under  cover.  They  were  obliged  to  retire  with  great 
loss.  General  Carpenter,  with  four  regiments  of  dragoons, 
then  joined  us,  and  the  enemy  surrendered.  A  court- 
martial  sat,  and  two  or  three  of  their  officers  were  com- 
manded to  be  shot,  which  was  executed  on  two  of  them. 
Lord  Murray,  son  to  the  Duke  of  Athol,  was  recommended 
to  his  Majesty  for  mercy  ;  the  King  was  graciously  pleased 
to  pardon  him ;  the  rest  of  the  prisoners  were  sent  to  London. 

1  "  At  the  latter  end  of  the    Dragoons,  which  regiment  was 
campaign  1710,  General  Stan-     afterwards  broke  "  (Laroon). 
hope  made  me  Lieutenant  of 


MARCELLUS   LAROON  201 

"When  this  affair  was  over,  Colonel  Stanhope  and 
Colonel  Newton,  with  their  regiments,  were  ordered  to 
march  to  Scotland,  to  join  the  forces  there  commanded  by 
the  Duke  of  Argyle.  Our  regiment  went  to  Glasgow,  and 
afterwards  joined  Lord  Cadogan  and  the  army  at  Stirling, 
and  marched,  in  very  hard  weather,  towards  the  enemy. 
The  Chevalier  de  St.  George  was  with  him  ;  he  did  not 
stay  to  give  battle,  but  embarked  and  went  off  to  Montrose. 

"  Their  army  then  dispersed,  and  ours  were  sent  to 
different  quarters  ;  but  some  time  after,  some  clans  were 
again  in  arms,  upon  which  a  sufficient  number  of  troops 
were  sent  into  the  Highlands,  and  about  five  hundred 
dragoons.  We  marched  by  Badenoch,  to  the  Blair  of  Athol ; 
from  thence  to  Inverness,  where  we  encamped.  The  clans 
being  dispersed,  we  marched  towards  Edinburgh,  and 
Colonel  Stanhope's  regiment  was  quartered  at  Inerask, 
and  Musselburgh.  From  thence  to  Dumfries,  where  we 
remained  some  time  ;  then  marched  to  England,  and  were 
quartered  at  York  and  the  neighbouring  towns.  The 
Colonel's  troop  was  quartered  at  Tadcaster.  Our  Lieu- 
tenant-colonel disposed  of  his  commission  to  our  Major 
Manning.  Captain  Gardiner  had  the  majority,  and  I  had 
the  troop.  The  regiment  broke  in  a  short  time  after. 

"  I  continued  on  the  half -pay  about  eight  years.  Lord 
Cadogan  got  me  the  King's  sign-manual,  for  the  first  troop 
of  dragoons  that  should  become  vacant  in  any  of  the  regi- 
ments then  in  Great  Britain.  I  was  disappointed  of  two.  In 
the  year  1724,  his  Majesty  gave  me  a  troop  in  Brigadier 
Kerr's  dragoons,  in  which  station  I  served  till  the  year 
1732.  Major  Stewart,  of  the  same  regiment,  having  no  troops, 
was  allowed  by  the  King  a  pay  of  a  troop  till  he  was  provided 
for.  I  made  over  my  troops  to  him,  and  his  Majesty  was 
graciously  pleased  to  give  me  the  pay  of  Captain  of  a  troop, 
as  was  before  received  by  Major  Stewart. 

"  MARCELLUS  LAROON," 


202        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

This  veteran  died  at  York,  June  2nd,  1772,  in  his  ninety- 
third  year.  His  family  were  frequently  mentioned  by  Mr. 
Nollekens,  as  one  of  the  most  eccentric  with  whom  his 
father  and  mother  had  been  intimate.  Mr.  Welch  observed, 
that  whenever  Captain  Laroon  was  named  by  Henry  Field- 
ing, he  said,  "  I  consider  him  and  his  friend  Captain  Monta- 
gue, and  their  constant  companion,  Little  Cazey,  the  Link- 
boy,  as  the  three  most  troublesome  and  difficult  to  manage 
of  all  my  Bow-street  visitors."  The  portraits  of  these  three 
heroes  are  introduced  in  Boitard's  rare  print  of  "  The  Co  vent- 
garden  Morning  Frolic."  Captain  Laroon  is  brandishing 
an  artichoke ;  Captain  Montague  is  seated  in  a  drunken 
state,  at  the  top  of  Bet  Careless's  sedan  ;  which  is  preceded 
by  "  Little  Cazey,"  as  a  link-boy  ;  of  whom  there  is  also 
another  portrait,  in  the  character  of  Captain  Macheath, 
between  two  women,  as  Polly  and  Lucy :  but  this  plate 
is  by  no  means  so  rare  as  that  first  mentioned.  Cazey  was 
transported  for  stealing  a  gentleman's  gold  watch.1 

1  Information        concerning  "Moll  King's-row"  at  Haver- 

these    Covent    Garden    char-  stock    Hill    perpetuated    the 

acters  may  be  found  among  memory  of  this  woman  who, 

the  caricatures  of  the  period,  when  she  turned  from  iniquity 

and  in  some  rare  pamphlets  and  in  Covent  Garden,  built  three 

broadsides.     On  the  death  of  houses  here  and  died  in  one 

Moll  King  (who  was  the  widow  of  them. 

of  Tom  King)  in  1747  a  book         Betty  Careless  was  a  Covent 

was  published  entitled  Covent  Garden  beauty,  so  esteemed, 

Garden  in  Mourning,  a  Mock  whose  name  occurs  in  the  last 

Heroic  Poem,  containing  some  plate  of  Hogarth's  "Rake's  Pro- 

Memoirs  of  the  late  celebrated  gress,"  where  it  is  inscribed  on 

Moll  King,  and  anecdotes  of  her  the  stair  banister  of  the  mad- 

Sisters,  particularly  Mrs.  D-  -  house  thus  :  "  Charming  Betty 

gla-s,   etc.,   and  in  the  same  Careless."       The     melancholy 

year  The  Life  and  Character  of  lunatic  sitting  on  the  stairs  is 

Moll  King,  who  departed  this  her    crazy    admirer,    William 

life  on   Thursday  the   ijth  of  Ellis.     Betty,  according  to  a 

September,   1747.     Long  after  writer   in   Notes   and   Queries 

her  death,   and  indeed  down  (June  6th,  1896),  was  buried 

to    recent    times,    the    name  from    the    poor-house    of    St. 


MARCELLUS  LAROON 


203 


There  are  the  remains  of  a  curiously-gilt  folding-screen 
in  the  great  room  of  Hornsey-Wood  House,  most  beautifully 
painted  by  Captain  Laroon  ;  upon  which  two  of  the  figures 
are  particularly  spirited  and  full  of  broad  humour,  and 
represent  a  Quack  Doctor  and  his  Merry-Andrew,  claiming 
the  attention  of,  and  amusing,  the  surrounding  gaping  and 
credulous  spectators. 

Captain  Laroon  was  Deputy-chairman,  under  Sir  Robert 
Walpole,  of  a  club,  consisting  of  six  gentlemen  only,  who 
met  at  stated  times  in  the  drawing-room  of  Scott,  the 
Marine-painter,  in  Henrietta-street,  Co  vent-garden  ;x  and 


Paul's,  Covent  Garden,  April 
22nd,  1752. 

The  Boitard  print  mentioned 
by  Smith  appears  to  be  that 
which  is  numbered  2877  in  the 
Catalogue  of  Prints  and  Draw- 
ings in  the  British  Museum, 
Division  I :  Political  and  Per- 
sonal Satires,  and  entitled  "  The 
Covt.  Garden  Morning  Frolick 
— Gaillardise  du  Commun 
Jardin,"  but  not  attributed 
to  any  artist.  Louis  Pierre 
Boitard  died  in  London  in 

1758. 

The  portrait  of  ' '  Little  Cazey " 
as  Captain  Macheath  is  de- 
scribed by  Bromley  as  that  of 
"  Casey,  a  squinting  beggar 
boy  in  the  character  of  Mac- 
heath  in  prison,"  engraved  by 
Booth  after  Craig.  John  Green 
(Odds  and  Ends  about  Covent 
Garden)  says  that  Cazey  was 
"a  little  fellow,  extremely 
ugly  and  vicious,  a  complete 
blackguard,  without  shoes  or 
stockings  ;  would  lay  on  the 
dung-hills  ;  was  much  noticed, 
being  a  link-boy  of  the  Garden, 


by  Captain  Montague  and  God- 
frey, who  would  frequently 
carry  Cazey  in  a  sedan,  en- 
courage his  low  wit  and  smutty 
stories  ;  however,  Mr.  Cazey, 
after  being  frequently  taken 
up,  was  confined  for  theft. 
Mad  Captain  Montague,"  he 
adds,  was  "  a  celebrated  noisy 
character  round  Covent  Gar- 
den."— For  previous  mention  of 
Moll  King  and  other  Covent 
Garden  characters,  see  Chapter 
V. 

1  This  passage  is  doubtless 
the  source  of  the  frequent 
statement  that  Sir  Robert  Wal- 
pole was  a  member  of  this 
coterie  at  the  house  of  Samuel 
Scott,  but  it  seems  more  prob- 
able that  his  eldest  son,  Sir 
Edward  Walpole,  should  be 
named.  Sir  Edward  Walpole 
was  Scott's  patron,  and  seems 
to  have  been  the  first  owner  of 
his  picture  of  "  Old  London 
Bridge"  now  in  the  National 
Gallery.  (See  Smith's  Ancient 
Topography  of  London,  p.  25.) 
John  Green  (Odds  and  Ends 


204        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

it  was  unanimously  agreed  by  the  members,  that  they  should 
be  attended  by  Scott's  wife  only,  who  was  a  remarkably 
witty  woman.  Captain  Laroon  made  a  most  beautiful 
drawing  of  the  Members  of  this  club  in  conversation,  of 
which  I  was  allowed  to  make  a  tracing  when  it  was  in  the 
possession  of  my  late  worthy  friend  James  Deacon,  Esq. 
of  James-street,  Pimlico  ;  who  also  had  a  remarkably  fine 
portrait  in  oils  of  his  father,  painted  by  Captain  Laroon, 
under  whom  he  had  studied  the  art  of  painting  as  an 
amateur. 

Mr.  Deacon  held  a  situation  in  the  Excise  Office,  with 
his  friend  Charles  Rogers,  when  that  gentleman  was  pre- 
paring his  work,  published  in  1778,  in  two  volumes,  entitled, 
A  Collection  of  Prints  in  Imitation  of  Drawings,  &c.  ;x  for 
which  Mr.  Deacon  engraved  two  wood-blocks.  The  first  is 
a  Combat  of  Lions,  after  a  drawing  by  Luca  Cambiaso, 
which  he  executed  in  1763  ;  and  the  second  is  of  a  Ciborio, 
or  Pyx,  for  holding  the  Host,  from  a  drawing  by  Carlo 
Maratti ;  which  bears  the  date  of  1765.  Mr.  Deacon  assured 
me  that  he  actually  cut  the  whole  of  the  two  engravings 
entirely  with  a  penknife  ;  and  they  were  executed  on  pear- 
tree,  on  the  side  way  of  the  grain. 

Mr.  Deacon's  father  succeeded  Zincke,2  the  famous  En- 

about  Covent  Garden)  says  that  life  to  it.  His  death  in  1784 
the  club  consisted  of  Sir  Ed-  was  consequent  on  his  being 
ward  Walpole  ;  Mr.  Martin,  knocked  down  in  Fleet-street 
Secretary  to  the  Board  of  Ex-  by  a  butcher's  boy  on  horse- 
cise,  who  lodged  with  Scott  ;  back.  His  portrait,  engraved 
Mr.  Robert  Mann  of  the  Cus-  by  Bartolozzi,  after  Reynolds, 
toms  House ;  Mr.  Deacon ;  and  is  copied  in  the  Gentleman's 
Scott  and  his  wife.  He  does  Magazine,  Vol.  LIV. 
not,  however,  name  Laroon.  2  James  Deacon,  senior, 
1  Charles  Rogers's  work  was  miniature  painter  and  wood- 
issued  in  two  sumptuous  folios,  engraver,  died  in  1750.  In  the 
and  contained  copies  of  draw-  British  Museum  Print  Room 
ings  by  the  old  masters  made  there  are  portrait  studies  by 
by  such  engravers  as  Bartolozzi,  him  of  Samuel  Scott  and  his 
Ryland,  Basire,  and  others,  wife. — For  Zincke,  see  Index. 
Rogers  devoted  much  of  his 


MARCELLUS  LAROON  205 

ameller,  in  his  house  in  Co  vent-garden,  and  lost  his  life  by 
a  jail  fever,  which  he  caught  at  the  Old  Bailey,  in  May 
1750,  at  the  trial  of  Captain  Clarke,  when  sixty-four  persons 
lost  their  lives  ;  of  whom  were  Sir  S.  Pennant,  Lord  Mayor, 
Sir  Thomas  Abney  and  Baron  Clarke,  Judges,  and  Sir 
Daniel  Lambert,  Alderman.1 

1  Hardly  more  extraordinary  erected  on  the  top  of  old  New- 

than    this    calamity   was    the  gate  in  1752  to  draw  the  foul 

means  adopted  to  prevent  its  air  out  of  the  gaol.     An  old 

recurrence.     A   windmill   was  print  shows  this  contrivance. 


CHARLES    MACKLIN 

I  RECOLLECT  going  to  Covent-garden  Theatre  to  see 
Macklin  take  leave  of  the  public.1  Shylock  was  the 
character  he  appeared  in ;  he  spoke  very  low,  and 
was  deficient  several  times  ;  and  at  last,  on  his  coming 
forward  with  a  wish  to  address  the  house,  he  could  only 
utter,  in  a  tremulous  voice,  "  My  age,  my  age  !  "  Upon 
which  simple  and  feeling  appeal,  the  audience  encouraged 
him  with  reiterated  plaudits.  I  have  seen  in  the  possession 
of  a  theatrical  friend,  a  whole-length  portrait  of  Macklin, 
in  a  Highland  dress,  holding  a  dagger  in  his  left  hand, 
entitled  "  Shylock  turned  Macbeth.  Young  Vanity,  inv. 
Old  Envy,  sculp."  At  the  back  of  this  print,  which  is  of  a 
quarto  size,  a  remarkably  good  likeness  of  that  celebrated 
actor,  and  extremely  rare, — for  I  know  of  no  other  impression, 
— some  former  possessor  has  made  the  following  observa- 
tions : 

"  Mr.  Macklin,  some  short  time  before  he  left  the  stage, 
thought  himself  capable  of  performing  Richard,  Macbeth, 
and  other  of  Shakspeare's  principal  characters.  He  had 
been  superior  in  Shylock  to  almost  any  person  who  had 
ever  attempted  it ;  but  it  certainly  was  too  late  for  him  to 
attempt  Macbeth,  &c.  Had  he  been  permitted  to  have 
proceeded  without  opposition,  the  attempt  would  have  died 

1  Macklin  made  his  farewell  to  mutter  more  than  a  few 
on  May  7th,  1789,  at  the  age  words,  and  the  part  of  Shylock 
of  ninety-nine.  He  was  unable  was  played  by  his  understudy. 

206 


CHARLES  MACKLIN  207 

away  of  itself  ;  but  opposition  made  him  persist,  though 
he  was  at  last  obliged  to  give  it  up.  No  man  conceived  the 
part  better  than  Macklin  ;  but  he  was  too  old  to  carry  his 
own  ideas  into  execution.  To  commemorate  this  attempt 
of  Mr.  Macklin's,  many  caricatures  appeared,  and  this 
among  the  number." 

Nollekens,  by  refusing  to  model  a  bust  of  Macklin,  in- 
curred his  bitterest  displeasure.  "  Do  I  not  see,"  demanded 
the  Actor,  "  your  bust  of  Garrick  in  every  barber's  shop- 
window,  as  a  block  for  wigs  ?  " — "  No,"  answered  Nollekens, 
"  it  is  not  my  bust ;  it's  Van  Nost's.  Mr.  Garrick  was  al- 
ways fond  of  patronising  foreign  artists :  he  employed 
Roubiliac  to  carve  the  figure  of  Shakspeare  ;  and  he  was 
frequently  sitting  to  Demar,  the  wax-modeller,  who  did 
hundreds  of  profiles  of  him.  Zoffany  and  Loutherbourg 
he  always  recommended,  and  he  used  to  have  them  at  his 
country-house . ' ' 

Within  the  last  year  of  Macklin's  life,  I  saw  him  stand 
in  Covent-garden,  watching  the  weight  of  some  cherries, 
and  heard  him  say,  "  I  will  have  my  weight ;  give  me  my 
weight." 

It  is  a  very  remarkable  fact,  that  when  he  died,  the 
persons  who  conducted  his  funeral  differed  widely  as 
to  his  age ;  and  the  coffin-plate  was,  on  that  account, 
left  blank,  though  many  persons  had  been  applied  to 
in  order  to  ascertain  the  period  of  his  birth. l  My  amiable 
friend,  the  late  Thomas  Grignon,  attended  the  funeral, 
and  just  as  the  men  were  lowering  the  coffin  into  the  vault, 
a  letter,  containing  a  copy  of  the  register  of  his  birth,  was 
put  into  the  hand  of  the  chief-mourner,  who  immediately 
took  out  his  penknife,  and  scratched  upon  the  blank 
space  107.  The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  inscription 

1  The  date  of  Macklin's  birth  is  still  conjectural.  His  age  is 
commonly  given  as  107. 


208        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

upon  the  monument  erected  to  his  memory  on  the  south 
wall,  within  the  church  of  St.  Paul,  Co  vent-garden,  where 
he  was  buried. 

Sacred  to  the  Memory 
Of  CHARLES  MACKLIN,  Comedian. 

This  Tablet  is  erected 

(With  the  aid  of  Public  Patronage) 

By  his  affectionate  widow,  Elizabeth  Macklin. 

Obiit  nth  July,  1797,  aetatis  107. 

Macklin  !   the  Father  of  the  modern  Stage, 

Renown'd  alike  for  Talents  and  for  Age, 

Whose  Years  a  Century  and  longer  ran, 

Who  liv'd  and  died  '  as  might  become  a  Man,'- 

This  lasting  tribute  to  thy  worth  receive, 

'Tis  all  a  grateful  public  now  can  give  : 

Their  loudest  plaudits  now  no  more  can  move  ; 

Yet  hear  thy  Widow's  '  still  small  voice  '  of  Love. 


SAMUEL  PATERSON,  THE  AUCTIONEER 

IN  my  boyish  days,  I  was  much  noticed  by  that  walking- 
library,  Samuel  Paterson,  when  he  was  an  Auctioneer, 
and  residing  in  King-street,  Covent-garden,  after  he 
had  left  his  rooms  in  Essex-street,  in  the  Strand, 
formerly  the  residence  of  Sir  Orlando  Bridgeman.1    The 
late  Mr.  John  Nichols  favoured  me  with  the  following  card, 
which  may  now  be  considered  as  a  great  rarity. 

Mr.  PATTERSON,  at  Essex-House,  in  Essex-street,  in  the 
Strand,  purposes  to  set  out  for  the  Netherlands,  about  the 
middle  of  the  month  of  May,  and  will  undertake  to  execute 
commissions  of  all  sorts,  literary  or  commercial,  in  any  part 
of  Flanders,  Brabant,  or  the  United  Provinces,  with  the 
utmost  attention  and  integrity,  upon  reasonable  terms. 

Neither  is  it  incompatible  with  his  plan,  to  take  charge 
of  a  young  gentleman,  who  is  desirous  of  improving  by  travel; 
or  to  be  the  conductor  and  interpreter  of  any  nobleman 
or  man  of  fortune,  in  that,  or  a  longer  tour,  during  the  sum- 
mer and  autumn  vacation  from  his  usual  business. 

To  be  spoke  with  every  day,  at  Essex-House  aforesaid. 

27th  March,  1775. 

Paterson  was  originally  a  Stay-maker;  he  was  a  most 
amiable  man,  and  the  best  book-catalogue-maker  of  his 
time.  He  was  the  earliest  auctioneer  who  sold  books 
singly  in  lots  ;  the  first  bidding  for  which  was  six-pence, 
the  advance  three-pence  each  bidding,  until  five  shillings 

1  Sir  Orlando  Bridgeman,  stood  on  the  site  of  Essex- 
Lord  Keeper,  was  living  in  street,  Strand.  Part  of  the 
1669  at  Essex  House,  which  mansion  remained  until  1777. 

VOL.  II. — P  209 


210        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

were  offered,  when  it  rose  to  sixpence  ;  and  by  this  manner 
of  disposing  of  property,  no  book  was  overlooked. 

Mr.  Paterson's  reading  was  so  extensive,  that  I  firmly 
believe  he  had  read  most  of  the  works  he  offered  for  sale 
in  the  English  language  ;  and  I  was  induced  to  believe  so 
from  the  following  circumstance.  I  happened  to  be  with 
him  one  evening,  after  three  cart-loads  of  books  had  been 
brought  into  the  auction-room,  to  be  catalogued  for  sale  ; 
when,  upon  his  taking  up  one,  which  he  declared  to  me  he 
had  never  seen,  he  called  to  the  boy  who  attended  him  to 
bring  another  candle  and  throw  some  coals  upon  the  fire, 
observing,  that  he  meant  to  sit  up  to  read  it.  I  have  also 
frequently  known  him,  on  the  days  of  sale,  call  the  attention 
of  the  bidders  to  some  book  with  which  he  considered  that 
collectors  were  but  little  acquainted.  In  one  instance,  he 
addressed  himself  to  Dr.  Lort1  nearly  in  the  following 
words.  "  Dr.  Lort,  permit  me  to  draw  your  attention  to 
this  little  book.  It  contains,  at  page  47,  a  very  curious 
anecdote  respecting  Sir  Edmondbury  Godfrey,  of  which  I 
was  not  aware  until  I  read  it  during  the  time  I  was  making 
my  catalogue."  I  recollect  two  shillings  had  been  offered 
for  the  book  before  he  addressed  the  Doctor,  who  requested 
to  see  it,  and,  as  he  turned  over  the  leaves,  a  three-penny 
bidding  being  nodded  by  him,  induced  Dr.  Gosset,2  who  sat 

1  Michael  Lort,  D.D.  (1725-  out  having  chosen  a  better 
1790),  frequently  named  in  path,"  is  her  comment  on  his 
Horace  Walpole's  letters,  had  career.  After  a  carriage  acci- 
been  Dr.  Mead's  librarian,  and  dent  at  Colchester,  Dr.  Lort 
Regius  Professor  of  Greek,  died  at  6  Savile-row,  Novem- 
Cambridge,  where  he  was  es-  ber  5th,  1790. 
teemed  by  Gray.  For  many  2  Dr.  Isaac  Gosset,  who  died 
years  he  was  rector  of  St.  in  1812,  was  one  of  the  most 
Matthew,  Friday-street.  Ma-  learned  and  voracious  biblio- 
dame  D'Arblay  describes  a  philes  of  his  day.  His  hunch- 
conversational  bout  that  he  back  figure  was  familiar  in 
had  with  Dr.  Johnson  at  every  sale  room,  and  as  "  Le- 
Streatham.  "  He  is  altogether  pidus "  he  is  portrayed  in 
out  of  the  common  road  with-  Dibdiris  Bibliomania.  His  love 


SAMUEL  PATERSON  211 

opposite,  also  to  request  a  sight  of  it ;  another  nod  was 
the  consequence,  and  the  biddings  for  this  book,  which 
might  at  first  have  been  knocked  down  for  a  few  shillings, 
increased  to  the  sum  of  one  pound  five.  Mr.  Paterson  had 
rather  an  impediment  in  his  speech,  which  rendered  him 
incapable  of  pronouncing  every  word  with  equal  correct- 
ness ;  but,  notwithstanding,  his  excellent  judgment  and 
extensive  reading  were  so  great,  that  he  delivered  in  his 
auction-room  a  series  of  Lectures  upon  Shakspeare's  Plays, 
to  which  he  admitted  me  gratis.  They  were  very  well 
attended ;  George  Steevens,  Edmund  Malone,  and  Barry 
the  Painter,  being  among  the  auditors. 

Mr.  George  Keate1  has  observed,  that  a  man  of  business 
should  not  indulge  in  much  reading,  if  he  wish  to  make 
money  ;  and  it  was  certain  that  Paterson  gave  up  too  much 
of  his  time  to  the  contents  of  his  books,  without  looking 
to  the  amount  of  his  gains:  indeed,  so  little  did  he  profit 
by  his  occupation  as  an  auctioneer,  that  he  was  at  length 
glad  to  become  the  Librarian  of  the  first  Marquess  of  Lans- 
downe,  with  whom  he  remained  until  death  deprived  him 
of  his  patron,  at  which  time  the  library  was  sold,  and  poor 
Paterson  discharged.  He  was  an  honourable  and  industrious 
man,  and  subsequently  supported  himself  by  now  and  then 
making  book-catalogues.  His  friendship  for  me  knew  no 
abatement ;  and  I  had  the  painful  duty  of  attending 
his  funeral  from  Norton-street,  together  with  his  old  friends, 
Walker,  the  Teacher  of  Elocution ;  Mortimer,  the  Author 
of  Every  Man  his  own  Broker  ;  Waldron,  well  known  as  a 
collector  of  materials  for  the  Life  of  Ben  Jonson  ;  John 
Ireland,  who  was  then  preparing  his  Anecdotes  of  Hogarth  ; 
James  Pearson,  the  celebrated  Glass-stainer,  who  married 
Paterson's  daughter  Margaret,  (lately  deceased)  ;  and 
Paterson's  two  sons,  the  youngest  of  whom  was  Samuel, 

of  vellum  procured  him  the  so-    sketch  of  Keate,  post,  and  the 
briquet  "  Milk-white  "  Cosset,      account  of  his  talk  with  Mrs. 
1  See    Smith's    biographical    Nollekens,  Chapter  VI. 


Dr.  Johnson's  godson,  in  whose  favour  he  wrote  the 
letter  to  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  given  in  Boswell's  Life  of 
Johnson. * 

Upon  our  arrival  at  the  church-yard  of  St.  Paul,  Co  vent- 
Garden,  it  was  discovered  that  the  vault,  which  had  been 
made  for  Paterson's  wife,  was  at  least  six  inches  too  short 
for  his  own  coffin ;  we  were,  therefore,  under  the  painful 
necessity  of  seeing  the  funeral  ceremony  performed  above- 
ground,  in  order  that  the  clergyman  might  not  be  detained  ; 
and  the  corpse  actually  remained  uninterred  until  a  brick- 
layer could  enlarge  the  vault  for  its  reception.  I  am  shocked 
to  state,  that  this  is  not  a  solitary  instance  of  inattention 
to  measurement  of  graves  ;  since,  as  a  mourner,  I  also  wit- 
nessed another  at  the  interment  of  the  Rev.  James  Bean, 
late  of  the  British  Museum.2 

Upon  Paterson's  leaving  his  Auction-room  in  King- 
street,  it  was  taken  by  the  triumvirate,  King,  Collins,  and 


1  Walker  was  John  Walker, 
the  author  of  the  Pronouncing 
Dictionary. 

Thomas  Mortimer,  miscel- 
laneous writer  and  author  of 
the  British  Plutarch,  is  men- 
tioned in  D' Israeli's  Calamities 
of  Authors.  His  Everyman  his 
Own  Broker  (1871)  was  a  "guide 
to  the  Stock  Exchange,"  where 
he  had  "lost  a  genteel  fortune." 

Francis  Godolphin  Waldron, 
actor  and  author,  wrote  on 
dramatic  history,  and  acquired 
Peter  Whalley's  collection  of 
material  relating  to  Jonson. 

John  Ireland,  who  had  been 
a  watchmaker  in  Maiden-lane, 
was  employed  by  Boydell  to 
compile  Hogarth  Illustrated, 
which  remains  the  chief  foun- 
tain of  information  concerning 
Hogarth's  prints. 


James  Pearson,  the  glass- 
stainer,  improved  the  art.  His 
work  may  be  seen  in  Brasenose 
College,  Salisbury  Cathedral, 
and  several  London  churches. 
He  was  ably  helped  in  his  art 
by  his  wife,  Eglinton  Margaret, 
daughter  of  Paterson,  the 
auctioneer. 

Dr.  Johnson's  letter  to  Sir 
Joshua  Reynolds  is  dated 
August  3rd,  1776  ;  in  June, 
1783,  he  again  wrote  to  Rey- 
nolds on  this  young  man's 
behalf. 

2  The  Rev.  James  Bean, 
assistant  librarian  at  the 
British  Museum,  died  in  1826, 
and  was  buried  in  the  ground 
of  St.  George's,  Bloomsbury. 
He  had  held  the  vicarage  of 
Olney,  Bucks. 


JOHN  WALKER,  ELOCUTIONIST  AND  AUTHOR  OK 
"  WALKER'S  DICTIONARY  '' 

From  an  engraving  l>y  R.  Hicks  after  James  Barry,  K.A. 


SAMUEL  PATERSON  213 

Chapman,  who  held  it  for  the  sale  of  books  and  prints, 
but  occasionally  let  it  out  for  an  evening  ;  and  it  was  here 
that  the  veteran  Collins  gave  what  he  called  his  "  Evening 
Brush,"1  consisting  principally  of  anecdotes  of  persons  who 
had  left  this  world  before  the  birth  of  three-fourths  of  his 
audience.  But  what  renders  this  room  far  more  memorable 
is,  that  it  was  under  this  roof  that  Charles  Dibdin  com- 
menced his  London  Amusement ;  and  here  his  pathetic 
and  popular  song  of  "  Poor  Jack  "  was  often  encored :  a 
song  of  itself  sufficient  to  immortalize  its  author.  This 
delightful  composition  was  in  such  requisition,  that  for 
months  the  printers  could  not  produce  it  fast  enough  ;  and 
Dibdin  actually  hired  a  stall,  which  then  stood  close  to 
the  corner  of  the  Piazza  in  Russell-street,  such  as  was 
formerly  called  a  "  by-stander,"  and  similar  to  those 
erected  in  front  of  the  Royal-Exchange  for  the  sale  of  news- 
papers, being  large  enough  for  Wood,  his  man,  to  stand  in 
to  deliver  out  the  songs.  The  crowd  and  scramble  to  get 
them,  even  wet  from  the  press,  was  such,  that  I  have  seen 
persons  fight  for  their  turn ;  while  others  were  glad  to  get 
out  of  the  mob  without  their  change,  congratulating  them- 
selves upon  the  possession  of  "  Poor  Tom  Bowling,"  or 
"  Poll  and  my  Partner  Joe." 

Miss  Welch,  when  she  could  not  prevail  on  her  sister, 
Mrs.  Nollekens,  to  accompany  her,  was  generally  seen  seated 
in  the  middle  of  Dibdin's  room,  attended  by  James  Barry, 
the  Painter  ;  with  whom  she  would  now  and  then  walk  to 

1  John  Collins  (not  the  auc-  drawn  from  his  experiences  as 

tioneer   just    mentioned)    was  an    actor,   was    a    medley  of 

born  at  Bath.    His  poem  "  To-  stories,  songs,  and  recitations, 

morrow/'  beginning   "In  the  and  extremely  popular;  many 

downhill  of  life,  when  I  find  of  its  items  are  to  be  found  in 

I'm  declining,"  is  included  in  his  book  Scripscrapologia ;  or, 

Palgrave's     Golden     Treasury  Collins's  Doggerel  Dish  of  all 

of   Songs    and    Lyrics.      His  Sorts,  printed  at  Birmingham, 

entertainment   "The    Brush,"  1804.    He  died  in  that  town 

or     "  The     Evening    Brush,"  May  2nd,  1808. 


214        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

the  Catholic  Chapel.  She  was  often  heard  to  speak  of  Barry 
with  more  than  common  kindness,  though  she  considered 
his  conduct  at  times  not  altogether  justifiable,  particularly 
when  he  was  rude  to  Mr.  West,  a  man  whom  she  respected 
above  most  of  her  acquaintance. 


WILLIAM   CUSSANS 

WILLIAM  CUSSANS,  or  CURZONS,  a  native  of 
Barbadoes,  who  lived  upon  an  income  allowed 
him  by  his  family,  was  a  most  eccentric  fellow, 
perfectly  good-tempered,  and  particularly  well 
known  in  Covent -garden  and  its  vicinity.  Mr.  Yerrel,  my 
informant,  knew  him  well.  Cussans  once  hired  himself  as 
potman,  under  Paddy  Moore,  at  the  north-west  corner  of 
Russell-street,  in  Covent-garden  ;  where  he  fined  the  beer, 
served  it  out,  and  collected  in  the  pots,  receiving  the  half- 
pence people  thought  proper  to  give  him  ;  these  he  put  by, 
and  upon  his  departure,  at  the  expiration  of  his  stipulated 
time,  he  distributed  them  amongst  the  servants  of  the 
house.  During  this  and  several  other  whims,  he  never  was 
known  to  smile,  nor  would  he  attend  to  any  thing  but  the 
business  in  which  he  was  engaged.1  He  once  went  as  a 
coal-heaver  for  a  month,  and  whatever  he  said  he  would  do, 

1  Cussans's  waitership  is  ex-  trie. — John  Moore,  known  as 

plained  by  John  Green  in  his  "  Paddy  "    Moore,    kept    the 

privately    printed    Odds    and  Red   Lion   tavern   in   Covent 

Ends  about  Covent  Gat -den  (1867)  Garden.     "  At  his  house  more 

as  following  "  a  wager  that  he  wine    was    drawn    than    beer, 

would  serve  as  waiter  for  three  The  Prince  of  Wales  frequented 

months  without  being  at  any  Moore's"     (Green). — Smith's 

time  out  of  humour,  and  this  informant,   James   Yerrall,  or 

he    did."      Green    adds    that  Yerrel,  as  he  prints  his  name, 

Cussans  was  reported  to  be  a  kept  the  "Salutation"  tavern 

natural    son    of    Lord    Scar-  in    Tavistock  -  street,    known 

borough,  and  that  he  was  well  familiarly  as  the  "  Nook." 
educated  and  extremely  eccen- 

215 


216        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

he  steadfastly  performed.  He  made  an  excellent  chimney- 
sweeper at  the  masquerades  at  the  Pantheon  and  the  Opera- 
house  ;  and  was  author  of  the  popular  song  of  Robinson 
Crusoe,  though,  since  his  death,  it  has  been  claimed  by 
several  other  persons.  One  of  the  verses  runs  thus  : 

He  got  all  the  wood 
That  ever  he  could, 

And  he  stuck  it  together  with  glue  so  ; 
He  made  him  a  hut, 
And  in  it  he  put 

The  carcase  of  Robinson  Crusoe.1 

One  evening,  when  walking  in  the  Temple-gardens,  he 
accosted  three  ladies,  by  asking  them  if  they  ever  saw  a 
man  swim  ;  "  No,"  said  one,  "  nor  do  we  wish  to  see  such  a 
sight."  "  But  you  shall,"  said  he,  and  immediately  jumped 
into  the  water  with  his  clothes  on  ;  upon  which  they  were 
alarmed ;  and  he,  after  some  time  swimming  about,  upon 
coming  to  the  shore,  made  them  a  most  elegant  bow,  and 
though  in  his  dripping  state,  was  recognized  as  the  eccen- 
tric Mr.  Cussans.  He  then  joined  his  friends  at  Jemmy 
Yerrel's,  at  the  "  Salutation,"  in  Tavistock-street,  and 
commenced  his  nightly  quantum  of  wine :  he  would  some- 
times take  eight  pints  at  a  sitting  without  being  the  least 
intoxicated. 

The  old  sign  of  the  Salutation,  at  the  corner  of  Tavistock- 
court,  Tavistock-street,  was  pulled  down  by  Mr.  Yerrel, 
the  landlord ;  who  informed  me  that  it  consisted  of  two 
gentlemen  saluting  each  other,  dressed  with  flowing  wigs 
and  square  pockets,  large  enough  to  hold  folio  books,  and 
swords  at  their  sides,  being  the  dress  of  the  time  when  the 
sign  was  put  up,  which  is  supposed  to  have  been  about 

1  This  song  is  said  to  have  Chaunt,  written  and  sung  by 

been  published  by  E.  Bates,  Mr.  Cussans  at  the  Royal  Circus 

Blackfriars-road,  in  1797.     It  and  Sadler's  Wells  with  uni- 

was  entitled,  "  Oh,  poor  Robin-  versal   applause  "    (Notes  and 

son  Crusoe.   A  favourite  Comic  Queries,  February  20th,  1869). 


WILLIAM  CUSSANS 


217 


1707,  that  being  the  date  on  a  stone  at  the  Covent-garden 
end  of  the  Court.1 

Cussans  subsequently  went  to  Barbadoes,  where  he  stayed 
about  three  years,  after  which,  on  his  return  to  England, 
he  died. 

1  Larwood  places  the  "  Salu-  Lord  Surrey  and  Sheridan  were 

tation  "  in  Tavistock-road.    It  his  associates,  and  the  trio  were 

was   known    at    one    time    as  nicknamed  Blackstock,  Grey- 

"  Mr.  Bunch's  "  and  was  pat-  stock,  and  Thinstock." 
ronized  by  the  Prince  Regent. 


JOHN    OPIE,    R.A. 

OPIE,  or  OPPY,  as  his  name  was  pronounced  in 
Cornwall,  was  a  native  of  Truro,  and  certainly 
owed  his  success  in  the  commencement  of  his 
career   to    Dr.   Wolcot,   then    practising   as   a 
physician  at  Foy  ;  who  compassionately  took  him  as  a  lad 
to  clean  knives,  feed  the  dog,  &c.  purposely  to  skreen  him 
from  the  beating  his  father  would  now  and  then  give  him 
for  chalking  the  saw-pit  all  over  with  stars,  which  were  at 
that   time   known    under    the    denomination    of    "  Duke 
Williams." 

Oppy,  for  so  we  must  for  the  present  call  him,  always 
stayed  a  long  time  when  he  went  to  the  slaughter-house  for 
paunches  for  the  dog ;  at  last,  the  Doctor  was  so  wonder- 
fully pleased  by  John's  bringing  home  an  astonishing  like- 
ness of  his  friend,  the  carcase-butcher,  that  he  condescended 
to  sit  to  him,  and  the  production  was  equally  surprising. 
The  Doctor  then  showed  these  specimens  to  his  neighbours  ; 
and  a  friend  of  the  name  of  Phillips,  a  gentleman  who 
possessed  great  taste  in  the  Arts,  wrote  to  his  brother  George, 
the  late  Bookseller  in  George-yard,  Lombard-street,  to 
send  him  colours,  pencils,  and  every  other  requisite  for  a 
painter.  This  he  accordingly  did,  and  with  these,  to  the 
great  astonishment  of  the  inhabitants  of  Foy,  Oppy  painted 
a  portrait  of  a  parrot  walking  down  his  perch,  so  cleverly, 
that  the  artist  received  the  greatest  compliments  that 
possibly  could  be  paid  to  him,  by  all  the  parrots  in  the 
town  continuing  to  notice  it  whenever  it  was  presented  to 
them.  Dr.  Wolcot  assured  my  father,  that  when  he  asked 

218 


JOHN  OPIE,  R.A.  219 

the  lad  how  he  liked  painting,  his  answer  was  "  Better  than 
my  bread  and  meat." 

The  Doctor  finding  such  genius  in  his  boy  John,  no  longer 
employed  him  as  his  servant ;  but  introduced  him  generally 
to  his  friends,  most  of  whom  had  their  portraits  painted  by 
him  at  seven-and-sixpence  each ;  and  when  the  Doctor 
came  to  London  he  brought  Oppy  with  him,  who  could  then 
boast  of  having  thirty  guineas  in  his  pocket,  which  he  had 
carefully  preserved. 

Before  John  entered  London,  his  friend  the  Doctor,  who 
had  tried  to  place  him  with  several  artists  as  their  pupil, 
thinking  the  pronunciation  of  Oppy  rather  vulgar  and  well 
knowing  the  importance  of  first  impressions,  had  sufficient 
music  in  his  soul  to  change  it  to  Opie,  a  name  owned  by 
an  old  Cornish  family.1  By  this  name  he  was  introduced 
to  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  who  was  so  highly  pleased  with  his 
performances,  that  he  gave  him  his  advice  for  some  time 
before  he  was  announced  as  "  the  wonderful  Cornish  genius." 
In  the  year  1782,  he  exhibited  for  the  first  time  at  the 
Royal  Academy.  His  picture  was  an  Old  Man's  Head,  and 
certainly  displayed  great  talent.  At  this  time  he  lived  in 
Orange-court,  Leicester-fields,2  where  he  met  with  great 
encouragement  from  the  late  Sir  Richard  and  Lady  Hoare, 
the  late  Sir  Merrick  Burrell,  the  Misses  Wyatt,  of  East 

1  Wolcot  and  Opie  came  to  land,  in  her  John  Opie  and  His 

London  in  the  spring  of  1780  Circle  (1911)  :  the  name  was 

virtually  in  a  commercial  part-  "  always    spelt    Opie    by   the 

nership  :  Wolcot  was  to  write,  artist  and  his  family,  but  the 

Opie  to  paint,  and  they  were  local  pronunciation  was,  and 

to  divide  their  profits  equally,  is,  Oppy." 
but  finding  that  his  pictures        2  Mr.  Northcote  informs  me, 

sold  better  than  his  partner's  that  at  the   time  Opie  lived 

rhymes   Opie   terminated  the  in  Orange-court,  the  adjoining 

arrangement  at  the  end  of  the  streets    were    thronged    with 

first  year.— The  statement  that  carriages,  filled  with  the  high- 

Opie  altered  the  spelling  of  his  est  rank  and  beauty,  to  sit  to 

name  is  disputed  by  his  ex-  the  Cornish  wonder.     (S.) 
haustive  biographer,  Ada  Ear- 


220        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 


Grinstead,  &c.  whose  portraits  he  was  employed  to  paint 
for  my  lamented  friend  Richard  Wyatt,  Esq.  of  Milton- 
place,  Egham,  the  patron  of  Opie,1  and  of  many  other 
eminent  artists,  and  from  whom  I  received  the  following 
anecdote. 

Opie  once  painted  a  child  asleep,  over  which  a  ghastly 
assassin  stood  in  the  act  of  striking  it  with  a  poniard  : 
upon  his  showing  his  patron  this  performance,  Mr.  Wyatt 
exclaimed,  "  Shocking  !  shocking  !  the  child  is  so  beautiful, 
that  even  those  who  do  not  love  children  would  shudder  at 
the  idea."  He  therefore  advised  the  Artist,  who  had  painted 
it  upon  speculation,  to  put  out  the  villain,  introduce  a 
venerable  old  man,  and  call  it  "  Age  and  Infancy."  This 
he  did,  and  the  picture  immediately  met  with  a  purchaser.2 

Opie's  appearance  at  this  time  was  uncouth  in  the  extreme, 
and  the  manner  in  which  he  sometimes  conveyed  his 
remarks  to  elegant  females  was  vulgar  and  coarse  ;3  nor 


1  Sir  Richard  Hoare,  of  Barn 
Elms,    Surrey.  —  Sir    Merrick 
Burrell,    of    West    Grinstead, 
who  had  been  governor  of  the 
Bank  of  England,  died  April 
6th,    1787. — Wyatt    was    one 
of  Smith's  own  early  patrons, 
and  of  the  Misses  Wyatt  we 
read  in  his  Book  for  a  Rainy 
Day  that  they  were  "  delight- 
ful persons,  and  much  noticed 
at  the  Egham  Balls,  for  one 
or  two  of  which  occasions  I 
had  the  pleasure  of  painting 
butterflies  on  a  muslin  dress, 
and    also    imitating    the    '  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh,'  the  '  Pride  of 
Culloden,'    and   other   curious 
and  rare  carnations  on  tiffany, 
for  their  bouquets,  which  were 
then  scented  and  much  worn." 

2  Fuseli   said   of   Opie    (ac- 
cording to  Wolcot)  :  "  Dere  is 


dat  poo-re  dogue  Opee — de 
fellow  can  paint  notin  but 
teeves  and  morederers  —  an' 
wen  de  dogue  paints  a  teef 
or  a  morederer  he  lookes 
in  de  glass." — If  Opie  sold 
"Age  and  Infancy  "  he  must 
have  made  a  copy,  for  it  was  his 
Diploma  picture,  and  is  now 
at  Burlington  House. 

3  Opie's  uncouth  appearance 
was  to  some  extent  due  to  the 
stage  management  of  Wolcot, 
who  lodged  with  him  in  Orange- 
court.  To  Hearne,  who  sug- 
gested that  the  new-comer 
should  polish  his  exterior,  he 
replied,  "  No,  no  !  you  may 
depend  on  it,  in  this  wonder- 
gaping  town,  that  all  curiosity 
would  cease  if  his  hair  were 
dressed,  and  he  looked  like 
any  other  man  ;  I  shall  keep 


JOHN  OPIE,  R.A.  221 

was  his  address  much  improved  by  marriage.  His  first 
wife  was  in  no  respect  like  his  second  ;l  in  whom  he  found 
an  elegant  friend,  who  took  great  pleasure  in  his  improve- 
ment, and  in  whatever  delighted  or  comforted  him.  After 
his  marriage  with  her,  he  lectured  on  Painting  at  the  Royal 
Institution  ;  and  his  Lecture  was  not  only  well  received, 
but  its  delivery  gave  him  confidence,  and  enabled  him  to 
ascend  the  rostrum  of  the  Royal  Academy  ;  in  which  he 
delivered  his  ideas  with  a  manly  firmness,  to  the  great  satis- 
faction of  the  eminent  members  of  that  truly  national 
establishment :  which  at  present  holds,  and  I  trust  ever 
will  hold,  a  high  superiority  over  the  boasted  talents  of  all 
the  foreign  schools  and  associations  united. 

It  is  a  curious  fact,  that  Opie's  picture  of  the  Right 
Honourable  Charles  James  Fox  was  not  wholly  painted 
from  the  life  ;  since  Opie  was  obliged,  in  consequence  of 
the  few  sittings  which  that  minister  could  allow  him,  to 
borrow  Nollekens's  bust  to  finish  it  from. 

Dr.  Wolcot,  who  certainly  had  been  Opie's  great  and 
earliest  friend,  was  of  late  frequently  heard  to  complain 
of  his  want  of  gratitude  ;  and  indeed  Opie,  who  was  never 
at  a  loss  when  the  retort-courteous  was  called  for,  has  been 
often  known  to  observe,  when  any  one  spoke  of  the  Doctor, 
"  Ay,  in  time  you  will  know  him."  Wolcot  certainly  was 
a  very  capricious  and  irreligious  man,  and,  I  am  sorry  to 
say,  like  other  sordid  persons,  ridiculed  his  best  friends 
when  they  were  not  present  to  defend  themselves.  He  said 

him  in  this  state  for  the  next  ended  in  a  divorce.  Opie's 
two  years  at  least "  (Library  of  second  and  more  dignified  mar- 
the  Fine  Arts,  Vol.  IV,  1832).  riage  was  to  Amelia  Alderson, 
1  Opie's  first  wife  was  Mary  of  Norwich,  who  became  one 
Bunn,  the  daughter  of  an  Aid-  of  the  most  popular  story- 
gate  solicitor  and  money-lender:  writers  of  her  time.  For  fur- 
he  married  her  at  St.  Martin's-  ther  references  to  the  husband 
in-the-fields,  December  4th,  and  wife,  see  Smith's  sketch  of 
1782.  They  were  ill-suited  to  Ozias  Humphry,  post. 
each  other,  and  their  troubles 


222        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

of  Twiss,  the  Traveller,1  when  a  friend  praised  him,  "  Yes, 
Sir,  he  is  clever,  but  his  dealings  are  all  in  the  small  ware." 
To  some  of  the  artists  who  had  been  civil  to  him,  he  was 
fretful  and  uncertain.  No  man  could  have  been  kinder  to 
him  than  Mr.  Bone,  the  celebrated  Enameller,2  who  has 
ever  maintained  a  station,  not  only  pre-eminent  in  his  Art, 
but  also  as  a  husband,  a  father,  and  a  friend  ;  yet  this 
gentleman  he  used  extremely  ill.  The  Doctor  had  been 
intimate  with  Richard  Wilson,  and  became  possessed  of 
several  beautiful  little  pictures  from  the  pencil  of  "  Red- 
nosed  Dick,"  which  now  contribute  so  great  a  lustre  to  the 
small,  but  well-chosen  collection  of  modern  British  art, 
made  by  that  worthy  son  of  Old  Drury,  John  Bannister. 

1  See  a  reference  to  Twiss  in        2  Henry  Bone,  R.A.  See  next 
Chapter  IX.  chapter. 


SIR   JOSHUA    REYNOLDS,    P.R.A. 

OF  all  the  various  styles  of  engraving,  Sir  Joshua 
Reynolds  considered  that  of  mezzotinto  as  the 
best  calculated  to  express  a  painter-like  feeling, 
particularly  in  portraits ;  and  I  have  often  heard 
him  declare,  that  the  productions  of  M'Ardell  would  per- 
petuate his  pictures  when  their  colours  should  be  faded 
and  forgotten.1  Fortunate  are  those  collectors  who  can 
boast  of  proof-impressions  from  the  portraits  of  Sir  Joshua  : 
they  of  themselves  form  a  brilliant  school  of  Art,  not  only 
for  the  grace  displayed  in  their  attitudes,  but  also  for 
the  grandeur  of  their  chiaro-scuro,  and  for  the  delightful 
portions  of  landscape  with  which  many  of  them  are  em- 
bellished, and  which  are  not  only  highly  appropriate,  but 
are  often  as  rich  as  those  of  Titian,  Rubens,  or  Rembrandt. 
Mr.  Nollekens  was  in  possession  of  a  very  good  collection ; 
but  I  believe  that  of  Lord  Braybrooke  to  be  the  most 
complete  as  to  the  number  and  excellence  of  its  impres- 
sions. 

As  much  of  the  interest  of  many  of  Sir  Joshua's  pictures 
is  annually  lessened  by  the  fading  of  his  colours,  I  am  sure 
that  the  reader  will  join  me  in  congratulating  the  public 
upon  the  surest  method  of  handing  down  to  posterity  that 
great  Artist's  fascinating  style  of  colouring,  by  the  correct 
copies  which  Mr.  Bone,  the  Royal  Academician,  has  made 

1  Reynolds,    on    looking    at     exclaimed,    "  By   this   man   I 
some  of  M'Ardell's  renderings     shall  be  immortalized  !  " 
of  his  pictures  in  mezzotint, 

223 


224        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 


of  them  in  enamel.1  That  gentleman  has  favoured  me  with 
the  following  list  of  his  copies,  the  dates  of  the  years  in 
which  they  were  painted,  and  the  names  of  their  posses- 
sors. 

Possessors. 


1793  Lord  Heathfield   . 

1794  Sleeping  Girl 

1795  Boy  Reading 

1796  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds    . 

1797  Lord  Eglintoun 

1798  John  Hunter  (Surgeon) 

Girl  and  Kitten    . 

1 80 1  Lady  Caernarvon  and  ) 
Lord  Porchester       / 

Mr.  T.  Tomkins,  W.  M. 

1803  Lord  Mansfield     . 


Myself  (Mr.  Bone). 

Doctor  Wolcot. 

Doctor  Wolcot  and  myself. 

Colonel  Thornton. 

His  R.  H.  the  Prince  of  Wales. 

Mrs.  Hunter. 

Mr.  Gosling. 

Rev.  Robert  Herbert. 


1804  Cupid  and  Psyche 

Death  of  Dido      . 

Sir  Joshua  Reynolds 

1806  Cymon  and  Iphigenia 

Marquis  of  Lansdown 

1807  Nymph  and  Cupid 

Marquis  of  Lansdown 


Mr.  Tomkins. 

Lord  Mansfield. 

His  R.  H.  the  Prince  of  Wales. 

His  R.  H.  the  Prince  of  Wales, 
i  His  R.  H.  the  Prince  of  Wales, 
j  and  Royal  Academy. 

His  R.  H.  the  Prince  of  Wales. 

Lord  Gardiner. 

His  R.  H.  the  Prince  of  Wales. 

His  R.  H.  the  Prince  of  Wales. 


1  Henry  Bone,  R.A.  (1755- 
1834),  learned  his  craft  under 
William  Cookworthy,  and  his 
copies  in  enamel  of  master- 
pieces have  not  been  equalled. 
Besides  his  long  series  of 
Reynolds  pictures,  he  made 
beautiful  enamel  copies  of 
Titian's  "  Virgin  Recumbent," 
N.  Poussin's  "  Bathsheba," 
Raphael's  "  La  BeUe  Vierge," 
and  an  Assumption  by  Murillo. 
His  greatest  triumph  was  a 
copy  of  Titian's  "  Bacchus  and 
Ariadne,"  18  in.  by  16  in. 
This  was  purchased  by  Mr. 


G.  Bowles,  of  Cavendish-square, 
for  2200  guineas.  Bone  re- 
ceived a  cheque  for  this  sum  on 
Fauntleroy's  bank,  which  he 
cashed  at  once ;  next  day 
the  bank  suspended  payment. 
Bone  was  an  enamel  painter 
to  George  III,  George  IV,  and 
William  IV.  After  enjoying  a 
Royal  Academy  pension,  he 
died  December  I7th,  1834, 
in  Clarendon-square,  Somers 
Town.  His  portrait  by  his 
fellow  Cornishman,  Opie,  is  in 
the  National  Portrait  Gallery. 


SIR  JOSHUA  REYNOLDS,  P.R.A.      225 

1808  Hope  and  Love     .        .   His  R.  H.  the  Prince  of  Wales. 

1809  The  late  Lady  Dysart  .   Lord  Dysart. 

-  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds    .  Myself  (with  Spectacles). 

1810  Colina  (Lady  G.  Fitz-  1 T 

patrick)      .        .        .[Lord  Gardiner. 

1811  Duke  of  Devonshire     .  Duchess  of  Devonshire. 

Sylvia  (Lady  A.  Fitz-.-|T      ,  _     ,. 

patrick)      .       .       .jLord  Gardiner. 

1814  Laurence  Sterne  .  .  Myself. 

1817  St.  John       . .       .  .  Myself. 

-  Lady  Baker  .       .  .  Miss  Baker. 
1820  John  Gawler,  Esq.  .  Mr.  Ker. 

Hon.  Caroline  Gawler     Ditto. 

Henry    Gawler    and    i  .  , 

John  B.  Ker     .       .jone  picture.    Ditto. 

1822  Countess  of  Dysart      .  Countess  of  Dysart. 

-  Countess  Powis    .       .  Duke  of  Northumberland. 
1824  John,  fourth  Duke  of  )  ,.,   ,       ,  „   ,,     , 

Bedford     .       .        }  Duke  of  Bedford. 

—  Marquess  of  Tavistock  Ditto. 

Marchioness  of  Tavis- 


stock  .  '.}        Ditt0' 


1825  Duchess  of  Gordon      .   Duchess  of  Bedford,  &  myself, 
he  King  (w. 
of  Wales) 


1826  The  King  (when  prince|Myself> 


The  following  anecdote  relating  to  a  picture  by  Reynolds 
was  communicated  to  me  by  the  Rev.  Henry  Crowe,  Vicar 
of  Buckingham. — "  The  Marquess  of  Drogheda  was  painted 
in  early  life  by  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds.  The  Marquess  shortly 
after  went  abroad,  and  remained  there  between  twenty 
and  thirty  years  ;  during  which  time  he  ran  into  excesses, 
became  bilious,  and  returned  to  Ireland  with  a  shattered 
constitution.  He  then  found  that  the  portrait  and  original 
had  faded  together,  and  corresponded,  perhaps,  as  well  as 
when  first  painted." 

Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  used  great  quantities  of  snuff,  and 
he  would  take  it  so  freely  when  he  was  painting,  that  it 
frequently  inconvenienced  those  sitters  who  were  not 

VOL.  II. — Q 


226        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

addicted  to  it  :  so  that  by  sneezing  they  much  deranged 
their  positions,  and  often  totally  destroyed  expressions 
which  might  never  return.1  Colonel  Phillips  assured  me, 
that  during  the  time  Sir  Joshua  was  engaged  in  painting 
the  large  picture  of  the  Marlborough  Family  at  Blenheim, 
the  Duchess  ordered  a  servant  to  bring  a  broom  and  to 
sweep  up  Sir  Joshua's  snuff  from  the  carpet ;  but  Sir 
Joshua,  who  always  withstood  the  fantastic  head-tossings 
of  some  of  his  sitters,  by  never  suffering  any  interruption 
to  take  place  during  his  application  to  his  Art,  when  the 
man  entered  the  room,  desired  him  to  let  the  snuff  remain 
till  he  had  finished  his  picture,  observing,  that  the  dust 
raised  by  the  broom  would  do  much  more  injury  to  his 
picture  than  the  snuff  could  possibly  do  the  carpet. 

Samuel  Rogers,  Esq.  Author  of  the  Pleasures  of  Memory, 
amidst  an  inestimable  mass  of  fine  works  of  Art,  possesses 
the  following  seven  most  celebrated  and  perfect  pictures 
from  the  pencil  of  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds.  The  Strawberry 
Girl,  the  favourite  picture  of  Sir  Joshua ;  the  Girl  with  a 
bird  closed  in  her  hands ;  the  Sleeping  Girl,  given  by  Sir 
Joshua  to  Dr.  Wolcot ;  Cupid  and  Psyche  ;  Puck,  painted 
for  Boydell's  Shakspeare ;  and  two  Landscapes  :  one  of 
which  is  the  view  Sir  Joshua  painted  from  the  window  of 
his  villa  at  Richmond.  When  I  informed  Mr.  West  of  Mr. 
Rogers's  purchase  of  Puck,  he  exclaimed,  "  Sir  !  that  man 
has  taste,  he  runs  away  with  all  the  fine  things."2 

1  "What  a  quantity  of  snuff  and  is  now  in  the  Wallace  Col- 
Sir  Joshua  took  !    I  once  saw  lection.    It  was  bought  at  the 
him  at   an  Academy   dinner,  sale  of  Rogers's  pictures  by  the 
when  his  waistcoat  was  abso-  Marquis  of  Hertford  for  2100 
lutely     powdered     with     it"  guineas.    Sir  Joshua  considered 
(Samuel  Rogers,  Table  Talk).  it   to   be   one   of   the    "  half- 

2  The  original  "  Strawberry  dozen  original  things  "  he  had 
Girl,"  painted  from  his  niece  done  ;  he  made  several  copies. 
Theophila  Palmer  at  the  age        The  "  Sleeping  Girl "  was  ex- 
of  fourteen,  was  exhibited  at  hibited  in  1788,  and  Reynolds 
the  R.A.  Exhibition  of  1773,  painted  a  replica.  Wolcot  gave 


SIR  JOSHUA  REYNOLDS,  P.R.A.      227 

Henry  Rogers,  Esq.  his  brother  at  Highbury,1  among 
other  beautiful  specimens  of  Art,  is  in  possession  of  Sir 
Joshua's  first  picture  of  the  Girl  sitting  for  her  portrait,  in 
Lord  Palmerston's  celebrated  picture  of  the  "  Infant 
Academy  ;  "  and  also  that  lovely  picture  of  the  Girl  sketching 
from  Nature. 

I  once  heard  Ramsay,  the  Painter,  say,  that  Lord  Bute's 
leg  was  allowed  to  be  the  handsomest  in  England  ;  and  that 
whilst  he  was  standing  to  him  for  his  whole-length  portrait, 
engraved  by  Ryland,  his  Lordship  held  up  his  robes  con- 
siderably above  his  right  knee,  so  that  his  leg  should  be 
entirely  seen  ;  in  which  position  he  remained  for  the  space 
of  an  hour.  And  it  is  a  very  remarkable  fact,  that  the  fore- 
finger of  the  hand  supporting  the  robe  is  pointing  down  the 


him  fifty  guineas  for  one  or  the 
other,  and  his  copy  was  after- 
wards bought  by  Rogers,  who 
found  that  Wolcot  had  pasted 
on  the  back  Shakespeare's  lines, 
"  Enjoy  the  honey-heavy  dew 
of  slumber,"  etc. 

"  Cupid  and  Psyche  "  and 
"  Puck "  were  sent  by  Sir 
Joshua  to  his  last  Academy 
Exhibition.  Rogers  relates 
that  when  "  Puck  "  was  put 
up  in  the  sale  of  Ackerman 
Boydell's  pictures  "  it  excited 
such  admiration,  that  there 
was  a  general  clapping  of 
hands :  yet  it  was  knocked 
down  to  me  at  a  comparatively 
trifling  price.  I  walked  home 
from  the  sale,  a  man  carrying 
'  Puck  '  before  me  ;  and  so 
well  was  the  picture  known 
that  more  than  one  person,  as 
they  passed  us  in  the  street, 
called  out  '  There  it  is  !  '  " 

The    Richmond    landscape 


was  the  view  from  Sir  Joshua's 
drawing-room  window  at  Rich- 
mond. 

1  Henry  Rogers  was  the 
working  head  of  the  bank  of 
Welch,  Rogers,  Olding,  Rogers 
and  Rogers,  from  which  the 
banker-poet  drew  his  wealth. 
He  died  in  1832.  Mr.  P. 
W.  Clay  den  writes :  "  Henry 
Rogers  is  still  remembered  by 
friends  and  neighbours  at  High- 
bury as  the  light  and  charm  of 
the  circle  he  moved  in.  He 
was  the  kind  of  man  Emerson 
may  have  had  in  view  when, 
in  his  essay  on  '  Character,' 
he  wrote,  '  I  revere  the  man 
who  is  riches,  so  that  I  cannot 
think  of  him  as  alone,  or  poor, 
or  exiled,  or  unhappy,  or  a 
client,  but  as  a  perpetual 
patron,  benefactor,  and  beauti- 
fied man  '  "  (Life  of  Samuel 
Sharpe,  1883). 


228        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

leg.  When  the  Marquess  of  Rockingham  was  standing  to 
Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  for  his  whole-length  portrait,  engraved 
by  Fisher,  his  Lordship  asked  the  Painter  if  he  had  not 
given  a  strut  to  the  left  leg  ;  "  My  Lord,"  replied  Sir  Joshua, 
"  I  wish  to  show  a  leg  with  Ramsay's  Lord  Bute."1 

In  January  1803,  Mr.  Nollekens  was  flattered  by  an  ap- 
plication which  he  received  from  Lord  and  Lady  Thomond,2 
who  wished  him,  above  all  other  Sculptors,  to  execute  a 
statue  of  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  intended  for  St.  Paul's 
Cathedral.  This  proposition  he,  however,  declined,  by 
stating  that  his  avocations  would  not  allow  him  to  under- 
take it,  and  that  it  would  interfere  too  much  with  a  large 
monument  which  he  then  had  in  hand  to  the  memory  of 
Mrs.  Coke,  of  Holkham.  Mr.  Flaxman  was  then  applied 
to,  and  the  statue  was  executed  by  him.3 

To  the  mutual  honour  of  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  and  Sir 
Thomas  Lawrence,  I  cannot  refrain  from  the  temptation  of 
inserting  the  following  extract  from  an  address  delivered 
by  the  latter  President  to  the  students  of  the  Royal  Acad- 
emy, on  the  evening  of  the  loth  of  December,  1823.  Sir 
Thomas,  in  allusion  to  the  exhibition  of  Sir  Joshua's  pictures 
at  the  British  Institution,  Pall  Mall,  said : 

1  Ramsay  was  well  rewarded  2  Sir  Joshua's  niece,   Mary 

for  this  portrait  by  Lord  Bute,  Palmer,  to  whom  he  left  the 

who    introduced    him    to   the  bulk  of  his  fortune,  amounting 

Prince    of   Wales,    afterwards  to  about  ioo,ooo£.    She  married 

George    IV.      He    was    soon  the  Earl  of  Inchiquin,  after- 

afterwards  appointed  portrait-  wards  Marquis  of  Thomond. 

painter    to    George   III,   who  3  This   is   one   of   the   first 

gave   him   so   many  commis-  four    monuments    erected    in 

sions   to   paint   his   own   and  new     St.     Paul's     Cathedral, 

family    portraits    that    Peter  These,  in  order  of  time,  were 

Pindar  was  able  to  write  :  those   to   John   Howard,   Dr. 

"  I've  heard   that   Ramsay,  when  he      Johnson,  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds, 

died»  and  Sir  William  Jones.     The 

^  SeetaTK^!1  *"*  '*  ^     Reynolds  statue  was  erected  in 

From  which  all  nations  might  have 

been  supplied 
That  long'd  for  valuable  things." 


MARY    PALMER,    NIECE    AND    HEIRESS    OF    SIR  JOSHUA    REYNOLDS, 
WHO    MARRIED,     I7Q2,    THE    EARL    OF    INCHIQUIN,    AFTERWARDS 

1ST    MARQUIS   OF   THOMOND 

From  the  original  picture  by  J .  Doumiitan  (1782)  in  the  possession  oj 
A.  H.  O'Bi yen-Taylor,  Esq. 


SIR  JOSHUA  REYNOLDS,  P.R.A.       229 

With  what  increased  splendour  did  that  genius  lately 
reappear  amongst  us  !  Many  of  us  remember  when,  after 
long  absence,  the  great  tragic  Actress  of  our  time  returned 
for  a  season  to  the  stage,  to  correct  the  forgetfulness  of 
taste,  and  restore  the  dignity  of  her  art :  it  was  so  with  the 
return — the  recovered  glories  of  Sir  Joshua  !  They  who 
believed  themselves  best  acquainted  with  his  works,  and 
entitled  by  their  knowledge  to  speak  of  them  with  en- 
thusiasm, felt  how  much  of  that  knowledge  they  had  for- 
gotten ;  how  inadequate  to  their  merits  was  the  praise 
they  had  bestowed.  The  prejudices,  so  injurious  to  modern 
Art,  were  gone.  Time  seemed  to  have  advanced  the  future 
with  double  speed,  and,  presenting  Truth,  invested  her  with 
new  radiance  !  The  few  remaining  competitors  and  scholars 
of  this  great  Artist,  saw  him  then  with  the  eyes  of  posterity, 
and  beheld,  in  their  own  narrow  period,  the  sure  stability 
of  his  fame. 

It  is  singular,  that  the  judgment,  the  unpretending  sense 
and  manly  simplicity,  so  generally  acknowledged  to  have 
marked  the  character  of  Sir  Joshua,  should  have  been  im- 
pugned only  on  those  opinions  upon  Art,  which  seem  to  have 
been  the  most  deliberately  formed,  and  were  enforced  by 
him  with  parental  zeal,  as  his  last  remembrance  to  this 
Academy.  Sufficient  proof  of  the  sincerity  of  his  admiration 
of  Michel  Angelo,  had  previously  existed  in  the  actions  of 
some  of  his  finest  groups  having  been  taken  from  him  ;  but 
we  want  no  other  evidence  of  its  truth,  than  his  picture  of 
Mrs.  Siddons — a  work  of  the  highest  epic  character,  and 
indisputably  the  finest  female  portrait  in  the  world. 

The  link  that  united  him  to  Michel  Angelo  was  the 
sense  of  ideal  greatness ;  the  noblest  of  all  perceptions. 
It  is  this  sublimity  of  thought  that  marks  the  first-rate 
genius  ;  this  impelling  fancy  which  has  no-where  its  defined 
form,  yet  every-where  its  image  ;  and  while  pursuing  ex- 
cellence too  perfect  to  be  attained,  creates  new  beauty  that 
cannot  be  surpassed  !  It  belongs  only  to  that  finer  sagacity, 
which  sees  the  essence  of  the  beautiful  or  grand,  divested 
of  incongruous  detail ;  and  whose  influence  on  the  works 
of  the  great  President  is  equally  apparent  in  the  calm,  firm 
Defender  of  the  national  Rock,  as  in  the  dying  Queen  of 
Virgil,  or  the  grandeur  of  the  Tragic  Muse. 


230        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

To  a  mind  so  enlarged  and  liberal  as  Sir  Joshua's,  who 
decried  not  the  value  of  an  Art  that  gave  the  world  its  Shak- 
speare,  and  in  whose  society  a  Garrick  and  a  Kemble  lived 
in  grateful  intercourse  with  Mr.  Burke  and  Dr.  Johnson,  we 
may  well  imagine  how  gratifying  were  the  contemplation  and 
progress  of  that  divine  work  ;  and  allowing  much  to  antici- 
pated fame,  we  may  equally  believe,  that  part  of  the  noble 
purpose  was  protection  of  the  genius  he  admired  ;  to  affix 
to  passing  excellence  an  imperishable  name  ;  extend  the 
justice  withheld  by  the  limits  of  her  art ;  and  in  the  beauty 
of  that  unequalled  countenance,  fixed  in  the  pale  abstraction 
of  some  lofty  vision,  whose  "  bodiless  creations  "  are  crowd- 
ing on  her  view,  and  leave  in  suspended  action  the  majestic 
form,  to  verify  the  testimony  of  tradition,  and  by  the  mental 
grandeur  that  invests  her,  record  in  resistless  evidence  the 
•  enchantment  of  her  power  ! 

That  the  works,  Gentlemen,  of  this  illustrious  man, 
should  have  the  strongest  influence  upon  you,  cannot  be 
matter  of  surprise  :  that  the  largest  style  of  painting  that 
perhaps  is  known,  should  captivate  the  scholar  as  it  has 
charmed  the  teacher,  is  the  most  natural  result  that  could 
have  been  produced  in  minds  of  sensibility  and  taste  ;  but 
let  it  not  mislead  them.  If  they  determine  to  make  the 
labours  of  Sir  Joshua  their  example,  let  them  first  examine 
by  what  only  means  their  excellence  was  acquired. 

His  early  pictures  bear  evidence  of  the  utmost  delicacy  of 
finishing  ;  the  most  careful  imitation.  That  sensitiveness  of 
taste,  which  probably  from  boyhood  he  possessed,  could 
never  have  permitted  him  to  enter  into  the  mean  details 
of  Denner  ;  or  content  himself  with  the  insipidity  of  Corne- 
lius Jansen  :  but  in  mere  finishing  he  was  inferior  to  neither  ; 
and  the  history  of  the  greatest  masters  is  but  one.  Truth  is 
the  key  of  Art,  as  Knowledge  is  of  Power  :  within  the  portals 
you  have  ample  range,  but  each  apartment  must  be  opened 
by  it.  The  noblest  work  that  perhaps  was  ever  yet  pro- 
jected, the  loftiest  in  conception,  and  executed  with  as 
unequalled  breadth,  is  the  ceiling  of  Michel  Angelo  :  the 
miniatures  of  Julio  Clovio,  are  not  more  finished  than  his 
studies. 

On  you,  Gentlemen,  who,  with  the  candidates  of  this 
evening,  are  entering  on  the  first  department  of  the  Art,  the 


SIR  JOSHUA  REYNOLDS,  P.R.A.      231 

conduct  of  Sir  Joshua  should  act  with  treble  force.  Mr. 
Burke  says  of  him,  "  In  painting  portraits,  he  appeared  not 
to  be  raised  upon  that  platform,  but  to  descend  to  it  from 
a  higher  sphere."  To  that  sphere  let  his  example  guide  you, 
and  it  will  lead  you  to  the  highest :  to  Correggio,  to  Titian, 
to  Raffaelle,  to  Michel  Angelo  !  To  "  those  divine  men,  in 
whose  presence,"  (to  use  his  own  language,)  "  it  is  impossible 
to  think,  or  to  invent  in  a  mean  manner  ;  and  by  the  con- 
templation of  whose  works,  a  state  of  mind  is  acquired, 
that  is  disposed  to  receive  those  ideas  of  art  only,  which 
relish  of  grandeur  or  simplicity." 

As  a  proof  of  the  rapid  increase  in  the  value  of  Sir  Joshua's 
pictures,  it  may  be  stated,  that  the  compartments  of  the 
Oxford  window,  which  he  painted  for  Jervas  to  copy  from, 
and  which  Sir  Joshua  offered  to  a  Nobleman  for  300^.,  pro- 
duced upwards  of  I2,ooo/.  after  his  death.1 


1  These  paintings,  represent- 
ing the  Nativity  and  the  Seven 
Virtues,  were  executed  for  the 
west  window  of  New  College 
Chapel,  Oxford.  Mrs.  Sheridan 
sat  for  the  Virgin  and  the  figure 
of  Charity.  They  were  copied 
on  glass  by  Jervas,  who  ex- 
hibited his  completed  windows 
in  Pall  Mall,  in  a  darkened 
room  with  the  sun  shining 
through  the  glass.  The  fine 
effect  thus  obtained  was  not 
possible  at  Oxford.  The  "  Na- 
tivity "  painting  was  destroyed 


by  fire  at  Belvoir  Castle, 
October  26th,  1816,  after  the 
Duke  of  Rutland  had  refused 
10,000  guineas  for  it.  The 
"  Virtues,"  for  which  Lord 
Normanton  gave  5565^.  at  the 
sale  of  Lord  Thomond's  pic- 
tures in  1821,  are  now  at 
Somerley.  Seven  years  later 
George  IV  was  willing  to  give 
double  this  sum  for  the  set, 
but  his  offer  and  a  later  one  of 
three  times  the  sum  by  the 
Trustees  of  the  National  Gal- 
lery were  refused. 


GEORGE    KEATE 

MR.   and  Mrs.   Nollekens's  old   friend,   George 
Keate,  Esq.1  was  born  at  Trowbridge  in  Wilt- 
shire, November  30,   1730.     Early  in  life  he 
went  to  Geneva,  where  he  remained  some  years; 
and  then  he  returned  to  England,  when  he  was  articled  to 
Palmer,  the  steward  of  the  Duke  of  Bedford,  and  became 
a  Bencher  of  the  Honourable  Society  of  the  Inner  Temple. 
Mr.  Keate 's  knowledge  of  the  Continent  gave  him  many 
superior  advantages  over  those  persons  with  whom  he  as- 
sociated.   Rome  was  his  residence  in  1755.    He  had  passed 
the  Alps  with  the  reflecting  eye  of  a  poet,  and  was  personally 
acquainted  with  Voltaire.     Among  his  various  poems  he 
wrote  an  epistle  to  Angelica  Kauffmann. 

His  work  entitled  Sketches  from  Nature  was  certainly 
generally  read ;  but  of  all  his  writings,  The  Pelew  Islands 
gained  him  the  greatest  celebrity.2  Most  of  his  publica- 
tions were  printed  by  Bowyer,  though  some  were  published 
by  Dodsley.  His  attainments  were  various,  for  he  was  a 
naturalist,  a  poet,  an  antiquary,  and  a  draughtsman  ;  and 
was  one  of  the  first  Honorary  Exhibitors  in  the  Royal 
Academy  upon  its  establishment. 

Mr.  Keate  died  at  his  house,  now  No.  10,  in  Charlotte- 
street,  Bloomsbury,  June  I7th,  1797,  and  was  buried  at 

1  See  the  account  of  Keate  from  the  Journals  of  Captain 
as  a  friend  of  the  Nollekens  Henry  Wilson  and  some  of  his 
family,  Chapter  VI.  Officers,  shipwrecked  there  in  the 

2  Account  of  the  Pelew  Islands,  Antelope  in  August, 1783  (1788). 

232 


GEORGE  KEATE  233 

Isleworth  ;  in  which  Church,  on  the  east  wall  of  the  chancel, 
there  is  a  small  monument,  with  his  likeness  on  a  medallion, 
sculptured  by  Nollekens.  There  is  an  engraving  of  him 
by  Sherwin,  from  a  picture  painted  by  his  intimate  friend 
Plott,  Nathaniel  Hone's  pupil,  prefixed  to  his  Sketches  from 
Nature.* 

The  following  is  a  list  of  Keate's  works,  with  their  dates 
of  publication. 

Ancient  and  Modern  Rome,  1760.  History  and  Laws  of 
Geneva,  1761.  Epistle  of  Lady  Jane  Grey,  1762.  The 
Alps,  1763.  Netley  Abbey,  1764  ;  enlarged,  1769.  Poem 
on  Rome,  1765.  The  Temple  Student ;  an  Epistle  to  a 
Friend,  1765  ;  in  which,  it  has  been  supposed,  he  pourtrayed 
himself.  On  Mrs.  Gibber's  Death,  1767.  Ferney  ;  an  Epis- 
tle to  Voltaire,  1769.  Monument  in  Arcadia  ;  a  Dramatic 
Poem,  in  two  parts,  1773,  of  which  the  idea  was  taken  from 
Poussin's  picture  of  Arcadian  Shepherds  and  Shepherdesses 
contemplating  a  monument,  inscribed,  "  Et  in  Arcadia  ego." 
Sketches  from  Nature  ;  taken  and  coloured  in  a  journey  to 
Margate,  two  volumes,  published  from  the  original  design. 
Poetical  Works,  in  two  volumes,  I2mo.  Epistle  to  Angelica 
Kauffmann,  1781.  The  Distressed  Poet,  in  three  Cantos, 
1787.  Account  of  the  Pelew  Islands,  1788.  In  Vol.  VI.  of 
the  Archaologia,  are  some  observations  by  him  on  Roman 
earthenware  found  in  the  sea  on  the  Kentish  coasts.  He 
also  wrote  Prologues  and  Epilogues  for  Mr.  Newcome's 
Scholars  in  Hackney  ;  complimentary  verses  in  the  European 
Magazine,  &c.2 

1  John      Plott,      miniature  —Keate     was     an     amateur 

painter    (1732-1803),    was    a  painter  in  water-colours,  and 

pupil  of  Wilson  and  Hone,  and  an  example  of  his  landscape 

practised  in  London  and  Win-  work,  the  Old  Bridge  at  Avig- 

chester.     Some   of   his   corre-  non,  is  at  South  Kensington, 
spondence    with    Keate     "is         z  The  bibliographer  will  pre- 

now  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  fer  the   fuller  list  of   Keate's 

G.B.Henderson  of  Bloomsbury-  writings  in  Nichols's  Literary 

place  "  (Did.  Nat.  Biography}.  Anecdotes,  Vol.  II,  p.  332 


JOHN   DEARE1 

DR.  CLARKE,  in  Vol.  V.  page  24,  of  the  fourth 
edition  of  his  Travels,  speaking  of  Queen 
Eleanor  sucking  the  poison  from  King  Edward's 
arm,  says, 

The  tradition,  however,  whichv  after  all,  is  not  disproved 
by  the  evidence  Fuller*  has  adduced,  has  given  rise  to  one  of 
the  finest  specimens  of  modern  sculpture  existing  in  the 
world  :  and  as  it  affords,  perhaps,  the  only  remaining  proof 
of  the  surprising  abilities  of  an  English  artist,  (snatched  from 
the  pursuit  of  fame  in  the  very  opening  of  a  career  which 
might  have  classed  him  with  the  best  sculptors  of  Ancient 
Greece,}  the  author  considers  it  a  patriotic  duty  to  pay  some 
tribute  to  its  merit,  and,  thereby,  to  the  memory  of  its 
author,  John  Deare,  who,  at  a  very  early  period  of  life, 
attained  to  a  surprising  degree  of  perfection  in  sculpture  and 
design.  He  died  a  few  years  ago,  at  Rome,  at  the  very  time 
when  the  first  proof  of  his  genius  began  to  obtain  the 
patronage  necessary  for  its  full  development.  The  particular 
work  alluded  to  is  a  bas-relief,  executed  in  the  marble  of 
Carrara.  It  was  purchased  by  Sir  Corbet  Corbet,  an  English 
Baronet,  and  belongs  now  to  his  collection.3 

This  brief  allusion  to  a  young  artist,  who  would  have 
been  an  honour  to  his  country,  is  perhaps  the  only  biographi- 
cal document  concerning  him  likely  to  be  made  public. 

1  For     important     previous  of   Sir   George   Corbett   (Diet. 
references  to  John  Deare,  see  Nat.  Biography).    The  original 
Index.  model  was  given  to  the  Royal 

2  Fuller's  Historie  of  the  Holie  Institution  in  Liverpool.    The 
Wane,    book    iv.,    chap.    29,  story  of  Eleanor  sucking  her 
p.  220.    Camb.  1651.     (S.)  husband's  wound  has  no  satis- 

3  It  came  into  the  possession  factory  foundation. 

234 


JOHN  DEARE  235 

Had  my  honoured  friend,  the  author  of  the  above,  been 
aware  of  the  existence  of  the  following  particulars  relating 
to  Deare,  it  would  have  given  him  the  greatest  pleasure  to 
have  found  his  last  paragraph  respecting  our  justly  lamented 
Sculptor  useless. 

John  Deare  was  born  at  Liverpool,  on  the  i8th  of  October, 
1 760.*  The  dawn  of  his  genius  gleamed  early;  for  his 
inquisitive  mind  was  seldom  engaged  in  casting  of  dumps, 
or  bowling  marbles  through  the  arches  of  a  bridge,  regarding 
such  childish  amusements  only  as  frivolities. 

His  leisure  time  was  mostly  occupied  in  contemplating  the 
forms  and  construction  of  things;  and  so  extraordinary 
were  his  juvenile  talents,  that  at  the  age  of  ten  years  he 
sedulously  studied  from  the  skeleton  of  a  full-grown  person, 
from  which  he  made  a  copy  in  wood,  wholly  cut  out  with  his 
penknife.  This  curious  production,  which  alone  would 
evince  his  early  talents,  measures  six  inches  and  a  half, 
and  is  now  most  carefully  preserved  by  Joseph,  the  youngest 
son  of  his  brother  Edward.  I  have  seen  it,  and  it  is  a  most 
extraordinary  piece  of  carving ;  for,  setting  aside  the 
youthful  period  in  which  it  was  produced,  and  the  very 
imperfect  instrument  with  which  it  was  cut,  the  anatomy 
is  strictly  correct,  the  ribs  and  double  bones  are  most 
minutely  perforated,  and  the  limbs,  fingers,  and  toes,  are 
connected  by  the  slightest  ligaments  left  in  the  wood ;  for 
in  no  instance  has  it  the  assistance  of  wires.  It  is  carved 
from  one  piece  of  wood  ;  and  so  beautiful  is  this  specimen  of 
Deare's  correctness  of  eye  and  perseverance,  that  I  can 
hardly  think  it  was  possible  for  him  in  his  maturer  age  to 
have  excelled  this  juvenile  production.  He  continued  most 
sedulously  to  amuse  himself  between  school-hours,  by 
making  drawings  from  the  best  prints  which  his  indulgent 

1  The  Diet.  Nat.  Biography,  pool,  October  26th,  1759.    His 
evidently  following  Liverpool  father  was  a  jeweller  and  tax- 
authorities,  states  that  Deare  collector, 
was  born  in  Castle-street,  Liver- 


236        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

father  could  procure ;  and  as  nothing  less  than  the  most 
elevated  subjects  engaged  his  attention,  his  mind  became 
habitually  illuminated  by  studying  the  Forge  of  Vulcan, 
the  glittering  Shield  of  Achilles,  or  the  Thunderbolt  of 
Jupiter ;  and  when  he  has,  in  his  maturer  years,  described 
his  feelings  as  a  lad,  whenever  the  Siege  of  Troy  was  men- 
tioned, I  have  seen  his  nostrils  expand,  as  if  he  had  been 
brandishing  the  mighty  spear  over  tens  of  thousands  of 
Grecian  warriors. 

He  was  articled  to  Thomas  Carter,  of  Piccadilly,  then 
residing  in  a  small  house  on  the  site  of  No.  101  ;  and  at 
the  age  of  sixteen  he  was  employed  in  carving  ornaments 
for  chimney-pieces,  in  the  exquisite  performance  of  which 
he  astonished  the  oldest  practitioners.  But  Deare's  ambition 
soared  to  the  highest  sphere,  and  soon  burst  into  envied 
notoriety  by  his  attention  to  the  human  figure  and  historical 
subjects ;  in  which  his  natural  abilities  appeared  so  pre- 
eminent, that  on  the  28th  of  November,  1780,  he  received 
the  gold  medal  at  the  Royal  Academy,  for  a  most  beautiful 
model  of  Adam  and  Eve,  as  described  by  Milton  :  and, 
what  was  more  extraordinary,  he  was  at  that  time  only  in 
his  twentieth  year,  and  the  youngest  artist  to  whom  that 
honour  had  ever  been  awarded. 

John's  eldest  brother,  Edward  Deare,  Esq.  and  Joseph, 
the  youngest  of  his  amiable  nephews,  have  very  kindly 
allowed  me  to  make  the  following  extracts  from  a  series 
of  his  letters,  written  to  his  family  at  Liverpool ;  and,  as 
they  are  arranged  in  strictly  chronological  order,  the  reader 
will  be  able  to  keep  pace  with  our  truly  intellectual  artist, 
from  the  time  he  was  placed  with  Carter  to  the  hour  of  his 
death  at  Rome. 

To  his  Father,  dated  London,  May  ist,  1776. 

One  of  the  men  bid  me  tell  you,  that  Mr.  Carter  would 
give  me  half-a-guinea,  at  least,  a  week,  for  the  first  part  of 
my  time,  and  fifteen  shillings  for  the  latter  part ;  but  you 


JOHN  DEARE  237 

will  write  to  him,  and  ask  him  what  he  proposes  :  he  is, 
just  as  they  say,  a  blustering  fellow,  but  a  good  man.  I  have 
seen  two  men  hanged,  and  one  with  his  breast  cut  open  at 
Surgeons'  Hall.  The  other  being  a  fine  subject,  they  took 
him  to  the  Royal  Academy,  and  covered  him  with  plaster  of 
Paris,  after  they  had  put  him  in  the  position  of  the  Dying 
Gladiator.  In  this  Hall  there  are  some  casts  from  Nature 
that  are  cut  from  the  middle  of  the  forehead  down  to  the 
lower  part  of  the  body,  one  part  excoriated,  and  the  other 
whole. 

To  the  same,  dated  London,  June  3rd,  1776. 

Nollekens  got  most  of  his  money  by  buying  and  selling 
antiques.  Van  Gilder,  who  cut  that  large  figure  in  our  shop, 
and  is  considered  one  of  the  best  hands  in  London  at  foliage, 
was  seven  years  in  saving  a  thousand  pounds,  by  keeping 
men  at  work  at  his  own  house,  while  he  got  two  guineas  a 
week  at  Mr.  Carter's  ;  he  has  now  set  up  for  himself.1  (In 
Riding-house  Lane.) 

To  the  same,  dated  24th  March,  1777. 
In  my  last,  I  promised  you  a  description  of  the  Royal 
Academy.  It  is  in  Somerset-house,  Strand,  formerly  a 
palace.  There  is  one  large  room  for  the  Plaster  Academy  ; 
one  for  the  Life,  where  two  men  sit  two  hours  each  night,  by 
turns,  every  week ;  a  large  room,  in  which  Lectures  are 
given  every  Monday  night,  by  Dr.  Hunter  on  Anatomy, 
Wale  on  Perspective,  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  on  Painting, 
and  Thomas  Sandby  on  Architecture  ;  and,  among  many 
other  apartments,  there  is  a  choice  Library.  The  plaster 
figures  are  placed  on  pedestals,  that  run  on  castors. 

To  the  same,  dated  London,  igth  May,  1777. 
One  of  the  men  recommended  his  Doctor  to  me,  and  the 
clerk  sets  down  the  time  ;  Carter  gave  me  no  more  than  for 

1  Evidently     P.     M.     Van  Hercules":  "  there  is  no  trace 

Gelder,    of    whom    Redgrave  of  his  further  career."     But 

says  that  he  studied  at  the  in    Westminster    Abbey    his 

Royal  Academy,  and  in  1771  name  appears  as  the  sculptor 

gained  the  gold  medal  for  a  of  the  interesting  monument 

bas-relief  of   "The  Choice  of  to  Major  Andre. 


238        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

the  time  I  had  worked,  and  I  asked  him  for  no  more  ;  for, 
like  most  others,  touch  his  pocket  and  you  touch  his  heart. 
We  are  on  good  terms,  and  I  will  go  through  the  course  of 
the  antiques,  of  men,  women,  and  children.  Michel  Angelo, 
at  ten  years  of  age,  said  he  improved  every  day. 

To  the  same,  dated  March  23d,  1778. 

When  Mr.  Ralph  called  on  me,  I  was  working  upon  a 
monument  for  General  Burgoyne's  Lady,  to  be  put  up  in 
the  Abbey  ;  which  has  got  me  into  great  credit  with  Carter.1 

To  the  same,  dated  London,  Nov.  28th,  1780. 
[This  year  our  young  artist  was  employed,  in  his  over- 
hours,  in  producing  a  model  for  the  Gold  Medal,  offered  as 
a  premium  for  the  best  historical  design.] 

There  are  two  others  oppose  me ;  the  German  that 
worked  at  our  shop  formerly  (you  remember  him)  is  one,2 
the  other  has  much  more  merit,  and  they  are  both  as  old 
and  big  again  as  I  am.  The  fifteenth  of  this  month  the 
German  and  I  attend  at  the  Royal  Academy,  as  customary, 
to  make  a  proof  sketch,  in  clay,  in  five  hours  ;  the  painters 
go  likewise,  but  they  have  not  the  same  subject.  There  are 
several  put  into  a  cup,  the  Painters  take  first,  the  Sculptors 

1  This  letter  must  refer  to  a  possession  of  the  name  of  the 
monument  to  the  memory  of  artist  who  designed  and  exe- 
Lady  Charlotte  Burgoyne,  wife  cuted  the  sculptured  parts  of 
of  John  Burgoyne,  the  general  this  monument,  which  he  con- 
and  dramatist.     She   died  in  sidered  as  one   of   the   finest 
1776,   but   there   is   no   such  specimens  of  Art  in  the  Abbey, 
monument  in  the  Abbey.  Nollekens,  whenever  this  monu- 

2  The  name  of  this  German  ment  was  mentioned,  declared 
Sculptor  was  Eckstein  ;  he  de-  it  to  be  a  beautiful  production  ; 
signed    and    carved    the    two  at  the  same  time  observing, 
figures    and    basso-relievo    in  that  Tom  Carter  always  had  a 
Townsend's   monument,   erec-  clever  fellow  with  him  to  pro- 
ted  by  Carter,  on  the  south  wall  duce  his  work.    (S.) — See  refer- 
of  Westminster  Abbey.    It  is  a  ence  to  Eckstein  and  the  Towns- 
very  extraordinary  fact,  that  hend    monument    in    Chapter 
the  late  Mr.  Flaxman  said,  he  VII. 

would  give  something  to  be  in 


JOHN  DEARE  239 

next ;  so  that  we  do  not  know,  till  we  get  there,  what  story 
we  have  to  design. 

The  German  has  shamefully  lost  it,  both  in  large  model 
and  sketch.  He  that  I  was  afraid  of  was  ill,  and  could  not 
then  attend,  but  will  make  his  sketch  this  week.  I  have 
received  the  most  intoxicating  compliments  from  every 
body ;  I  am  told  I  shall  beat  them  :  and  I  also  hear  that 
my  youth  is  against  me,  for,  if  they  give  it  me,  it  will  make 
me  conceited  and  neglect  my  studies. 

To  the  same,  dated  London,  Dec.  I3th,  1780. 

I  have  carried  my  point,  and  suppose  my  antagonists 
never  were  beaten  so  shamefully  before ;  the  rooms  rang 
with  the  compliments  of  my  well-wishers.  The  President, 
Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  standing  up,  declared  the  medal 
adjudged  to  the  model  marked  E,  the  production  of  Mr. 
John  Deare.  The  Secretary  calling  John  Deare,  I  bustled 
through  some  hundreds  of  persons,  and  received  it  from  the 
hand  of  Sir  Joshua.1  The  successful  candidates  stood 
before  him  and  the  Council  till  he  had  finished  his  Lecture  ; 
we  were  then  dispersed.  I  am  to  return  the  medal,  when  I 
please,  to  have  my  name  engraven  round  its  edge.  The 
models  and  paintings  remain  at  the  Academy,  until  they 
are  carried  to  Buckingham-house  for  the  inspection  of  the 
King  and  Queen. 

To  the  same,  dated  London,  Sept.  24th,  1781. 

I  beg  of  you,  for  my  sake,  not  to  part  with  that  Devil,  but 
keep  him  in  the  family  whilst  you  live  ;  then,  either  Joe  or 
Ned,  (two  of  his  brothers,)  should  they  survive,  have  ability 
and  taste  enough  to  think  it  a  gem.2 

1  The  subject  of  this  model  actually    modelled    from    his 
was  from  the  Fourth  Book  of  own   features,    distorted   into 
Milton's  Paradise  Lost,  when  his  conception  of  the  character 
the  Angels  surprise  Satan  in  he  had  worked  his  mind  up 
the  bower  of  Eve  at  her  ear.  to  ;    like  Garrick,  who  threw 
(S.)  his  face  into  so  strong  a  like- 

2  This  head  of  the  Devil  is  ness  of  Henry  Fielding,  that, 
an  admirable  specimen  of  our  when  he  put  on  a  wig  which 
Sculptor's    feeling,    and    was  had  been  worn  by  him,  Ho- 


240        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

To  the  same,  dated  London,  June  i6th,  1783. 

As  for  Carter,  I  do  him  a  job  when  he  has  it  to  do  ;  the  last 
was  a  rich  tablet  for  a  chimney-piece,  I  worked  it  task  [sic] 
for  twenty-four  guineas.  It  is  a  custom  with  him  to  make 
large  promises  to  young  fellows,  by  which  means  he  has 
gained  grease  to  keep  his  carriage  going. 

To  the  same,  dated  July  igth,  1783. 

I  told  you  of  a  tablet  which  I  worked  for  Carter,  (a  task 
job,)  and  so  well  have  I  done  it,  that  I  have  had  almost  all 
the  carvers  in  London  to  come  and  see  it.  It  has  pleased 
Carter  so,  that  he  is  going  to  have  another  worked,  although 
we  disagree  about  the  price,  for  he  wanted  to  quirk  me  out 
of  four  guineas  ;  but  I  told  him  I  would  not  go  on  with  it 
unless  he  would  deal  as  a  gentleman  with  me,  well  knowing 
he  could  get  nobody  else  to  finish  it  in  the  same  style,  which 
he  thought  proper  to  do. — I  have  had  a  good  deal  of  model- 
ling to  do,  and  am  promised  more.  By  this  you  will  see  that 
I  have  been  very  lucky  lately ;  and  I  find  the  amazing 
advantage  of  keeping  up  my  consequence,  for  they  don't 
dream  of  bringing  me  twopenny-halfpenny  jobs.  I  have 
made  a  resolution  lately  of  being  very  saving,  for  the  purpose 
of  furnishing  apartments  of  my  own  to  launch  out  more  in 
style,  to  be  able  to  introduce  a  gentleman  to  see  my  collec- 
tion ;  for  at  present  I  have  but  one  room,  and  that  so  filled 
with  curiosities,  that  they  must  either  stand  or  sit  on  the 
bed. — I  can  please  your  public  spirit,  by  telling  you  how 
much  I  am  talked  of  among  the  Sculptors,  and  those  who 
know  me.  The  Sculptors  allow  me  to  be  the  first  young 
fellow  in  the  kingdom,  and  sometimes  come  with  a  model,  for 
me  to  do  them  the  very  great  favour  of  giving  it  a  touch. 
Next  year  I  mean  to  shine  forth  in  the  Exhibition,  but  this 
will  be  a  great  expense  to  me.  I  have  been  trying  lately  to 

garth,  who  was  in  want  of  his  head  of  the  Devil  should  re- 
likeness  for  a  bookseller,  drew  main  in  the  family,  that  a 
that  excellent  head  which  has  nephew  of  his  would  be  born 
been  handed  to  us  as  a  genuine  to  possess  it,  and  one  whose 
portrait  of  the  great  Novelist,  abilities  have  enabled  him  to 
Little  did  Deare  think,  when  receive  a  similar  gold  medal 
he  expressed  a  wish  that  this  in  the  same  Royal  Academy. 


JOHN  DEARE  241 

get  the  Prince  of  Wales  to  sit  to  me,  but  he  is  very  busy. — I 
keep  company  with  none  but  gentlemen  here  ;  you  will 
probably  laugh ;  but  this  'twixt  you  and  me,  for  it  would 
appear  vanity  to  any  body  else. 

To  the  same,  dated  London,  August  i6th,  1783. 

Since  I  worked  Carter's  tablet,  I  have  had  seven  guineas 
and  a  half  worth  of  modelling  to  do  ;  and  last  Thursday  I  got 
a  job  from  a  Proctor  in  the  Commons,  that  came  to  twenty- 
two  guineas  modelling,  it  is  to  be  cast  in  plaster,  painted,  and 
put  into  the  pediment  of  his  country-house  at  Hounslow.  He 
is  rich,  a  man  of  good  taste,  and  of  consequence  among  the 
citizens,  so  that  should  I  please  him  I  may  naturally  expect 
his  interest.  I  made  a  drawing  some  time  ago  of  a  Spanish 
nobleman's  arms,  and  it  is  gone  to  Spain  for  his  inspection  ; 
as  soon  as  we  get  an  answer,  that  will  be  a  job  of  eight  to 
ten  guineas  for  me  :  it  is  a  very  rich  piece  of  work,  three  feet 
high,  in  brass,  gold,  and  jewellery.  I  shall  model  the  figures 
which  they  cast  in  brass.  Only  think  of  their  sending  from 
Spain  to  have  such  a  thing  done  ! 

To  the  same,  dated  London,  Sept.  I5th,  1783. 

I  have  left  Carter  for  some  time,  but  am  on  the  best 
terms  of  friendship  with  him.  Last  week  but  one,  I  model- 
led a  figure  of  Cupid,  three  feet  three  inches  high,  for  Mr. 
Cheere  ;x  and  whilst  I  was  there,  Mr.  Bacon  came  after  me, 
and  wanted  me  to  model  him  some  figures  for  a  monument, 
which  I  agreed  to  do,  at  the  rate  of  two  guineas  per  week, 
but  I  would  not  tie  myself  down  to  any  length  of  time.  This 
you  must  think  no  small  honour,  for  the  first  man  in  the 
kingdom  in  sculpture  to  come  after  me  himself.  With  Bacon 
all  my  wits  must  be  at  work. 

At  this  time,  Deare's  applications  to  his  art  were  so 
incessant,  that  wherever  he  lodged,  the  good  housewife  was 
in  perpetual  anxiety  as  to  his  candles  ;  as  his  hours  of  study 
were  not  confined  to  those  usually  occupied,  and  generally 
denominated  regular.  He  seldom  was  known  to  sleep  till 

1  For  references  to  Cheere,  see  Index. 


VOL.  II. — R 


242        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

after  the  hour  of  three  ;  and  I  have  of  a  morning  frequently 
seen  ten  or  twelve  designs,  which  had  been  made  between 
the  time  he  reached  home  from  the  theatre,  and  a  late 
period  of  night.  He  drew  with  precision  and  clearness  of 
outline,  and  his  dexterity  was  beyond  belief.  His  choice  of 
subjects,  which  at  that  time  was  too  much  neglected  by 
artists,  was  from  those  contained  in  Shakspeare's  solilo- 
quies, an  author  with  whom  he  was  so  delighted,  that  he 
rarely  allowed  an  evening  to  pass  when  his  plays  were  per- 
formed, without  his  attendance :  and  to  indulge  in  this 
most  edifying  of  all  theatrical  representations,  he  has  ac- 
knowledged to  me,  when  we  were  leaving  the  theatre,  that 
he  frequently  went  without  his  dinner. 

Deare  was  an  excellent  anatomist,  and  paid  particular 
attention  to  the  workings  of  the  human  features  in  their 
expressions  of  the  various  passions  ;  but  more  particularly 
to  those  of  malefactors,  as  they  approached  the  gallows,  and 
when  they  arrived  at  it.  He  once  prevailed  upon  a  relative 
of  an  executed  criminal,  to  whom  the  care  of  the  body  had 
been  consigned,  to  allow  him  the  loan  of  his  head  for  a 
night ;  and  he  actually  cut  it  off,  and  conveyed  it  to  the 
back  wash-house  of  a  work-shop  belonging  to  Mr.  Cheere, 
the  leaden  figure-maker,  then  living  next  door  to  his  master 
Carter's  :  where  he  resolved,  by  the  connivance  of  the 
keeper  of  the  yard,  to  sit  up  to  mould  it  at  midnight.  After 
he  had  finished  his  task,  he  carried  the  head  to  the  sink, 
and  whilst  he  was  pumping  upon  it  to  clear  the  clotted  hair 
from  some  bits  of  plaster,  he  had  so  filled  the  head  with 
water  and  relaxed  its  muscles,  that  the  jaws  opened.  Deare 
was  not  at  all  frightened  at  this  natural  consequence,  but 
he  was  most  seriously  alarmed  when  an  immense  and  fierce 
yard-dog,  who  had  heard  the  working  of  the  pump,  com- 
menced barking  :  go  out  he  durst  not,  so  there  he  remained, 
after  putting  out  his  light,  till  the  workmen  arrived  in  the 
morning.  The  cast  of  this  head  I  saw  the  next  day,  and  the 
character  was  truly  terrific. 


JOHN  DEARE  243 

He  modelled  four  basso-relievos  of  the  Seasons,  measuring 
two  feet  eight  inches  long,  by  eight  inches  high,  each  con- 
sisting of  eight  naked  boys,  variously  employed,  according 
to  the  season  they  were  designed  to  represent,  being  intended 
as  tablets  for  chimney-pieces,  and  executed  with  the  greatest 
rapidity ;  and  though  they  are  certainly  by  far  the  most 
inferior  of  Deare's  productions,  yet  they  are  above  the 
generality  of  things  of  their  kind  ;  for,  at  that  time,  England 
could  not  boast  of  an  artist  to  compare  with  Fiamingo  in  any 
way.  Sarti,  of  Greek-street,1  is  in  possession  of  Summer  and 
Autumn,  two  of  the  moulds  of  the  above  basso-relievos  ;  and 
I  may  likewise  add,  that  Sarti  is  also  in  possession  of  the 
moulds  of  fifty-two  varieties  of  Fiamingo's  children.  Gains- 
borough's friend  Collins,  of  Tothill-fields,  was  indeed  the 
most  famous  modeller  of  chimney-tablets,  of  his  day,  but 
his  figures  were  mostly  clothed,  and  exhibited  pastoral 
scenes,  which  were  understood  by  the  most  common  ob- 
server ;  such,  for  instance,  as  a  shepherd's  boy  eating  his 
dinner  under  an  old  stump  of  a  tree,  with  his  dog  begging 
before  him ;  shepherds  and  shepherdesses  seated  upon  a 
bank,  surrounded  by  their  flocks  ;  anglers,  reapers,  &c. — 
as  may  be  seen  in  numerous  chimney-pieces,  executed  in 
the  early  part  of  the  last  century,  and  which  are  still  to  be 
found  in  houses  erected  about  that  time.2 

Deare  also  modelled  two  oval  basso-relievos,  measuring 
sixteen  inches  by  fourteen,  in  his  best  manner  ;  particularly 
the  one  of  Cupid  and  Psyche,  a  cast  of  which  is  in  the 
possession  of  Baily  the  Sculptor.  The  figures  are  so  beautiful, 

1  Sarti  was  a  figure-maker  at  by  him  representing  the  fable 
59    Greek-street,    Soho.      See  of  the  Bear  and  the  Beehives 
Index  for  another  reference.  is  in  one  of  the  offices  in  An- 

2  William  Collins,  who  had  caster    House,    Lincoln's-Inn- 
been  trained  under  Sir  Henry  fields.    Collins  died  in  Tothill 
Cheere,     was    intimate    with  Fields  in  May,  1793,  and  was 
Smith's    father.      He    found  buried    in    the    Old    Ground, 
many  of  his  subjects  in  JEsop's  King's-road,  Chelsea. 

fables.     A    good    mantelpiece 


244        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

that  our  students  would  do  well  to  follow  the  practice  of  their 
superiors,  and  study  them  as  works  of  the  most  tasteful  art. 
Let  us  now  resume  the  series  of  our  artist's  letters. 

To  his  Father,  dated  London,  Dec.  8th,  1783. 

I  left  Bacon  soon  after  I  wrote  to  you,  and  am  astonished 
at  my  own  prosperity  ;  one  job  comes  in  before  I  can  finish 
the  other.  I  have  now  fifty  or  sixty  pounds  worth  of  model- 
ling to  do,  beforehand  ;  and  this  week  I  got  a  chimney-piece, 
of  sixty  guineas  value,  to  do  for  a  gentleman  of  Manchester. 

To  the  same,  dated  London,  June  27th,  1784. 

The  job  I  was  going  to  put  up  in  the  country,  was  a 
bas-relief  in  plaster  of  Paris,  oiled  and  painted,  twenty-one 
feet  long,  for  a  pediment  of  a  gentleman's  house,  which  his 
father  had  purchased  from  the  Duke  of  Argyle.  I  have 
pleased  him  vastly  with  it :  the  subject  is  the  Giants'  war  ; 
the  figures  as  large  as  life.  I  thought  it  would  introduce 
something  else,  for  I  have  since  sold  him  ten  guineas  worth  of 
models,  and  we  are  treating  about  a  chimney-piece. — You 
would  be  pleased  to  see  how  I  am  respected  ;  although  there 
are  numbers  of  workmen  about  the  house,  only  I  and  my  man 
are  suffered  to  fish  in  the  pond. — You,  perhaps,  would  be 
wicked  enough  to  laugh,  were  you  to  see  me  ring  the  bell, 
and  desire  the  servant  to  bring  me  a  bottle  of  wine  out  of  my 
vault,  where  you  would  likewise  see  a  chaldron  of  coals. 
Don't  you  think  I  have  some  merit  in  doing  this  so  soon  ? 

To  the  same,  dated  London,  Dec.  I4th,  1784. 

I  have  given  in  my  name  as  one  who  wishes  to  go  to 
Italy,  as  the  Academy  intend  sending  one  out  next  summer  ; 
but  I  find  I  cannot  have  an  answer  till  after  Christmas. — 
The  students  are  sent  out  for  three  years,  with  an  allowance 
of  sixty  pounds  per  annum,  and  sixty  pounds  to  take  and 
bring  them  back. 

To  the  same,  dated  London,  May  i5th,  1785. 

This  morning  I  breakfasted  with  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds, 
who  introduces  me  by  letter  to  Sir  Horace  Mann,  our  Consul 


JOHN  DEARE  245 

at  Florence  ;l  where  I  shall  remain  till  the  rains  in  September 
come  on,  and  when  the  hot  weather  at  Rome  is  over.  I  have 
just  parted  from  my  company,  who  are  enjoying  themselves 
in  the  next  room,  on  purpose  to  write  to  you.  It  is  now  nine 
o'clock  at  night,  and  we  set  off  at  five  for  Dover. — I  have 
been  so  busy  that  I  have  been  obliged  to  work  all  this  day. 

To  the  same,  dated  Paris,  May  25th,  1785. 

To-day  I  went  to  the  Combat  des  Animaux  Feroces,  or 
place  where  they  fight  all  sorts  of  beasts  against  one  another. 
I  saw  six  battles  between  mastiffs  and  bull-dogs ;  one  between 
an  ass  and  a  bull-dog  ;  one  between  a  wolf  and  a  mastiff  ;  one 
between  a  bear  and  dogs  ;  ditto  between  a  horse  and  an  ass, 
with  fireworks  on  their  backs,  and  several  large  dogs  ;  ditto 
bear  and  mastiff ;  and  lastly,  a  display  of  fireworks,  with  an 
English  boule  dogue,  as  they  spell  it,  who  fastens  to  one  of 
the  fireworks  and  hangs  an  amazing  time,  swinging  by  his 
mouth  amongst  fire,  twenty  feet  from  the  ground,  until  they 
take  him  down. 

To  the  same,  Rome,  date  torn  off. 

You  will  wonder  at  this  letter  being  dated  Rome,  when 
I  told  you  I  should  pass  the  summer  at  Florence  ;  but  the 
rain  and  mild  spring  made  me  hurry  to  Rome.  I  took 
notice  of  a  little  child  with  a  black  thing  round  its  head,  to 

keep  it  from  harm  in  falling.2 1  live  in  the  Corso,  which 

is  the  principal  street  in  Rome. The  middling  and  poor 

people  of  Italy  dress  their  hair  still  in  the  antique  manner, 
in  circular  plaits,  fastened  at  the  back  of  the  head  with  a 
bodkin  ;  they  all  wear  veils  of  different  sorts,  which  have 

a  pretty  effect. i5th,  arrived  at  Bologna,  in  the  Pope's 

territories,  a  fine  city :  here  I  saw  the  statue  of  Neptune, 
by  John  di  Bologna,  in  the  principal  square,  reckoned  his 
best  work.  I  saw  the  Specolo,  or  Museum,  in  which  is  the 

1  Sir  Horace  Mann  was  ap-  called    puddings,    noticed    by 
pointed  British  envoy  at  Flor-  Mr.    Nollekens    in    the    first 
ence  in  1740,  and  he  held  this  volume  of  the  present  work, 
office  till  his  death  in  1786.  (S.)— See  Smith's  gossip  about 

2  This  was  similar  to  those  "  puddings  "  in  Chapter  IX. 


246        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

wonderful  collection  of  natural  curiosities,  collected  by 
Aldrovandus  ;  the  rooms  are  finely  painted  by  Tibbaldi, 

the   master   of  the   Carracci. 1   saw  in   the   Zampieri 

Palace,  three  pictures  painted  in  fresco,  on  the  ceiling, 
by  the  three  Carracci  in  competition  ;  several  fine  ones 
by  Guido  ;  two  fine  groups  of  boys  by  Algardi,  the  famous 

Sculptor. In  the  quarries  about  Sienna,   they  reckon 

there    are   thirty-two    different    sorts    of   marbles. St. 

Peter's  is  a  fine  building,  but  I  don't  like  the  outside  so  well 
as  St.  Paul's,  London  ;  but  the  inside  is  covered  with  marble, 
mosaic,  pictures,  and  fine  monuments.  I  stared  to  see  one 
of  the  Queen  of  Great  Britain,  France,  and  Ireland ;  and, 
on  inquiry,  found  it  to  be  the  wife  of  the  late  Pretender, 
who  was  daughter  of  John  Sobieski,  the  famous  King  of 
Poland.1 

To  the  same,  Rome,  date  torn  off. 

Rome  is  supposed  to  contain  about  150,000  people,  with 
very  little  trade  or  business  amongst  them,  and  a  great  deal 
of  laziness,  which  the  climate  seems  to  produce  :  here  indo- 
lence, or  repose,  itself  is  a  luxury,  but  in  England  we  must 
have  good  cheer  added  to  repose  before  it  amounts  to  luxury, 
so  that  the  beggars  here  are  very  numerous  and  comfortable. 
Many  of  the  nobility  are  very  rich,  and  their  palaces  large 
and  splendid  beyond  conception,  and  some  of  their  galleries 
are  filled  with  an  astonishing  collection  of  first-rate  pictures, 
and  others  with  sculptures  ;  but  this  is  nothing  when  com- 
pared to  the  ruins  of  the  antique. 

On  the  outside  of  modern  Rome  is  the  Palatine  Hill, 
which  was  formerly  covered  entirely  by  the  Imperial  Palace, 
but  at  present  it  is  a  vineyard,  with  a  few  of  the  antique 
vaults  and  subterraneous  passages,  and  on  the  top  a  great 
number  of  fragments  of  capitals,  friezes,  and  cornices, 
admirably  worked,  which  declare  its  ancient  grandeur. 

There  are  likewise  the  Baths  of  Livia  ;  I  could  not  see 
them  the  day  I  was  there,  but  when  I  do,  will  give  you  an 

1  Maria  Clementina,  daughter  Old   Pretender  had   been  ac- 

of  the  King  of  Poland,  who  knowledged  King  of  England 

married  the  Old  Pretender  in  by  the  Pope. 
1719  and  died  in  1735.     The 


JOHN  DEARE  247 

account  of  them.  A  little  farther  is  the  Colosseum,  or 
Amphitheatre  of  Titus ;  it  is  so  large  and  grand,  that  I 
don't  know  how  to  describe  it ;  but  I  and  an  English 
architect  climbed  up  to  the  top  of  it,  and  I  will  give  you 
an  account  of  the  view  from  it  as  well  as  I  can.  A  view 
from  the  top  to  the  inside  fills  the  mind  beyond  any  thing 
that  words  can  express  ;  it  is  an  oval,  and  open  at  the  top, 
with  three  galleries  or  passages  round  it,  and  over  these 
passages  are  rows  of  seats,  descending  from  the  outside  wall 
down  to  the  centre,  so  that  the  bottom  row  of  seats  is  on 
the  dens  of  wild  beasts  which  run  round  the  pit  or  platform, 
where  the  beasts  and  gladiators  used  to  perform.  In  one 
of  the  best  situations,  we  took  notice  of  a  small  room  that 
had  been  stuccoed  and  elegantly  ornamented,  which  I 
suppose  was  for  the  umpire  and  his  attendants  ;  the  work- 
manship is  equally  excellent  as  great.  Titus,  after  he  had 
conquered  Jerusalem,  brought  over  great  numbers  of 
captives,  and  20,000  Jews  worked  at  this  for  a  great  number 
of  years.  In  the  beginning  of  Christianity,  many  Christians 
were  martyred  here  by  wild  beasts,  or  other  cruelties,  for 
the  diversion  of  the  Romans,  which  occasioned  it  to  be 
consecrated  (I  believe)  to  All  Saints ;  however,  there  are 
fourteen  altars  and  pictures  round  it,  at  each  of  which  they 
sing  a  prayer  every  evening  with  children,  women,  and 
pilgrims  assisting,  which  sounds  divinely  in  so  large  an  oval 
space,  confined  by  large  stone  walls ;  and  this  music  is 
ancient,  and  of  that  melancholy  turn,  which,  added  to  the 
serene  sky,  gives  a  charming  enthusiasm.  On  the  outside 
of  it  is  a  small  circular  building,  which  I  have  heard  was  a 
fountain  or  bath  for  the  gladiators,  after  they  had  done 
exercising ;  and  about  ten  yards  farther  is  the  Arch  of 
Constantine,  which  is  composed  of  the  ruins  of  Trajan's 
Arch. 

If  you  look  out  of  Rome,  you  seem  surrounded  with  beauti- 
ful views  of  the  Apennine  mountains,  on  the  sides  of  which 
the  ancient  Romans  used  to  have  their  villas  or  summer 
retreats.  You  distinguish  Albano,  Frescati,  and  Tivoli, 
with  views  of  the  Mediterranean  in  a  clear  day.  At  Tivoli, 
the  Emperor  Adrian  had  a  villa,  which  is  mentioned  in 
history  as  one  of  the  greatest  curiosities  that  ever  was  seen, 
and  replete  with  every  thing  rare  in  art.  Here  the  antiquaries 


248        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

have  been  digging  for  some  time,  and  with  various  success  ; 
but  history  relates,  that,  when  Christianity  was  getting 
the  better  of  Paganism,  they  declared  war  against  their 
gods,  and  accordingly  mutilated  all  their  statues,  and  threw 
them  into  rivers  and  ponds.  An  antiquary,  on  examining 
the  ground,  thought  that  there  was  an  appearance  of  there 
having  been  a  pond  there  anciently,  so  set  about  digging, 
and  accordingly  found  vast  treasures  in  sculpture,  and 
some  other  things.  All  the  statues  and  busts  of  their  gods 
were  mutilated,  but  not  those  of  the  Emperors  and  great 
men,  for  they  had  not  time. 

On  going  along  the  streets,  I  observed,  every  ten  or 
fifteen  feet,  pieces  of  antique  columns  sticking  out  of  the 
ground,  which  serve  as  our  posts  or  stops,  of  all  sizes  and 
sorts  :  when  I  consider  the  vast  quantity  of  these,  and  that 
all  the  modern  buildings  have  antique  columns,  and  those 
chiefly  granite,  it  throws  me  into  such  commiserating 
reveries,  that  I  become  low-spirited  in  the  cause.  Then  in 
the  Capitol  and  Vatican  are  some  curiosities  of  large  columns 
in  Oriental,  and  other  valuable  marbles  and  alabaster.  I 
shall  just  mention  the  Pantheon,  built  by  Agrippa  ;  it  is  a 
prodigious  circular  building,  with  a  dome  at  the  top,  and 
portico  with  granite  columns  before  ;  and  the  inside  of  this 
is  equally  grand  and  simple,  and  now  consecrated  to  modern 
Saints,  instead  of  all  the  gods.  But  as  to  these  general 
things,  almost  every  history  mentions  them. 

To  the  same,  dated  Rome,  7th  Nov.  1785. 

Please  to  make  my  compliments  to  Mr.  Holland,  and 
likewise  those  of  his  old  friend  Mr.  Robinson,  who  wishes 
to  know  if  he  is  married  ;  tell  him  that  we  live  on  the  same 

floor  in  a  palace,  and  that  B is  much  improved  indeed. 

1  have  finished  the  large  work  I  was  about,  but  have 

been  unsuccessful  in  the  moulding  ;  however,  I  have  gained 
great  credit,  if  I  am  not  monstrously  flattered.  I  have  put 
it  by  to  repair  the  plaster,  till  I  have  done  Mr.  Blundell's 
model,1  which  I  am  now  about,  and  must  send  to  the  next 
Exhibition,  or  perhaps  I  may  lose  my  pension  ;  for  I  re- 
ceived a  letter  a  long  time  ago,  stating  that,  if  I  did  not  do 

1  Henry  Blundell,  of  Ince  Blundell.     See  Index 


JOHN  DEARE  249 

that,  it  would  be  stopped.1 In  the  Library  is  the  finest 

collection  of  Manuscripts  existing.  There  I  saw  the  famous 
manuscript  Virgil,  with  illustrations,  or  drawings  in  water- 
colours,  and  several  letters  of  Henry  VIII.  In  this  Library, 
is  the  finest  collection  of  Etruscan  vases  in  Europe,  with  a 
vast  number  of  antique  curiosities. 

To  his  Father,  dated  Rome,  May  ist,  1786. 

Mr.  Blundell  called  on  me  here,  and  I  dined  with  him 
several  times.     He  gave  me  a  commission  to  model  him 

something  to  the  value  of  twenty  guineas. All  boys  of 

common  sense  or  virtue  find  the  loss  of  home  by  leaving  it. 

1  was  introduced  to  my  Lord  Bristol,  who  called  on 

me  and  offered  me  ten  pounds  per  annum  in  addition  to  my 
pension,  which  I  politely  refused,  as  it  was  such  a  trifle  ; 
and  as  I  thought  he  did  it  only  to  affront  the  King  and 

Academicians,  as  he  is  an  ex-ministerial  man. A  little 

way  out  of  Rome  is  the  Fountain  of  the  Nymph  Egeria, 
with  good  part  of  the  brickwork  still  remaining,  where 
Numa  used  to  consult  the  nymph.  Here  the  country  people 

1  My  worthy  friend,  Rossi,  progress   you   make   in   your 
the  Academician,  has  favoured  studies,    you   are   ordered   to 
me  with  a  letter  sent  to  him  send  home  annually  a  perform- 
when  at  Rome  with  Mr.  Deare,  ance  for  the  Exhibition  ;    be- 
of  which   the   following   is   a  ginning  with  that  which  will 
copy.  be  in  the  year  1787.    This  if 
"  Royal  Academy,  you  neglect  to  do,  I  am  ordered 
Somerset-place,  to    acquaint    you    that    your 
"  London,  loth  Nov.,  salary  will  be  no  longer  con- 

1785.  tinued. 

"  SIR,— I  communicated  Mr.         "  Y<>u  are  desired  ,to  notify 

Deare's  letter  to  the  Council,  to  the  Council  (by  letter  di- 

inf orming  me  of  the  safe  arrival  rected  to  me)  your  acquiescence 

of  yourself  and  him  at  Rome,  wttn  these  orders. 

on  2nd  July  last.  " l    *™'    Sir'    y°Ur    m°St 

"  By  order  of  the  Council,  humble  Servant, 
I  am  directed  to  send  you  the  F-  M-  NEWTON,  R.A.,  Sec. 

following    orders.      That    the         "  P.S.— I  hope  this  will  find 

Academicians  may  be  satisfied  you  enjoying  your  health.    Ac- 

of  your  attention  and  industry,  cept  my  best  wishes, 
and  that  they  may  see  what         "  Mr.  Charles  Rossi."  (S.) 


250        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

meet  every  May  morning  and  drink  the  water,  and  bring 
something  with  them  to  eat  and  make  merry.  This  is  one 
of  the  great  mimber  of  ancient  Roman  customs  the  modern 
Italians  have,  which  has  been  handed  down  ever  since  the 
time  of  Numa,  who  constituted  a  festival  on  every  May- 
day, in  honour  of  the  nymph. 

To  his  Father,  dated  Rome,  1786. 

I  am  now  very  busy  about  a  large  bas-relief,  eleven  feet 
by  five,  which  I  am  ordered  to  send  to  the  Exhibition  of 
1787.  The  subject  is  the  Judgment  of  Jupiter,  when  Juno, 
Venus,  and  Minerva  appeal  to  him  to  know  who  deserves  the 
golden  apple  with  the  inscription  "  Let  it  be  given  to  the 
fairest."  Discord  is  flying  off,  who  had  thrown  in  the  apple 
amongst  the  Gods,  because  they  had  forgot  to  invite  her  to 
the  general  feast  on  account  of  the  marriage  of  Thetis,  the 
sea-goddess,  to  Peleus.  Jupiter  points  to  earth,  and  sends 
them  with  Mercury  to  be  judged  by  Paris,  who  gives  it  to 
Venus,  which  occasions  the  Trojan  war.  Behind  the  throne 
of  Jupiter  are  the  three  Fates,  in  great  agitation,  pointing 
to  Thetis  and  Peleus,  who  were  the  parents  of  Achilles.  By 
their  agitation,  I  suppose  them  to  be  telling  that  war  would 
be  the  consequence  of  the  decision  ;  and  by  their  pointing 
to  Thetis  and  Peleus,  that  their  son  would  be  a  principal 
agent  in  the  Trojan  war.  Hercules,  Mars,  Neptune,  &c. 
attending.  In  all,  about  thirty  figures. 

To  his  Brother  Joseph,  dated  Rome,  June  27th,  1788. 

My  doubt  about  coming  home  was,  and  is,  owing  to  the 
uncertainty  of  the  arrival  of  a  piece  of  stone  from  the  quar- 
ries of  Carrara  ;  on  which  I  am  to  work  my  large  bas-relief 
for  Sir  Richard  Worsley,  Bart,  for  which  I  am  to  have 
470/.1  The  moment  I  am  certain  of  this,  I  shall  either  stay 
a  little  longer  to  finish  this,  or  come  home  immediately. 

You  will  hardly  believe  me,  when  I  tell  you  that  I  have 
had  the  desperate  resolution  to  learn  to  dance  since  I  have 

1  Evidently  the  "  Marine  merit  that  Sir  Richard  Worsley 
Venus,"  of  which  Nollekens  talks  so  much  about "  (see 
did  not  see  "the  wonderful  Chapter  XVI). 


JOHN  DEARE  251 

been  here,  which  I  have  often  regretted  I  neglected  to  do 
when  I  was  younger  and  had  more  philosophy.  You  would 
laugh  if  you  could  see  me  on  a  Sunday  night  dancing 
among  the  Roman  ladies,  with  all  the  airs  and  graces  of  the 
Italians. 

The  24th  of  this  month  my  three  years  expired,  which 
have  been  a  severe  apprenticeship  to  me.  I  assure  you 
I  never  worked  so  hard  in  my  life.  I  have  laboured  like  a 
giant  to  pick  up  information  and  execution  in  my  art.  I 
mention  this  to  encourage  you  not  to  sicken  with  labour 
and  knowledge,  till  you  are  a  leading  man  in  your  line,  let 
it  be  what  it  may.  Don't  lose  an  hour  without  picking  up 
information  ;  keep  your  mind  awake  to  knowledge  till  it 
becomes  a  habit,  and  of  course  a  pleasure ;  and  you  will 
rejoice  twenty  years  hence,  when  you  will  become  more 
indifferent  about  every  thing. 

To  his  Father,  dated  Rome,  May  i5th,  1789. 

I  have  been  from  day  to  day  expecting  the  marble  for 
Sir  Richard  Worsley's  bas-relief ;  and  I  was  determined 
not  to  write  till  it  arrived,  that  I  might  the  better  explain 
my  situation  to  you,  which  is,  that  the  marble  arrived  two 
days  ago,  and  is  paid  for,  which  cost  me  or  him  427  crowns. 

To  the  same,  without  date. 

I  am  afraid  you  will  think  I  put  off  writing  for  no  other 
purpose  than  to  gain  time  to  find  an  excuse  :  first  then,  on 
the  20th  of  February,  I  received  5o/.  more  from  Sir  Richard 
Worsley,  Bart,  which  has  at  the  same  time  confirmed  the 
commission  and  enabled  me  to  go  on  ;  secondly,  I  received 
commissions  to  the  amount  of  270^.  from  the  Earl  of  Bristol, 
who  had  given  a  great  many  commissions  besides  to  the 
different  artists  here  ;  and  just  as  we  all  expected  orders 
on  his  banker,  his  Lordship  suddenly  (as  usual)  left  Rome 
without  giving  any  one  orders  ;  however,  I  am  told  he  is 
gone  to  Venice  to  settle  or  adjust  all  the  commissions  he 
has  given  here,  and  will  send  us  orders  on  his  banker  from 
Venice,  by  a  person  he  has  taken  with  him  for  that  purpose, 
and  when  he  does,  I  will  not  fail  to  let  you  know.  I  expect 
two  other  little  things  to  the  amount  of  go/,  in  a  week  or 


252        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

two.  I  have  got  the  best  study  in  Rome,  and  am  doing 
very  well. 

To  his  Brother  Joseph,  dated  Rome,  July  I3th,  1791. 

As  to  my  marrying  here,  'tis  true  that  I  am  very  fond  of 
a  clever  little  Roman  girl,  who  is  at  least  my  equal.1— 
I  have  been  so  extremely  fortunate  this  last  winter,  in  getting 
commissions  to  execute  in  marble,  that  I  have  near  izool. 
worth  of  work  to  do.  I  have  received  a  great  deal  of  money, 
with  which  I  have  purchased  a  good  quantity  of  marble, 
which  I  mean  to  turn  into  gold  as  quickly  as  possible. 

I  have  several  men  at  work  for  me,  and  a  boy  who  acts 
as  my  servant.  I  have  the  best  study  in  Rome,  and  live  like 
a  gentleman ;  keep  a  handsome  saddle-horse  to  ride  out 

on  of  an  evening  after  I  am  tired  of  application. Since 

I  wrote  you  last,  Mr.  Penn  (the  descendant  of  the  cele- 
brated Pennsylvania  Penn) 2  took  me  to  Naples  in  his  own 
carriage,  to  see  an  eruption  of  Mount  Vesuvius,  and  the 
antiquities  in  and  about  Naples,  which  are  so  wonderful, 
that  I  dare  not  attempt  any  description  of  them.  I  have 
47o/.  worth  of  work  to  do  for  him. 

To  the  same,  dated  Rome,  May  igth,  1792. 

All  the  English  travellers  have  left  Rome  now,  except 
the  Duke  of  Manchester,  Lady  E.  Monck,  and  Lady  Hatton, 
with  whom  I  have  been  to  Tivoli  for  two  days  on  a  party 
of  pleasure,  and  with  Sir  Robert  Waller,  Bart,  who  rode 
my  horse  (I  might  have  said  my  grey  stallion,  as  I  am  talk- 
ing large).  I  have  sold  a  basso-relievo  I  had  finished  for 
I2O/.  to  Sir  Corbet  Corbet,  Bart.  This  is  a  part  of  the  marble 
I  told  you  in  my  last  I  intended  turning  into  gold.3  I  have 
a  small  group  of  Adam  and  Eve  to  execute  in  marble  for  a 
Mr.  Boehm,  of  London,  for  which  I  am  to  have  250^.  ;  and  a 
small  basso-relievo  of  Bacchus  for  Mr.  Poore,  for  45/.;  and 

1  Deare  married  this  young  Penn,  who  was  the  second  son 
lady,  who  is  said  to  have  had  of  William  Penn  by  his  second 
much  beauty.  wife,  Hannah  Callowhill. 

2  John  Penn,  of  Stoke  Park,        3  The  Edward  and  Eleanor 
eldest  son  of  the  Hon.  Thomas  bas-relief  already  referred  to. 


JOHN  DEARE  253 

with  these  and  several  other  little  things  I  have  received 
commissions  to  the  amount  of  537^.  this  winter.  I  can  say 
now,  what  I  never  could  say  before,  that  I  am  worth  several 

hundred  pounds. We  Romans  enjoy  the  appearance  of 

religion  and  the  reality  of  art. We  have  a  subscription 

paper  once  a  week  from  London,  for  us  artists  ;  but  I  observe 
that  all  articles  from  Rome  are  either  false  or  wrong  :  no 
monument  has  been  executed  here  for  Collins  the  poet.1 

To  the  same,  dated  Rome,  July  nth,  1795. 

I  shall  give  you  little  account  of  myself,  excepting  that 
I  have  been  very  fortunate,  having  sold  three  rich  chimney- 
pieces  to  the  Prince  of  Wales,  and  one  to  the  Earl  of  Bristol. 
I  am  now  executing  the  bust  of  his  Royal  Highness  Augustus 
Frederick,  the  King's  fifth  son,  who  is  now  here,  and  another 
of  Lady  Webster.  I  believe  that  I  told  you  I  was  copying 
the  Apollo  Belvidere2  and  the  Venus  de'  Medici,  the  size 
of  the  originals,  in  marble,  for  Lord  Berwick. 

To  his  Father. 

I  have  my  Edward  and  Eleanor  to  execute  in  marble, 
for  which  I  have  ioo/.3  I  have  modelled  the  bust  (size  of 
life,  or  little  larger)  of  Madame  Martin ville,  a  Lancashire 
lady  born,  and  one  of  the  Dickensons,  who,  I  understood, 
are,  or  have  been,  celebrated  for  their  beauty.  She  left 
England  at  two  years  of  age,  and  has  lived  in  France,  where 
she  now  is,  ever  since  :  this  I  have  very  near  finished  in 
marble,  and  I  am  to  have  40/.  for  it.  These  two  go  to  Paris, 
to  be  put  in  a  house  built  by  a  Mr.  Lattin,  a  young  Irish 
Catholic  gentleman,  and  a  captain  in  the  Irish  Brigade  in 
the  service  of  France,  who  is  my  patron  and  employer  in 
these  two. 

1  A  monument   to  William  2  For  this  statue  of  Apollo, 

Collins,  the  poet,  who  had  died  Lord  Berwick  paid  Deare  700*. 

in  1759,  was  under  discussion  (S.) 

in  1792.    Three  years  later  a  3A   copy,  perhaps,   of   the 

tablet  with  medallion  by  Flax-  work  sold  to  Sir  Corbet  Corbet 

man  was  placed  in  Chichester  for  izol.,  or  the  same. 
Cathedral. 


254        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

I  had  two  small  basso-relievos  to  do  for  Madame  Martin- 
ville,  to  the  amount  of  40^. ;  but  I  suppgse  the  troubles  of 
France  will  put  a  stop  to  these  two  last,  as  her  property  lies 
in  France,  and  his  in  Ireland.  I  have  to  execute  in  marble 
a  copy  of  the  famous  bust  of  Ariadne  in  the  Capitol,  size  of 
original,  for  which  I  am  to  have  35/.,  for  Mr.  La  Touche,1  son 

of  the  great  Irish  banker. About  a  fortnight  ago,  the 

Duchess  of  Albany,  natural  and  adopted  daughter  to  the 
late  Pretender,  died  at  Bologna  of  an  abscess  in  the  side. 
She  was  an  amiable  woman,  and  beloved  by  every  body. 
There  is  now  remaining  only  the  Pretender's  brother,  who  is 
Cardinal  York  and  Bishop  of  Frascati,  an  old  man  and  a 
bigot,  but  who  lives  like  a  sovereign. 

The  reader,  who  has  no  doubt  perused  the  preceding 
extracts  with  interest  and  pleasure,  will  join  me  in  regretting 
that  death  so  soon  after  deprived  the  Arts  of  one  of  their 
most  brilliant  ornaments,  as  will  appear  in  the  following 
letter,  written  to  Mr.  Joseph  Deare,  by  one  of  his  late 
brother's  most  intimate  companions. 

Rome,  Aug.  2oth,  1798. 

SIR  ; — I  flatter  myself  no  apology  will  be  necessary  for 
my  addressing  you,  though  entirely  unknown  to  you.  'Tis 
now  many  years  since  I  first  had  the  satisfaction  to  be  known 
to  your  worthy  brother,  Mr.  John  Deare  ;  indeed  I  may 
venture  to  assert,  that  I  possessed  a  considerable  share  of 
his  friendship.  I  was  particularly  induced  to  address  you 
on  this  occasion,  rather  than  either  of  his  excellent  parents, 
convinced  that  you  would  take  upon  you  the  brotherly 
and  filial  part  of  breaking  to  the  rest  of  the  family  the  mis- 
fortune that  has  befallen  them.  You  will  immediately 
imagine  that  this  is  no  other  than  his  lamented  death,  which 
took  place  on  Saturday  morning  last,  the  I7th,  at  about  ten 

1  The  father  was  evidently  Bassorah,  and  later  a  partner 

James     Digges     La     Touche,  in  La  Touche's  bank,  Dublin, 

banker ;     the    son,    William  where  he  died  November  7th, 

George    Digges    La    Touche,  1803. 
sometime   British   resident   at 


JOHN  DEARE  255 

and  a  half  of  the  clock,  after  a  very  short  illness  of  about 
eight  days,  of  a  bilious  fever. 

I  make  no  comment  on  his  merits  as  a  man  or  artist ; 
they  are  universally  admitted  by  all  who  were  acquainted 
with  him.  For  the  satisfaction  of  his  family,  I  would  wish 
them  assured  that  he  had  every  medical  assistance,  and  that 
his  remains  were  attended  by  a  few  select  friends  to  the  Pro- 
testant burying-ground  in  this  city,  where  his  body  was 
deposited  with  the  greatest  decency,  though  without  un- 
necessary expense.  He  has  left  a  very  young  widow,  six 
months  advanced  in  her  pregnancy,  and  a  charming  little 
daughter  of  about  three  years  old.  A  few  of  his  select  friends 
thinking  that  there  was  the  greatest  propriety  in  his  family 
in  England  being  immediately  acquainted  with  his  demise, 
I  have  undertaken  the  melancholy  task ;  likewise  strongly 
induced  to  it  by  the  unanimous  opinion  of  those  friends, 
that  it  was  highly  necessary  that  every  precaution  should 
be  used  that  his  effects  should  not  be  dissipated. 

His  widow  being,  as  I  before  said,  very  young,  unex- 
perienced, and  surrounded  by  poor  relations  of  very  little 
education ;  they  conceive  in  consequence,  that  the  most 
prudent  steps  would  be,  that  his  worthy  father  should 
furnish  the  person  mentioned  in  the  enclosed  paper,  (Signer 
Antonio  Leonetti,)  with  a  proper  authority,  agreeably  to 
the  tenor  of  that  writing,  to  enable  him  legally  to  act, 
and  to  stop  any  improper  proceedings  that  might  be  pre- 
judicial to  the  interest  of  the  infant  children  ;  not  that  we 
have  any  absolute  reason  to  suppose  that  any  such  will 
happen,  as  the  young  woman  always  behaved  towards  her 
husband  with  extreme  affection,  and  is  infinitely  afflicted 
at  his  death,  and  we  have  no  doubt,  if  left  to  herself,  will  be 
equally  affectionate  towards  her  infants. 

His  friends  are,  however,  unanimously  of  opinion,  that 
the  measure  just  mentioned  will  be  prudent,  especially  in 
the  present  disturbed  state  of  affairs  ;  and  cannot  be  pro- 
ductive of  any  but  the  most  salutary  effects.  It  way  not  be 
improper  to  mention  the  names  of  these  friends  :  Edward 
Gordon,  Esq.  Mr.  Christopher,  Sculptor,  and  Mr.  Robert 
Fagan,  Painter:1  the  characters  of  these  gentlemen  are 

1  For  a  previous  reference  to  Robert  Fagan  in  connection 
with  Deare,  see  Chapter  IX. 


256        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

well  known,  and  will,   I  trust,  sufficiently  authorize  the 
advice  I  have  ventured  to  give. 

The  gentleman  mentioned  in  the  enclosed  paper,  into 
whose  hands  we  have  put  our  friend's  papers,  is  an  advocate, 
who  has  a  very  extensive  acquaintance  among  the  English 
of  the  best  fashion  that  visited  Rome,  and  is  universally 
known  for  a  man  of  abilities  and  integrity.  You  will,  no 
doubt,  see  the  propriety  of  favouring  me  as  soon  as  possible 
with  an  answer.  In  the  mean  time, 

I  remain, 
Your  most  obedient  servant, 

CHARLES  GRIGNON. 
Direct 

Persicapito  al  Caff& 
Di  Giuseppe  Giulj 
Piazza  di  Spagna. 

Deare's  true  character  was  that  of  a  lively,  open-hearted 
man,  naturally  generous ;  and  always  candid  when  other 
artists  requested  his  opinion  of  their  works. 

His  exertions  were  unremitting  and  unequalled,  and  his 
superior  mind  and  historical  knowledge  as  a  modeller,  was 
displayed  in  everything  he  did ;  whilst  his  taste  as  a  Sculptor 
greatly  surpassed  the  other  artists  of  his  time.  Perhaps  no 
modeller  was  more  rapid,  nor  ever  possessed  a  more  spirited 
touch,  than  Deare.  His  attention  to  the  extremities  was 
so  much  beyond  any  artist  of  his  time,  that  it  was  frequently 
noticed  by  the  late  venerable  West,  when  Visitor  of  the 
Academy,  who  directed  the  students  to  Deare's  models, 
as  examples  of  correct  attention  to  hands  and  feet.  He 
carried  his  admiration  of  beautiful  hair  to  such  an  excess, 
that  he  has  frequently  been  known  to  travel  from  twenty 
to  thirty  miles  on  foot,  under  a  scorching  sun,  to  mould  an 
antique  head  of  hair,  of  which  no  cast  had  been  made ; 
and  when  he  had  accomplished  the  task,  returned  to  Rome 
the  same  day. 

His  temper  was  certainly  sometimes  considered  rather 


JOHN  DEARE  257 

hasty,  particularly  by  those  with  whom  he  occasionally 
differed,  persons  unquestionably,  in  some  instances,  jealous 
of  his  superior  talent,  and  the  encouragement  he  received 
in  his  art ;  for  his  extraordinary  powers  were  noticed  by 
visitors  of  the  first  rank  for  taste  and  fortune,  as  the  pre- 
ceding extracts  clearly  demonstrate.  Deare  was  sometimes 
eccentric  in  his  ideas  :  he  considered  persons  wrong  in 
offering  their  prayers  with  their  clothes  on  :  he  insisted 
that  our  bodies  should  be  entirely  uncovered  when  engaged 
in  addressing  our  Maker,  and  he  strictly  followed  that 
practice  when  at  his  devotions.  This  is  the  custom  of  the 
religious  sect  called  the  Adamiani. 

The  author  of  the  little  work  entitled  The  Stranger  in 
Liverpool  is  under  no  small  mistake  in  stating  that  Deare's 
works  are  little  known  in  England,  and  that  the  best  of 
them  are  abroad.  His  talents  are  well  known  in  this  country, 
where  the  finest  of  his  productions  are  deposited.  The 
only  foreigner  mentioned  in  the  whole  of  his  letters  is 
Madame  Martinville :  in  all  other  instances  where  his 
patrons  are  named,  they  happen,  for  the  honour  of  our 
country,  to  be  Englishmen.  His  Marine  Venus,  of  which 
Canova  spoke  in  ecstasy,  is  in  the  Isle  of  Wight ;  and  his 
Landing  of  Julius  Caesar,  unquestionably  his  finest  pro- 
duction, is  let  into  the  wall  over  the  chimney-piece  of  the 
dining  parlour  of  John  Penn,  Esq.  at  his  beautiful  mansion 
at  Stoke  Park.  The  same  author  also  erroneously  states 
that  he  was  neglected  by  those  who  sent  him  out ;  but 
this  was  not  the  fact.  His  merits  were  at  all  times  acknow- 
ledged, and  his  rich  talents  were  so  highly  noticed,  that  he 
died  under  the  fullest  protection  of  patronage  by  his  own 
countrymen,  and  by  no  means  in  poor  circumstances  ;  since, 
to  my  knowledge,  there  was  property  at  Rome  at  his  death, 
waiting  the  arrival  of  his  friends  to  claim.  Mr.  Cumberland's 
exclamation  of  "  Such,  alas  !  was  the  artist  whom  the 
Academy  abandoned  and  forgot !  "  is  unworthy  of  the 
writer.  The  Academy  never  abandoned  him ;  and  Sir 

VOL.  II.— S 


258        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

Joshua  Reynolds,  Mr.  West,  and  numerous  other  leading 
members  of  that  honourable  body,  spoke  of  Deare's  powers 
in  the  warmest  terms  of  approbation  and  respect.  What 
he  gained,  too,  was  by  his  own  labours  as  an  artist,  and  not 
as  a  broker  in  antiques  ;  his  mind  was  too  elevated  to  suffer 
him  to  descend  to  the  grovelling  speculations  of  fixing 
heads  and  arms  upon  trunks  to  which  they  never  had 
belonged,  purposely  to  amass  money.  If  such  had  been  his 
inclinations,  he  might,  with  his  superior  knowledge  as  a 
Sculptor,  have  pocketed  thousands  of  pounds  with  the 
greatest  ease. 

Thomas  Grignon,  brother  of  Charles,  in  whose  arms 
Deare  expired,  informed  me  that  our  Sculptor's  death  was 
occasioned  by  the  following  silly  and  most  eccentric  experi- 
ment. Among  many  blocks  of  marble  which  he  had  just 
purchased,  there  was  one  of  a  singular  shape,  from  which 
he  believed  he  could  carve  a  figure  in  a  peculiar  and  interest- 
ing attitude  ;  but,  in  order  to  be  quite  certain  of  the  possi- 
bility of  the  block  affording  the  full  extension  of  the  limbs 
according  to  his  imagination,  he  was  determined  to  make 
it  his  bed  for  the  whole  of  the  night,  so  that  he  might  receive 
fresh  hints  from  the  visitation  of  dreams,  well  knowing 
how  inspiring  their  suggestions  had  been  to  some  of  the 
greatest  men  of  talent.  This  determination  he  put  into 
execution  ;  but  after  remaining  upon  the  stone  all  night, 
he  found  he  had  entirely  chilled  the  whole  of  his  frame : 
his  death  was  soon  apprehended,  and  in  a  few  days  was  the 
consequence  of  his  fatal  experiment.1 

Notwithstanding  my  predetermination  not  to  glance  at 
the  many  admirable  works  of  living  artists,  who  do  not  at 
present  enjoy  the  degrees  attached  to  our  Royal  Academy, 
I  am  sure  all  my  contemporaries  will  pardon  my  noticing 

1  A  quite  different  story  of  in  Rome,  who  imprisoned  Deare 

Deare's  death  is  that  his  wife's  and  caused  his  death  (Diet.  Nat. 

beauty    attracted    the    com-  Biography). 
mander  of  the  French  troops 


JOHN  DEARE  259 

the  high  talent  of  their  fellow-student  Joseph  Deare,1 
particularly  as  he  is  the  nephew  of  the  admirable  Sculptor 
above-mentioned. 

The  young  artist  alluded  to,  after  having  gained  the 
whole  series  of  silver  medals  in  the  Royal  Academy,  had, 
like  his  uncle,  the  honour  of  receiving  the  gold  medal  for 
the  best  model  of  an  original  design  of  David  and  Goliah  ; 
casts  of  which  may  be  had  at  his  father's  house,  No.  12, 
Great  St.  Helen's,  where  several  other  of  his  productions 
may  be  seen. 

1  Joseph  Deare  exhibited  at     pool,  where  he  died  in  conse- 
!  the  Royal  Academy  1826-1831,     quence  of  an  accident,  August 
and  then  practised  in  Liver-     5th,  1835. 


THOMAS    MAJOR 


f          "^HAT  very  eminent  collector  of  engravings,  Thomas 

Wilson,  Esq.  son  of  Major's  amiable  daughter,1 

in  a  catalogue  of  his  collection,  of  which  he  has 

-*-      had  a  limited  impression  for  private  distribution, 

has  given  the  following  account  of  this  artist. 

"  Thomas  Major  was  born  in  London,  in  1719. 2  He  was 
directly  descended,  as  appears  from  a  pedigree  compiled 
by  Mr.  White,  of  Selborne,  from  that  Richard  Major,  of 
Hursley,  whose  daughter  was  married  to  the  Protector, 
Richard  Cromwell. 3  Major  went  to  Paris  to  study  engraving 
under  Le  Bas, 4  and  acquired  great  proficiency.  Being  there 
with  Wilton,  the  Statuary,  during  the  memorable  battle  of 
Culloden,  it  was  determined  to  imprison  the  English  as 
reprisals  for  the  capture  of  an  Irish  regiment  in  the  service 
of  France.  Wilton,  being  more  alert  or  earlier  informed, 
escaped  over  the  roof  of  the  house  where  they  lodged ; 
but  Major  was  taken ;  and  humorously  describes  the 
pomp  with  which  he,  a  diminutive  individual,  about  five 
feet  high,  was  conveyed  by  a  troop  of  gendarmes  to  the 
Bastile.  In  this  prison  he  remained  about  three  months, — 

1  This  lady  is  mentioned  as     Dorothy  Mayor,  or  Major,  May 
a  visitor  to  Nollekens  in  Chap-     ist,  1649. 

ter  XV,  and  her  father  as  a  4  Jacques  Philippe  Le  Bas 
collector  of  Hogarth  prints  in  (1707-1783).  This  great  artist, 
the  sketch  of  Hogarth,  post.  who  was  described  as  " 

2  The  best  authorities  eive     incarnation   of   the   en§r£n 

in  of    the    eighteenth    century". 

*  was  the  master  also  of  Strai 

3  Richard  Cromwell  married     and  Ryland. 

260 


THOMAS  MAJOR  261 

long  enough  to  taste  the  pleasures  of  solitary  confinement, 
—till  the  Marquis  d'Argenson,  the  governor,  finding  him 
to  be  a  man  of  talent,  procured  his  release.  Major  after- 
wards engraved  several  of  the  Marquis's  fine  pictures.  On 
his  return  to  England,  he  was  appointed  Engraver  to  the 
Prince  of  Wales,  and  subsequently  to  the  King,  and  Die- 
engraver  to  the  Stamp  office.  On  the  24th  of  March,  1784, 
the  Great  Seal  of  England  was  stolen, — by  whom  it  is  not 
known, — and  Major,  being  sent  for  by  the  Minister,  offered 
to  provide  another  in  the  shortest  possible  time.  In  twenty 
hours  he  furnished  a  perfect  substitute  of  brass,  and  took 
it  to  the  Minister's  levee  :  it  was  not,  however,  paid  for 
till  after  his  decease.1 

"  Major  afterwards  made  a  Great  Seal  of  Silver,  which 
was  in  use  till  the  union  with  Ireland.  In  1792,  the  tem- 
porary seal  of  brass  was  returned  to  him,  and  was  converted 
into  a  tea-urn,  in  which  state  it  remains  ;  and  as  it  is  seldom 
used,  produces,  perhaps,  less  hot-water  than  it  would  have 
done  as  a  Great  Seal. 

"  Our  Artist  was  intimate  with  Hogarth,  Strange,  and 
all  the  men  of  talent  of  his  day.  There  is  a  scarce  portrait 
of  him  when  young,  engraved  by  himself,  from  a  French 
drawing.  Walpole  pays  him  a  just  compliment  in  the 
last  page  of  his  Catalogue  of  Engravers  in  England.  He 
died  in  1799,  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty." 

In  addition  to  the  above  notices  by  Mr.  Wilson,  who  kindly 
permitted  me  to  copy  them  for  this  work  from  a  proof- 

1  The  Great  Seal  was  stolen  robbery  to  prevent  it.  Thurlow 

from    Thurlow's    house,    No.  at  once  reported  his  loss  to 

45  Great    Ormond-street   (de-  Pitt,  a  Council  was  called,  and 

molished),  on  the  night  of  March  an  order  for  a  new  Great  Seal 

24th,    1784,   by    thieves    who  issued.    The  seal  which  Major 

climbed  the  garden  wall  from  made  with  so  much  dispatch 

the  Lamb's  Conduit  fields.     A  was  changed  for  a  new  one  a 

Dissolution    being    imminent,  few  weeks  later  (Lord  Camp- 

the  suggestion  was  made  that  bell,  Lives  of  the  Lord  Chan- 

the    Whigs    had    incited    the  cellars,  Vol.  V,  p.  565). 


262        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

sheet,  before  his  own  catalogue  was  printed,  I  insert  the 
following  particulars,  which  will  probably  be  found,  as  well 
as  numerous  others  in  this  work,  useful  to  the  future  bio- 
graphers of  Artists. 

Major,  in  the  early  part  of  his  life,  lived  in  West-street, 
St.  Anne's,  Soho  ;  then  in  St.  Martin's-lane ;  and  after- 
wards in  Tavistock-row,  Covent-garden,  now  No.  5,  where 
he  died  in  the  front  room  of  the  second-floor,  and  was 
buried  in  Camberwell  church-yard.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Nollekens, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Major  and  family,  were  extremely  intimate, 
until  the  latter  family  perceived  legacy-hunters  in  Mortimer- 
street  ;  and  then,  as  they  did  not  wish  to  be  considered 
of  that  description,  they,  by  degrees,  declined  their  visits. 
However,  they  continued  frequently  to  send  to  know  how 
their  old  friends  did,  but  with  a  full  determination  never 
to  accompany  their  inquiries  with  presents.1 

1  The  relations  of  the  two  Smith's  chapter  on  St.  Martin's- 
families  are  described  in  lane,  ante. 


GEORGE   MORLAND 

A  there  is  scarcely  a  work    upon    Art    without 
anecdotes  of  George  Morland,  I  shall  only  insert 
a  few,  confining  myself  to  those  which  have 
fallen  within  my  own  knowledge,  and  which  I 
am  pretty  sure  have  never  appeared  in  print. 

During  the  short  time  Morland  drew  at  the  Royal  Acad- 
emy, I  was  his  fellow-student ;  and,  as  we  were  close 
neighbours,  we  frequently  walked  home  together.  He  was, 
from  a  boy,  naturally  idle,  nor  would  he  exert  himself  but 
when  closely  driven.  The  late  Mr.  Franks,  the  Builder, 
was  one  of  the  first  persons  who  encouraged  his  juvenile 
applications;  and  to  that  gentleman's  house,  whenever 
young  Morland  wanted  half-a-crown,  he  would  go  to  drink 
tea,  and  by  drawing  carts,  horses,  and  dogs,  by  memory, 
he  would  thus  provide  himself.  Mr.  Franks's  widow,  late 
of  Percy-street,  Rathbone-place, l  showed  me  several  of 
these  sketches ;  they  were  in  black-lead  pencil,  and  dis- 
played considerable  promise.  His  father,  who  lived  in 
Chapel-street,  Wardour-street, 2  was  a  clever  painter  of 
heads  in  crayons,  representing  Washerwomen,  Clear- 
star  chers,  Bellmen,  &c. ;  and  for  many  years  was  a  con- 
stant contributor  to  the  early  exhibitions.  He  was  also 
a  maker  of  most  excellent  crayons,  which  went  by  his  name. 
Young  George  was  of  so  unsettled  a  disposition,  that  his 
father,  being  fully  aware  of  his  extraordinary  talent,  was 
determined  to  force  him  to  get  his  own  living,  and  gave  him 

1  Mrs.  Franks,  5  Percy-street  and  Hadley,  near  Barnet  (Holden's 
Triennial  Directory,  1805-1807).         *  Now  Little  Chapel-street. 

263 


264        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

a  guinea,  with  something  like  the  following  observation  : 
"  I  am  determined  to  encourage  your  idleness  no  longer ; 
there,  take  that  guinea,  and  apply  to  your  art  and  support 
yourself."  This  Morland  told  me,  and  added  that  from  that 
moment  he  commenced  and  continued  wholly  on  his  own 
account. 

I  was  at  this  time  patronized  by  my  honoured  friend  the 
late  Sir  James  Winter  Lake,  Bart.1  who  very  liberally 
attended  to  my  wishes,  by  allowing  young  Morland  to  paint 
several  small  pictures  for  him,  particularly  one  of  a  favourite 
dog.  For  many  years  after  this,  we  lost  sight  of  each  other, 
in  consequence  of  the  money  he  gained,  which  led  him  into 
extravagance,  and  the  company  he  kept  being  of  the  lowest 
description.  His  companions  were  jockeys,  ostlers,  and 
carters,  money-lenders,  abandoned  women,  and  gipsies. 
However,  I  again  became  acquainted  with  him  through  his 
brother  Henry,  the  Wine-merchant,  in  order  to  introduce 
him  to  my  friends  Mr.  Wigston,  of  Trent-park,  Enfield, 
and  the  late  Mr.  Townsend,  of  Bruce-castle,  Tottenham.2 
For  these  gentlemen  he  painted  several  pictures  ;  and  they, 
by  purchasing  others,  at  the  Morland  Gallery,  Bond-street, 
were  enabled  to  fit  up  an  apartment  in  their  respective 
mansions,  which  they  called  the  Morland-room.  Most  of 
these  pictures  were  disposed  of  by  Mr.  Christie,  during  last 
June. 

Morland  married  Miss  Ward,  a  sister  of  the  late  William 
Ward,  the  Associate  Engraver,  and  James  Ward,  the  present 
Royal  Academician.3  She  was  a  beautiful  girl,  and  of  the 

1  For  Lake,  see  Index.  Rowland  Hill,  the  founder  of 

2  John    Wigston,    of    Trent     penny  postage. 

Park,  Enfield,  was  one  of  the  3  William  Ward,  the  en- 
many  country  gentlemen  for  graver  (1766-1826),  married 
whom  Smith  made  topographi-  Morland's  sister  Maria. — His 
cal  drawings. — Henry  Hare  younger  brother,  James  Ward, 
Townsend,  another  patron,  the  painter  (1769-1859),  is 
sold  Bruce  Castle  in  1792,  and  represented  in  the  Tate  Gallery 
it  was  afterwards  the  home  of  by  his  large  "  Landscape  with 


GEORGE   MORLAXD 

From  an  engraving  by  T.  Scott 


GEORGE  MORLAND  265 

most  exemplary  conduct ;  but  could  not  live  with  him, 
from  the  shamefully-cruel  manner  in  which  he  for  a  length 
of  time  continued  to  treat  her ;  and  yet  he  was  a  man  by 
no  means  wanting  in  sense  or  information  :  and  I  am  certain, 
had  he  embraced  the  friendship  of  those  persons  of  in- 
tellect and  sound  integrity  who  wished  to  serve  him,  he 
might  have  been  an  ornament  to  society.  But,  in  consequence 
of  his  associating  with  people  of  the  lowest  habits,  he 
became  equally  vicious  and  an  habitual  drunkard ;  and 
I  firmly  believe  that  he  was  powerfully  intoxicated  with  gin 
when  he  died,  which  he  latterly  took  in  half -pints  at  a  time. 
It  is  a  melancholy  truth  that  he  departed  this  life  in  a 
spunging-house  on  Eyre-street-hill,  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Hatton-garden.  This  event  occurred  in  1804,  when 
Morland  was  only  forty-two  years  of  age.  His  wife,  whose 
health  was  most  seriously  impaired  from  his  cruel  treatment, 
was  still  attached  to  him,  but  was  living  by  herself  in  the 
most  private  manner  at  her  lodgings  in  Winchester-row, 
Paddington,  when  she  heard  of  his  wretched  and  disgrace- 
ful death,  which  afflicted  her  so  powerfully,  that  in  two 
days  she  died  of  a  broken  heart.  He  departed  on  Monday, 
and  she  on  the  Wednesday  following.  They  were  both 
buried  in  the  same  grave  in  St.  James's  burial-ground, 
Hampstead-road . 

There  is  no  inscription  to  their  memory,  though  one 
had  been  prepared  by  Mr.  Collins,  the  father  of  William 
Collins,  the  present  Royal  Academician.1 

Morland  was  a  man  of  true  genius,  and  was  the  first  artist 
who  gave  the  sturdy  oak  its  peculiar  character  in  landscape- 
painting.  There  are  several  etchings  attributed  to  this 
painter,  of  which  a  half-sheet  plate  of  Pigs  asleep  is 
undoubtedly  his,  and  is  a  truly  spirited  performance. 

Cattle,"  painted  in  emulation  of  sisterAnne  (Nancy)  in  July,i786. 
Paul  Potter,  and  in  the  National  1  Mr.  Collins  was  also  grand- 
Gallery  by  his  "Regent's  Park."  father  of  Wilkie  Collins,  the 
— Morland  married  the  Wards'  novelist. 


RICHARD   WILSON,    R.A. 

MY  father  was  well  acquainted  with  Wilson,  he 
having  frequently  met  him  at  the  house  of 
Mr.  Wilton,  the  Sculptor,  who  then  possessed 
the  Niobe,  so  nobly  presented,  with  other 
grand  pictures,  to  the  National  Gallery,  by  Sir  George  Beau- 
mont.   Wilson's  nose  had  then  grown  to  such  an  enormous 
size,  that  usually  he  held  up  his  pocket-handkerchief  to  hide 
it ;  and  I  recollect  that  one  morning  when  going  to  school, 
as  I  was  about  to  cross  Queen- Anne-street,  Mr.  Wilson  was 
so  infirm,  that  he  called  to  me,  "  Little  boy,  let  me  lean 
upon  your  shoulder  to  cross  the  way."     Before  he  went 
to  Rome,  and  also  on  his  return  to  England,  he  resided  in 
the  Piazza,  Covent -garden ;  he  also  lived  for  some  time  in 
Charlotte-street,  Rathbone-place,  and  afterwards  in  Norton- 
street.1 

My  father's  play-fellow,  the  late  Mr.  Seguier,  of  laughing 
memory,  assured  me,  that  just  before  poor  Wilson  left 
London,  he  repeated  his  request  respecting  the  sweepings 
of  his  garret.  Mr.  Seguier,2  who  had  occasionally  made  a 
five  guinea  purchase  of  him,  was  then  tempted,  from 
Wilson's  appearance,  to  go  to  him,  and  received  as  many 
of  his  sketches  as  he  thought  worth  his  money ;  and  so 

1  According  to  John  Green,  from  James-street.  —  Norton- 

the  collector  of  Covent  Garden  street  is  now  Bolsover-street. 
traditions,  Wilson  lived  in  the         2  Peter  Seguier,  a  sculptor, 

house  that  had  been  Sir  Peter  uncle  of  William  Seguier,  the 

Lely's,  that  is  to  say,  the  second  art  expert  who  is  mentioned 

house  under  the  Piazza  west  elsewhere. 

266 


RICHARD    WILSON,    R.A. 

Painted  by  himself  in  ijbS 
From  the  original  tainting  in  the  Diploma  Gallerv,  Burlington  House 


RICHARD  WILSON,  R.A.  267 

trifling  were  the  prices  at  that  time  given  for  modern 
pictures,  that  Mr.  Seguier  sold  the  best  of  that  purchase 
for  a  guinea  and  a  half  to  my  father.  I  have  also  heard 
Mr.  Nollekens  state,  that  Wilson  considered  fifteen  guineas 
a  good  price  for  a  three-quarter  picture. 

Wilson  was  fond  of  playing  at  skittles,  and  frequented 
the  Green  Man  public-house,  in  the  New-road,  at  the  end 
of  Norton-street,  originally  known  under  the  appellation  of 
"  The  Farthing  Pye  House  i"1  where  bits  of  mutton  were 
put  into  a  crust  shaped  like  a  pie,  and  actually  sold  for  a 
farthing.  This  house  was  kept  in  my  boyish  days  by  a  very 
facetious  man  of  the  name  of  Price,  of  whom  there  is  a 
mezzotinto  portrait :  he  was  an  excellent  salt-box  player, 
and  he  has  frequently  accompanied  the  famous  Abel  when 
playing  on  the  violoncello.2  Wilkes  was  a  frequenter  of 
this  house  to  procure  votes  for  Middlesex,  as  it  was  visited 
by  many  opulent  freeholders. 

Although  much  has  been  published  upon  the  private 
and  professional  life  of  Richard  Wilson,  I  shall  venture 
to  insert  a  few  additional  particulars.  Mr.  Wilson  was 
originally  a  Portrait-painter  of  great  merit  ;3  and  his 
pupil,  the  late  Mr.  Brooks,4  had  seen  several  of  his  pictures. 
I  have  one  from  his  pencil  of  my  great  uncle  Admiral  Smith, 

1  The  rebuilt  tavern  stands         3  Wilson   had   studied   por- 
to-day    in    Euston-road    near  trait  painting  under  Thomas 
Portland-road  station.  Wright.    His  portrait  group  of 

2  This  mezzotint  portrait  of  Prince    George    Frederick    of 
Price  is  described  by  Bromley  Wales  (George  III)  and  Prince 
as    that    of    Thomas    Price,  Edward    Augustus,    Duke    of 
master,   of   the   Farthing    Pie  York  and  Albany,  with  their 
House  in  Marylebone.    It  was  tutor,  Francis  Ayscough,  D.D., 
engraved  by  John  Jones  from  is    in    the    National    Portrait 
a  painting  by  William  Lawran-  Gallery. 

son.— The  salt-box,  a  somewhat  4  Probably  the  artist  referred 

mysterious    instrument,     was  to  by  Smith  in  his  biographical 

beaten   with   a   rolling-pin   in  sketch    of    Cosway    (post)    as 

such    a    way    as    to    produce  "my  old  fellow-student,  Wil- 

sounds  varying  with  the  music,  liam  Brooks." 


268        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

better  known  for  his  daring  bravery,  under  the  appellation 
of  "  Tom  of  Ten  Thousand,"  in  memory  of  whom  I  have 
the  honour  to  boast  of  the  name  of  Thomas.1  Wilson  first 
painted  landscapes  in  the  manner  of  Marco  Ricci2  and 
Zuccarelli,  with  the  latter  of  whom  he  was  intimately  ac- 
quainted. 

In  1758,  Mr.  Wilson  went  to  Rome,  where  he  was  liberally 
patronized  by  the  late  William  Locke,  Esq.3  and  his  Royal 
Highness  the  Duke  of  Gloucester,  who  purchased  two 
pictures  of  him,  viz.  the  Niobe  and  the  Apollo,  for  each  of 
which  he  received  one  hundred  guineas.  Mr.  Nollekens 
informed  me,  that  before  he  went  to  Rome,  Wilson,  who 
was  a  member  of  the  Academy  in  St.  Martin's-lane,  always 
attended  the  meetings  superbly  dressed ;  and  his  waist- 
coat was  particularly  attractive,  being  of  the  richest  green 
satin,  ornamented  with  gold  lace.  Mr.  Nollekens  also 
stated,  that  on  his  return  to  England,  he  was  invited  by 
his  old  friend  Hodges  to  accompany  him  to  see  Wilson, 
whose  pupil  he  had  been,  and  who  then  lived  in  the  North 
Piazza,  Co  vent-Garden.  Hodges  was  the  son  of  a  man  who 
kept  an  old  iron  shop  in  Peter-street,  Wardour-street.  He 
was  hired  by  Shipley,  the  drawing-master  in  the  Strand,  as 
his  errand-boy  ;  and  being  a  smart  lad  and  remarkably 
civil,  the  students  lent  him  their  drawings  to  copy  during 
his  leisure  hours.  Richard  Wilson  afterwards  received  him 

1  Admiral    Thomas    Smith,  as    "a    grey-headed    man    of 

who  died  in   1762,   owed  his  comely    and    respectable    ap- 

popular  fame  and  name  to  a  pearance    but    no    capacity." 

trumpery  incident  in  Plymouth  The  portrait  of  the  Admiral 

harbour.    The  public  credited  by  Nelson  possessed  by  Smith 

him  with  having  fired  into  a  may  be  the  one  now  in  the 

French  corvette  to  compel  her  Painted  Hall  at  Greenwich,  or 

to  salute   H.M.S.   Gosport  on  a  sketch  for  it. 

which  he  was  lieutenant.    But  2  For  Ricci,  see  Index, 

the    affair    was    exaggerated.  3  William  Locke,  of  Juniper 

Smith,  after  his  retirement  in  Hall,  Norbury.     See  Index. 
1758,  was  described  by  Walpole 


RICHARD  WILSON,  R.A.  269 

as  a  pupil ;  and  under  his  instruction  his  improvement  was 
so  rapid,  that  his  productions  were  much  admired  by  his 
master's  visitors. 

In  the  course  of  his  practice  he  was  noticed  by  some  of  the 
Directors  of  the  Honourable  East  India  Company,  from 
whom  he  received  an  appointment  to  India  ;  and  under  his 
generous  patrons  he  acquired  considerable  property.  On 
his  return  to  England  he  married  the  beautiful  and  musical 
Miss  Carr,  by  whom  he  had  several  children ;  and  at  that 
time  lived  in  Queen-street,  May  Fair ;  but  he  afterwards 
unfortunately  left  London,  and  became  a  country  banker, 
in  which  occupation  he  died.1  Nollekens  stated  likewise  that 
they  were  much  interested  at  Wilson's  by  a  model  made  in 
wood,  of  a  portion  of  the  Piazza,  the  whole  measuring  about 
six  feet  from  the  floor,  including  the  stand.  This  he  used 
as  a  receptacle  for  his  painting  implements ;  the  rustic  work 
of  the  piers  was  divided  into  drawers,  and  the  openings 
of  the  arches  were  filled  with  pencils,  and  oil  bottles.  This 
truly  interesting  toy  of  this  celebrated  artist,  Mr.  Brooks 
informed  me,  was  sold  to  a  broker,  when  Wilson  finally 
left  London  for  Wales,  for  the  sum  of  about  four  pounds. 

1  According  to  Redgrave,  the  elected  A.R.A.,  and  five  years 
father  of  William  Hodges,  R.A.,  later  R.A.  He  married  thrice, 
was  a  blacksmith  in  Clare  Miss  Carr  being  his  third  wife. 
Market.  Hodges  served  three  His  banking  venture  (at  Dart- 
years  as  draftsman  with  Cap-  mouth)  was  a  failure,  and  he 
tain  Cook.  After  his  return  died  at  Brixham  in  1797. 
from  India  in  1784  he  was 


WILLIAM    HOGARTH 

I  HAVE  several  times  heard  Mr.  Nollekens  observe, 
that  he  frequently  had  seen  Hogarth,  when  a  young 
man,  saunter  round  Leicester-fields,  with  his  master's 
sickly  child  hanging  its  head  over  his  shoulder  ;  and 
whilst  we  are  speaking  of  that  eminent  and  eccentric  artist, 
I  may  remark,  that  my  Father  once  asked  Barry,  the 
Painter,  if  he  had  ever  seen  Hogarth.  "  Yes,  once,"  he 
replied.  "  I  was  walking  with  Joe  Nollekens  through 
Cranbourne-alley,  when  he  exclaimed :  '  There,  there's 
Hogarth.'  '  What ! '  said  I,  '  that  little  man  in  the  sky- 
blue  coat  ?  '  Off  I  ran,  and  though  I  lost  sight  of  him 
only  for  a  moment  or  two,  when  I  turned  the  corner  into 
Castle-street,  he  was  patting  one  of  two  quarrelling  boys 
on  the  back,  and  looking  steadfastly  at  the  expression  in  the 
coward's  face,  cried,  '  D — n  him  !  if  I  would  take  it  of 
him  ;  at  him  again  ! '  " 

Some  of  our  artists  of  the  present  day  would  perhaps 
increase  their  connexions,  were  they  to  follow  the  annexed 
precedent,  as  related  by  Dr.  Cole,1  in  the  3oth  vol.  of  his 
Manuscripts,  now  in  the  British  Museum.  "  One  thing  I 
omitted  in  relation  to  Mr.  Hogarth,  which  deserves  notice, 
and  characterises  his  liberal  and  ingenuous  turn  of  mind. 
When  I  sat  to  him,  near  fifty  years  ago,  the  custom  was  not 
introduced  of  not  giving  vails  to  servants.  On  my  taking 
leave  of  him  at  the  door,  and  his  servant's  opening  it,  or 
the  coach-door,  I  cannot  tell  which,  (for  I  had  no  servant 

1  The  Rev.  Witham  Cole.     See  Index. 
270 


WILLIAM  HOGARTH  271 

of  my  own,)  I  offered  him  a  small  gratuity  ;  the  man  very 
politely  refused  it,  telling  me,  that  it  would  be  the  loss 
of  his  place,  if  his  master  knew  it.  This  was  uncommon, 
and  so  liberal  in  a  man  of  Mr.  Hogarth's  profession,  at  that 
time  of  day,  that  it  struck  me  the  more,  as  nothing  of  the 
sort  had  before  happened  to  me." 

Hogarth,  who  was  a  great  frequenter  of  houses  supported 
by  libertines,  went  to  Moll  King's,  in  Covent-garden,1 
accompanied  by  his  friend  Hayman,  who  was  at  all  times 
highly  delighted  to  see  that  "  moral  teacher  of  mankind  " 
sketch  from  Nature.  They  had  not  been  in  the  brothel  ten 
minutes,  before  Hogarth  took  out  his  book  to  draw  two 
ladies,  whose  dispute  bespake  a  warm  contest ;  and,  at 
last,  one  of  them,  who  had  taken  a  mouthful  of  wine  or 
gin,  squirted  it  in  the  other's  face,  which  so  delighted  the 

artist,  that  he  exclaimed,  "  Frank,  mind  the  b 's 

mouth  !  "  This  incident,  Hogarth  has  introduced  in  the 
third  plate  of  his  Rake's  Progress. 

I  believe  that  in  no  instance  has  the  name  of  a  painter 
been  so  freely  used  as  that  of  Hogarth.  His  reputation  has 
become  public  property,  and  is  considered  fair  game ; 
since  many  a  picture  exhibiting  a  large  white  wig,  a  three- 
cornered  Macheath-hat,  an  old  apothecary's  capeless  coat, 
with  immense  basket-buttons  on  the  sleeves,  and  flap- 
pockets,  rolled  up  stockings  and  square-toed  buckle-shoes, 
— has  been,  without  hesitation,  ascribed  to  his  pencil, 
which,  if  examined,  would  very  soon  be  proved  the  contrary. 
Mercier,  Van  Hawkin,  Highmore,  Pugh,  or  that  drunken 
pot-house  Painter,  the  younger  Hemskirk,  who  was  a  singer 
at  Sadler's  Wells,  are  artists  now  rarely  mentioned;2 

1  For  fuller  notices  of  Moll  His  portrait  of  Peg  Woffington 
King,  see  Index.  is  at  the  Garrick  Club. 

2  Philip    Mercier,    born    in         For  Van  Hawkin  read  Van 
Berlin,  became  portrait  painter  Haeken,    or    Haaken.      It   is 
to  Frederick  Prince  of  Wales,  difficult   to   say   whether   the 
and  lived  in  Covent  Garden,  allusion    is    to    Joseph    Van- 


272        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 


though  several  of  their  performances  have  been  elevated 
by  the  second-rate  picture-dealers  and  brokers  in  old 
panels,  as  the  works  of  Hogarth  :  and  even  a  head  from  a 
picture  by  Rosalba  has  lately  been  engraven  and  published 
as  the  genuine  production  of  that  painter. 

For  myself  I  am  decidedly  of  opinion,  that  several  of  the 
copies  of  prize-fighting  and  playhouse  benefit-tickets, 
published  in  Samuel  Ireland's  Graphic  Illustrations  of 
Hogarth,  are  from  plates  neither  designed  nor  etched  by 
him.1  They  are,  in  fact,  the  vilest  of  the  vile,  being  totally 
destitute  of  either  talent  or  wit ;  both  of  which  qualifica- 
tions Hogarth  possessed  in  a  supereminent  degree,  even  in 
his  youthful  days,  when  he  engraved  ornaments  and  coats- 
of-arms  for  his  master  Gamble : 2  and  for  his  wit,  where  can 
we  find  any  prints  to  equal  most  of  the  plates  for  the  small 
set  of  Hudibras,  which  were  some  of  his  earliest  productions? 
They  are  full  of  character,  well  drawn,  spiritedly  etched, 


haeken,  who  died  in  London 
in  1750,  or  to  his  brother 
Alexander,  but  probably 
Joseph  is  indicated.  J.  Van 
Haecken  painted  draperies  so 
admirably  for  Hudson,  Allan 
Ramsay  and  others,  that  Ho- 
garth produced  a  caricature 
representing  the  London  por- 
trait painter  following  his 
coffin  to  St.  Pancras  church- 
yard in  despair. 

Joseph  Highmore  has  been 
noted  under  "  Ware  and  his 
Companions."  See  also  Index. 

Herbert  Pugh,  who  came 
from  Ireland  about  1758, 
"  tried  two  or  three  pictures 
in  Hogarth's  manner,  but  they 
are  only  mean  representations 
of  low  scenes  "  (Redgrave). 

Egbert  van  Heemskerk  was 
the  son  of  the  painter  of  Lon- 


don scenes,  Quakers'  meetings, 
etc. 

1  Samuel  Ireland,  father  of 
William    Henry    Ireland,    the 
Shakespearean  forger,  but  no 
relation  to  John  Ireland,  the 
first  sound  biographer  of  Ho- 
garth,   produced    his    Graphic 
Illustrations  of  Hogarth  in  1794, 
and  a  second  volume  five  years 
later.     John     Ireland's     work 
(Hogarth  Illustrated)  is  of  per- 
manent   value,     but    Samuel 
Ireland    "is    to    be    regarded 
rather   as   a   '  snapper  up  of 
unconsidered    trifles '    than    a 
contributor  of  serviceable  in- 
formation "    (Austin    Dobson 
Hogarth). 

2  Ellis  Gamble,  at  the  sign 
of  the  Golden  Angel,  in  Cran- 
bourne-street,  pr  Alley. 


WILLIAM  HOGARTH  273 

and  most  of  them  possessing  admirable  effect ;  and  I  must 
say,  as  a  supporter  of  the  honour  of  Hogarth  as  an  artist, 
that  until  Mr.  Samuel  Ireland  raked  up  many  of  the  wretched 
things,  which  he  caused  to  be  copied  for  a  publication  un- 
questionably with  a  view  to  raise  money, — no  collectors 
admitted  the  originals  into  their  portfolios  as  the  works 
of  Hogarth. 

Mr.  Samuel  Ireland  was  a  gentlemanly  man  in  appearance, 
of  manners  rather  pleasing,  who  well  knew  that  novelty 
would  go  a  great  way  towards  making  money.  I  am  also 
credibly  informed,  that  there  is  even  at  this  moment  an 
artist  who  finds  it  rather  a  successful  occupation  to  make 
spirited  drawings  from  Hogarth's  prints,  which  he  most 
ingeniously  deviates  from  by  the  omission  of  some  figure  or 
other  object,  or  insertion  of  an  additional  one,  in  order  to 
give  his  drawing  the  appearance  of  a  first  thought,  upon 
which  Hogarth  is  to  be  supposed  to  have  made  some  altera- 
tion in  his  plate  as  an  improvement.  These  drawings  are 
discoloured,  put  into  old  black  frames,  and  then,  after 
passing  them  through  several  hands,  are  finally  sold,  accom- 
panied with  a  very  long  story,  to  those  over-cunning  collec- 
tors destitute  of  sufficient  knowledge  to  enable  them  to 
detect  the  forgery. 

Having  ventured  in  a  former  page  to  mention  my  own 
opinion  as  to  Hogarth's  want  of  morality,  I  must  not  for  a 
moment  allow  the  reader  even  to  suppose  that  I  am,  in 
any  degree,  wanting  in  my  respect  for  his  powerful  talents 
as  an  artist.  His  easy  and  perfectly  natural  mode  of  group- 
ing, his  sweetness  and  harmony  of  colouring,  his  exquisite 
pencilling  and  general  brilliancy  of  effect,  must  be  per- 
ceived and  felt  by  every  one  possessing  a  single  spark  of 
taste,  when  viewing  that  inestimable  series  of  pictures 
entitled  "  The  Marriage  A-la-mode,"  which  forms  a  part  of 
our  National  Gallery. 

The  prints  by  this  Artist,  in  freedom  of  etching  and 
vigour  of  tooling,  display  his  powers  to  the  highest  ad- 

VOL.  II. — T 


vantage  ;  though  I  think  I  may,  without  incurring  the 
displeasure  of  my  brother  Burinists,  consider  the  plates 
of  Southwark  Fair  and  the  Cockpit  as  productions  unrivalled 
in  this  or  any  other  country.  For  the  information  of  those 
who  are  not  acquainted  with  the  fact,  I  must  observe, 
that  the  former  of  these  displays  most  conspicuously  the 
four  classes  of  composition  in  Art,  namely,  the  diverging, 
the  S-like,  or  line  of  beauty,  the  festoon,  and  the  triangle, 
or  pyramidal.  I  remember,  when  I  was  a  lad,  asking  the 
late  venerable  President  West,  what  he  thought  of  Hogarth's 
Analysis  of  Beauty  ;  and  his  answer  was,  "It  is  a  work, 
my  man,  of  the  highest  value  to  every  one  studying  the 
Art."1  Hogarth  was  a  strutting,  consequential  little  man, 
and  made  himself  many  enemies  by  that  book ;  but  now 
that  most  of  them  are  dead,  it  is  examined  by  disinterested 
readers,  unbiassed  by  personal  animosities,  and  it  will  be 
yet  more  and  more  read,  studied,  and  understood. 

Stacey,  the  famous  jockey,  who  kept  the  Bedford  Arms 
in  Covent-garden,2  informed  me  that  it  was  at  his  house  that 
Hogarth  and  Churchill  quarrelled,  and  that  it  was  over  a 
rubber  of  shilling  whist.3  Woodward,  the  Comedian,  who 

1  Hogarth  made  his  famous  his    execution  :      his    friends 

venture  into  art  criticism  in  praised  the  one  and  his  enemies 

1754.    He  had  of  ten  been  asked  scoffed  at  the  other.     West's 

to  explain  the  serpentine  line  opinion  has  not  been  endorsed, 

which   may   be    seen    on    the  2  Stacie,    known    as    Black 

palette  in   the   corner   of   his  Jack  and  Honest  Jack  Stacie, 

own    portrait     (now    in    the  kept  the  Bedford  Arms  when 

National   Gallery)    and  which  John  and  Henry  Fielding,  Ho- 

he  called  the  Line  of  Beauty,  garth,    Churchill,    Woodward, 

"  No    Egyptian     hieroglyphic  Lloyd,   Oliver  Goldsmith  and 

ever  amused  more  than  it  did  many   others   met   there   and 

for   a   time."      His    book,    in  held  a  gossiping  shilling  rub- 

which    he    was    assisted    by  ber  club.    He  died  in  1815,  and 

various  literary  acquaintances,  was     buried    at    Paddington, 

was    an    attempt    to    explain  aged  about  seventy-six, 

and  develop  the  ideas  for  which  3  The    true    cause    of    this 

the  symbol  stood  in  his  mind,  quarrel  was  the  publication  in 

His  intentions  were  better  than  1762  of  Hogarth's  print  "The 


WILLIAM  HOGARTH  275 

mostly  resided  at  the  Bedford  Arms,  was  particularly 
intimate  with  Stacey  ;  and  gave  him  his  portrait  with  a 
mask  in  his  hand,  one  of  the  early  pictures  of  Sir  Joshua 
Reynolds.  Stacey,  to  whom  I  was  introduced  by  old  Wat- 
kins,  a  Barber,  late  of  Tottenham-court-road,1  gave  me 
also  the  following  anecdote.  He  was  allowed  to  play  an 
excellent  game  at  whist.  One  morning,  about  two  o'clock, 
one  of  his  waiters  awoke  him,  to  tell  him  that  a  nobleman 
had  knocked  him  up,  and  had  desired  him  to  call  his  master 
down  to  play  a  rubber  with  him  for  one  hundred  guineas. 
Stacey  got  up,  dressed  himself,  won  the  money,  and  was 
in  bed  again  and  asleep,  all  within  an  hour. 

Of  the  numerous  collectors  of  Hogarth's  plates,  there  are 
many  who  contaminate  their  volumes  by  stuffing  in  every 
sort  of  trash  recommended  to  them  ;  and  there  are  some 
who  totally  disregard  the  state  of  impression,  while  others 
are  perfectly  satisfied  with  the  touched-up  plates.  From  a 
catalogue,  however,  which  I  have  seen  of  the  King's  Collec- 
tion, I  conclude  it  must  be  a  good  one  ;  and  Lord  Charle- 
mont's  and  Lord  Orford's,  I  understand,  are  very  choice, 
particularly  that  of  the  former,  who  was  one  of  Hogarth's 

Times,"  which  was  politically  Smith,    "  he   would   often   be 

obnoxious     to     Wilkes     and  merry.    Once,  whilst  the  lather 

Churchill,  apart  from  the  fact  was  on  his  head,  he  flew  to  the 

that  in  it   they  figured  as   a  window  to  look  at  a  boy  who 

couple  of  garreteers.  had  placed  a  hot  pie  so  hard 

1  Joseph    Watkins,    of    121  upon  a  post  that  the  dish  broke 

Tottenham-court-road.    Smith  and  the  gravy  ran  down  its 

introduces  his  figure  into  his  sides.     This  Hogarth  immedi- 

etching  of  houses  on  the  south  ately  drew,  and  has  introduced 

side  of  Leadenhall-street  in  his  it  in  his  plate  of  Noon.  .  .  . 

Ancient  Topography  of  London  Mr.  Watkins  also  informed  me 

(1810).     Watkins  had  known  that   about    fifty- three   years 

Hogarth  well,  and  told  Smith  ago  [i.e.  about  1757]  he  gath- 

that  he  was  the  last  man  in  ered  blackberries  on  the  north 

London    to    wear    a    scarlet  side  of   the   road  now  called 

roquelaure.    Watkins  had  fre-  Oxford-street,    and    that    he 

quently  shaved  Hogarth's  head,  recollected  the  triangular  gal- 

under   which   operation,    says  lows  at  Tyburn." 


276        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

best  friends :  but  these  I  have  not  seen.  The  late  Mr. 
Wyndham's,  formerly  Mr.  Steevens's  ;  Mr.  Cricket's,  made 
up  by  Mr.  Ingham  Foster  ;  the  present  Mr.  Willett's  ;  and 
the  one  made  up  by  Mr.  Packer,  of  Great  Baddow,  pur- 
chased by  the  Honourable  Trustees  of  the  British  Museum 
— all  of  which  I  have  seen — contain  their  respective  rarities, 
and  are  all  highly  valuable  ;  but  curious  as  these  are,  they 
are  far  exceeded  by  one  lately  formed  by  H.  P.  Standly, 
Esq.  of  the  Temple.  That  gentleman  has  been  extremely 
fortunate  in  selecting  from  four  eminent  collections  made 
by  Mr.  Sayer,  Mr.  Moor,  Mr.  Baker,  and  Messrs.  Colnaghi, 
of  Pall-mall  East.  Mr.  Standly  has  been  particularly  atten- 
tive to  the  brilliancy  of  impression,  as  well  as  to  the  rarity 
and  variety  of  their  states  and  condition.  That  gentleman 
has  also  been  singularly  fortunate  in  obtaining  not  only 
many  fine  drawings  by  Hogarth,  but  an  immense  quantity 
of  his  original  manuscripts,  illustrative  of  many  of  his  most 
interesting  works.  Colonel  Durrant  has  also  some  fine 
specimens  of  this  favourite  Artist ;  and  Mr.  Wilson  has 
given,  in  his  catalogue,  a  list  of  his  Hogarths,  many  of 
which  are  extremely  curious.1 

»  *  The  history  of  these  col-     Bowyer  Nichols  in  his  A  nee- 
lections  is  for  the  most  part    dotes  of  Hogarth. 
given  in  brief  notes  by  John 


FRANCIS    HAYMAN,    R.A. 

FRANCIS  HAYMAN,  Historical-painter,  one  of  the 
first  members  of  the  Royal  Academy,  a  native  of 
Devonshire,  and  a  pupil  of  Brown,1  the  artist, 
first    resided   in   Craven-buildings,    Drury-lane ; 
next  in  Prince's-court,  Westminster ;  then  in  St.  Martin's- 
lane ;    and,  finally,  in  Dean-street,  Soho,  in  a  house  now 
divided  into  two,  Nos.  42  and  43.* 

In  the  early  part  of  Mr.  Hayman's  life,  he  was  employed  at 
Drury-lane  Theatre,  as  a  scene-painter,  and  was  afterwards 
engaged  by  his  friend  Mr.  Jonathan  Tyers,  to  decorate  the 
Rotunda  and  other  parts  of  Vauxhall  Gardens ;  but  his 
best  works,  and  those  by  which  he  is  most  publicly  known, 
are  his  designs  for  the  Adventures  of  Don  Quixote.3  In 
1755,  Hayman  etched  a  small  quarto  plate  of  Quin,  the 
actor,  in  the  character  of  Falstaff,  seated  on  a  drum,  in  a 
swaggering  attitude,  with  his  right  elbow  resting  upon  the 
hilt  of  his  sword,  by  the  side  of  the  body  of  Hotspur.  This 
is  a  truly  spirited  production,  and  is  so  rare,  that  the  only 
impression  known  to  collectors  is  the  one  the  artist  gave 
to  his  friend,  the  late  President  of  the  Royal  Academy, 

1  Robert  Brown,  a  decora-  8  Hayman's      designs      for 
tive  painter,  who  had  been  a  Smollett's     edition     of     Don 
pupil  of  Sir  James  Thornhill.  Quixote  (1755),  twenty-eight  in 
He     executed     paintings     for  number,  are  now  in  the  British 
several  City  churches,  and  died  Museum  Department  of  Prints 
December  26th,  1753.  and  Drawings. 

2  This  site  is  now  occupied 
by  the  Royal  Ear  Hospital. 

277 


278        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

in  1770,  and  which  was,  by  the  liberality  of  Mrs.  Benjamin 
West,  presented  to  me. 

The  following  anecdote  of  Hayman  was  related  to  me 
by  the  late  venerable  President  West,  who  received  it  from 
Mr.  Hayman  himself.  Quin  and  Hayman  were  inseparable 
friends,  and  so  convivial,  that  they  seldom  parted  till  day- 
light. One  night,  after  "  beating  the  rounds,"  and  making 
themselves  gloriously  drunk,  they  attempted,  arm  in  arm, 
to  cross  a  kennel,  into  which  they  both  fell,  and  when  they 
had  remained  there  a  minute  or  two,  Hayman,  sprawling 
out  his  shambling  legs,  kicked  Quin.  "  Hollo  !  what  are 
you  at  now  ?  "  stuttered  Quin.  "  At  ?  why  endeavouring 
to  get  up,  to  be  sure,"  replied  the  Painter,  "  for  this  don't 
suit  my  palate."  "  Poh  !  "  replied  Quin,  "  remain  where 
you  are,  the  watchman  will  come  by  shortly,  and  he  will 
take  us  both  up  !  " 

The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  undertaker's  invitation  to 
his  funeral,  the  original  of  which  was  kindly  presented 
to  me  by  Raphael  and  Benjamin  West,  Esqrs. 

To  Benjamin  West,  Esq.  R.A. 

SIR, 

THE  favour  of  your  company  is  desired  to  attend 
the  corpse  of  Francis  Hayman,  Esq.  from  his  late  dwelling- 
house,  in  Dean-street,  St.  Anne's,  Soho,  to  the  parish  church 
of  the  same,  on  Wednesday  next,  the  7th  instant,  at  half- 
past  six  o'clock  in  the  evening.1 

1  Hayman  died  February  2nd,  1776. 


t/tf  niphma  Gallery  at  Burlington  // 


From  th 


JAMES   BARRY,    R.A. 


f  ""^HE  following  anecdote  was  communicated  to  me 
by  a  gentleman  who  had  received  it  from  Mr. 
Burke,  Barry's  early  and  steady  friend.  This 
-^-  great  orator,  with  whom  the  Painter  had  fre- 
quently dined,  being  aware  of  most  of  his  eccentricities,  and 
wishing  much  to  see  in  what  way  he  conducted  his  household 
concerns,  requested  to  be  asked  to  dinner.  Barry  replied, 
"  Sir,  you  know  I  live  alone,  but,  if  you  will  partake  of  a  steak, 
I  can  answer  for  your  having  it  hot,  and  from  the  best  rump 
in  the  most  classic  market  in  London." — "  I  will  dine  with 
you,"  replied  Mr.  Burke  ;  "  but  mind,  you  must  not  let 
me  put  you  in  the  least  out  of  your  way." — "•  You  shall  dine 
as  I  do,  Sir,"  observed  Barry :  "there  shall  be  no  auxiliaries," 
turning  his  head  to  the  sideboard  of  glittering  plate  and 
glass.  A  day  was  then  fixed. 

Upon  Mr.  Burke's  arrival  at  No.  36,  Castle-street,  Oxford- 
market,  his  host  conducted  him  into  the  painting-room, 
which  had  undergone  no  alteration  whatever  from  the 
period  when  it  had  been  used  as  a  carpenter's  workshop. 
It  was  partly  occupied  by  his  large  picture  of  Pandora;1 
but  principally  with  whole-length  portraits  of  the  persons 
who  sat  to  him  for  his  Adelphi  pictures,  together  with 

1  The  original  drawing  of  Henderson  is  also  in  possession 
this  powerful  design  is  in  the  of  some  of  Barry's  original 
possession  of  William  Hender-  drawings  for  the  Adelphi  pic- 
son,  Esq.  of  No.  33,  Charlotte-  tures.  (S.) — The  "Pandora" 
street,  Fitzroy-square,  a  gentle-  painting  was  sold  at  Christie's 
man  whose  taste  can  fully  in  1807  for  230  guineas,  but  in 
appreciate  its  merit.  Mr.  1846  fetched  only  nj  guineas. 

279 


280        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

numerous  old  straining-frames  ;  a  printing  press,  for  he 
printed  his  own  plates ;  and  thousands  of  cobwebs,  nearly  as 
thick  as  those  dowlas  specimens  f ormerlyshown  to  the  visitors 
of  the  late  wine-cellars  under  the  Thames,  near  London- 
bridge,  which  belonged  to  what  were  called  "  The  Shades." 

Most  of  the  windows  of  this  painting-room  were  either 
cracked  or  broken  ;  the  tiles  of  its  ceiling-less  roof  were  as 
wide  apart  and  as  much  mutilated  as  those  which  appear 
in  the  first  state  of  Hogarth's  print  of  the  Strolling  Actresses 
in  a  barn  ;  and  the  small  fire-place  was  filled  with  a  grate 
large  enough  for  the  carpenter's  glue-pot.  However,  it 
was  under  this  roof  that  the  great  Burke  was  to  dine.  The 
fire  burned  clear,  the  steaks  were  put  on,  and  Barry,  who 
assumed  no  false  pomp,  though  he  had  means  of  comfort 
within  his  reach,  after  spreading  a  towel  upon  a  small, 
round,  three-legged  deal  table,  just  large  enough  for  two 
plates,  the  beer,  and  bread,  put  a  pair  of  tongs  into  his 
visitor's  hand,  requesting  him  to  turn  the  steaks  while  he 
went  for  a  pot  of  porter ;  and,  upon  his  return,  with  his 
usual  consistency  of  bluntness,  swore  that  the  wind  had 
taken  off  the  head  just  as  he  was  crossing  Titchfield- 
street. — I  have  often  thought  that  this  scene  alone  was  an 
admirable  contrast  between  the  stern  and  stubborn  character 
of  this  diamond  in  the  rough,  and  the  eloquent  author  of 
the  Sublime  and  Beautiful ;  who,  upon  any  other  occasion, 
would  have  been  shocked  at  being  so  entrapped,  even  if 
requested  to  partake  of  pot-luck  by  a  constituent  when  he 
was  soliciting  his  vote, — a  moment  when  greatness  is 
generally  discovered  to  be  elastic. 

Mr.  T.  Thornton,  of  Kennington,  has  favoured  me  with 
the  following  anecdote.  Mr.  Young,  a  particular  friend  of 
his,  considering  Barry's  intended  prints  from  his  pictures 
in  the  Adelphi  to  be  a  national  series  which  ought  to  be  en- 
couraged by  the  public,  went  to  his  house  in  Castle-street, 
Oxford-market,  and  paid  half  the  subscription-money  to 
ensure  a  set.  When  they  were  pronounced  finished,  he 


THE    RUINOUS    HOME   OF  JAMES   BARRY,    R.A.,    IN    CASTLE   STREET, 
OXFORD   STREET 

Drawn  and  engraved  by  T.  Prattcnt 


JAMES  BARRY,  R.A. 


281 


called  to  pay  the  remainder,  and  receive  his  prints ;  but, 
upon  his  expressing  himself  with  some  surprise  as  to  their 
coarseness  of  execution,  Barry  asked  him  if  he  knew  what 
it  was  he  did  expect  ? — "  More  finished  engravings,"  replied 
Mr.  Young ;  who,  after  experiencing  farther  rudeness  from 
the  artist,  took  his  departure,  observing  that  he  was  very 
welcome  to  keep  the  money  he  had  already  received. 

Barry,  who  had  been,  nearly  all  his  life,  accustomed  to 
dine  at  Cooks'-shops,  was  taken  ill  at  the  French  Eating- 
house,  then  on  the  right-hand  side  of  Wardour-street  from 
Oxford-street.  He  was  conveyed  to  the  dwelling  of  his 
steadfast  friend  Bonomi,  in  Titchfield-street,  who  took 
the  greatest  care  of  him.1  As  there  is  a  most  able  Life  of 
Barry,  written  by  the  late  Dr.  Fryer,  I  shall  state  only  that 
he  died  February  22nd,  1806  ;  not  in  a  condition  of  pau- 
perism, as  some  malignant  people  have  thought  proper  to 
report,  but  with  forty  pounds  in  his  pocket.  His  body  lay 
in  state  in  the  centre  of  the  great  room  in  the  Adelphi, 
surrounded  by  his  pictures,  which  will,  as  long  as  canvass 
lasts,  be  the  best  monument  to  his  memory.2  He  was 


1  The  story  goes  that  when 
Barry  was  brought  in  a  state 
of    collapse    to    his    wretched 
house  in  Castle-street  an  en- 
trance could  not  be  made,  be- 
cause  the  keyhole   had  been 
plugged  by  the  boys  of  the 
neighbourhood.    A  view  of  the 
house     with     every     window 
broken  is  given  in  the  European 
Magazine  of  April,  1806.     He 
was    therefore    taken    to    the 
house  of  Joseph  Bonomi  the 
architect,    at    76    Titchfield- 
street. 

2  These  Adelphi  pictures,  six 
in  number,  were  executed  for 
the  Society  of  Arts,  and  are  to 
be  seen  to-day  in  the  lecture 


hall  in  John-street,  Adelphi. 
They  are  bewildering  produc- 
tions, though  Barry  saw  in 
them  a  great  logical  scheme. 
Their  titles  are  as  follows  : — 

1.  Story  of  Orpheus. 

2.  A     Harvest     Home,     or 
Thanksgiving     to     Ceres 
and  Bacchus. 

3.  The  Victors  at  Olympia. 

4.  Navigation,  or  The  Tri- 
umph of  the  Thames. 

5.  The  distribution  of  Pre- 
miums in  the  Society  of 
Arts. 

6.  Elysium,  or  the  State  of 
Final  Retribution. 

One   might   spend   a   day   in 


282        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 


buried  in  Saint  Paul's  Cathedral,  near  the  ashes  of  Sir 
Joshua  Reynolds,  with  whom  he  died  in  peace,  though 
he  had  upon  some  occasions  violently  differed  with  him. 
It  is  true,  he  was  expelled  the  Royal  Academy,  for  miscon- 
ducting himself  in  a  most  outrageous  manner ;  but  it 
must  appear  an  ungracious  neglect  of  those  artists  with 
whom  he  parted  on  friendly  terms,  that  not  even  one  of 
his  old  friends,  members  of  the  Academy,  attended  his 
funeral. 

A  friend  has  obliged  me  with  the  following  extract  from 
the  books  of  the  Royal  Academy  relative  to  his  expulsion  : — 

I  have  struck  out  the  adjoining  name,  in  consequence  of 
the  opinion  entered  in  the  minutes  of  the  Council,  and  of  the 
General  Meeting,  which  I  fully  approve.  April  23,  1799. 

G.  R.1 

One  evening,  after  I  had  related  to  Miss  Welch,  that 


identifying  the  persons  who 
make  up  Barry's  amazing 
crowds.  Cunningham,  who 
does  full  justice  to  the  merits 
of  the  series,  writes  in  despair  : 
"  When  Archimedes,  Galileo, 
Sir  Isaac  Newton,  regarding 
with  awe  and  admiration  a 
solar  system,"  are  jumbled 
with  Columbus,  Lord  Shaftes- 
bury,  Marcus  Brutus,  William 
Molyneux,  Aristotle,  Zeno, 
Harvey,  Alfred  the  Great  lean- 
ing on  the  shoulder  of  Penn, 
Trajan  and  Edward  the  Black 
Prince,  Charles  I,  Lord  Arun- 
del,  Moliere,  Homer,  Pope, 
Mendelssohn,  Sir  Christopher 
Wren,  Rubens,  Hogarth,  Apel- 
les,  Raphael,  Diirer,  Giotto, 
and  a  hundred  others,  taken 
as  it  seems  at  first  in  the  same 


wild  haphazard,  it  is  difficult 
to  understand  the  'order  of 
their  going  !  '  The  best  de- 
scription of  the  pictures  is 
Barry's  own,  in  An  Account  of 
a  Series  of  Pictures,  etc.,  pub- 
lished 1783.  The  present  gilt 
frames  are  the  original  ones, 
designed  by  Barry  himself. 

1  Barry's  struggle  with  the 
Royal  Academy  came  to  a 
head  when  he  published,  in 
1799,  his  Letter  to  the  Dilettanti 
Society,  attacking  the  Acad- 
emy's administration  of  its 
funds  and  denouncing  private 
combinations  and  jealousies. 
By  a  letter  dated  April  24th, 
1790,  signed  by  John  Richards, 
R.A.,  secretary,  Barry  was  de- 
prived of  his  professorship  and 
expelled. 


JAMES  BARRY,  R.A. 


283 


Barry  would  not  suffer  Mr.  Udney,  of  Teddington^to  take 
away  a  set  of  the  etchings  from  the  Adelphi  pictures,  before 
he  put  down  the  money  for  them,  she  observed,  "  My  good 
Sir,  Barry's  politeness  is  as  rare  as  a  bit  of  Peg  Woffington's 
writing."  This  observation,  perhaps,  amounts  to  an  im- 
possibility of  his  having  been  polite  at  any  time,  for  it  is 
said  that  Peggy  could  not  even  write  her  own  name  :  that, 
however,  was  not  the  case  with  her  formidable  antagonist 
Catherine  Clive,  since  I  have  seen  several  of  Kitty's  letters, 
and  they  are  not  only  spiritedly  written,  but  bumper-full 
of  the  most  luxuriant  wit. 


1  John  Udney,  a  friend  of 
Horace  Walpole,  and  Consul 
at  Leghorn  for  some  years.  He 


and  his  wife  were  intimate  with 
the  Cosways. 


FRANCIS    LEGAT 

A,  that  Bryan  has  said  as  to  the  biography  of 
Legat   is    contained    in   the    following    sixteen 
words  : — "  If  this  artist  was  not  a  native  of  Eng- 
land, he  resided  in  London  about  the  year  1780." 
I  must,  therefore,  conclude,  that,  if  ever  a  second  edition 
of  Bryan's  Dictionary  should  be  called  for,  the  Editor  will 
be  enabled,  by  the  assistance  of  these  pages,  to  insert  the 
following  particulars,  which  I  have  collected  from  several 
persons  now  living,  with  whom  Legat  had  been  particularly 
intimate.1 

Francis  Legat  was  a  North  Briton,  and  was  educated  at 
Edinburgh,  under  Alexander  Runciman,  an  artist,  intimate 
with  John  Brown,  the  designer,  and  highly  esteemed  by 
Fuseli.2 

In  1780,  Legat  lodged  in  the  second-floor  of  No.  22, 
Charles-street,  Westminster ;  and  in  1789,  declared  himself 
to  one  of  my  informants,  who  lodged  in  the  first-floor  of 
the  same  house,  to  be  then  in  his  twenty-fifth  year.  Here 
he  engraved  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  resigning  her  Crown,  for 
which  plate  Boswell  applied  by  letter  to  Dr.  Johnson  for  an 

1  The     latest     edition     of  Italy    he    was    employed    by 
Bryan's  Dictionary,  edited  and  Charles  Townley,  and  in  Scot- 
enlarged    by    Dr.    George    C.  land  by  Lord  Monboddo.     In 
Williamson,  gives  a  sufficient  1786    he    took   up   black-lead 
account  of  Legat,  founded  on  portraiture    in     London.       A 
Smith's  sketch.  year  later  he  voyaged  to  Leith, 

2  For  Runciman,  see  Index,  was  terribly  sea-sick,  and  died 
John  Brown  was  his  pupil.    In  on  his  arrival,  aged  thirty-five. 

284 


FRANCIS  LEGAT 


285 


inscription.1  In  these  lodgings  he  also  engraved  that  fine 
plate  from  Northcote's  celebrated  picture  of  the  Children 
in  the  Tower,  now  in  the  possession  of  the  Earl  of  Egremont.2 
By  the  success  of  this  engraving,  and  the  liberal  manner  in 
which  Boydell  remunerated  him,  he  was  enabled  to  send  to 
Scotland  for  his  mother,  to  whom  through  life  his  filial 
conduct  was  truly  exemplary. 

About  the  latter  end  of  1790,  he  left  Charles-street  for 
Sloane-square,  taking  with  him  the  plate  of  the  death  of 
Cordelia,  after  a  picture  by  Barry.  Here  he  remained  till 
1797,  when  he  moved  with  the  plate  of  Lady  Hamilton,  as 
Cassandra,  to  No.  21,  Pleasant-row,  Camden-town  ;  where, 
about  the  year  1799,  his  mother  died.  From  thence,  he 
went  to  lodge  in  the  first-floor  of  Mr.  Proctor,  at  No.  2, 
Charles-street,  Middlesex  Hospital,  where  he  engraved 


1  This  picture  was  painted 
for  Boswell  by  Gavin  Hamilton 
in  Rome.  See  Boswell's  letter 
to  Johnson  dated  December 
1 8th,  1773,  in  which  he  sub- 
mits two  Latin  inscriptions 
which  had  been  suggested,  and 
asks  for  a  better  with  a  transla- 
tion. Two  years  seem  to  have 
elapsed  before  the  Doctor  pro- 
duced the  following,  which 
was  inscribed  on  Legat's  plate 
by  Alderman  Boydell,  the  pub- 
lisher. "  Maria  Scotorum 
hominum  seditiosorum  con- 
tumeliis  lassata,  ruinis  terrata, 
clamoribus  victa  libello,  per 
quern  regno  cedit,  lacrimans 
trepidansque  nomen  apponit." 
"  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  har- 
assed, terrified  and  over- 
powered by  the  insults,  men- 
ances  and  clamours  of  her  re- 
bellious subjects,  sets  her  hand, 


with  tears  and  confusion,  to  a 
resignation  of  the  Kingdom." 

2  Of  this  well-known  picture, 
painted  for  Boydell's  Shake- 
speare Gallery,  and  exhibited 
at  the  Royal  Academy  in  1786, 
Allen  Cunningham  remarks : 
"  The  murderers,  accompanied 
by  torch-bearers,  are  repre- 
sented carrying  the  naked 
children  down  a  steep  and 
difficult  stair  ;  and  instead  of 
conveying  them  the  easiest 
and  readiest  way,  they  have 
laid  them  upon  long  cloths, 
and  are  lowering  them  into 
the  dungeon  with  an  excess  of 
trouble  which  shows  them  to 
have  been  sad  dolts  in  the  way 
of  their  business.  All  this, 
however,  was  done  in  order  to 
give  the  painter  an  opportunity 
of  showing  how  well  he  could 
manage  his  colours." 


286        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

Ophelia  before  the  King  and  Queen,  after  West's  picture  ; 
which  plate  procured  him  the  honour  of  being  appointed 
Historical-Engraver  to  his  Royal  Highness  the  Prince  of 
Wales. 

As  the  burin  of  Legat  had  always  been  employed  by 
publishers  who  lived  in  splendour,  he  was  induced  to  con- 
clude, that  he  would  make  more  money  by  engraving  plates 
on  his  own  account.  By  way  of  trial,  he  bespoke  a  picture 
of  Stothard,  the  subject  being  the  death  of  General  Sir 
Ralph  Abercrombie  ;  then  popular  not  only  from  his  ever- 
memorable  battle,  but  also  from  the  song  which  Braham 
still  continues  to  sing  in  full  vigour.  In  this  plate  Legat 
was  far  advanced,  before  he  discovered  that  the  public, 
like  the  Mayor  of  the  City  of  London,  was  accustomed  to 
be  spoken  to  only  by  the  Recorder,  and  that  print-collectors 
were  not  accustomed  to  subscribe  to  engravers. 

Under  this  disappointment,  his  spirits  gradually  gave 
way,  and,  after  burying  his  aunt,  he  died,  in  the  back-room 
of  the  first  floor  of  Mr.  Proctor's  house,  in  Charles-street, 
on  the  4th  of  April,  1809,  in  the  fifty-fifth  year  of  his  age, 
and  was  buried  in  the  church-yard  of  Saint  Pancras  Old 
Church ;  Stothard,  the  Academician,  was  one  of  the 
mourners.  The  father  of  the  present  General  Kemp,  who 
was  his  steady  friend,  paid  his  debts,  and  took  possession 
of  the  plate  of  Abercrombie.  It  became  the  property  of 
Mr.  Bowyer,  of  the  Historic  Gallery,  Pall-mall,  who  has  had 
it  finished  for  publication.1  Bryan  mentions  only  the  three 
following  plates  from  the  graver  of  Legat,  viz. 

Mary  Queen  of  Scots  resigning  her  Crown,  after  a  picture 
by  Gavin  Hamilton. 

The  Continence  of  Scipio,  after  Poussin ;   and, 

1  Robert  Bowyer,  the  minia-  superbly    embellished    edition 

ture  painter.      At  Schomberg  of  Hume's  History.    This  was 

House,  in  Pall  Mall,  he  formed  never   completed,   and   a   loss 

a  large  collection  of  pictures  of  3o,ooo/.  was  incurred, 
with  a  view  to  illustrating  a 


FRANCIS  LEGAT  287 

The  King,  Queen,  and  Laertes,  in  Hamlet,  after  a  very 
fine  picture  by  West. 

To  the  above  may  be  added  the  following  plates,  equally 
large,  the  first  two  of  which  are  generally  considered,  by 
persons  well  qualified  to  judge  of  their  merit,  as  the  finest 
of  his  works,  viz. 

The  Murder  of  the  Princes  in  the  Tower,  after  a  picture 
by  Northcote.1 

Cassandra,  after  a  picture  by  Romney. 

The  Death  of  Cordelia,  after  a  picture  by  Barry. 

Though  all  the  above  engravings  are  upon  a  large  scale, 
and  in  a  grand  style,  he  executed  two  very  pretty  vignettes 
for  Bell's  British  Theatre  :  one  for  The  Hypocrite,  after  a 
design  by  Smirke,  the  other  for  Tancred  and  Sigismunda, 
after  a  design  by  Fuseli. 

Mr.  Legat  was  a  sensible  intelligent  man,  gentle  in  his 
manners,  and  serious,  except  when  enlivened  by  the  con- 
versation of  his  friends.  On  such  occasions,  he  was  remark- 
ably cheerful,  and  seldom  objected  to  join  any  party  of 
pleasure,  provided  the  company  was  such  as  he  approved. 
He  wrote  several  short  pieces  of  poetry  on  various  subjects, 
which  were  considered  good  specimens  ;  but  there  is  much 
doubt  whether  any  of  them  are  now  preserved.  His  style 
of  engraving  is  powerful  and  clear,  particularly  in  the 
figure  of  Cassandra  ;  but  I  do  not  mean  to  compare  any  of 
his  works  to  Strange's  extraordinary  prints  after  Guido, 
Venus  attired  by  the  Graces,  or  Woollett's  La  Hogue,  or 
Sharpe's  John  Hunter,  after  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  ;  but 
next  to  those  specimens,  I  know  of  no  work  of  engraving 
executed  with  more  skill  and  effect,  than  the  head  and 
helmet  of  one  of  the  murderers,  from  Northcote's  picture, 

1  Northcote    painted    three  which  the  Earl  of  Egremont 

pictures  of  this  composition  ;  afterwards  gave   200/.   at   an 

for  one  of  which  Boydell  gave  auction.    (S.) 
him    forty    pounds,    and    for 


288     NOLLEKENS  AND  HIS  TIMES 

the  chiaro-'scuro  of  which,  unquestionably,  is  most  admir- 
ably calculated  for  a  fine  print. 

Although  Legat  drew  better  than  engravers  in  general, 
he  had  inclination  to  improve  himself  still  farther ;  and 
argued  differently  from  those  engravers  who  endeavour  to 
cloak  their  ignorance,  by  insisting  that  an  accurate  eye  in 
copying  was  quite  enough.  "  No,"  said  he,  "  a  line-en- 
graver's business  in  copying  a  picture,  goes  beyond  that  of 
a  mere  copyist.  The  engraver  should  understand  the 
anatomy  of  the  human  figure,  to  enable  him  to  arrange  his 
lines,  from  the  origin,  the  direction,  and  insertion  of  the 
muscles.  What  would  an  engraver  of  a  piece  of  architecture 
make  of  his  buildings,  without  a  knowledge  of  lineal  per- 
spective ?  A  painter  may  make  a  good  copy  of  a  picture, 
but  a  thorough  knowledge  of  lineal  perspective  is  indis- 
pensably necessary  in  an  engraver." 

I  ought,  perhaps,  to  apologize  for  thus  exposing  a  negli- 
gence or  want  of  ability  in  many  of  our  engravers,  a  valuable 
class  of  artists,  though  at  the  same  time  it  is  my  duty  to 
declare,  that  the  most  eminent  of  the  present  day  are  far 
better  draughtsmen  than  their  predecessors  ;  and  I  am 
sure,  that  all  who  know  what  Art  is,  will  join  me  in  the 
assertion,  that  an  indifferent  engraver,  who  draws  well, 
cannot  produce  a  plate  wholly  destitute  of  merit.  Several 
instances  of  this  may  be  seen  in  the  whole  of  Barry's  Etch- 
ings ;  which,  coarse  as  we  know  they  are  styled  by  persons 
in  general,  are  in  possession  of  a  grand  depth  of  knowledge, 
as  to  the  direction  of  the  lines  so  admirably  describing  the 
origin  and  insertion  of  the  muscles  of  the  human  figure. 
In  this  respect  they  are  much  better  than  the  metallic 
manner  in  which  the  flesh  parts  of  Wille's  plates  are  effected  ; 
which  are  still  cried  up  by  foreigners  as  the  finest  specimens 
of  the  engraver's  art. 

Legat  made  repeated  applications  to  his  neighbour 
Nollekens  for  the  loan  of  some  of  his  casts  from  the  antique. 
"  What !  "  said  the  Sculptor,  "  do  you  suppose  I  can  relish 


FRANCIS  LEGAT  289 

a  head  when  it  comes  home  with  its  nose  off  ?  No,  no  ;  I 
brought  most  of  mine  with  me  from  Rome,  when  I  was  in 
Italy.  You  may  hire  casts  at  Papera's  and  Genelli's."1 

There  is  a  small  engraved  portrait  of  Legat,  by  T.  Prescott, 
after  a  drawing  by  Runciman,  published  by  C.  Dyer, 
Printseller,  St.  James's-street,  near  the  Thatched  House. 

1  These  were  plaster  -  cast  16  Marylebone-street,  Gianelli's 
figure-makers.  Papera's  was  at  (Genelli's)  at  33  Cock-lane. 


VOL.  n. — u 


OZIAS  HUMPHRY,   R.A. 

MR.  HUMPHRY,  who  was  descended  from  an 
ancient  and  highly  honourable  family  of  the 
time  of  Edward  III.,  was  son  of  George  and 
Elizabeth  Humphry,  and  was  born  at  Honiton, 
in  Devonshire,  on  the  8th  of  September,  I742.1    He  was 
christened   Ozias,    and   was   educated   at   the    Grammar- 
school  of  that  town.     Having  a  strong  natural  talent  for 
drawing,  he  was  placed  with  Mr.  Samuel  Collins,  a  very 
indifferent  Miniature-painter,  and  what  was  worse,  a  man 
of  gay  and  expensive  habits ;    with  whom  he  stayed  only 
two  years,  though  his  master  had  received  a  considerable 
premium  for  three.    This  man  fled  from  his  creditors,  and 
left  his  pupil  Ozias  without  a  protector. 

Young  Humphry,  when  his  master  left  him,  returned  to 
Honiton,  and  after  remaining  a  short  time,  requested  his 
mother  to  furnish  him  with  a  guinea,  observing,  that  he 
had  resolved  with  that  small  sum  to  begin  the  world.2  His 

1  For    information    bearing  in   Privy  Gardens,   for  about 
on  Humphry's  family  history,  three   years.      It   was   during 
see  an  interesting  communica-  this    period    that    his    father 
tion  by  Mr.  Aleck  Abrahams  died,  and  his  return  to  Honiton 
in  Notes  and  Queries  of  August  preceded  his  connection  with 
27th,  1910.  Collins.    Smith's  sketch  should 

2  These   statements   require  be  compared  and  corrected  by 
correction.      Before    studying  the    biographical    account    of 
under  Collins  (at  Bath),  Hum-  Humphry    written,    probably 
phry  attended  Shipley's  draw-  at  his  dictation,  by  his  natural 
ing  school  in  the  Strand,  and  son  William  Upcott,  the  col- 
the  Duke  of  Richmond's  gallery  lector,    and    first    printed    in 

290 


OZIAS  HUMPHRY,  R.A.  291 

mother  complied  with  his  request,  and  with  it  he  proceeded 
to  Exeter,  where  he  took  lodgings  of  Jackson,  the  author 
of  that  charming  composition,  "  Time  has  not  thinned  my 
flowing  hair."1  Here  he  made  beautiful  Nature  his  only 
mistress ;  and,  by  applying  steadfastly  to  her  fascinating 
allurements,  he  soon  found  encouragement,  and  was  enabled 
to  visit  London. 

With  a  view  to  further  his  improvement,  he  became  a 
student  in  Shipley's  Drawing-school,  in  the  Strand,  where 
his  talents  procured  him  the  intimacy  of  Mortimer,  and, 
indeed,  all  those  who  stood  high  in  the  Academy,  which 
was  then  the  best  in  England.  Having  a  wish  to 'try  his 
fortune  at  Bath,  he  went  thither,  in  1762,  and  took  lodgings 
with  Lindley,  the  Musician,  whose  lovely  daughter,  Eliza- 
Ann  (afterwards  Mrs.  Sheridan,  the  Saint  Cecilia' of  Sir 
Joshua),  was  then  in  her  ninth  year.2  She  knew  all  the 
songs  in  Thomas  and  Sally,  The  Beggar's  Opera,  The  Chaplet, 
and  Love  in  a  Village,  and  these  she  would  sing  so  sweetly' 
that  many  a  day,  at  the  young  Painter's  solicitation,  she 
chanted  them,  seated  at  the  foot  of  his  easel,  looking  up 
to  him,  unconscious  of  her  heavenly  features  :  with  such 
features  and  such  looks,  as  prevailed  upon  the  motley 
visitors  of  Bath,  when  she  so  gracefully  held  up  her  little 

Notes  and  Queries  of  May  27th,  2  It  was  during  this  sojourn 
1899. —The  miniatures  of  at  Bath  that  Humphry  worked 
Samuel  Collins  were  more  under  Collins.  His  landlord, 
highly  esteemed  by  many  con-  Thomas  Linley,  was  then  a 
noisseurs,  in  both  Bath  and  singing-master  at  No.  5  Pierre- 
Dublin,  than  by  Smith.  Collins  pont-street.  His  long  connec- 
died  in  1780.  tion  with  Drury-lane  came 
1  William  Jackson,  known  later,  and  he  died  in  Southamp- 
as  "  Jackson  of  Exeter  "(1730-  ton-street,  Covent  Garden, 
1803),  composed  the  successful  November  igth,  1795.  In 
opera ' '  The  Lord  of  the  Manor, ' '  Wells  Cathedral,  where  he  was 
was  a  member  of  the  Madrigal  buried,  there  is  a  monument 
Society,  and  wrote  the  music  to  himself  and  his  daughters, 
of  many  songs  of  a  refined  Elizabeth  Ann  (Mrs.  Sheridan) 
character.  and  Mary  (Mrs.  Tickell). 


292        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

basket,  with  her  father's  benefit-tickets,  at  the  door,  as 
they  passed  in  and  out  of  the  Pump-room. 

After  remaining  some  time  at  Bath,  Mr.  Humphry 
again  visited  London,  and  being  a  great  admirer  of  Mr. 
Reynolds  (afterwards  Sir  Joshua),  he  ventured  to  show  him 
some  of  his  miniatures.  The  great  Painter  was  so  much 
pleased  with  his  talent  and  gentlemanly  deportment,  that 
he  received  him  with  the  utmost  cordiality,  and  requested 
to  know  from  what  county  he  came,  and  what  his  parents 
were.  When  Reynolds  heard  that  he  was  from  Devonshire, 
and  that  his  mother  was  a  lace-maker,  he  exclaimed,  "  Born 
in  my  county,  and  your  mother  a  lace-maker  !  why,  Van- 
dyke's mother  was  a  maker  of  lace  !  "  at  the  same  time 
adding,  that  he  should  be  welcome  to  copy  any  of  his 
Vandykes.  "  Or  perhaps,"  said  he,  "  you  had  better 
allow  me  to  lend  you  some  of  mine,  as  they  are  better 
suited  by  their  dress  to  answer  your  present  purpose." 

This  generous  offer  was  accepted  with  the  greatest 
ecstasy,  and  after  copying  several  pictures,  which  highly 
improved  his  natural  taste  for  richness  of  colouring,  he 
produced  a  miniature  from  Reynolds's  famous  head  of 
King  Lear  in  the  storm,  which  so  highly  pleased  him,  that 
he  exclaimed,  "  This  is  a  beautiful  copy ;  it  is  so  finely 
painted,  that  you  must  allow  me  to  purchase  it.  What  is 
your  price  ?  it  will  enable  me  to  serve  you."  The  Artist, 
glowing  with  modesty,  begged  of  his  patron  to  accept  of  it. 
No  ;  that,  he  said,  he  could  not  think  of.  "  Three  guineas 
then,  Sir,  is  the  price,"  replied  he. — "  That  is  too  little," 
observed  the  great  Painter  :  "I  shall  give  you  five,  and  let 
that  be  your  price  for  such  a  picture."  At  the  same  time, 
he  advised  him  to  take  lodgings  near  him  ;  and  accordingly, 
in  1768,  he  took  the  house  now  No.  21,  in  King-street, 
Co  vent-garden.1  It  is  in  the  corner  opposite  Setchell's, 

1  J.  F.  Setchel,  bookseller,  23  King-street  (Pigot's  Directory, 
1826-1827). 


OZIAS  HUMPHRY,  R.A.  293 

where  he  remained  till  1771  ;  during  which  time  he  fell 
sincerely  in  love  with  the  daughter  of  James  Payne,  the 
Architect,  at  that  time  living  in  Saint  Martin's-lane  j1 
though  she,  poor  girl,  was  obliged,  by  her  father's  shuffling, 
sordid,  and  dirty  conduct,  to  marry  Tilly  Kettle,  the  Por- 
trait-painter, who  practised  his  art  in  Old  Bond-street.2 
In  consequence  of  this  shameful  treatment  of  himself  and 
the  girl  of  his  heart,  Mr.  Humphry  resolved  to  leave  his 
house  and  go  abroad  ;  he  therefore  sold  off  all  his  household 
furniture,  reserving  his  plate,  which  he  never  parted  with  ; 
and,  for  a  short  time,  in  1772,  took  lodgings  at  the  Golden- 
head,  the  usual  sign  of  artists,  in  Great  Newport-street ; 
and,  on  the  20th  of  March,  in  1773,  accompanied  by  Romney 
the  Painter,  left  London  for  Rome.3 

Our  artists  passed  their  first  night  at  Seven-oaks,  and  on 
the  next  day  were  entertained  by  their  mutual  friend  the 
Duke  of  Dorset  at  Knole.  They  resided  in  Paris  three  weeks, 
and,  after  having  nearly  been  lost  in  the  Gulph  of  Pisa, 
arrived  at  Rome  on  the  i8th  of  June.  Humphry,  after  an 
absence  of  four  years,  increasing  his  friends  wherever  he 
went,  once  more  settled  in  London ;  where,  in  1777,  the 
postman  rapped  at  his  door,  No.  29,  Rathbone-place,  with 
a  letter  from  Dr.  Wolcot  (alias  Peter  Pindar,)  dated  October 
25th,  from  Truro,  in  which,  after  complimenting — or 
flattering,  I  should  have  said — the  Painter  upon  his  high 
talents,  the  satirist  asked  that  which  he  declared  he  should 

1  For  Payne,  see  Index.  mentioned)  says  that  his  Italian 

2  Tilly  Kettle,  born  in  Lon-  tour  was  undertaken  in  conse- 
don  about  1740,  painted  por-  quence  of  a  fall  from  his  horse 
traits    and    Indian    subjects,  which  shattered  his  nerves,  and 
His  portrait  of  Warren  Hast-  from    a   wish   to    deepen    his 
ings  is  in  the  National  Portrait  knowledge  of  art.    For  details 
Gallery.    He  died  at  Aleppo  in  of  his  ambitions  and  studies 
1786,   while   proceeding  on   a  in  this  tour,  see  this  memoran- 
second  visit  to  India.  dum  (Notes  and  Queries,  May 

3  Humphry  himself  (vide  the  27th.  1899). 
Upcott  memorandum  already 


294        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

consider  as  an  indelible  obligation  if  granted.  The  applica- 
tion, he  said,  was  in  favour  of  an  uncouth,  raw-boned  country 
lad,  about  fifteen  years  of  age,  with  whom,  by  the  by,  he 
found  he  had  encumbered  himself,  and  who,  to  use  the 
Doctor's  own  words,  had  "  run  mad  with  paint."  This 
youth  offered  his  services  to  Mr.  Humphry,  to  clean  his 
brushes  and  palette,  and  make  himself  useful  in  the  common 
concerns  of  his  house,  and  all  for  the  pleasure  of  being  with 
a  painter  of  his  knowledge  and  eminence.  He  said,  that 
"  he  wanted  no  wages,  for  that  if  he  would  give  him  his 
food  and  a  little  money  to  keep  the  devil  out  of  his  pocket, 
he  would  be  perfectly  contented."  This  interesting  letter, 
which  is  curious  in  other  particulars,  is  in  the  possession 
of  Mr.  Upcott,  who,  with  his  accustomed  liberality,  furnished 
me  with  many  of  these  particulars  relating  to  his  godfather 
Ozias  Humphry.  But  I  think  I  hear  the  reader  ask,  "  Who 
was  this  aspiring  youth  ?  "  Reader,  believe  thine  ears,  he 
was  no  less  a  person  than  John  Oppy,  alias  Opie,  afterwards 
an  Esquire  and  R.A.,  and  Lecturer  on  Painting  to  the  Royal 
Academy.  This  eminent  artist's  society  was  sincerely  en- 
joyed by  his  second  wife,  the  authoress,  now  residing  at 
Norwich,  and  who  is  in  possession  of  some  of  his  best 
works.  He  was  honoured  with  a  most  splendid  funeral ; 
and  his  ashes  are  now  mingling  in  St.  Paul's  Cathedral 
with  those  of  Vandyke,  Wren,  Sir  Joshua,  Barry,  and 
West. 

My  honoured  friend,  James  Northcote,  Esq.  R.A.,  with 
his  usual  kindness,  gave  me  two  original  letters  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Opie ;  and,  as  epistolary  correspondence  from 
persons  of  eminence  is  at  all  times  gratifying  to  the  public, 
I  shall  here  insert  a  copy  from  the  one  by  Opie,  and  an  ex- 
tract from  that  of  his  friendly  widow,  who  has  entered  that 
silent  and  most  respectable  community  denominated 
Friends,  commonly  called  Quakers.1 

1  Mrs.  Opie  was  much  in-  John  Gurney,  brother  of  Eliza- 
fluenced  in  this  step  by  Joseph  beth  Fry. 


OZIAS  HUMPHRY,  R.A.  295 

Sunday,  August  23. 

DEAR   SIR, 

Without  pretending  to  feeling  or  sentiment,  I  am 
really  grieved  at  my  treatment  of  you,  but  by  G — d  !  I 
cannot  help  it : — I  am  served  by  others  worse. 

I  am  now  in  the  state  of  a  losing  gamester,  and  must 
consent  to  throw  away  all  my  journey  if  I  do  not  put  a  day 
or  two  more  to  it.  To  attempt  to  make  any  more  engage- 
ments would  be  ridiculous  and  contemptible  ;  if  you  should 
not  go  the  day  you  propose,  and  will  let  me  have  a  line  of 
information,  I  will  endeavour  to  meet  you,  but  I  cannot 
desire  you  to  place  any  confidence  in  one  who  has  none  in 
himself.  I  am  your  humble  servant, 

J.  OPIE. 

That  I  ever  familiarly  associated  with  Mr.  Hoare 

and  you,  seems  now  a  sort  of  traditionary  history  to 
me  ;  a  pleasant  dream,  which,  like  many  others,  is  passed 
away  for  ever ;  but  while  I  regret  that  it  is  so,  I  have  at 
least  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  while  I  did  enjoy  the 
society  of  Mr.  Hoare  and  yourself,  I  most  fully  felt  and 
appreciated  its  value. 

With  my  compliments  to  Miss  Northcote, 
Believe  me,  Dear  Sir, 

Respectfully  yours, 

AMELIA  OPIE. 
Norwich,  7th  of  Oct.  1814. 

In  1785,  Mr.  Humphry  went  to  India,  where  he  painted 
numerous  persons  of  the  highest  rank ;  but  in  1788,  he 
returned  again  to  England,  and  took  lodgings  at  the  north- 
west corner  of  St.  James's-street,  in  Piccadilly,  a  house 
made  still  more  fashionable  by  Hoby,  the  Bootmaker.1  In 
1790,  he  was  chosen  a  member  of  the  Royal  Academy, 
and  afterwards  resided  in  Newman-street,  and  latterly  in 
Thornhaugh-street,2  at  Mrs.  Spicer's,  No.  39,  where  he 

1  Hoby,     of     whom     good  Wellington,     etc.,     and     died 

stories    are    told    by    Captain  worth  I20,ooo/. 
Gronow  and  others,  was  boot-         2  Thornhaugh-street  is  now 

maker    to     George    III,    the  Huntly  -  street ;     Thornhaugh 

Prince  of  Wales,  the  Duke  of  Mews  perpetuates  the  old  name. 


296        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

died,  in  the  front  room  of  the  second  floor,  on  Friday, 
March  gth,  1810,  between  the  hours  of  five  and  six  in  the 
morning.  He  was  buried  in  the  ground  behind  the  Chapel- 
of-Ease  to  St.  James's,  Piccadilly,  in  the  Hampstead-road, 
but  without  any  grave-stone  ;  his  death  and  place  of 
burial  being  most  respectfully  recorded  by  his  brother,  on 
the  family  tombstone  at  Honiton.  To  this  gentleman,  the 
Duke  of  Dorset,  Ozias's  honoured  patron,  gave  a  living. 

There  is  a  remarkably  fine  likeness  of  Mr.  Humphry  at 
Knole,  painted  by  Romney.  Of  this  picture  there  are  two 
engravings  :  one  in  mezzotinto,  by  William  Pether,  of  a 
large  folio  size  ;  the  other  quarto,  by  Caroline  Watson,  a 
private  plate.  After  Mr.  Humphry's  return  from  India, 
his  manner,  at  times,  was  considered  rather  pompous  ; 
but,  however  that  may  have  been,  true  it  is,  that  he  re- 
collected with  the  sincerest  gratitude  every  favour  con- 
ferred upon  him,  and  never  designedly  hurt  the  feelings 
of  any  one.  His  sympathetic  tenderness  extended  itself  to 
objects  slighted  by  others,  and  frequently  in  silence  softened 
the  sufferings  of  the  most  neglected  and  necessitous ; 
and  I  am  quite  certain  that  no  one  could  retain  a  higher 
circle  of  friends  to  the  hour  of  his  death  than  Ozias  Hum- 
phry. 

Much  against  his  inclination,  he  once  agreed  to  accom- 
pany Mr.  William  Pether,  the  Mezzotinto-engraver, x  to 
whom  he  had  always  been  extremely  liberal,  to  second  his 
application  to  Mr.  Nollekens  for  permission  to  engrave  a 
plate  from  his  celebrated  bust  of  Mr.  Fox,  which  was  then 
a  topic  of  conversation  in  all  the  fashionable  circles.  Mr. 
Nollekens,  who  at  that  time,  notwithstanding  his  natural 
imbecility,  seldom  spared  a  man  when  he  had  taken  a 

1  William  Pether  (1731-1821)  rendering  the  chiaroscuro 
was  a  master  of  mezzotint.  He  effects  of  Joseph  Wright  of 
was  particularly  successful  in  Derby  and  of  Rembrandt. 


OZIAS   HUMPHRY,  R.A.  297 

dislike  to  him,  fell  upon  Humphry  immediately  that  he 
discovered  what  had  brought  him  into  his  house.  He 
wished,  with  his  accustomed  bluntness,  to  know  what  had 
induced  him  to  expect  any  favour.  "  You,"  observed 
Nollekens,  "  who  are  always  crying  up  Flaxman  here,  and 
Flaxman  there,  and  coddling  close  to  him  at  the  councils  ; 
you  know  very  well  that  you  told  me,  Mr.  Townley,  and  Mr. 
Owen  Cambridge,  that  you  thought  Flaxman  the  greatest 
sculptor  that  had  ever  lived  ;  you  know  very  well  you  did. 
I  told  Mrs.  Nollekens  what  you  said,  when  I  came  home 
from  Mr.  Blundell's  ;l  you  said  the  same  to  him  of  the 
great  Mr.  Flaxman  :  do  you  think  I  can  like  it  ?  "  Mr. 
Humphry  observed,  that  he  had  never  made  those  obser- 
vations to  offend  him ;  but  that  he  certainly  was  still  of 
the  same  opinion,  and  wished  him  a  good  morning,  leaving 
Mr.  Pether  to  present  a  letter  of  introduction  which  he  had 
brought  from  Mr.  West.  "  Well,  Mr.  Pether,"  said  Nolle- 
kens, "  I'll  do  it  for  him  ;  "  to  which  acquiescence  Mrs. 
Nollekens,  who  had  hitherto  sat  silently  engaged  in  stringing 
a  few  French-beans  with  her  silver-bladed  fruit-knife, 
observed,  as  she  was  cutting  them  into  a  basin  of  water, 
"  Mr.  Nollekens,  you  act,  Sir,  with  the  most  perfect  rectitude, 
and  I  am  sure  that  Mr.  West  will  fully  appreciate  the 
favour  you  have  conferred  upon  his  recommendation. 
Won't  you  sit  down,  Mr.  Pether?  I  believe,  Sir,  Mr. 
Edridge  was  your  pupil  ?  he  gave  Mr.  Nollekens  a  very 
pretty  miniature  of  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds.  He  is  a  very 
clever  young  man ;  his  brother,  I  believe,  was  a  butcher 
in  Saint  James's  Market  ?  "— "  Yes,  he  was.  Mr.  Edmonds, 
the  Upholsterer,  of  Compton-street,  bound  him  to  me. 
Dayes,  the  Draughtsman,  was  also  one  of  my  pupils."2 

1  Doubtless  Henry  Blundell,  ture  painter  (1769-1821),  was 
for   other    mention  of    whom  the  son  of  a  tradesman,  and  was 
see  Index.  Pether's  pupil  at  the  age  of 

2  Henry  Edridge,  the  minia-  fifteen.       He     practised     in 


298        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 


The  most  fascinating  of  all  the  lovely  women  painted  by 
Ozias  Humphry,  was  the  famous  Kitty  Frederick,  who  at 
that  time  lived  in  the  house  the  Duke  of  Queensbury 
furnished  for  her,  near  Park-lane,  in  Piccadilly,  now  No. 
133  ;  and  of  one  of  Mr.  Humphry's  portraits  of  "  charm- 
ing Kate  Fred,"  we  have  an  exquisite  engraving  by  Ryder.1 
The  late  Mr.  Udney  related  the  following  anecdote  of  Mr. 
Humphry,  with  whom  he  was  extremely  intimate,  to  Mr. 
West. 

One  morning,  on  the  arrival  of  Ozias  at  Teddington,  Mrs. 
Udney  accosted  him  with,  "  Well,  Mr.  Humphry,  I  am 
glad  you  are  come  to-day,  for  we  are  to  have  the  Stadholder2 
to  view  our  gallery  of  pictures." — "  God  preserve  me,  you 


Dufour's-place,  Golden-square, 
and  died  in  Margaret-street, 
Cavendish-square,  April  23rd, 
1821.  The  British  Museum 
Print  Department  has  a  large 
number  of  his  portraits,  'in- 
cluding a  three-quarter  bust 
portrait  of  Nollekens  in  pencil. 
He  was  buried  in  Bushey 
churchyard  near  to  his  friend 
and  patron,  Dr.  Thomas 
Monro. 

Edmonds  was  John  Ed- 
monds, cabinet-maker,  96  Old 
Compton-street,  Soho  (Kent's 
Directory,  1802). 

Edward  Dayes  (1763-1804), 
the  water-colour  painter, 
taught  Girtin  and  influenced 
Turner's  early  style.  He  com- 
mitted suicide  in  May,  1804. 
Examples  of  his  work  are  in 
the  South  Kensington  Museum. 

1  Thomas  Ryder  (1746-1810), 
a  pupil  of  Basire,  an  early 
student  at  the  Royal  Academy. 
His  stipple  engravings  after 


Angelica  Kauffmann,  Cosway, 
Cipriani  and  others  have  great 
merit.  —  Kitty  Frederick  was 
one  of  a  group  of  "  Amazonian 
whips"  and  "female  Phaetons" 
of  the  last  two  decades  of  the 
eighteenth  century.  Mr.  Horace 
Bleackley  refers  to  her  (Ladies 
Fair  and  Frail,  1909)  as  "a 
buxom  lady  with  the  keenest 
sense  of  humour,  of  whom  it 
is  recorded  that,  being  sum- 
moned before  a  magistrate 
when  at  the  height  of  her 
fame  for  obtaining  goods  under 
false  pretences,  she  pleaded  in 
defence  that  she  was  'not  of 
age.'  " 

2  William  Frederick,  Prince 
of  Orange,  who  visited  England 
in  1795.  Humphry  painted 
(or  drew  in  crayon)  his  por- 
trait, and  that  of  the  Princess  ; 
and  these,  on  account  of  his 
failing  eyesight,  were  his  last 
works. 


FACSIMILE    OF   A   LETTF.R    FROM    OZIAS    HUMPHRY   TO    HIS    PARENTS 

CONCERNING    HONITON    LACE    DESIGNS    FOR    HIS    MOTHER 

/«  the  possession  of  Mr.  John  Lane 


OZIAS  HUMPHRY,   R.A.  299 

don't  say  so  !  "  exclaimed  Mr.  Humphry.  "  Well,  then,  if 
that's  the  case,  I  will  go  and  take  a  nap,  that  I  may  be 
brilliant  in  the  evening."  He  then  retired  to  the  room 
usually  allotted  to  him,  and  fell  fast  asleep.  At  night, 
when  the  yard-dog  was  about  to  be  let  loose,  Mrs.  Udney, 
whose  mind  had  been  continually  running  upon  the 
Stadholder  and  his  suite,  recollected,  for  the  first  time, 
the  morning  arrival  of  Mr.  Humphry,  and  sent  a  servant 
to  look  for  him.  The  man,  after  repeated  knockings 
at  his  chamber-door,  receiving  no  answer,  went  in.  Mr. 
Humphry,  who  had  taken  as  long  a  dose  as  Falstaffs, 
awoke,  and  upon  the  servant's  drawing  back  the  curtain, 
his  first  question  was  to  know  if  the  Stadholder  was 
come  ?  "  Come,  Sir  !  "  replied  Andrew  ;  "  Lord  bless 
ye,  why  he  has  been  gone  these  six  hours  ;  it's  eleven 
o'clock  !  " 

Another  anecdote  of  this  eminent  Miniature-painter  I 
received  from  the  late  Sir  George  Beaumont.  When  Mr. 
West  was  engaged  in  painting  his  beautiful  picture  of  Achilles 
for  Thomas  Hope,  Esq.1  Mr.  Humphry,  who  was  then 
declining  in  life,  upon  entering  the  painting-room,  bending 
his  knees  and  throwing  his  head  and  shoulders  back,  ex- 
claimed "  Hoighty-toity  !  what  have  we  here  ?  "  Mr. 
West  replied  :  "  Sir,  this  is  epic." — "  Heaven  preserve  me  ! 
you  don't  say  so  ;  "  and  upon  seeing  a  lady  seated  by  the 
fire,  took  no  farther  notice  of  the  picture,  but  cried  out, 
"  Well,  Mrs.  West,  how  do  you  do,  Ma'am  ?  " 

Hayley,  in  his  Life  of  Romney,  thus  mentions  Mr. 
Humphry  : — 

Thy  graces,  Humphry,  and  thy  colours  clear, 

From  miniature's  small  circle  disappear. 

May  their  distinguish'd  merit  still  prevail, 

And  shine  with  lustre  on  the  larger  scale. 

1  For  other  references  to  Thomas  Hope,  see  Index. 


300        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 


The  truly  benevolent  Owen  Cambridge,  Esq.1  addressed 
lines  to  Ozias  Humphry,  two  of  which  are  : — 

But,  Humphry,  by  whom  shall  your  labours  be  told, 
How  your  colours  enliven  the  young  and  the  old?* 


1  Richard  Owen  Cambridge, 
one  of  Horace  Walpole's  neigh- 
bours at  Twickenham,  was 
famous  in  his  day  as  a  poet, 
wit,  essayist,  and  social  gossip. 
As  "  Cambridge  the  Every- 
thing "  his  portrait  has  been 
drawn  by  Mr.  Austin  Dobson 
in  his  Eighteenth  Century  Vig- 
nettes, and  he  is  the  subject  of 


a  lively  sketch  in  Mr.  F.  C. 
Hodgson's  Thames  Side  in  the 
Past  (1913).  Cambridge's 
writings  were  collected  and 
published  by  his  son,  Arch- 
deacon Cambridge,  in  1803. 

2  See  Archdeacon  Cam- 
bridge's edition  of  his  father's 
works,  page  319.  (S.) 


BENJAMIN   WEST,    P.R.A. 

BENJAMIN  WEST,  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds's  successor 
as  President  of  the  Royal  Academy,  was  born 
on  the  loth  of  October,  1738,  at  Springfield,  in 
Chester  County,  Pennsylvania,  and  was  the 
youngest  of  thirteen  children.1  To  Mr.  West's  well  known 
liberality  I  owe  the  best  portion  of  the  little  knowledge 
I  possess  in  the  art  of  Painting ;  which,  small  as  it  is,  has 
qualified  me  to  see  with  mine  own  eyes  ;  the  independent 
exercise  of  which  I  often  find  useful.  Mr.  West,  whose 
name  ought  never  to  be  mentioned  but  with  grateful 
respect,  often,  in  the  kindest  manner  possible,  gave  up  whole 
mornings  to  the  instruction  of  those  students  who  solicited 
his  opinion  of  their  productions.  I  have  frequently  known 
him  correct  their  errors  with  his  own  hand  ;  and  I  am  clearly 
of  opinion,  that  there  are  very  few  artists  now  basking  in 
the  sunshine  of  patronage,  who  have  not  benefited  essen- 
tially by  his  generous  and  able  communications.  Mr.  West's 
numerous  works  are  too  well  known  to  the  man  of  true 
taste  to  need  any  encomiums ;  I  shall  therefore  observe 
only,  that  Woollett's  engraving  of  his  "  Death  of  General 
Wolfe  "2  has  been  sold  for  more  money,  in  this  and  every 

1  West  was  the  youngest  of  classic    garb    of    convention, 
the  ten  children  of  John  and  The   painting  is  now  in   the 
Sarah    West,    of    Springfield,  Duke  of  Westminster's  collec- 
Pennsylvania.  tion  at  Grosvenor  House,  and 

2  This  picture  was  the  first  there  is  a  duplicate  at  Hampton 
in  which  modern  military  cos-  Court. 

tume  was  substituted  for  the 

301 


302        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

other  country,  than  any  modern  print  whatever  ;  and  that 
I  have  frequently  heard  Wilkie  declare,  that  the  Battle  of 
La  Hogue  was,  in  his  estimation,  a  complete  work  of  Art. 
Certain  it  is  that  Woollett  considered  his  engraving  of  it  in 
every  respect  his  masterpiece. 

Ever  anxious  to  exert  his  rare  talent  as  an  Engraver  to 
its  fullest  stretch,  upon  every  subject  on  which  he  was 
engaged,  Woollett,  after  repeatedly  presenting  proof- 
impressions  of  this  famous  plate  to  the  Painter  of  the 
picture,  (fully  trusting  each  time  that  Mr.  West  could 
render  it  some  assistance,)  once  more,  and,  as  he  was  told, 
for  the  last  time,  submitted  another  proof  to  the  Artist, 
when  they  were  mutually  of  opinion  that  nothing  more  could 
improve  it.  However,  Woollett  modestly  solicited  Mr. 
West  to  reconsider  the  effect,  and  also  requested  him  to 
mark,  according  to  his  usual  custom,  those  parts  with  white 
and  black  chalk  which  he  considered  might  still  be  improved. 
Mr.  West,  well  knowing  the  danger  of  overworking  a  sub- 
ject, was  fearful  of  disturbing  effects  so  fortunate,  and 
therefore  commenced  cautiously  by  strengthening  and 
lowering  parts,  till,  by  degrees,  he  had  worked  upon  it 
about  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  when  he  put  down  his  port- 
crayon, and  said,  "  There,  Sir,  I  can  now  do  no  more  for  it ; 
but  I  much  fear  the  alterations  will  give  you  some  little 
trouble." — "  Sir,"  exclaimed  Woollett,  "  you  have  given 
me  six  months'  work  !  but,  as  my  print  will  be  so  wonder- 
fully improved  by  your  corrections,  I  am  determined,  were 
they  to  take  me  twelve  months,  most  cheerfully  to  go 
through  the  task :  "  which  he  did  conscientiously,  and 
with  that  persevering  patience  and  pleasure  inseparable 
in  artists  of  true  feeling  for  their  future  fame. 

I  was  at  Mr.  West's  one  morning,  when  the  following 
observations  were  directed  to  Mr.  Nollekens  :  "  We,  Sir," 
said  the  President,  "  have  not  many  good  works  of  statues 
to  refer  to.  I  believe,  after  Bishop's  are  mentioned,  it  will 
be  impossible  to  name  another  of  equal  merit.  That  artist 


BENJAMIN  WEST,  P.R.A.  303 

was  a  good  draughtsman  and  an  excellent  etcher,  so  that 
he  knew  perfectly  well  how  to  execute  that  which  he  had 
undertaken  :  and  every  artist's  shelf  should  support  and 
protect  his  book  as  an  inestimable  treasure.  Believe  me, 
Sir,  our  friend  Townley  did  wrong  in  employing  young 
students  and  inexperienced  artists  to  make  drawings  of 
his  statues.  Such  fine  specimens  of  art  should  have  been 
attended  by  the  experienced  physician — artists  of  the 
highest  talents.  How  is  it  possible  for  a  tyro  to  translate 
Dante  like  Carey  ?  No,  Sir,  such  artists  as  Howard," 
continued  Mr.  West,  "  those  who  have  arrived  at  the  pinnacle 
of  excellence,  are  the  men  to  be  employed  : x — men,  who  can 
not  only  feel  the  beauties  of  the  Antique,  but  produce  an 
uncontaminated  outline  for  the  Engraver ;  whose  business 
it  is  to  attend  to  the  nicely-delineated  discrimination  of  the 
original  parts,  in  contrast  to  the  harsh,  and  often  unmeaning 
modern  botchings,  of  those  jobbing  carvers  who  would  do 
any  thing  for  money.  And,  Sir,  the  Engravers  in  general, 
I  am  sorry  to  say,  pay  as  much  attention  to  the  finishing 
of  the  vile  modern  additions,  as  they  do  to  the  antique 
parts.  Sir,  it  would  give  me  great  pleasure  to  see  a  work  of 
statues  drawn  in  outline  by  Mr.  Howard,  in  his  chaste  and 
honest  manner,  discriminating  the  superior  excellence  of 
the  fine  antique  parts,  and  the  vulgar  additions,  and  then 
I  would  have  them  steadfastly  etched  by  Moses.2  This, 
Sir,  would  be  a  most  desirable  and  valuable  work,  and  by 
being  in  outline  only,  like  those  which  he  has  done  from  my 
pictures,  might  be  published  at  a  cheap  rate  ;  so  that 
artists  as  well  as  collectors  might  possess  the  book,  and  the 
publisher  be  better  and  sooner  reimbursed." 

1  Henry  Howard,  R.A.  (1769-  2  Benjamin  Moses,  who  en- 

1847),  was   employed   by   the  graved  mostly  in  outline,  lived 

Dilettanti    Society    to    draw  till  1870.     He  was  attached  to 

antique    sculptures    for    their  the   British   Museum.     See   a 

publications.     He  was  West's  note  on  him  in  Smith's  chapter 

neighbour  in  Newman-street.  on  Flaxman,  post. 


304        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

I  fully  trust  the  eminent  English  Engravers,  whose 
productions  are  the  pride  of  our  country,  and  the  universal 
envy  of  foreigners,  will  not  be  offended  at  my  promulgating 
the  above  observations ;  as  the  confinement  of  the  works 
of  Sculpture  to  outline  delineations  will  not  at  all  niter- 
fere  with  their  more  elevated  pursuits.  Their  talents  may 
be  more  properly  called  for,  and  confined,  to  the  engravings 
of  fine  pictures  by  our  modern  English  Artists,  in  water- 
colours,  as  well  as  in  oil,  from  whose  easels  we  have  annually 
a  copious  choice  of  subjects,  both  in  Historical  and  Lands- 
cape-painting, as  well  as  in  Portraits.  If  an  associated 
body  of  the  most  eminent  of  our  Engravers  were  to  proceed 
with  a  publication  of  some  of  the  works  of  our  best  Historical, 
Landscape,  and  Portrait-painters  of  the  size  of  West's 
"  Death  of  Wolfe,"  Wilson's  "  Niobe,"  and  Sir  Joshua's 
"John  Hunter,"  prints  which  would  alone  immortalize  those 
great  men,  I  am  quite  certain  such  an  undertaking  would 
succeed  in  a  commercial  point  of  view,  and  thereby  enable 
them  to  found  an  unprecedented  School  of  native  talent. 

When  the  late  venerable  President  was  sitting  to  Mr. 
Nollekens  for  a  bust,  which  the  Members  of  the  British 
Institution  had  requested  to  have,  His  Royal  Highness  the 
Duke  of  York  arrived,  accompanied  by  his  Royal  brother, 
the  Duke  of  Cumberland.  The  Duke  of  York,  at  that  time, 
was  also  sitting  for  his  bust,  when  Mr.  West  heard  Nollekens 
inquire  of  him,  "  How's  your  Father  ?  " — on  which  the  Duke, 
with  his  usual  condescension,  smilingly  informed  him  that 
the  King  was  better.  The  Duke  of  Cumberland  then  asked 
Mr.  Nollekens,  why  a  man  of  his  years  wore  so  high  a  toupee 
to  his  wig  ?  Mr.  Nollekens,  instead  of  answering,  wished  to 
know,  why  His  Royal  Highness  wore  those  mustaquies  ? 
The  Duke  of  York  smiled  and  said,  "  You  have  it  now, 
Cumberland." 

To  return,  however,  to  Mr.  West,  the  following  is  a  trans- 
lation, by  a  friend,  from  a  letter  written  in  Italian,  by  the 
President,  to  Canova  at  Rome. 


BENJAMIN  WEST,  P.R.A.  305 

London,  May  ist,  1816. 

Three  English  ladies,  sisters,  of  the  name  of  King,  ani- 
mated solely  by  the  desire  of  admiring  Italy, — that  Italy, 
which  constitutes  the  delight  of  civilized  nations  for  every 
species  of  perfection  in  the  Fine  Arts, — will  do  themselves 
at  once  the  honour  and  pleasure  to  present  to  you  this  letter. 

The  high  esteem  and  value  in  which  the  Fine  Arts  are 
held  at  Rome,  and  in  the  other  cities  of  Italy,  are  the  princi- 
pal motives  to  this  attraction  ;  since,  to  those  of  a  refined 
taste,  it  forms,  as  it  were,  a  source  from  whence  the  culti- 
vated mind  derives  additional  refinement,  nutrition,  and 
vigour.  It  is  with  this  view  that  the  three  sisters  visit 
Italy  ;  and  your  name  being  celebrated,  not  only  in  England 
but  elsewhere,  for  excellence  in  your  Art,  you  will  render 
them  a  great  favour  by  any  kindness  you  shall  please  to 
show  them,  and  at  the  same  time  will  lay  me  under  an 
obligation,  of  which  I  shall  ever  retain  a  deep  sense. 

Through  the  medium  of  our  Secretary  of  State,  I  have 
received  a  paper,  announcing  to  me  the  honour  conferred  on 
me  at  Rome,  by  the  honourable  Academy  of  St.  Luke,  in 
electing  me  one  of  its  members ;  for  which  honour  I  shall 
ever  hold  myself  indebted  to  your  friendship.  I  shall  not 
fail,  through  the  same  channel,  to  express  to  the  Academy  in 
adequate  terms,  my  gratitude  for  the  distinguished  mark  of 
approbation  with  which  it  has  honoured  me,  and  also  to 
return  my  cordial  thanks  to  all  the  Academicians.  Lastly, 
I  beg  you  to  be  assured  of  my  very  great  respect,  and  of  the 
many  obligations  I  owe  you. 

Permit  me,  with  every  sentiment  of  entire  friendship, 
the  honour  of  subscribing  myself, 

Your  friend, 
BENJAMIN  WEST,  President  R.A. 

I  trust  that  I  shall  ever  remember,  as  I  ought,  Mr.  West's 
kindness  to  me  upon  my  being  appointed  Keeper  of  the 
Prints  and  Drawings  in  the  British  Museum.  He  shook 
hands  with  me  upon  that  occasion  ;  and  requesting  me  to 
wait  a  little,  he  went  into  the  next  room,  and  on  his  return, 
he  put  a  morocco-case  into  my  hand,  saying,  "  That  con- 
tains a  medal  of  me  ;  keep  it  for  my  sake,  and  remember  I 


VOL.   II.-    X 


306        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

gave  it  you  upon  your  appointment.  You  know  I  exerted 
myself  in  your  favour  when  you  were  candidate  for  the 
Drawing  -  master's  situation  in  the  school  of  Christ's 
Hospital."  * 

Here  I  begin  to  blush,  but  as  I  am  really  proud  of  what 
the  venerable  President  said  of  me  in  my  testimonial, 
presented  to  the  Governors  of  Christ's  Hospital,  I  shall 
here  insert  it,  since  the  friendly  reader  will,  I  trust,  bear  with 
my  weakness  ;  and  as  for  my  enemies,  I  shall  console  myself 
against  what  they  may  say,  by  the  recollection  of  an  obser- 
vation made  by  the  late  facetious  George  Phillips,  of  George- 
yard,  Lombard-street,2  when  hearing  the  lamentations  of 
an  author  who  had  been  roughly  treated  by  the  Reviewers. 

"  Never  mind,  friend,  what  they  say  ;  words  will  neither 
break  thy  bones  nor  bruise  thy  skin." 

My  testimonial  runs  thus. 

We,  whose  names  are  subscribed,  having  seen  specimens 
of  drawings  by  John  Thomas  Smith,  are  of  opinion  that  he 
is  qualified  for  the  office  of  Drawing-master  in  the  school 
of  Christ's  Hospital. 

I  not  only  think  him  qualified  as  an  artist,  but  greatly 
to  be  respected  as  a  man. 

BENJAMIN  WEST,  President  R.A. 

It  also  gives  me  infinite  pleasure  to  have  it  in  my  power 
to  select  the  two  following  subscriptions,  from  the  numerous 
set  of  names  of  the  most  eminent  artists,  which  farther 
honour  my  testimonial. 

I  have  long  been  acquainted  with  Mr.  J.  T.  Smith's 
merits  as  a  good  artist  and  a  worthy  man. 

JOHN  FLAXMAN,  Jun.  Sculptor, 
Associate  R.A.,  R.A.  of  Florence  and  Carrara. 

1  Smith's  application  for  the  Book  for  a  Rainy  Day,  under 

post     of     drawing- master     at  1798,  he  quotes  all  the  testi- 

Christ's  Hospital,  on  the  death  monials  he  received, 

of   Benjamin   Green   in    1798,  2  The  bookseller, 
was  not  successful,  but  in  his 


BENJAMIN  WEST,   P.R.A.  307 

I  have  known  him  from  a  child,  and  think  him  an  honest 
man,  and  well  qualified  for  the  office. 

JOSEPH  NOLLEKENS,  R.A.  1798. 

Mr.  West  may  justly  be  considered  the  founder  of  Histori- 
cal Engraving  in  England ;  for,  beautiful  as  Woollett's 
productions  from  Wilson's  sublime  landscapes  must  be 
considered,  yet  his  plates  of  the  Death  of  General  Wolfe, 
and  the  Battle  of  La  Hogue,  from  West's  pictures,  stand 
unrivalled.  The  fame  of  Mr.  Hall,  the  Engraver,1  a  pupil 
of  Ravenet,  was  not  completely  established  until  he  pro- 
duced his  plate  of  Oliver  Cromwell  dissolving  the  Parliament, 
from  West's  picture ;  though  the  engraving  of  Penn's 
Treaty  with  the  Indians  possesses  great  merit.  One  obser- 
vation more  I  can  safely  make  from  my  own  knowledge  : 
that  no  Engravers  could  possibly  be  more  cheerfully  atten- 
tive to  the  remarks  of  the  painter  whose  works  they  were 
copying,  than  Woollett  and  Hall  were  to  those  of  Mr.  West, 
as  I  have  been  present  whole  mornings  when  he  has  been 
touching  upon  their  proofs.  All  the  collectors  of  exquisite 
engravings  know  what  I  assert  to  be  true,  that  no  prints 
from  the  works  of  one  master  surpass,  or  even  equal,  those 
by  the  two  Historical-Engravers  abovementioned ;  though 
Sharp's  Witch  of  Endor,  and  Lear  in  the  Storm,  are  won- 
derfully fine  things,  and  are  also  both  from  pictures  by  West. 

The  career  of  this  excellent  man  and  great  Painter  was 
not  closed  till  he  was  full  of  years  and  honour.  Mr.  West 
died,  in  the  presence  of  his  sons  Raphael  and  Benjamin, 
on  the  loth  of  March,  1820,  between  eleven  and  twelve 
o'clock  at  night,  on  the  sofa,  on  which  he  was  accustomed 
to  sleep,  in  the  front  drawing-room,  at  his  house,  No.  14, 
Newman-street,  surrounded  by  some  of  the  choicest  speci- 
mens of  ancient  Art,  both  in  pictures  and  drawings.2  He 

1  See  Smith's  supplemental     No.    14   Newman-street   from 
biography  of  Hall,  post.  1777  until  1820.    The  gallery, 

2  West's    residence    was    at     famous    for    its    lighting,    re- 


308        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

was  in  his  eighty-second  year.  He  continued  his  fondness 
for  his  two  volumes  of  Fra  Bartolomeo's  drawings  with  such 
zeal,  that  within  four  days  of  his  death,  when  I  last  felt  the 
warm  pressure  of  his  friendly  hand,  one  book  lay  open  upon, 
and  the  other  resting  against,  a  small  settee  within  his  reach, 
so  that  he  could  conveniently  turn  them  over  and  enjoy 
them  from  his  pillow. 

Mr.  West's  family  having  witnessed  the  profound  respect 
paid  to  their  late  father,  by  personages  of  the  highest  rank 
and  eminence  in  this  country,  empowered  Mr.  Henderson, 
the  professional  gentleman  who  then  managed  their  affairs, 
to  send  invitations  to  all  the  noblemen  and  gentlemen  then 
in  town,  with  whom  the  President  had  been  on  terms  of 
intimacy ;  of  which  the  following  is  a  copy  of  the  one 
addressed  to  Sir  George  Beaumont,  Bart. 

The  honour  of  your  presence  is  requested  at  Somerset- 
house,  on  Wednesday  morning,  the  2Qth  of  March,  at  half- 
past  ten  o'clock,  to  attend,  with  the  Members  of  the  Royal 
Academy,  the  interment  of  their  late  President,  Benjamin 
West,  Esq.  in  St.  Paul's  Cathedral. 

The  favour  of  an  answer  is  desired  on  or  before  Friday, 
the  24th  of  March,  to  be  addressed  to  J.  H.  Henderson, 
Esq.  23,  John-street,  Bedford-row. 

The  members  of  the  Royal  Academy,  anxious  to  pay 
every  possible  respect  to  the  remains  of  their  late  venerable 
President,  voted  the  following  circular  to  be  sent  to  all  the 
members  of  their  Institution. 

Royal  Academy,  2oth  March,  1820. 

SIR  ;^It  being  the  intention  of  the  Royal  Academy  to 
attend  the  funeral  of  their  late  President,  you  are  requested 

mained  for  some  years  after  St.    Andrew's    Hall,    is    used 

the    painter's    death    in    the  for  concerts,  rehearsals,  etc. — 

latter  year;   it   was   open   to  West's     elder     son,     Raphael 

the    public     but     not     much  Lamar  West,  was  a  painter  of 

frequented.      The  stately  old  talent  but  no  great  industry ; 

house  still  stands,  and  West's  he  died  at  Bushey  Heath  in 

exhibition    room,   now    styled  1850. 


BENJAMIN  WEST,   P.R.A.  309 

to  inform  me,  by  the  22d  inst.  whether  it  will  be  convenient 
to  you  to  join  the  rest  of  the  Members  on  that  occasion. 

The  procession  will  leave  the  Academy  at  half-past  Ten 
in  the  morning  of  Wednesday,  the  2gth  inst. 
I  am,  Sir, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

HENRY  HOWARD,  R.A.  Sec. 

After  lying  in  state  at  the  Royal  Academy  with  all 
possible  academic  honours,  he  was  buried  in  St.  Paul's 
Cathedral,  near  the  honoured  dust  of  Sir  Christopher  Wren, 
Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  and  the  Professors  Barry  and  Opie. 
Mrs.  Benjamin  West,  to  whom  I  am  indebted  for  many 
communications,  has  enabled  me  to  lay  the  following  order 
of  her  father's  funeral,  with  the  names  of  the  mourners, 
before  the  reader. 

Six  Constables,  by  threes. 

Four  Marshalmen,  two  and  two. 

City  Marshal  on  horseback. 

Undertaker  on  horseback. 

Six  Cloak-men  on  horseback,  by  twos. 

Four  Mutes  on  horseback,  by  twos. 

Lid  of  feathers,  with  attendant  pages. 

Hearse  and  Six,  with  rich  trappings,  feathers,  and  velvets, 

attended  by  eight  pages. 
Two  Mourning  Coaches  and  four,  with  attendant  pages, 

conveying  the  Pall-bearers. 

Mourning  Coach  and  four,  with  attendant  pages,  conveying 
the  sons  and  grandsons  of  the  deceased,  as 

CHIEF  MOURNERS. 
Mourning  Coach  and  four,  with  attendant  pages,  conveying 

the  family  Trustees  and  Executors  of  the  deceased. 
Mourning  Coach  and  four,  with  attendant  pages,  conveying 
the  Reverends  the  Vicar  of  Mary-le-bone,  the  Chap- 
lain to  the  Lord  Mayor,  and  the  medical  atten- 
dant of  the  deceased. 


310        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

Then  followed  sixteen  Mourning  Coaches  and  pairs,  with 
attendant  pages,  conveying  the  Right  Reverend  the 
Chaplain,  the  Secretary  for  Foreign  Correspon- 
dence, and  the  Members  of  the  Royal 

Academy  and  Students. 

Twenty  Mourning  Coaches  and  pairs,  with  attendant  pages, 

conveying  the  Mourners  and  Private  Friends 

of  the  deceased. 

The  private  carriages  attending  were  those  of  the  follow- 
ing persons  of  rank  : — The  Lord  Mayor,  the  Archbishop  of 
York,  the  Dukes  of  Norfolk,  Northumberland,  and  Argyll ; 
the  Marquesses  of  Lansdown  and  Stafford  ;  the  Earls  of 
Liverpool,  Essex,  Aberdeen,  Carlisle,  Dartmouth,  Powis, 
Mulgrave,  Darnley,  and  Carysfort ;  Viscount  Sidmouth  ;  the 
Bishops  of  London,  Salisbury,  Carlisle,  and  Chester  ;  Admi- 
ral Lord  Radstock ;  the  Right  Honourables  Sir  William 
Scott,  Charles  Manners  Sutton,  and  Charles  Long ;  the 
American  Ambassador  ;  the  Hon.  General  Phipps,  Augustus 
Phipps ;  Sir  George  Beaumont,  J.  Fleming  Leicester, 
Thomas  Baring,  and  Henry  Fletcher  ;  the  Solicitor-General, 
Sir  Robert  Wilson,  Dr.  Heslop,  Dr.  Bailey,  Aldermen  Birch 
and  Wood,  Mr.  Chamberlain  Clarke,  Henry  Banks,  Esq.  M.P. 
Richard  Hart  Davis,  Esq.  M.P.  George  Watson  Taylor,  Esq. 
M.P.  Jesse  Watts  Russell,  Esq.  M.P.  Henry  Fauntleroy, 
Esq.  Archibald  Hamilton,  Esq.  Thomas  Coutts,  Esq. 
John  Penn,  Esq.  Thomas  Hope,  Esq.  Samuel  Boddington, 
Esq.  Walter  Fawkes,  Esq.  George  Hibbert,  Esq.  John 
Yenn,  Esq.  John  Soane,  Esq.  Francis  Chantrey,  Esq. 
Henry  Sansom,  Esq.  John  Nash,  Esq.  John  Edwards,  Esq. 
George  Sheddon,  Esq.  James  Dunlop,  Esq.  Joseph  Ward, 
Esq.  Henry  Meux,  Esq.  &c.  &c. 

The  Hon.  and  Rev.  Dr.  Wellesley  performed  the 
service. 


BENJAMIN  WEST,  P.R.A.  311 

Pall-bearers. 

Earl  of  Aberdeen  $j  Right  Hon.  Sir  W.  Scott 

H.   E.  the  American  Am-  &  Hon.  Gen.  Phipps 

bassador  ^  Sir  George  Beaumont 

Hon.  Augustus  Phipps        ^  Sir  Robert  Wilson 
Sir  Thomas  Baring                ^ 

Chief -Mourners. 
Raphael  Lamarr  West. 

Benjamin  West. 

Benjamin  West,  Jun. 

Robert  Brunning  (the  old  servant). 

Henry  Fauntleroy  and  James  Henry  Henderson,  Esqrs. 

Rev.  Dr.  Heslop,  Rev.  Mr.  Borradaile. 

Joseph  Hayes,  the  Medical  Attendant. 

Bishop  of  Salisbury. 

Prince  Hoare,  Esq. 

Academicians  and  Associates,  two  by  two. 

Students,  two  by  two. 

Alderman  Wood,  Alderman  Birch,  Rev.  —  Est. 

Rev.  Holt  Oakes,  Henry  Banks,  Esq.  M.P.  W.  Smith,  Esq. 

M.P.  Richard  Hart  Davis,  Esq.  M.P. 

George  Watson  Taylor,  Esq.  M.P. 

Jesse  Watts  Russell,  Esq.  M.P. 
Archibald  Hamilton,  Esq.          John  Taylor 
Samuel  Boddington,  Esq.  C.  Muss 

Thomas  Lister  Parker,  Esq.       J.  Green 
John  Nash,  Esq.  W.  Carey 

Major  Payne  W.  Behnes 

Capt.  Francis  Halliday  John  Young 

Henry  Sansom,  Esq.  W.  Delamotte 

George  Sheddon,  Esq.  J.  M.  Davis 

Thomas  Hope,  Esq.  N.  Ogle,  Esq. 

Richard  Payne  Knight,  Esq.      William  Wadd,  Esq. 
George  Hibbert,  Esq.  Christopher  Hodgson,  Esq. 

John  Edwards,  Esq.  Leigh  Hunt,  Esq. 


312 

Capt.  Henry  Wolseley  J.  Holloway 

James  St.  Aubyn,  Esq.  Henry  Edridge 

—  Magniac,  Esq.  W.  J.  Newton,  Esq. 
James  Dunlop,  Esq.  T.  Bonney 
Joseph  Ward,  Esq.  J.  Martin 

George  Repton,  Esq.  John  Gait 

Henry  Woodthorpe,  Jim.  Esq.  —  Leslie 

—  Cockerell,  Jun.  Esq.  George  Samuel 
P.  Turnerelli  Christopher  Pack 
Charles  Heath  E.  Scriven 

A.  Robertson,  Esq.  C.  Smart. 

As  I  cannot  possibly  select  from  the  pens  of  West's 
numerous  and  able  biographers  a  more  sincere  and  eloquent 
eulogy  than  that  which  the  present  President,  Sir  Thomas 
Lawrence,  passed  upon  the  high  talents  of  his  predecessor, 
when  he  delivered  an  Address  to  the  students  of  the  Royal 
Academy,  in  1823  ;  I  shall  here  insert  the  following  extract 
from  a  privately-printed  copy  of  that  Lecture,  which  Sir 
Thomas  did  me  the  honour  to  give  me  ;  and  I  most  sin- 
cerely hope  that  it  may  induce  the  religious  part  of  the 
Kingdom  to  visit  the  Historic  Gallery,  now  open  in  New- 
man-street. The  President,  at  page  7  in  his  Address  above 
alluded  to,  says  : — 

The  elevated  philosophy  of  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  in  those 
golden  precepts,  which  are  now  acknowledged  as  canons  of 
universal  taste  ;  and  that  illustrious  Society,  of  which  he  was 
the  centre, — combined  with  his  genius  to  give  a  dazzling 
splendour  to  his  name,  which  seemed  to  leave  him  without 
competitor ;  yet  the  powers  and  knowledge  of  Mr.  West 
deserved  not  the  contrast  in  their  present  fortunes. 

At  an  sera  when  Historical  Painting  was  at  the  lowest  ebb, 
(with  the  few  exceptions,  which  the  claims  of  the  beautiful 
and  the  eminent  permitted  to  the  pencil  of  Sir  Joshua),  Mr. 
West,  sustained  by  the  beneficent  patronage  of  his  late 
Majesty,  produced  a  series  of  compositions  from  sacred  and 
profane  history,  profoundly  studied,  and  executed  with  the 


BENJAMIN  WEST,  P.R.A.  313 

most  facile  power,  which  not  only  were  superior  to  any 
former  productions  of  English  Art,  but,  far  surpassing  con- 
temporary merit  on  the  Continent,  were  unequalled  at  any 
period  below  the  schools  of  the  Carracci. 

The  picture  of  "  The  Return  of  Regulus  to  Carthage," 
preserved  with  gracious  attention  in  the  Palace  of  Buck- 
ingham-house, and  of  "  the  Shipwreck  of  St.  Paul,"  in  the 
Chapel  of  the  Royal  Hospital  at  Greenwich,  are  examples 
that  may  securely  be  adduced  in  testimony  of  the  fact. 
Towards  the  close  of  an  honoured  and  laborious  life,  and 
when  his  advanced  age  might  reasonably  have  deterred 
him  from  exertion,  he  produced  a  large  and  interesting 
work,  which,  meeting  with  liberal  reward,  so  forcibly  ex- 
cited the  admiration  of  the  public,  as  even  by  its  attraction 
to  add  new  means  of  patronage  to  the  prompt  benevolence 
that  secured  it.  This  was  succeeded  by  others,  of  still  more 
arduous  subject,  of  greater  magnitude,  and,  if  possible, 
more  powerfully  impressive. 

The  display  of  such  astonishing  ability  in  age  (for  he  was 
employed  on  them  in  his  eightieth  year),  combined  with  the 
sacred  importance  of  his  subjects,  gave  him  celebrity  at  the 
close  of  his  life,  far  greater  than  he  had  ever  before  enjoyed  ; 
and  he  became  (almost  to  forgetfulness  of  deceased  great- 
ness) the  one  popular  painter  of  his  country.  Yet,  what 
slight  circumstances  may  retard  the  effect  usually  produced 
by  death  on  the  fame  of  the  eminent  and  good  !  It  is  now 
more  than  three  years  that  we  have  witnessed  at  his  own 
residence  an  exhibition  of  the  accumulated  labours  of  this1 
venerable  and  great  artist,  whose  remains  were  honoured 
with  a  public  funeral,  and  whose  loss  was  felt  as  a  national 
calamity — totally  neglected  and  deserted  !  the  spacious 
rooms  in  which  they  are  arranged,  erected  in  just  respect 
to  a  parent's  memory,  and  due  attention  to  the  imagined 
expectations  of  the  public,  as  destitute  of  spectators  as 
the  vacant  halls  of  some  assembly  ;  and  but  for  the  posses- 
sion of  other  property  of  known  value,  threatening  to  injure 
the  remaining  fortunes  of  the  filial  love  that  raised  them. 
But  though  unnoticed  by  the  public,  the  gallery  of  Mr.  West 
remains,  Gentlemen,  for  you,  and  exists  for  your  instruction  ; 
while  the  extent  of  knowledge  that  he  possessed,  and  was 
so  liberal  to  convey ;  the  useful  weight  of  his  opinions,  in 


314        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

societies  of  the  highest  rank ;  the  gentle  humanity  of  his 
nature,  and  that  parental  fondness,  with  which  youth,  and 
its  young  aspirings,  were  instructed  and  cherished  by  him, 
will  render  his  memory  sacred  to  his  friends, — and  endeared 
to  the  schools  of  this  Academy,  while  respect  for  worth, 
and  gratitude  for  invaluable  service,  are  encouraged  in  them. 

For  myself,  indebted  to  his  friendship  for  no  inconsider- 
able portion  of  that  service,  I  can  truly  say,  that  I  never 
estimated  the  comprehensive  ability  of  that  great  Artist  so 
highly,  as  when  comparing  his  labours  in  my  memory,  with 
many  of  the  most  celebrated  compositions,  then  before  me, 
of  the  revivers  of  modern  art :  and  were  the  revered  friend 
now  living,  to  whom  my  letters  were  addressed,  his  report 
would  be  evidence  of  that  impression. 

I  hope  it  is  impossible  that  the  Nation  should  long  con- 
tinue its  neglect ;  and  seem  to  prove  by  this  indifference, 
that  the  general  enthusiasm  so  recently  excited  by  those 
fine  productions,  and  the  respect  then  shown  to  their 
venerated  author,  were  but  the  impulse  and  fashion  of  an 
hour,  dependent  on  the  mere  convenience  of  place  and 
distance,  instead  of  the  rational  tribute  of  the  judgment, 
and  the  feeling  protection  of  an  enlightened  and  just  people. 
Yet,  whatever,  in  extent  of  fame,  had  been  the  successful 
rivalry  of  Mr.  West  with  his  illustrious  predecessor,  the 
integrity  of  your  late  lamented  President  would  still  have 
yielded  the  chief  honours  of  the  English  school  to  our 
beloved  Sir  Joshua  !  of  whose  works,  character,  and  con- 
versation, he  often  spoke,  in  the  last  years  of  the  intercourse 
I  had  the  honour  to  have  with  him,  with  that  pleased  and 
proud  remembrance,  which  great  minds  always  hold  of 
the  competitor  who  had  most  severely  tasked  their  powers, 
of  the  genius  that  had  surpassed  them. 

From  the  year  1768  to  1801,  Mr.  West  had  the  honour 
of  executing  sixty-four  pictures  and  other  designs  for  our 
late  most  gracious  Sovereign  King  George  III.  amounting 
to  34.I87/.1  Though  this  sum  is  certainly  a  great  one,  yet 

1  Many  of  these  pictures  now    Gallery  has  lent  all  its  Wests 
cover  the  walls  of  Hampton    to  provincial  galleries. 
Court   Palace.     The  National 


BENJAMIN  WEST,  P.R.A.  315 

it  must  be  recollected  that  Mr.  West  was  thirty-two  years 
engaged  upon  them,  and  that  his  private  and  public  com- 
missions were  very  trifling  until  the  year  1811,  when  his 
Royal  Highness  the  Prince  Regent  and  thirty-nine  of  the 
leading  Members  of  the  British  Institution,  subscribed  the 
sum  of  three  thousand  guineas  for  a  picture  from  the  easel 
of  Mr.  West ;  by  far  the  largest  sum  ever  given  for  a  picture 
by  a  modern  artist,  in  this  or  any  other  country.  To  prove 
to  the  world  how  warmly  Mr.  West  felt  this  flattering  and 
most  distinguished  mark  of  favour,  he  presented  each  of 
the  subscribers  with  a  medal,  struck  at  Birmingham,  from 
a  die  sunk  purposely  by  Mills,  from  a  bust  modelled  by 
Chantrey.  The  obverse  of  this  medal,  which  is  the  size 
of  a  crown  piece,  consists  of  the  likeness  in  profile,  round 
which  is  inscribed,  "  Benjamin  West,  President  of  the 
Royal  Academy,  M.D.C.C.C.XV."  The  inscription  on  the 
reverse  is  as  follows  : 

"  Respectfully  to  perpetuate  the  names  of  those  who,  in 
M.D.C.C.C.XI,  subscribed  to  purchase  the  picture  of  'Christ 
in  the  Temple '  for  the  Gallery  of  the  British  Institution."1 
Within  the  inscription  are  the  following  names,  in  eight 
compartments,  running  in  circles  to  the  centre,  commencing 
with 

H.  R.  H.  P.  Regent  D.  of  Devonshire 

M.  of  Stafford  E.  of  Egremont 

B.  of  Durham  E.  of  Darnley 

R.  P.  Knight  L.  Dundas 

M.  Camden  J.  Nash 

1  West  painted  this  picture  with  excellent  financial  results, 

in    1811    to    help    his    fellow  The  original  painting  was  pre- 

Quakers    in    Philadelphia    to  sented  by  the  British  Institu- 

provide    a   hospital,    but    the  tion  to  the  National  Gallery. 
British  Institution  bought  the        George  Mills,  of  whose  work 

picture    for    three    thousand  West  held  a  high  opinion,  died 

guineas,  allowing  West  to  make  in  Birmingham  in  1824,  aged 

a  copy  for  his  native  American  thirty-one, 
city,   where  it  was  exhibited 


316        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

J.  J.  Angerstein  E.  of  Ashburnham 

E.  of  Carlisle  Sir  T.  Bernard 

L.  Brownlow  Sir  T.  Baring 

E.  Spencer  R.  H.  C.  Long 

H.  P.  Hope  T.  Coutts 

E.  of  Aylesford  C.  J.  Cholmondeley 

D.  of  Bedford  Sir  G.  Beaumont 

Lady  Lucas  J.  Hinckley 

L.  G.  L.  Gower  Sir  A.  Hume 

Tho.  Hope  W.  Smith 

D.  of  Bridgewater  E.  of  Hardwicke 

Sir  W.  W.  Wynne  Claude  Scott 

C.  Duncombe  L.  Kinnaird 

W.  Morland  Rev.  W.  Long 

R.  H.  Davis  D.  P.  Watts. 

In  the  centre  of  this  reverse,  within  a  wreath  of  oak- 
leaves  and  acorns,  are  these  words,  "  Under  the  Regency." 

About  three  hundred  of  these  medals  were  struck  in 
bronze,  round  the  edge  of  one  of  which  was  engraven, 
"  Presented  by  Mr.  West  to  his  Royal  Highness  the  Prince 
Regent." 

Upon  reflection,  Mr.  West  considered  this  bronze,  though 
thus  inscribed,  an  improper  offering  to  so  noble  a  Prince  ; 
he  therefore  had  one  struck  in  the  purest  gold,  which  he  had 
the  honour  of  presenting.  The  discarded  bronze  medal, 
intended  for  his  Royal  Highness  the  Prince  Regent,  Mr. 
West  gave  to  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Benjamin  West,  who 
treasures  it  as  an  unquestionable  unique. 

About  twelve  of  the  bronzes  were  gilt,  which  were  dis- 
tributed to  his  own  family,  and  one  or  two  ladies  of  dis- 
tinction. 


JOHN    HALL 

JOHN  HALL,  when  a  lad,  painted  ornaments  upon 
china  for  the  manufactories  then  in  high  estimation 
at  Chelsea,  under  the  direction  of  Sir  Stephen  Janson. 
Ravenet,1  Hall's  master,  was  employed  also  to 
engrave  copper-plates,  from  which  the  articles  were  stamped, 
consisting  of  scrolls,  foliage,  shells,  pastoral  subjects,  and 
figures  of  every  description.  Of  some  of  these  productions, 
I  have  seen  impressions  on  paper,  and  they,  as  well  as  every 
thing  from  the  hand  of  Ravenet,  do  him  great  credit. 
Hall  remained  with  Ravenet  about  two  years  beyond  his 
stipulated  time  ;  and  after  gradually  advancing  in  his  Art, 
he  married  Miss  Gilles,  a  lady  of  French  extraction,  by 
whom,  as  he  acknowledged  to  Philip  Audinet,  the  Engraver, 
(his  pupil,)  now  living  at  No.  56,  Great  Russell-street,2  one 
of  my  informants,  he  had  thirteen  children  ;  of  which  num- 
ber only  six  were  then  living,  two  sons  and  four  daughters. 
His  eldest  son,  George  William,  was  educated  for  the 
Church,  and  is  now  Master  of  Pembroke  College,  Oxford. 
His  daughter  Mary  married  that  delightful  composer 
Stephen  Storace,  by  whom  she  had  one  child,  now  deceased. 
In  thus  noticing  Storace,  I  may  observe  that  his  bio- 

1  For    the     Chelsea     china  illustrations     for     an    edition 
works  and  Ravenet,  see  Index,  of     Walton's     Angler,     1808. 

2  Philip  Audinet  was  born  in  Living  as  a  bachelor  for  many 
Soho  in  1766,  and  came  of  a  years    at    56    Great    Russell- 
French    refugee    family.      He  street,  he  died  there  December 
was  educated  by  his  uncle,  the  i8th,  1837,  aged  seventy-one, 
Rev.  Samuel  Audinet,  of  the  and  was  buried  in  the  vaults 
French     Protestant     Church,  of  St.  Giles's-in-the-Fields. 
Soho.     He   engraved  Wales's 

317 


318        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

graphers  are  wrong  as  to  his  first  public  piece  :  it  was  The 
Doctor  and  Apothecary  :  The  Haunted  Tower  was  his  second.  * 
A  monument  has  been  erected  to  his  memory  in  Marylebone 
Church,  the  epitaph  of  which  was  written  by  his  sincere 
and  valuable  friend,  Prince  Hoare,  the  Dramatic  author, 
and  Secretary  for  Foreign  Correspondence  to  the  Royal 
Academy.  Mr.  Hall,  when  he  quitted  his  house  in  Berwick- 
street,  where  he  had  resided  for  a  number  of  years,  took  one 
in  Cumberland-street,  near  the  New-road,  where  it  is  said 
he  never  enjoyed  his  health,  from  suffering  so  much  for  the 
loss  of  his  son-in-law  Storace.2  Mr.  Hall  was  buried  in  his 
wife's  family-vault  in  Paddington  Old  Church-yard,  upon 
the  tomb-stone  of  which  is  the  following  inscription  : — 

MR.  JOHN  HALL,  died  April  7th,  1797, 
Aged  57. 

Mr.  Hall,  like  his  friend  Woollett,  arrived  at  the  summit 
of  his  Art ;  and  upon  the  production  of  a  proof  of  his  plate 
from  West's  picture  of  Oliver  Cromwell  Dissolving  the 
Parliament,  the  late  King  George  the  Third  appointed 
him  his  Historical-Engraver.  By  possessing  a  superior 
mind,  and  always  associating  with  persons  of  worth  and 
high  literary  talents,  and  being  a  man  of  the  strictest  in- 
tegrity, Mr.  Hall  was  highly  respected  through  life  by  every 
one  who  knew  him.  Kurd,  Bishop  of  Worcester,  was  one 
of  his  best  friends  ;  of  whom  he  engraved  a  most  exquisite 
portrait,  from  a  drawing  in  black  and  red  chalk,  which  he 
made  from  a  picture  then  at  Buckingham-house,  in  the 
possession  of  the  late  Queen.  He  also  engraved  a  portrait  of 
Warburton,  Bishop  of  Gloucester,  for  his  patron,  Dr.  Kurd. 

1  Stephen  Storace  (1763-  He  wrote  about  twenty  operas, 
1796)  wrote  many  operas,  and  died  in  Percy-street, 
The  Doctor  and  the  Apothe-  Tottenham  -  court  -  road,  in 
cary  was  adapted  from  Dit-  1796,  leaving  Hall's  daughter 
tersdorf's  opera  Doktor  und  a  widow. 
Apotheker.  The  Haunted  Tower  z  Hall,  according  to  Red- 
was  his  first  English  work,  grave,  died  in  Berwick-street. 


RICHARD    COSWAY,    R.A. 

K CHARD  COSWAY,  when  a  boy,  was  noticed  by 
Mr.    Shipley,   the  proprietor  of  the  Drawing- 
school  in  the  Strand,  already  mentioned,  who 
took  him  to  wait  upon  the  students,  and  carry  in 
the  tea  and  coffee,  which  Mr.  Shipley's  housekeeper  was 
allowed  to  provide,  and  for  which  she  charged  three-pence 
per  head. 

The  students,  among  whom  were  Nollekens  and  my  father, 
good-temperedly  gave  Dick,  for  so  he  was  called,  instructions 
in  drawing,  and  also  advised  him,  finding  him  to  have  some 
talent,  to  try  for  a  prize  in  the  Society  of  Arts ;  and  in 
1755,  he  obtained  a  premium  of  5/.  55.  for  a  drawing.  In 
1757,  he  gained  another  premium  of  4/.  45. ;  in  1758,  one 
of  4/.  45. ;  in  1759,  a  premium  of  2l.  2s. ;  and  in  1760,  when 
he  was  under  the  age  of  twenty-four,  another  premium  of 

I0/.  IOS. 

Soon  after  this,  he  left  his  master,  and  became  a  teacher 
in  Pars'  Drawing-school,  in  the  Strand.1  He  was  also  em- 
ployed to  make  drawings  of  heads  for  the  shops,  as  well  as 
fancy-miniatures,  and  free  subjects  for  snuff-boxes  for  the 
jewellers,  mostly  from  ladies  whom  he  knew  ;  and  from  the 
money  he  gained,  and  the  gaiety  of  the  company  he  kept,  he 
rose,  from  one  of  the  dirtiest  boys,  to  one  of  the  smartest 
of  men.  Indeed  so  ridiculously  foppish  did  he  become, 

1  Pars'     School,     kept     by  the  site  of  Simpson's  restaur- 

Henry  Pars,  draughtsman  and  ant.  Here  pupils  were  prepared 

chaser,    was   for   many   years  for  the  more  advanced  drawing 

established  at  101  Strand,  on  academy  in  St.  Martin's-lane. 


320        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

that  Mat  Darley,  the  famous  caricature  printseller,  in- 
troduced an  etching  of  him  in  his  window,  in  the  Strand, 
as ' '  The  Macaroni  Miniature-painter. ' '  He  also  was  satirized 
by  Dighton,  whose  drawing  was  engraved  in  mezzotinto, 
by  the  celebrated  Earlom,  when  a  beginner,  though  without 
the  names  of  the  artists  ;  and  the  print,  which  is  entitled 
"  The  Macaroni  Painter  ;  or,  Billy  Dimple  sitting  for  his 
Picture,"  is  now  extremely  rare.1  At  the  time  this  print 
was  published,  Mr.  Cosway  lived  in  Orchard-street,  PorTman- 
square,  whence  he  removed  to  the  house  in  which  Shackel- 
ton,  the  Portrait-painter,  had  lived,  of  whom  there  is  a 
rare  engraving  in  mezzotinto.2  In  this  house,  No.  4,  Ber- 
keley-street, opposite  the  Duke  of  Devonshire's  wall,  I 
first  saw  Mr.  Cosway  ;  and  at  that  time  he  kept  a  black 
servant,  who  published  an  octavo  work  upon  Slavery.  I 
have  often  seen  Mr.  Cosway  at  the  Elder  Christie's  Picture- 
sales,  full-dressed  in  his  sword  and  bag  ;  with  a  small  three- 
cornered  hat  on  the  top  of  his  powered  toupee,  and  a  mul- 
berry silk  coat,  profusely  embroidered  with  scarlet  straw- 
berries. It  was  in  this  house  that  his  Royal  Highness  the 
Prince  of  Wales  and  Royal  brothers  first  noticed  and  em- 
ployed Cosway  ;  which  brought  his  very  tasteful  works  into 

1  The   "  Macaroni  Painter  "  the  title  "  The  Macaroni  Print 

was   drawn   by   Dighton   and  Shop." 

engraved   by   Earlom.     It   is  Robert  Dighton,  the  prolific 

described  in  the  British  Mu-  caricaturist,    died    1814.      His 

seum  Catalogue  of  Prints  and  series  of  City  and  West  End 

Drawings,  Division  I,  Vol.  IV,  characters  have  a  permanent 

p.  712.     A  caricature,  similar  value. — Richard  Earlom(i743- 

in     subject,     entitled     "  The  1842)    was    the    distinguished 

Paintress  of   Macaronis,"   ap-  mezzotint  engraver  of  Claude 

pears  to  have  Angelica  Kauff-  Lorraine's   "  Liber  Veritatis," 

mann  for  its  subject.    Matthew  and  of  many  British  portraits. 

Darley  published,   or  sold,   a  2  John  Shackleton  succeeded 

great     number     of     pictorial  Kent    as   portrait    painter   to 

satires  on  the  Macaronis  not  George  II,  and  his  portrait  of 

omitting  a  picture  of  his  own  the  King  is  in  the  National  Por- 

premises  in  the  Strand  under  trait  Gallery.   He  died  in  1767. 


THE    MACARONI    PAINTER    (RICHARD    COSWAY,    R.A. ),    OR    BII.I.Y    DIMPLE 

SITTING    FOR    HIS    PICTURE.       BY    ROBERT    DIGHTON 
From  a  rare  mezzotint  by  Earlom  in  the  Collection  of  Mr.  Jo/in  Lane 


THE  PAINTER  OK  MACARONIS 
(MARIA  COS\VAY) 

From  a  very  rare  caricature  in  the  Collection  of  Francis  Wellesley,  Esq. 


RICHARD  COSWAY,  R.A.  321 

high  estimation.  He  also  collected  old  pictures,  in  which 
he  dealt  with  no  inconsiderable  advantage ;  and  he  was 
fond  of  ancient  armour,  and  particularly  old  household 
furniture,  of  which  he  possessed  a  prodigious  quantity. 

At  this  time,  Cosway  married  Maria  Hatfield,  one  of  two 
daughters  of  a  native  of  Shrewsbury,  who  kept  an  English 
hotel  a  short  distance  from  Florence  ;  she  was  married  at 
St.  George's,  Hanover-square,  and  her  mother  then  lived 
in  the  house  now  occupied  by  Thomas  Phillips,  Esq.  R.A., 
and  Professor  of  Painting  to  the  Royal  Academy.  The  late 
Charles  Townley,  Esq.  the  collector  of  the  Marbles  now  in 
the  British  Museum,  gave  the  bride  away.1  The  other 
daughter,  Charlotte,  was  a  most  amiable  woman,  and  upon 
quitting  her  husband,  the  late  Mr.  Combe,  (the  author  of 
Dr.  Syntax's  Tour,}*  whom  she  had  unfortunately  married, 
was  invited  into  the  agreeable  society  of  her  steady  friend, 
Mrs.  Curtis,  of  King's  County,  Ireland  ;  a  lady  remarkable 
for  her  benevolence,  literary  attainments,  and  most  elegant 
manners  ;  with  whom  she  still  resides,  and  is  treated  with 
all  the  kindness  of  a  sister. 

From  Berkeley-street,  Mr.  Cosway  removed  to  Pall-Mall, 
and  for  many  years  resided  in  the  centre  of  three  houses, 
which  originally  were  only  one  ;  being  erected  for  the 
Duke  of  Schomberg.  In  the  middle  part,  as  it  is  now  divided, 
lived  Jarvis,  the  Painter,  immortalized  by  Pope,  whose 
whole-length  portrait  he  painted,  without  exposing  much 
of  his  deformity  ;  next  by  Astley,  the  Painter,  who  married 

1  Maria  Cecilia  Louisa  Cos  way  uncertain  date  after  her  hus- 

wasthe  daughter  of  an  Irishman  band's  death  in  1821. — Thomas 

named  Hatfield,  or  Hadfield,  a  Phillips,  A.R.A.,  was  living  at  8 

hotel-keeper  at  Leghorn.     She  George-street,  Hanover-square, 

became  a  distinguished  minia-  when  Smith  wrote, 
ture     painter     and     London         2  She  was  the  second  wife 

hostess,    but    was    never    ac-  of    the    spendthrift    William 

climatised    to    England,    and  Combe,  and  the  marriage  ended 

indulged  in  long  absences   in  in  a  separation. 
Italy,  where   she   died  at   an 


VOL.  II. — Y 


Lady  Duckenfield ;  after  him  by  Nathaniel  Hone,  Esq. 
R.A.,  who  kept  a  famous  black  woman  in  it  as  his  model ; 
and  then  by  the  "  Celestial  Doctor  "  Graham,  the  Lecturer  ; 
and  in  this  house  it  has  been  said  the  Doctor  exhibited 
Emma  Lyon,  afterwards  Lady  Hamilton,  as  the  Goddess 
of  Health ;  though  this  has  been  expressly  and  positively 
contradicted  by  persons  of  the  strictest  veracity.  In  this 
residence,  Graham  was  succeeded  by  Cosway  ;  and  when  he 
left  it,  the  Polygraphic  Society  occupied  it  for  the  exhibition 
of  their  wretched  copies  of  good  pictures.  They  put  up 
the  figures  at  the  porch,  and  then  Bryan,  the  Picture- 
dealer,  adorned  it  with  old  pictures,  for  the  most  part 
extensively  retouched  by  my  old  fellow  student  William 
Brooks.  After  him  came  the  friendly  Peter  Coxe,  the 
Auctioneer,  and  Author  of  that  beautifully  embellished 
Poem  entitled  The  Social  Day :  Mr.  Payne,  the  owner  of 
the  house,  came  to  it  from  his  father's  premises  at  the  Mews- 
gate,  so  well  known  to  the  literati  of  the  day.  He  still,  with 
his  partner  Mr.  Foss,  not  only  occupies  it  as  one  of  the  most 
valuable  bookseller's  shops  in  the  Metropolis,  but  also 
enjoys  it  under  the  friendly  and  enviable  appellation  of 
"  Honest  Tom  Payne's."1 

1  Peter  Cunningham  thought  He  married,  not  Lady  Ducken- 

that    Schomberg    House    was  field,    but    Lady    Duckenfield 

merely  named  after  the  great  Daniel,  who  shortly  died  and 

Duke  of  Schomberg,  and  that  left  him  an  income  of  5000^.  a 

it  was  built  by  his  son,  the  year.     His  friends  were  wont 

third  and  last  Duke,  who  died  to  recall  his  days  of  indigence 

in  1719.    After  accommodating  when  on  one  occasion,  in  Italy, 

the  Duke  of  Cumberland  in  the  he  took  off  his  coat  at  a  picnic 

first  year  of  George  III.'s  reign  and  displayed  a  waistcoat  back 

it  was  bought  in  1765  from  the  cut  from  one  of  his  old  canvases 

Earl  of  Holdernesse  (who  had  with  a  waterfall  painted  on  it. 

married   into   the    Schomberg  After      dividing      Schomberg 

family)   by  John  Astley,   the  House  into  three  parts,  Astley 

beau     and    portrait     painter,  occupied  the  middle  one  himself. 

Astley  had  been  a  fellow  pupil  It  is  impossible  that  Jarvis 

with  Reynolds  under  Hudson,  (or  Jervas)   could  have  lived 


RICHARD  COSWAY,   R.A.  323 

When  Cosway  lived  in  Pali-Mall,  his  Maria,  of  whom 
there  are  several  engraved  portraits,  held  her  concerts  in 
it,  which  were  sanctioned  by  his  Royal  Highness  the  Prince 
of  Wales,  and  some  of  the  highest  fashionables  of  the  day  ; 
the  professional  talents  were  of  the  first  class,  and  Pall-Mail, 
upon  Sunday  evenings,  was  hardly  passable.  Amongst 
the  numerous  letters  received  by  Mrs.  Cosway  at  this  time, 
she  was  honoured  with  the  two  following  from  her  Grace 
Georgiana  Duchess  of  Devonshire. 

DEAR   MRS.    COSWAY, 

I  AM  extremely  sorry  that  my  Mother's  illness  pre- 
vents my  going  out  and  coming  to  you  to-night. If  you 

have  the  harp-woman,  (I  forget  her  hard  name,)  I  wish  you 
would  tell  her  that  I  hope  to  see  her  as  soon  as  my  Mother 
is  better.  Believe  me,  yours  ever, 

G.  DEVONSHIRE. 

DEAR  MRS.  COSWAY,  Thursday. 

PRAY  send  to  Mademoiselle  Carotine,  and  tell  her 
I  was  sent  for  out  of  town  on  Election  business,  which  will 
prevent  my  seeing  her  at  five  to-day. 

I  am,  dear  Mrs.  Cosway, 

Yours,     G  DEVONSHIRE. 

"  in  the  middle  part  as  it  is  Bryan,    the    picture-dealer, 

now  divided,"  seeing  that  he  was  Michael  Bryan  (1757-1821), 

died   many   years   before   the  whose   Dictionary  of  Painters 

division  took  place.  and  Engravers,   completed   in 

Nathaniel    Hone's    tenancy  1816,  has  been  several  times 

seems  to  lack  other  authority,  enlarged  and  is  now  a  standard 

Dr.    Graham's    "  impudent  work   in   C.    N.    Williamson's 

puppet   show  of  imposition,"  edition. 

as    Walpole    called    it,    was  Peter  Coxe,  the  auctioneer, 

moved  from  Adelphi-terrace  to  published  his  Social  Day,  in 

Schomberg  House  in  1781.  four  cantos,  in  1823.  See  Index. 

On  Graham's  flight  to  Scot-  Thomas  Payne  the  younger, 

land    in    1786    the    Cosway s  son  of  "  Honest  Tom  Payne  " 

settled  in  the  middle  portion.  of  the  Mews  Gate,  moved  into 

The  Polygraphic  Society  Schomberg  House  in  1806,  and 
seems  to  have  left  no  other  some  years  later  took  his  ap- 
trace  of  its  existence  than  the  prentice,  Henry  Foss,  into  part- 
sculptures  over  the  entrance.  nership. 


324        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

The  following  complimentary  letter  is  from  the  celebrated 
Mrs.  Cowley,1  one  of  the  numerous  literary  characters  who 
also  attended  Mrs.  Cosway's  concerts. 

MY  DEAR   MRS.   COS  WAY, 

THIS  morning  I  was  informed  by  Mr.  Mathew,  who 
received  it  from  Mr.  Hutton,  that  you  have  been  extremely 
ill.  I  am — how  foolish  to  say  "  I  am  very  sorry  !  "  that 
phrase  is  in  the  mouths  of  all  the  children  of  indifference.  I 
am  myself  very  ill,  or,  instead  of  my  daughter,  you  would 
have  seen  me. 

But  how  can  you,  whom  I  saw  last  Tuesday  at  Somerset- 
house,  so  well, — how  can  you  have  been  a  long  time  ill  ? 
Yes,  I  saw  you,  yourself  !  If  you  can  draw  every  body,  as 
justly  as  the  fair  Maria,  you  will  be  the  first  portrait-painter 
in  the  kingdom.  It  is  identically  you,  without  subtraction 
or  addition. 

Your  Ossian  is  charming  !  the  Maid  of  Arragon  is  placed 
too  high ; — but  'tis  a  sweet,  elegant  picture  !  I  could  not 
find  the  Love-sick  damsel  of  the  Sun  ; — but  I  must  go 
again.  Pray  let  me  know  how  you  are  ; — and  tell  me  that 
some  morning  of  the  coming  week  I  shall  be  a  welcome 
visitant.  Your  ever  affectionate, 

Powis-place  H.  COWLEY. 

Sunday  evening. 

The  next  house  inhabited  by  Cosway,  was  one  of  those, 
with  a  lion  by  its  side,  at  the  entrance  of  Stratford-place, 
Oxford-street,  and  was  situate  at  the  south-west  corner. 
No  sooner,  however,  were  his  stoves  fixed,  but  an  unlucky 
wight  stuck  the  following  lines  upon  his  door,  said  to 
have  been  written  by  Peter  Pindar  : — 

When  a  man  to  a  fair  for  a  show  brings  a  lion, 

'Tis  usual  a  monkey  the  sign-post  to  tie  on  : 

But  here  the  old  custom  reversed  is  seen, 

For  the  Lion's  without — and  the  Monkey's  within  ! " 

1  Hannah     Cowley     (1743-  Her    letter    to    Mrs.    Cosway 

1809),  the  dramatist,  poet,  and  obviously  refers  to  that  lady's 

"  Delia  Crascan  "  writer  who,  exhibits  at  a  Royal  Academy 

to    the    advantage    of    satire,  exhibition  at  Somerset  House, 

signed  herself  "  Anna  Matilda."  but  its  interest  is  negligible. 


RICHARD  COSWAY,  R.A.  325 

Cosway,  though  a  well-made  little  man,  was  certainly 
very  much  like  a  monkey  in  his  face  ;  and  therefore,  to 
avoid  a  repetition  of  this  attack,  he  left  this  lion-guarded 
mansion  for  No.  20,  in  the  same  street.  I  there  recollect 
seeing  him  stand  at  the  fireside,  upon  one  of  Madame 
Pompadour's  rugs,  leaning  against  a  chimney-piece,  dedi- 
cated to  the  Sun,  the  ornaments  of  which  were  sculptured 
by  Banks,  giving  instructions  to  a  picture-dealer  to  bid 
for  some  of  the  Merly  drawings,  at  the  memorable  sale  of 
Ralph  Willett,  Esq.1  His  new  house  he  fitted  up  in  so 
picturesque,  and,  indeed,  so  princely  a  style,  that  I  regret 
drawings  were  not  made  of  the  general  appearance  of  each 
apartment ;  for  many  of  the  rooms  were  more  like  scenes 
of  enchantment,  pencilled  by  a  poet's  fancy,  than  any  thing, 
perhaps,  before  displayed  in  a  domestic  habitation.  His 
furniture  consisted  of  ancient  chairs,  couches,  and  con- 
versation-stools, elaborately  carved  and  gilt,  and  covered 
with  the  most  costly  Genoa  velvets  ;  escritoires,  of  ebony, 
inlaid  with  mother-of-pearl ;  and  rich  caskets  for  antique 
gems,  exquisitely  enamelled,  and  adorned  with  onyxes, 
opals,  rubies,  and  emeralds.  There  were  also  cabinets  of 
ivory,  curiously  wrought ;  mosaic-tables,  set  with  jasper, 
blood-stone,  and  lapis-lazuli,  having  their  feet  carved  into 
the  claws  of  lions  and  eagles  ;  screens  of  old  raised  oriental 
Japan  ;  massive  musical  clocks,  richly  chased  with  or-molu 
and  tortoise-shell ;  ottomans,  superbly  damasked  ;  Persian 
and  other  carpets,  with  corresponding  hearth-rugs,  bordered 
with  ancient  family  crests,  and  armorial  ensigns  in  the 
centre;  and  rich  hangings  of  English  tapestry.  The 
chimney-pieces  were  carved  by  Banks,  and  were  farther 
adorned  with  the  choicest  bronzes,  models  in  wax  terracotta  ; 
the  tables  covered  with  old  Sevre,  blue,  Mandarin,  Nankin, 

1  Ralph  Willett  (1719-1795)  town    house    in    Dean-street, 

was    a    wealthy    collector    of  Soho.     His  pictures  were  sold 

books  and  prints  at  his  seat  May  3ist,  1813,  by  Peter  Coxe 

at  Merly,  Dorset.    He  had  a  &  Co. 


326        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

and  Dresden  china  ;  and  the  cabinets  were  surmounted 
with  crystal  cups  adorned  with  the  York  and  Lancaster 
roses,  which  might  probably  have  graced  the  splendid 
banquets  of  the  proud  Wolsey.  His  specimens  of  armour 
were  truly  rich,  but  certainly  not  to  be  compared  with  those 
in  Dr.  Meyrick's  splendid  collection,  of  which  the  public 
can  form  but  little  conception  from  the  work  lately  pub- 
lished i1  highly  interesting  and  useful  as  it  most  unquestion- 
ably is,  particularly  to  the  antiquary,  the  historian,  and 
above  all,  to  artists  and  theatrical  managers. 

Being  in  possession  of  three  original  letters,  addressed  to 
Cos  way  by  Henry  Tresham,  R.A.,  Sir  Peter  Francis  Bour- 
geois, and  Fuseli,  I  shall  venture  to  present  the  reader  with 
the  following  copies  : — 

Ramsgate,  Oct.  nth,   1801, 
No.  6,  Chapel-place. 

DEAR   COSWAY, 

BEING  detained  here  much  longer  than  I  had  originally 
intended,  and  not  being,  at  present,  able  to  determine  the 
time  of  my  departure,  I  take  up  the  pen  to  congratulate  you 
as  an  Artist,  and  humane  man,  on  the  pacification  that  has 
taken  place  between  rival  nations,  under  the  auspices  of  Lord 
Hawkesbury  and  Buonaparte.  Peace,  peace,  peace,  is 
echoed  along  the  cliffs  from  this  spot  to  Dover,  from  which 
place  I  have  just  returned,  and  where  I  received  much 
gratification  from  visiting  the  Castle,  and  every  thing 
interesting  in  the  neighbourhood  :  this  has  been  my  second 
visit.  Your  friend  Mr.  Smith's  house  is  situated  in  a  most 
delightful  and  dangerous  spot.  I  am  in  love  with  a  tene- 
ment that  he  lets  for  two  guineas  a-year,  cut  out  of  the 
rock,  and  at  present  inhabited  by  a  healthy-looking  man, 
who  exults  in,  and  practises  the  art  of  drying  flounders  in 
the  Dutch  style.  If  this  tenant  should  make  a  fortune  and 

1  Sir  Samuel  Rush  Meyrick  don  and  Windsor  Castle.    His 

(1783-1848)  formed  his  great  Critical    Inquiry  into   Ancient 

collection    of    armour    at    20  Armour  was  published  in  three 

Upper  Cadogan-place.    He  was  quarto  volumes  in  1824,  and 

employed  to  arrange  the  col-  is  still  highly  valued, 
lections  at  the  Tower  of  Lon- 


RICHARD  COSWAY,  R.A.  327 

retire  from  business,  Mr.  Smith  shall  have  an  increase  of 
rent,  (indulging  me  with  a  preference  in  the  lease.)  I  long 
to  have  possession,  remove  my  colour-box  and  books,  suffer 
my  beard  to  grow,  and  by  becoming  the  Dover  Hermit, 
retire  into  celebrity  :  until  this  event  takes  place,  we  must 
pursue  the  beaten-track ;  therefore  I  request  you  will 
favour  me  with  a  letter,  replete  with  information  on  Aca- 
demical surmises,  plans,  arrangements,  intended  elections, 
Thatched-house  dinner-parties,  and  every  thing  that  tends  to 
gratify  a  greedy  inquirer.  My  intention  is  to  be  in  London, 
at  farthest,  on  the  first  of  November.  An  accident,  which 
has  brought  on  a  violent  inflammation  in  my  aunt's  leg, 
attended  with  alarming  symptoms,  has  very  much  deranged 
our  party,  and,  waiting  for  favourable  symptoms,  detains 
me.  The  surgeon  that  attends,  hopes  in  a  fortnight  to  be 
able  to  check  the  progress  of  mortification. 

Tis  curious  to  observe  the  vicissitudes  in  the  human 
mind.  My  aunt  now  says  that  I  am  her  only  friend,  and  that 
my  leaving  her  would  be  her  death  ;  that  she  expects  from 
my  affection  what  she  never  could  purchase  ;  and  attentions 
on  my  side  are  the  more  meritorious,  as  she  no  longer  has 
it  in  her  power  to  reward  them.  Thus,  my  dear  friend,  am 
I  situated  :  with  regard  to  health,  the  sea  air  and  warm 
sea-baths  have  done  me  a  great  deal  of  service.  I  am  firmer 
on  my  legs,  and  think  I  am  so  fortified,  that  I  shall  be  able 
now  to  hold  out  a  very  long  siege.  If  my  name  is  not  totally 
forgotten  by  Mrs.  Cosway,  present  her  with  my  best  com- 
pliments. Sir  William  Beechey  and  Sir  Francis  Bourgeois 
have  my  very  good  wishes  ;  when  you  see  them,  tell  them 
I  hope  they  sometimes  think  of  me  ;  and  inform  our  ex- 
cellent friend,  honest  Paul  Sandby,  that  I  have  a  budget 
of  verses  for  his  perusal ;  tell  him  they  were  inspired  by 
love,  and  are  most  delectable  trifles.  Believe  me  to  be 
with  sincerity,  Your  friend,  obedient,  &c.  &c. 

H.  TRESHAM. 

My  best  compliments  to  Miss  Cosway. 

MY  DEAR   SIR, 

I  BEG  you  will  attend  to-morrow  the  General  Meeting  of 
the  Royal  Academy,  ordered  by  ,Mr.  West,  contrary  to 


328        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

the  laws  of  the  Institution,  which  prohibit  any  one  to  enter 
the  rooms  before  the  Exhibition  opens,  the  Council  and  necessary 
servants  excepted. 

You  know,  that  by  the  laws,  no  picture  can  be  admitted 
after  it  has  been  rejected  by  the  Council,  and  that  the  said 
Council  has  the  entire  direction  and  management  of  all  the 
business  of  the  Society. 

I  hope  you  will,  on  this  occasion,  prove,  as  usual,  a  steady 
friend  to  the  laws  of  our  Institution  ;  and  I  am, 

Dear  Sir, 

Yours  truly, 

April  24,  1803.  F.  BOURGEOIS. 

SIR, 

Permit  me  to  inform  you  that,  after  long  consideration, 
I  venture  to  offer  myself  a  candidate  for  the  place  vacated 
by  the  demise  of  Mr.  Wilton.1 

I  am  not  vain  enough  to  imagine,  that  the  familiarity 
with  which  you  have  honoured  me,  and  the  suffrage  which, 
on  a  former  occasion,  you  have  given  in  my  favour,  will 
enable  me  at  present  to  expect  your  vote  in  preference  to 
other  claimants.  My  hopes  of  some  attention  to  my  request, 
must  solely  arise  from  your  conviction  that  those  persons 
whose  claims  you  might  be  inclined  to  support,  cannot  be 
successful  candidates. 

I  am,  Sir, 

With  the  highest  esteem, 

Berner's-street,  Your  obedient,  humble  servant, 

Dec.  7th,  1803.  H.  FUSELI. 

Unfortunately  for  Mr.  Cosway,  he  had  the  reputation 
of  shooting  with  a  long  bow,  and  sometimes  his  stories  were 
in  the  wildest  spirit  of  supernatural  agency,  to  which  he 
was  a  devotee,  as  will  appear  by  the  following  anecdote. 
One  day,  at  the  Royal  Academy  dinner,  he  assured  a  brother 
Academician,  that  he  had  that  morning  been  visited  by 
Mr.  Pitt,  who  had  then  been  dead  about  four  years.  "  Well," 

1  The  Keepership  of  the  Royal  Academy,  to  which  Fuseli  was 
appointed  in  1804. 


RICHARD   COSWAY,    THE   ARTIST,    INSIDE    HIS   WIFE'S    HOOP,    WITH   ONLY 

HIS    HEAD   AND   SHOULDERS   SHOWING 

On  the  wall  is  a  picture  of  him  climbing  up  a  ladder  placed  against  a  figure  intended  to 
represent  either   Miss   Kauffmann   or  the   Duchess  of  Devonshire,    with  some  lines  from 
Julius  Caesar  beginning  :  "  Lowliness  is  young  Ambition's  Ladder,"  etc. 
From  an  etching  in  the  Collection  of  Francis  W7ellesley,  Esq. 


RICHARD  COSWAY,  R.A.  329 

asked  the  brother  member,  "  and  pray  what  did  he  say  to 
you  ?  "— Cosway.  "  What,  upon  entering  the  room,  he 
expressed  himself  prodigiously  hurt  that,  during  his  residence 
on  this  earth,  he  had  not  encouraged  my  talents." — Aca- 
demician. "  How  can  you,  Cosway,  utter  such  trash  ? 
You  know  all  you  have  now  uttered  to  be  lies,  and  I  can 
prove  it ;  for  this  very  morning,  after  Mr.  Pitt  had  been 
with  you,  he  called  upon  me  and  said, '  I  know  that  Cosway 
will  mention  my  visit  to  him  at  your  dinner  to-day  ;  don't 
believe  a  word  he  says,  for  he  will  tell  you  nothing  but  lies.'  " 
— I  have  heard  Cosway  relate  conversations  which  he  has 
held  with  King  Charles  I.  so  seriously,  that  I  firmly  believe 
he  considered  every  thing  he  uttered  to  be  strictly  true.1 

When  Mrs.  Cosway  left  England,  Mr.  Cosway  had  the 
care  of  their  daughter,  of  whom  he  was  so  doatingly  fond, 
that  he  drew  her  portrait  several  times,  and  actually  painted 
a  picture  of  her  when  asleep,  with  a  guardian  angel  rocking 
her  cradle. 

Upon  Mrs.  Cosway 's  return  to  England,  after  an  absence 
of  several  years,  she  caused  the  body  of  their  departed 
child,  which  her  husband  had  preserved  in  an  embalmed 
state  within  a  marble  sarcophagus,  which  stood  in  the 
drawing-room  of  his  house  in  Stratford-place,  to  be  con- 
veyed to  Bunhill-row,  where  it  was  interred ;  sending  the 
sarcophagus  to  Mr.  Nollekens,  requesting  him  to  take  care 
of  it  for  a  time. 

It  is  a  curious  coincidence,  that  at  the  same  hour  this 
sarcophagus  was  removed  from  Mr.  Nollekens's  residence, 
Mr.  Cosway  died  on  the  road  to  Edgeware,  in  the  carriage 
of  his  old  and  most  disinterested  friend,  Miss  Udney,  who 
had  been  accustomed  during  his  infirm  state  occasionally 
to  give  him  an  airing. 

1  Hazlitt  wrote  of  Cosway :  eluded  reality  in  them.     The 

"  Happy  mortal !    Fancy  bore  agreeable   and  the  true   with 

sway  in  him,  and  so  vivid  were  him  were  one." 
his  impressions  that  they  in- 


330        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

Mrs.  Cosway  employed  Mr.  Westmacott  to  erect  a  mural 
monument  to  the  memory  of  her  husband  ;  in  the  centre  of 
which  he  has  placed  a  medallion  portrait  of  the  Artist, 
surrounded  by  three  children,  as  Painting,  Poetry,  and 
Nature.  The  following  inscription  was  written  expressly 
for  it  by  Syntax  Combe  : — 

To  the  Memory 

Of  RICHARD  COSWAY,  Esquire, 

Royal  Academician  ; 

Principal  Painter 

To  His  Royal  Highness  George  Prince  of  Wales. 

He  died  July  4th,  1821,  aged  80  years. 

His  Widow,  Maria  Cosway, 

Erects  this  Memorial. 

Art  weeps,  Taste  mourns,  and  Genius  drops  the  tear, 
O'er  him  so  long  they  lov'd,  who  slumbers  here : 
While  colours  last,  and  time  allows  to  give 
The  all-resembling  grace,  his  name  shall  live. 

The  monument  is  on  the  North  wall  under  the  gallery  of 
Marylebone  New  Church. 


GEORGE   HENRY   HARLOW 

GEORGE    HENRY    HARLOW   was    placed    by 
his  mother  with  Henry  De  Cort,  a  Landscape- 
draughtsman,  of  slender  abilities,  but  like  such 
people,   rather  conceited ;    whose  remains  rest 
in  the  Eastern  part  of  Old  St.  Pancras  Church-yard;  he 
was  a  native  of  Antwerp,  and  died  June  28th,  1810,  aged 
71.  *     He  next  became  the  pupil  of  Samuel  Drummond, 
the  portrait-painter,  now  A.R.A.2  under  whose  instruction 
he  studied  assiduously  and  improved  so  rapidly,  that  Sir 
Thomas  (then  Mr.)  Lawrence,  being  highly  pleased  with  his 
productions,  employed  him  to  prepare  some  of  his  pictures 
in  the  dead  colouring,  to  advance  copies,  &c.  but  whose 
repeated  kindnesses,  I  am  sorry  to  acknowledge,  were  ill- 
requited. 

Harlow,  naturally  vain,  became  ridiculously  foppish,  and 
by  dressing  to  the  extreme  of  fashion,  was  often  the  laugh- 
ing-stock of  his  brother  artists,  particularly  when  he  wished 
to  pass  for  a  man  of  high  rank,  whose  costume  he  mimicked  ; 
and  that  folly  he  would  often  venture  upon  without  an 
income  sufficient  to  pay  one  of  his  many  tailor's  bills. 

As  he  was  not  accustomed  to  drinking,  two  or  three  glasses 
of  wine  would  take  such  an  effect  upon  him,  that  in  that 
state  he  held  no  curb  upon  his  licentious  conversation ; 

1  Henry    Francis    De    Cort  1844)  painted  naval  subjects, 
(1742-1810)   exhibited  at  the  one  of  which,  "  Admiral  Dun- 
Royal  Academy  between  1790  can  receiving  the  sword  of  the 
and  1806.  Dutch  Admiral  De  Winter,"  is 

2  Samuel  Drummond  (1765-  in  Greenwich  Hospital. 


332        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

which  was  at  times  so  gross,  that  many  persons  who  had 
for  his  rare  talent  invited  him  to  their  tables,  were  so 
disgusted  that  they  never  asked  him  again.  However, 
notwithstanding  all  his  foppish  foibles  and  several  great 
improprieties,  I  must  own  I  feel  the  strongest  impulse,  when 
viewing  his  uncommon  powers  as  a  painter,  displayed  in 
his  ever  memorable  picture  of  the  Kemble  family,1  to  join 
his  numerous  admirers,  who  endeavour  to  obtain  him  the 
longest  possible  respite  from  condemnation.  His  pencil 
was  so  rapid,  and  his  eye  for  copying  so  quick,  that  when  at 
Rome,  he  actually  commenced  and  finished  a  copy  of 
Raffaelle's  Transfiguration,  of  the  size  of  the  original,  in 
only  eighteen  days. 

Of  the  immense  number  of  portraits  painted  of  Northcote, 
perhaps  the  one  by  Harlow  may  fairly  be  appreciated  as 
the  best  likeness,  particularly  of  those  taken  in  that  veteran's 
latter  days  :  and  of  which  there  is  an  engraving,  executed 
in  an  uncommonly  fine  style,  by  Lewis,  so  eminently  suc- 
cessful in  his  fac-simile  imitations  of  Sir  Thomas  Lawrence's 
chalk  portraits  of  several  persons  of  distinction  ;2  of  which 
those  of  the  late  Duchess  of  Devonshire  surpass  the  rest. 
Harlow  also  made  a  highly-spirited  beginning  of  a  portrait 
of  Nollekens,  which  is  now  honoured  with  a  place  in  the 
Duchess  of  St.  Alban's  dressing-room,  opening  into  the 
garden  at  her  Grace's  mansion  in  Piccadilly. 

The  same  Painter  likewise  produced  one  of  the  most 
dignified  and  characteristic  likenesses  of  Fuseli,  for  which 
that  artist  threw  himself  into  a  position,  and  gave  the 
Painter  every  possible  advantage,  by  affording  him  numerous 
sittings.  This  truly  brilliant  and  invaluable  picture  is  now 

1  This,  Harlow's  most  famous  in  various  parts.     It  is  well 

picture,  represents  the  trial  of  known  by  Clint's  engraving. 

Queen   Katharine   of   Aragon,  2  Frederick  Christian  Lewis 

in    Henry    VIII.,    with    Mrs.  (1779-1856).    He  was  engraver 

Siddons  as  the  Queen  and  other  by  appointment  to  George  IV., 

members  of  the  Kemble  family  William  I  V.,and  Queen  Victoria. 


GEORGE    HENRY    HARLOW 
From  an  engraving  by  B.  Holl  after  Harlov 


GEORGE  HENRY  HARLOW     333 

in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Knowles,  one  of  Fuseli's  most 
intelligent  as  well  as  best  friends  j1  and  it  may,  from  its 
richness  of  colouring,  grandeur  of  effect,  and  exquisite 
finishing,  be  fairly  considered  as  the  chef-d'oeuvre  of  that 
highly-talented  Artist,  though  perhaps  most  improvident 
of  men. 

Mrs.  Benjamin  West  has  favoured  me  with  Harlow's 
letter  addressed  to  her  father-in-law,  the  late  President 
of  the  Royal  Academy,  of  which  the  following  is  a  copy. 

SIR, 

THERE  is  a  grand  opening  for  me  in  Pali-Mall,  wherein  I 
may  exercise  the  Art,  having  a  great  desire  to  make  a  copy 
of  the  celebrated  head  by  Vandyck,  and  others,  which  will 
require  your  kind  recommendation ;  if  you  think  well  of 
it,  a  few  words  from  you  will  be  sufficient  for  my  admittance 
there.  My  being  a  pupil  of  Mr.  Lawrence,  bound  me  to 
ask  it  of  him,  but  his  being  out  of  town  prevented  me. 
You  may,  perhaps,  have  forgot  me  ;  I  was  the  person 
who  painted  Sebastian  Grandi's  head,  which  was  shown  to 
you.  Excuse  the  liberty  I  have  taken — a  few  words  will 
be  enough,  and  the  act  shall  be  considered  a  lasting  obli- 
gation by  him  that  has  the  honour  to  remain, 

With  much  respect, 

GEORGE  HARLOW. 

The  reader  will,  however,  be  better  pleased  with  the 
following  copy  of  a  most  interesting  letter,  kindly  communi- 
cated to  me  by  my  friend  Mr.  Watts,  Secretary  to  the 
Philharmonic  Society,  to  whom  the  gentleman  addressed 
had  presented  the  original. 

4,  Piazza  Rosa  secondo  Piano 
in  casa  di  Polidori, 

Rome,  November  23,  1818. 

MY  DEAR   SIR, 

I  OUGHT  to  have  thanked  you  before  this  for  the  receipt 
of  both  your  letters,  which  I  assure  you  gave  me  great 
pleasure  ;  you  might  probably  have  expected  a  letter  be- 

1  John  Knowles,  Fuseli's  biographer. 


334        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

tween  this  and  then,  and  my  reason  for  not  writing  was, 
as  you  will  easily  suppose,  being  continually  engaged  from 
morning  to  night ;  however,  the  major  part  of  my  labours 
are  now  at  an  end,  having,  since  my  arrival,  made  an  entire 
copy  of  the  Transfiguration ;  the  next  was  a  composition 
of  my  own,  of  fifteen  figures,  which  created  no  small  sensation 
here.  Canova  requested  to  have  the  picture  at  his  house  for 
a  few  days,  which  was  accordingly  sent,  and,  on  the  loth 
of  November,  upwards  of  five  hundred  persons  Saw  it ;  it 
was  then  removed  to  the  Academy  of  St.  Luke's,  and  publicly 
exhibited.1 

They  unanimously  elected  me  an  Academician,  and  I 
have  received  the  diploma  :  there  are  many  things  which 
have  made  this  election  very  honourable  to  me,  of  which  you 
shall  hear  in  England.  You  must  understand,  that  there  are 
two  degrees  in  our  Academy,  one  of  merit,  the  other  of 
honour  ;  mine  is  of  merit,  being  one  of  the  body  of  the  Aca- 
demy :  the  same  night  of  my  election,  the  King  of  Naples 
received  his  honorary  degree  (being  then  in  Rome  on  a  visit 
to  the  Pope)  in  common  with  all  the  other  Sovereigns  of 
Europe  ;  and  I  am  happy  to  find  the  Duke  of  Wellington  is 
one  also.  West,  Fuseli,  Lawrence,  Flaxman,  and  myself,  are 
the  only  British  Artists  belonging  to  St.  Luke's,  as  Academi- 
cians. This  institution  is  upwards  of  three  hundred  years 
standing.  Raffaelle,  the  Carracci's,  Poussin,  Guido,  Titian, 
and  every  great  master  that  we  esteem,  were  members.  I 
had  the  high  gratification  to  see  my  name  enrolled  in  the  list 
of  these  illustrious  characters. 

Now,  my  dear  friend,  as  this  fortunate  affair  has  taken 
place,  I  should  wish  it  added  to  the  print  of  Katherine's 
Trial ;  you  would,  perhaps,  have  the  kindness  to  call  on  Mr. 
Cribb,  the  Publisher,  in  Tavistock-street,  Covent-garden, 
and  have  it  worded  thus  :  Member  of  the  Academy  of  St. 

1  Harlow    achieved    a    pro-  mentions  was  "  The  Presenta- 

fessional    triumph    in    Rome,  tion    of    the    Cardinal's    Hat 

when  he  was  warmly  befriend-  to     Wolsey    in    Westminster 

ed  by  Canova,  to  whose  aston-  Abbey  "  ;  this  he  presented  to 

ishment  he  completed  his  copy  the  Academy  of  St.  Luke's  in 

of    Raphael's    Transfiguration  return  for  the  unusual  honour 

in  eighteen  days.    The  "  com-  of  his  election, 
position  of  my  own  "  which  he 


GEORGE  HENRY  HARLOW     335 

Luke's,  at  Rome.  I  mention  this,  as  it  is  a  grand  plate, 
and  indeed  ought  to  be  added.  I  expect  to  be  in  England 
by  Christmas-day,  or  near  it ;  I  shall  have  an  immensity  to 
talk  over. 

I  was  much  pleased  with  Naples ;  stayed  ten  days ; 
went  to  Portici,  Herculaneum,  and  Pompeii,  and  ascended 
Mount  Vesuvius  ;  this  was  a  spectacle,  the  most  awful  and 
grand  that  I  had  ever  witnessed,  the  fire  bursting  every  two 
minutes,  and  the  noise  with  it  like  thunder  ;  red  hot  ashes 
came  tumbling  down  continually  where  I  stood  sketching, 
many  of  which  I  brought  away,  and  different  pieces  of  the 
old  lava,  which  I  hope  to  show  you  ;  the  eruption  took  place 
a  week  or  two  after  I  left.  But  Pompeii  exhibits  now  the 
most  extraordinary  remains  of  antiquity  in  the  world ;  a 
whole  city  laid  open  to  view  ;  the  habitations  are  unroofed, 
but  in  other  respects  are  quite  perfect.  The  house  of  Sallust, 
the  Roman  historian,  was  particularly  gratifying  to  me,  un- 
altered, and  in  every  respect,  except  the  furniture,  (which  I 
believe  is  now  in  Portici,)  the  same  as  it  was  eighteen  hun- 
dred and  fifty  years  ago,  when  inhabited  by  him.  There 
are  many  shops  ;  in  one,  the  amphorae,  which  held  the  wine, 
are  curious,  and  marks  of  the  cups  they  used,  upon  the 
slabs,  are  distinctly  seen  :  a  milk-shop,  with  the  sign  of  a 
goat,  is  perfectly  preserved  with  the  vessels,  and  also 
several  other  shops  in  the  same  perfect  state. 

Rome  has  been  a  scene  of  the  utmost  gaiety  lately,  during 
the  stay  of  the  King  of  Naples.  I  was  at  three  splendid  balls 
given  at  the  different  palaces  ;  we  were  obliged  to  appear 
in  court-dresses,  and  the  Cardinals  added  much  to  the  rich- 
ness and  grandeur  of  the  party.  The  ladies  looked  peculiarly 
striking,  but  they  did  not  wear  hoops,  as  in  the  English 
Court.  We  had  French  and  English  dances,  &c.  and  the 
fire-works  surpassed  all  my  expectations.  Upon  the  whole, 
the  entertainments  were  very  novel  and  very  delightful. 

I  am  to  be  presented  to  the  Pope  either  on  the  2d  or  3d 
of  next  month.  Cardinal  Gonsalvi  will  let  me  know  when 
the  day  is  fixed,  and  I  leave  Rome  directly  after  ;  perhaps 
the  next  day— a  day  that  I  most  sincerely  dread,  for  ] 
have  become  so  attached  to  the  place  and  the  people,  that 
I  expect  a  great  struggle  with  myself.  I  should  be  the  most 
ungrateful  of  human  beings,  if  I  did  not  acknowledge  the 


336        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

endless  favours  they  have  bestowed  on  me.  It  is  the  place 
of  all  others  for  an  artist,  as  he  is  sure  to  be  highly  appreciated 
if  he  has  any  talent ;  and  I  shall  speak  of  the  country  to 
the  end  of  my  days  with  the  most  fervent  admiration. 

I  forgot  to  thank  you  for  your  kindness  in  calling  on  Mr. 
West,  and  the  trouble  you  so  very  kindly  took  for  me.  The 
Transfiguration,  I  think,  will  make  a  stare  in  England : 
there  are  other  pictures,  sketches,  and  prints,  also  two  large 
Roman  casts  of  figures,  and  some  porphyry  and  Egyptian 
granite  slabs,  &c.,  which  will  be  directed  to  Mr.  Tijou,  in 
Greek-street ;  and  I  hope  you  will  remember  me  very  kindly 
to  him  and  to  all  my  friends. 

Your's  very  sincerely, 

Thomas  Tomkison,  Esq.  G.  H.  HARLOW. 

Dean-street,  Soho-square, 
London.1 

Mr.  Harlow,  after  lingering  under  the  severest  bodily 
affliction,  departed  this  life  at  his  house,  No.  83,  Dean-street, 
Soho,  on  the  4th  of  February,  1819,  in  his  32nd  year.  His 
funeral  was  attended  by  the  Rev.  G.  Vardon,  C.  M.  Cheere, 
Esq.  M.P.,  Messrs.  Cockerell,  Fisher,  Andrews,  Goldicutt, 
White,  and  his  steady  friends,  Messrs.  Tijou,  of  Greek- 
street,  &c.2 

1  Thomas  Tomkison  was  an  be  added  the  following  anecdote 
eminent  pianoforte-maker,  and  of  Harlow  from  a  periodical  of 
was  esteemed  a  fine  judge  of  the  day  :   "  Walking  with  his 
pictures.       It    is     said     that  mother  once  in  Piccadilly,  she 
Turner's  father,  the  barber  of  pointed  out  to  him,  knocking 
Maiden-lane,  used  to  dress  his  at  the  Duke  of  Devonshire's 
hair  (Dr.  Rimbault :  Soho  and  gate,  Mr.  Hare,  the  well-known 
its  Associations,  p.  98).  associate  of  his  Grace,  of  Mr. 

2  Harlow,  whose  fatal  illness  Fox,  and  other  celebrated  per- 
was  short,  was  buried  under  the  sons,    and    a    Gentleman    of 
altar  of  St.   James's  Church,  whom  she  had  often  spoken  as 
Piccadilly.         His       "  steady  having  been  an  intimate  friend 
friends,  Messrs.  Tijou,  of  Greek-  of  his  father  and  family.     No 
street,"  were  gilders  and  car-  further  attention  was  paid  to 
vers.  the  matter  at  the  time  ;    but 

To  Smith's  slight  sketch  may     Mr.  Hare  dying  shortly  after, 


H 


HENRY   FUSELI,    R.A. 

ENRY  FUSELI  considered  the  works  of  Sir 
Joshua  Reynolds  unequal.  He  said  that  a  great 
many  of  them  were  indifferent,  though  some 
were  so  wonderfully  fine,  that  nothing  could 
surpass  them  ;  but  he  observed,  that  even  the  most  inferior 
picture  from  the  pencil  of  Sir  Thomas  Lawrence  was  ex- 
cellent. Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  and  Doctor  Armstrong  were 
Fuseli's  best  friends  ;  the  latter  of  whom  frequently  noticed 
him  in  the  newspapers.1 

Fuseli,  speaking  of  Nollekens  to  me,  said,  "  He  thinks 
himself  a  very  cunning  little  fellow  in  his  plagiarisms,  but 
he  can  be  detected  as  well  as  other  artists.  Why,  the 
principle  of  the  position  of  the  Mercury  he  modelled  from 


it  became  a  subject  of  deep 
regret  to  the  Duchess  of  Devon- 
shire and  others,  that  no  like- 
ness had  been  taken,  to  pre- 
serve the  memory  of  one  so 
much  valued.  This,  by  acci- 
dent, reached  the  ear  of  Har- 
low,  who  told  his  mother,  that 
he  thought  he  could  execute  a 
portrait  of  Mr.  Hare  from 
recollection.  He  accordingly 
set  about  it,  and  with  very 
slight  assistance,  produced  a 
picture  which  was  universally 
acknowledged  to  be  an  admir- 
able likeness.  This  extraordin- 
ary faculty  never  left  the  Artist, 

VOL.  ii.— z  337 


and  he  could  almost  invariably 
retrace  from  memory  such  por- 
traits as  he  had  formerly  copied. 
In  one  case,  when  he  did  so 
for  Mr.  Lawrence,  the  work 
was  so  perfect,  that  that 
gentleman  refused  to  credit 
the  possibility  of  its  being  per- 
formed without  the  original." 

1  Dr.  John  Armstrong,  whose 
The  Aft  of  Preserving  Health,  a 
blank- verse  poem  in  four  books, 
was  deservedly  popular.  Rey- 
nolds painted  his  portrait.  He 
died  in  Russell-street,  Co  vent 
Garden,  in  1779. 


338        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

you,  he  took  from  Stella's  print  after  Poussin's  picture  of 
the  '  Accusation  of  Peter.'  "*  This  accusation  reached  the 
ear  of  Nollekens,  who  observed  to  me,  that  Fuseli  had  no 
occasion  to  make  such  a  remark ;  "  for  I  know,"  said  he, 
"  he  frequently  steals  things  himself.  Why,  do  you  know, 
he  stole  the  idea  of  one  of  the  figures  for  Sewards'  Anecdotes, 
from  a  female  in  the  background  of  Pesne's  print  after 
Poussin's  Woman  at  the  Well.2  He  sketched  it  in  my 
parlour,  one  evening,  from  my  print,  and  showed  it  to 
Mrs.  Nollekens,  and  said  it  would  do  very  well  for  a  figure 
in  deep  meditation  ;  so  that  I  am  sure  Fuseli  need  not  talk 
of  my  taking  a  hint  for  my  Mercury.  But  he's  always  for 
ever  ridiculing  me."  As  to  the  extent  of  the  truth  of  this, 
I  shall  not  venture  a  remark  :  but  this  I  do  know,  and  Mr. 
Knowles  is  my  authority,  that  when  his  friend,  the  late 
Mr.  Coutts,  requested  him  to  recommend  a  Sculptor  to 
execute  a  bust  of  him,  Fuseli  immediately  answered,  "  Go 
to  Nollekens  for  a  bust." 

It  is  well  known  that  Fuseli  could  put  forth  his  sting 
when  he  indulged  his  wit,  as  will  appear  in  the  following 
anecdote.  Fuseli,  hearing  that  Northcote,  the  Painter, 
kept  a  dog,  immediately  exclaimed,  "  What  ?  Northcote 
keep  a  dog  !  what  must  he  feed  upon  ?  Why  he  must  eat 
his  own  fleas."8 

Severe  as  Fuseli  was,  I  should  be  sorry  to  merit  the  lash 
of  Northcote,  for  his  thong  would  make  any  man's  back 
tingle  who  dared  to  kick  him  viciously  ;  indeed  Fuseli  has 
been  known  to  smart  at  even  the  twitch  of  Northcote's 
retort-courteous.  As  for  the  dog  alluded  to,  I  will  answer 

1  Claudine  Bousonnet  Stella,  3  Northcote,  says  Allan  Cun- 
born  at  Lyons  in  1636  :    she  ningham,    "  was  mean  in  his 
engraved     subjects     by     her  apparel :  his  house  seemed  the 
father,  James  Stella,the  painter,  abode  of  a  sloven  or  a  niggard  ; 
and  Nicholas  Poussin.  and    in    his    conversation    he 

2  James  Pesne,  the  French  hovered  between   the   satirist 
engraver,  born  at  Rouen,  1623.  and  the  miser." 

See  Index. 


HENRY  FUSELI,   R.A.  339 

for  Duke,  that  he,  poor  fellow  !  was  one  of  the  most  saga- 
cious, faithful,  best-bred,  and  best-fed  animals  I  ever  knew. 
His  very  eyes  smiled  at  his  master  and  mistress's  friendly 
visitors.  As  I  have  said  master  and  mistress,  it  is  proper 
that  the  biographer  of  a  century  to  come  should  not  be 
misled,  and  conclude  that  Mr.  Northcote  had  been  a  married 
man.  His  sister  keeps  his  house,  and  their  happiness  seems 
to  exist  in  the  society  of  each  other ;  they  listen  to  each 
other's  anecdotes  with  the  pleasure  of  old  friends,  and 
receive  their  visitors  with  true  hospitality. 

A  late  worthy  friend,  who  would  now  and  then  make 
my  fireside-party  smile,  has  declared,  that  Mr.  Northcote's 
sister  appeared  to  him  like  Northcote  in  petticoats ;  and 
they  certainly  are  wonderfully  alike.  There  is,  indeed,  one 
most  honourable  circumstance  which  this  celebrated  artist 
has  to  boast  of,  namely,  that  his  pictures,  whenever  they 
have  been  resold  at  auctions,  have  always  been  knocked 
down  for  more  than/owr  times  their  original  price  ;  and  what 
is  more,  they  have  generally  been  purchased  by  persons  of 
high  rank  and  taste.  Lord  Egremont  has,  perhaps,  the 
finest  specimens  of  his  pencil. 

One  day,  as  Fuseli,  Northcote,  and  Legat,  the  Engraver, 
were  walking  from  Hampstead  to  London,  the  two  latter 
gentlemen  were  extolling  the  talent  of  Brown,  the  Draughts- 
man,1 who  was  so  much  noticed  by  Mr.  Townley.  Fuseli, 
after  having  listened  to  the  Artist's  praise,  exclaimed, 
"  Well  Brown,  Brown,  we  have  had  enough  of  Brown  ;  let 
us  now  talk  of  Cipriani,  who  is  in  hell !  "  Cipriani  had  been 
one  of  Fuseli's  best  friends  when  he  first  came  to  England. 
Fuseli,  whose  wit  was  at  all  times  spirited  and  unexpected, 
upon  entering  the  Antique  Academy  one  evening,  bruised 
his  shin  against  one  of  the  student's  boxes  which  stood  in 
his  way,  but,  instead  of  chiding  the  student  who  had  left  it 
there,  he  very  good-humouredly  cried  out,  drawing  his  leg 
up  to  his  body,  "  Bless  my  heart !  bless  my  heart !  well,  I 
1  John  Brown,  the  pupil  of  Alexander  Runciman. 


340        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

see  one  thing,  I  must  now  wear  spectacles  upon  my  shins  as 
well  as  upon  my  nose." 

The  students,  whilst  waiting  to  go  into  the  schools  one 
evening,  were  making  so  great  a  noise,  that  Fuseli  came  out 
of  his  office  into  the  hall,  and  called  out  in  a  voice  of  thunder, 
"  By  G — d  !  you  are  a  pack  of  d — d  wild  beasts,  and  I  am 
your  bl — st — d  keeper  !  "  upon  which  some  of  the  students 
laughing  at  the  singularity  of  the  expression,  the  old  gentle- 
man was  put  into  so  good  a  humour,  that  he  went  back  with- 
out saying  any  thing  more. 

Upon  his  entering  the  Model  Academy,  he  observed  the 
pieces  of  a  figure  on  the  ground  ;  "  Who  the  devil  has  been 
doing  this  ?  "  A  tell-tale  of  a  student,  wishing  to  ingratiate 
himself  with  the  Keeper,  told  him  it  was  Mr.  Medland, 
who  had  broken  it  by  jumping  over  the  rail.  However, 
the  mischief-maker  was  disappointed  by  the  good-tempered 
manner  in  which  the  communication  was  received  by  Fuseli, 
who  observed,  "  Well,  if  Mr.  Medland  is  so  fond  of  jumping, 
I  would  advise  him  to  go  to  Sadler's  Wells ;  that  is  the 
best  academy  I  know  of  for  the  improvement  of  agility."1 

Rembrandt,  who  painted  and  etched  his  own  portrait 
oftener  than  any  other  artist,  in  one  of  his  pictures,  re- 
presented himself  with  so  large  a  nose,  that  Fuseli  exclaimed, 
upon  seeing  it,  "  What  a  nose  !  why  his  nose  is  as  big  as  his 
face  !  Well,  he  was  a  fine  fellow  ;  I  like  to  see  a  great  man 
with  a  great  nose.  Richard  Wilson  had  a  great  nose." 

A  person  wishing  to  see  Mr.  Fuseli  upon  business  wholly 
concerning  himself,  was  so  close  upon  Sam  Stowger's  heels, 
that  he  announced  himself,  hoping  that  he  did  not  intrude. 
"  You  do  intrude,"  observed  Fuseli. — "  Then,  Sir,  I  will 
come  to-morrow,  if  you  please." — "  No,  Sir,"  replied 
Fuseli,  "  I  don't  wish  you  to  come  to-morrow,  for  then  you 

1  This  athletic  student  may  Stothard's  designs  for  the  illus- 

have  been  Thomas   Medland,  tration  of  Robinson  Crusoe.  He 

who    became    an    engraver  in  died  at  Hertford  in  1833. 
good   practice,    and   executed 


HENRY  FUSELI,  R.A.  341 

will  intrude  a  second  time ;  let  me  know  your  business 
now." 

Mr.  Northcote  is  in  possession  of  a  letter,  which  he 
received  from  Fuseli  when  at  Rome,  in  1778,  concluding 
with  "  Love  me, — Fuseli."  Northcote,  in  his  dry  manner, 
when  noticing  this  epistle,  was  heard  to  remark,  "  A  pretty 
creature  to  love,  indeed  !  but  I  admire  his  talents."  Mr. 
Northcote  recollects  one  of  Armstrong's  newspaper  para- 
graphs running  something  like  this  :  "  Parry  may  learn 
from  Reynolds,  but  there  is  one  now  unknown  and  un- 
patronized,  who  will  astonish,  terrify,  and  delight  all 
Europe,"  &c. 

Upon  one  of  the  private  days  for  viewing  the  Exhibition 
of  the  Royal  Academy,  Fuseli  coming  in  contact  with 
Nollekens,  who  at  that  time  had  a  scorbutic  eruption  on 
half  his  mouth  and  chin,  fell  back,  and  said,  "  Why,  Nolle- 
kens, what  the  devil's  the  matter  with  you  ?  you  look 
like  Valentine  and  Orson  united  ;  one  half  shaved  and  the 
other  not  at  all." 

The  two  following  anecdotes  were  communicated  to  me 
by  my  worthy  friend  Mr.  Cooper,  the  Academician.  Mr. 
Nollekens  greatly  annoyed  the  members  of  the  Academy 
by  coughing  incessantly  when  they  were  engaged  in  re- 
touching their  pictures,  before  the  opening  of  an  Exhibition. 
As  he  was  passing  Fuseli,  after  coughing  several  times,  he 
muttered,  "  Oh  !  dear,  I. am  sure  I  shall  die  !  "  to  which 
Fuseli  humorously  replied,  "  While  you  have  a  cough, 
Nollekens,  you  can  never  die  !  " — A  student  of  the  Academy, 
when  showing  his  drawing  to  Mr.  Fuseli,  assured  him  that 
he  had  finished  it  without  using  a  crumb  of  bread.  "  Take 
my  advice,"  said  Fuseli ;  "go  and  buy  a  two-penny  loaf, 
and  I  think  with  that  you  will  be  able  to  rub  it  all  out." 

Mrs.  Fuseli  being  in  a  great  rage,  was  advised  by  her 
husband  to  swear.  "  Harriet,  my  dear,  why  don't  you 
swear  ?  it  will  ease  your  mind." 

Fuseli  thus  reprimanded  one  of  the  porters  in  the  hall, 


342         NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

for  calling  the  students  fellows.  "  Fellows  !  I  would  have 
you  to  know,  that  those  fellows,  as  you  call  them,  may  one 
day  or  another  be  Academicians." 

One  morning,  two  members  of  the  Royal  Academy, 
who  had  been  disappointed  in  their  wishes  for  the  election 
of  Fuseli  as  a  member  on  the  preceding  evening,  agreed  to 
repeat  their  assurances  of  their  future  exertions  in  his 
favour.  Accordingly  they  made  him  a  visit ;  and  as  soon 
as  the  door  was  opened,  Fuseli,  who  stood  in  the  passage, 
knowing  how  the  election  had  gone,  with  his  accustomed 
humour,  fiercely  exclaimed,  "  Come  in,  come  in  !  "  but 
finding  they  continued  to  scrape  their  shoes,  he  again  cried 
out,  "  Why  the  devil  don't  you  come  in  ?  if  you  don't 
come  in,  you  will  do  me  a  great  injury."  "  How  ?  "  asked 
one  of  them.  "  Why,  if  you  stand  there,  my  neighbour  over 
the  way  will  say,  '  I  saw  two  blackguards  stand  at  Fuseli's 
door  ;  I  dare  say  he  is  going  to  prison  !  " 

Fuseli's  severe  criticisms  upon  the  works  of  his  brother 
artists  were  often  so  pointedly  witty,  that  in  some  instances 
he  rendered  his  best  friends  both  uneasy  and  ridiculous ; 
but  as  he  good-naturedly  bore  many  sarcasms  from  Doctor 
Wolcot  and  other  critics  of  his  time,  so  he  thought  his  friends 
would  receive,  with  equal  good  temper,  whatever  he  said  of 
them  or  their  productions.  I  must,  however,  do  him  the 
justice  to  say,  that  I  firmly  believe  his  observations  were 
not  kept  in  reserve  to  show  off  in  the  presence  of  great  people 
— a  practice  too  common  with  men  viciously  inclined ;  for 
sometimes  his  most  stinging  remarks  were  made  to  those 
of  the  least  perception :  and  I  firmly  believe  that  many  of 
his  best  are  now  entirely  lost,  though  now  and  then  Sam 
Stowger1  would  relate  a  few  of  them.  One  I  recollect  hearing 
respecting  Northcote's  picture  of  the  Judgment  of  Solomon, 
in  which  the  King's  right  hand  was  raised,  as  ordering  the 
executioner  to  divide  the  living  child.  Mr.  Northcote,  to 
avoid  vulgarity,  employed  two  fingers  of  the  hand  to  accom- 
1  An  attendant  at  the  Royal  Academy. 


HENRY  FUSELI,  R.A.  343 

pany  the  commands ;  but,  unfortunately,  these  fingers 
Fuseli  considered,  as  they  were  wide  apart,  to  be  so  much 
like  an  open  pair  of  shears,  that  he  was  heard  to  make  the 
following  observation  ;  "  Ay,  King  Solomon  suits  his  action 
to  his  words,  he  is  saying,  with  his  fingers,  cut  him  in  two." 

One  year,  during  the  time  the  artists  were  touching  up 
their  pictures  in  the  great  room  at  the  Royal  Academy, 
previous  to  the  opening  of  the  Exhibition,  Northcote  was 
looking  at  one  of  Fuseli's  pictures,  in  which  a  man  was 
represented  in  the  attitude  of  shooting  at  another  seated 
upon  a  throne.  Fuseli,  who  observed  Northcote  to  stop 
at  this  performance,  went  up  to  him,  and  said,  "  Well, 
Northcote,  what  do  you  think  of  it  ?  "  To  which  the  an- 
swer was,  "  He'll  never  hit  him."  Fuseli,  without  returning 
thanks  for  this  pointed  remark,  sullenly  ascended  the 
ladder,  and  after  working  upon  it  for  nearly  an  hour  de- 
scended, and  going  to  some  distance  to  view  it,  was  heard 
to  utter,  emphatically,  "  He  will  hit  him  !  I  say  he  will  hit 
him!!"  However,  "Tit  for  tat."  Northcote  had  hit 
Fuseli  in  the  wing,  for  he  could  not  fly,  no,  not  even  after 
the  attempted  struggle,  as  the  marksman's  arrow  was 
drawn  parallel  to  the  top  of  the  frame,  perfectly  horizontal, 
and  the  man  he  wished  to  shoot  was  seated  in  an  inward 
angle  of  the  composition !  and  so  the  picture  remained  during 
the  whole  time  of  exhibition. 

Fuseli  seeing  a  person  for  some  time  looking  steadfastly 
at  one  of  his  pictures  in  the  Academy,  went  up  to  him  and 
said,  "  He  must  be  a  devilish  clever  fellow  who  painted  that 
picture  !  "  at  which  the  gentleman  smiled,  knowing  it  to 
be  the  production  of  the  artist  who  accosted  him. 

Fuseli  was  heard  to  relate,  that  he  begged  a  curious  fly 
of  his  friend  Lady  Guildford,  for  a  collector,  to  whom  he 
had  been  under  some  obligations  ;  her  Ladyship  gave  him 
the  insect,  upon  condition  that  his  friend  should  not  kill 
it.  Fuseli  observed  that  he  should  not  kill  it ;  but,  as  a 
mental  reservation,  he  got  somebody  else  to  do  it. 


344        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

Fuseli  once  asked  Cooper,  who  is  an  Entomologist,  "  Well, 
have  you  taken  Fraxina  ?  "] — "  No,"  said  he,  "  I  have  not 
been  so  fortunate." — "  You  can  get  it  in  Yorkshire," 
observed  Fuseli ;  "  why  don't  you  walk  there  ?  " 

All  Fuseli's  family  had  been  Entomologists ;  and  so 
attached  was  he  to  the  pursuit,  that  one  evening,  late  in 
life,  when  descending  from  the  rostrum,  after  he  had  delivered 
a  Lecture  on  Painting  in  the  Royal  Academy,  which  had 
almost  exhausted  him,  he  was  so  revived  by  the  sight  of 
Cooper,  who  stood  near  him,  that  he  said  with  a  smile, 
"What !  is  it  you,  Cooper  ?  well,  how  goes  on  entomology  ? "  2 

Fuseli  has  seldom  been  spoken  of  as  a  Painter  beyond 
a  chiaro-'scurist,  nor  was  it  until  I  saw  his  picture  of  the 
Embrace  of  Sin  and  Death,  that  I  had  any  idea  of  his 
knowledge  of  colouring  ;  but,  in  that  performance,  he  most 
certainly  has  proved  that  he  could  colour  most  beautifully, 
and  why  he  neglected  so  essential  a  branch  of  his  art,  after 
producing  so  brilliant  a  specimen,  is  most  extraordinary. 
This  treasure  is  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Knowles,  who  has 
withstood  every  temptation  to  part  with  it,  even  from  his 
dearest  friend  Fuseli  himself ;  who,  upon  all  occasions, 
declared  it  to  be  by  far  the  best  picture  in  every  respect 
that  he  had  produced.  In  my  opinion,  it  possesses  a  com- 
bination of  the  style  of  Rembrandt  and  Titian  ;  and  is 
altogether,  though  not  of  so  brown  a  cast,  not  unlike  the 
usual  effect  of  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  ;  in  particular,  the  right 
arm  of  the  female  figure,  which  is  altogether  admirably 
drawn,  is  a  rich,  clear,  and  perfect  specimen  of  flesh.  There 
is  neither  name  nor  date  upon  this  picture ;  nor  was  it, 
Mr.  Knowles  informs  me,  ever  his  custom  to  put  his  name 
either  upon  his  pictures  or  drawings  ;  the  latter  he  would 
date,  and  state  where  they  were  made,  as  "at  Rome," 
"  Putney-hill,"  &c. 

1  One    of    the    Underwings.     house,  and  loved  to  introduce 
(S.)  moths  and  butterflies  into  his 

2  Fuseli  reared  insects  in  his    pictures. 


HENRY  FUSELI,  R.A.  345 

I  shall  now  close  the  few  anecdotes  respecting  this  great 
man,  with  a  sincere  wish  that  Mr.  Knowles  may  soon  favour 
the  public  with  his  intended  Life  of  him,  for  the  composition 
of  which  his  close  intimacy  with  Mr.  Fuseli  afforded  him 
such  excellent  opportunities ;  indeed  I  am  convinced,  that 
no  one  is  better  qualified  for  the  work,  nor  in  possession 
of  a  richer  mine  of  materials  ;  as  I  understand  that  he  has 
six  unprinted  Lectures,  an  abundance  of  papers  of  the 
most  interesting  kind,  and  two  hundred  original  aphorisms, 
which,  if  we  may  judge  from  Fuseli's  pungent  wit,  would 
alone  make  an  entertaining  volume.  Mr.  Knowles  and 
Fuseli  were  inseparable,  and  bosom  friends  ;  and  as  a  con- 
vincing proof  how  highly  he  is  respected  by  Mrs.  Fuseli, 
that  lady,  who  has  so  much  in  her  power  to  communicate, 
has  presented  him  with  the  splendid  silver  cup,  so  liberally 
designed  by  Flaxman  for  the  Students  of  the  Royal  Academy, 
who  presented  it  to  their  Keeper  by  subscription ;  for, 
however  strange  it  may  appear,  though  his  manner  was  at 
times  so  repulsive  to  them,  they  all  seemed  to  love  him. 
Mr.  Knowles  kindly  complied  with  my  request  to  insert, 
in  this  work,  the  following  inscriptions  engraven  upon  it. 

TO 
HENRY    FUSELI,    ESQ.    R.A. 

KEEPER  OF  THE  ROYAL  ACADEMY, 
FROM 

THE   STUDENTS; 
1807. 

To  the  above  inscription  Mrs.  Fuseli  caused  the  following 
to  be  added. 

GIVEN  TO 

JOHN    KNOWLES,    ESQ.    F.R.S. 

AT  THE   REQUEST  OF 

HENRY   FUSELI,    ESQ.    R.A. 

BY  HIS  WIDOW. 


346        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

The  cup  is  a  splendid  one,  and  was  executed  by  Messrs. 
Rundell  and  Bridge. 

Another  favour  I  now  publicly  ask  of  Mr.  Knowles, 
namely,  that  he  will  allow  an  engraving  of  his  friend's 
portrait,  painted  by  Harlow,  to  accompany  his  life.1  For  this 
picture,  Fuseli  placed  himself  in  a  studious  position,  and  the 
Painter,  who  had  numerous  sittings,  has  succeeded  beyond 
expression  ;  for  it  is  not  only  a  fine  specimen  of  colouring, 
but  of  most  exquisite  finishing  :  he  was  two  days  engaged 
upon  his  right  hand  only,  which  accords  most  admirably 
in  character  with  his  face.  Fuseli,  severe  as  he  certainly 
was  in  his  remarks  upon  modern  art,  was  extremely  ser- 
viceable to  Harlow,  particularly  in  his  picture  of  the  Kemble 
Family,  which  gained  him  so  much  fame,  in  consequence 
of  its  extensive  dissemination  in  the  print  so  beautifully 
engraved  by  Clint.2  When  Fuseli  first  saw  this  picture, 
which  then  contained  thirty-one  figures,  they  were  all 
without  feet,  but  by  his  advice,  Harlow  immediately  altered 
it,  and  also  introduced  the  back  figure  of  a  boy  in  a  diagonal 
direction  across  the  picture,  suggested  and  actually  drawn 
for  him  by  Fuseli,  which  immediately  produced  a  connexion, 
and  perfected  the  composition. 

Harlow  was  unquestionably  an  artist  of  very  high  talent, 
but  owing  to  some  circumstances,  he  did  not  make  his  way 
into  the  Royal  Academy,  though  he,  like  all  other  Waltonites 
attempted  to  tickle  the  trout,  by  painting  portraits  of  some 
of  its  members.  In  addition  to  the  one  already  mentioned 
of  Fuseli,  he  produced  a  capital  likeness  of  Northcote,  of 
which  Lewis3  has  made  an  admirable  print :  he  also  painted 

1  This  portrait,  engraved  by  3  Harlow's  portrait  of  North- 
Dean,   is    the    frontispiece   of  cote   is   now  in  the   National 
Knowles's  biography.  Portrait     Gallery.       Its     en- 

2  See    Smith's    chapter    on  graver,     Frederick     Christian 
Harlow.     Redgrave  mentions  Lewis  (1779-1856),  was  much 
that    Clint's    mezzotint    print  employed  by  Lawrence. 

was  so  popular  that  it  was  re- 
engraved  three  times. 


HENRY  FUSELI,  R.A.  347 

the  one  of  Stothard,  so  well  engraved  by  Worthington  ;* 
and  he  began  one  of  Nollekens,  which  was  never  completed. 
Harlow,  unlike  the  generality  of  his  brother  artists,  was  so 
ridiculously  foppish  in  his  attention  to  dress,  that  I  have 
known  him  to  follow  the  height  of  Fashion's  follies  so  closely, 
that  in  consequence  of  the  enormous  length  of  his  spurs, 
he  has  been  inevitably  obliged  to  walk  down-stairs  back- 
wards, to  save  himself  from  falling  headlong. 

Fuseli,  when  in  company,  was  frequently  teased  by 
persons,  who  asked  him  what  he  thought  of  such  a  work  ? 
how  he  held  the  talents  of  such  a  man  ?  and,  indeed,  some 
would  go  so  far  as  to  observe,  "  I  wonder  you  can  suffer  such 
trash  to  be  praised." 

To  one  of  these  persons  he  put  the  following  question : 
"  Pray,  Sir,  do  you  think  I  am  to  carry  a  shovel  wherever 
I  go,  to  clear  away  every  dunghill  I  meet  with  ?  " 

When  Northcote  was  touching  upon  his  celebrated 
picture  of  the  lowering  the  Princes  down  the  steps  to  their 
place  of  burial,  so  spiritedly  engraved  by  Skelton  for 
Boydell's  Shakspeare,  Fuseli  objected  to  the  hands  belong- 
ing to  a  figure  below,  raised  to  receive  the  victims.  '  You 
should  not,"  observed  the  critic,  "  have  the  fellow's  hands 
so  employed ;  he  ought  to  be  digging  the  hole  for  them : 
only  think  how  awfully  grand  it  would  have  been  had  you 
made  him  with  a  pick-axe — dump — dump — dump  !  "  Upon 
which  Northcote,  who  was  fully  aware  of  his  man,  re- 
quested to  know  in  what  way  he  would  paint  the  sound  of 
dump — dump — dump . 

Fuseli,  upon  hearing  that  a  figure  had  been  broken  in  the 
Antique  Academy,  entered  the  room  with  the  following 
vociferation.  "  Which  is  the  man  who  broke  the  cast  ? 
where  is  he  ?  which  is  he  ?— Well,  Sir,  it  is  you  who  have 
broken  the  cast.  Will  you  look  round  the  room,  and  see 

1  WiUiam  Henry  Worthing-  the  portraits  of  British  sove- 
ton,  born  in  1795,  worked  reigns  for  Pickering's  History  of 
chiefly  in  line,  and  engraved  England  (1826). 


348        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

if  there  be  any  other  you  would  wish  me  to  order  out  for 
you  to  break  ?  " 

Fuseli,  for  a  length  of  time,  had  been  teased  by  an  idle 
and  stupid  student  for  his  opinion  of  his  drawing.  "  It  is 
bad ;  take  it  into  the  fields  and  shoot  at  it,  that's  a  good 
boy." 

When  Morton,  the  Portrait-painter,1  first  studied  at  the 
Academy,  he  commenced  drawing  the  sandal  of  a  foot 
before  he  got  in  the  toes.  Fuseli,  after  turning  his  drawing 
in  every  direction,  asked  him  what  he  intended  it  for. 
"  Is  it  a  horse's  bridle  ?  "  The  assiduous  student,  though 
he  had  considered  his  mode  no  bad  way  of  drawing  the  foot, 
found,  by  the  admonition  of  the  Keeper,  that  it  was  not 
the  best  way  of  doing  it.  Some  students  would  have  been 
displeased  at  the  remark,  but  upon  Morton's  exertions  it 
acted  with  so  strong  a  stimulus,  that  he  had  the  honour 
of  gaining  two  medals  in  the  Royal  Academy  for  drawings 
of  the  human  figure. 

It  has  been  reported  that  Fuseli  and  Lavater,  whose 
friendship  commenced  in  their  childhood,  were  obliged  to 
quit  Switzerland  when  very  young,  for  most  seriously  and 
premeditatedly  frightening  a  young  lady,  by  attempting  to 
produce  the  apparition  of  her  deceased  lover. 2  True  it  is, 
that  no  persons  could  more  mutually  regard  each  other 
than  Lavater  and  Fuseli,  nor  was  their  attachment  lessened 
till  the  death  of  the  Physiognomist,  who  certainly  had  paid 
every  compliment  to  the  Artist ;  for  he  not  only  intro- 
duced his  portrait  in  his  work,  of  which  he  spoke  in  the 
highest  terms,  but  placed  the  English  translation  of  that 
interesting  book  entirely  under  his  direction. 

Lavater,  speaking  of  Fuseli,  says  :    "  The  curve  which 

1  Andrew  Morton,   born   at  Fuseli  and  his  friend  Lavater 
Newcastle-on-Tyne    in     1802.  were   advised  to  quit  Zurich 
A  portrait  by  him  of  William  after  their  violent  and  successful 
IV.  is  in  Greenwich  Hospital.  attack  on  the  methods  of  a 

2  This  story  is  unsupported,  magistrate  named  Grebel. 


HENRY  FUSELI,  R.A.  349 

describes  the  profile  in  whole,  is  obviously  one  of  the  most 
remarkable ;    it   indicates  an  energetic   character,   which 
spurns  at  the  idea  of  trammels.     The  forehead,   by  its 
contours  and  position,  is  more  suited  to  the  poet  than  the 
thinker.    I  perceive  in  it  more  force  than  gentleness  ;  the 
fire   of  imagination  rather  than  the   coolness  of  reason. 
The  nose  seems  to  be  the  seat  of  an  intrepid  genius.    The 
mouth  promises  a  spirit  of  application  and  precision,  and 
yet  it  costs  the  original  the  greatest  effort  to  give  the 
finishing  touch  to  the  smallest  piece.    His  extreme  vivacity 
gets  the  better  of  that  portion  of  attention  and  exactness 
with  which  Nature  endowed  him,  and  which  is  still  distin- 
guishable in  the  detail  of  all  his  works.    You  will  even  some- 
times find  in  them  a  degree  of  finishing  almost  over-curious, 
and  which,  for  this  reason,  affords  a  singular  contrast  with 
the  boldness  of  the  whole.    Any  one  may  see,  without  my 
telling  it,  that  this  character  is  not  destitute  of  ambition, 
and  that  the  sense  of  his  own  merit  escapes  him  not.    It 
may  also  be  suspected  that  he  is  subject  to  impetuous 
emotions  ;  but  will  any  one  say  that  he  loves  with  tender- 
ness, with  warmth,  to  excess  ?    There  is  nothing,  however, 
more  true  :   though,  on  the  other  hand,  his  sensibility  has 
occasion  continually  to  be  kept  awake  by  the  presence  of 
the  beloved  object :    absent,  he  forgets  it,  and  troubles 
himself  no  more.   The  person  to  whom  he  is  fondly  attached, 
while  near  him,  may  lead  him  like  a  child ;   but,  quit  him, 
and  the  most  perfect  indifference  will  follow.    He  must  be 
roused,  be  struck,  in  order  to  be  carried  along.     Though 
capable  of  the  greatest  actions,  to  him  the  slightest  com- 
plaisance is  an  effort.    His  imagination  is  ever  aiming  at 
the  sublime,  and  delighting  itself  with  prodigies. 

"  The  sanctuary  of  the  Graces  is  not  shut  against  him,  but 
he  has  no  great  skill  in  sacrificing  to  them,  and  gives  himself 
very  little  concern  about  it.  Though  formed  to  feel  it,  he 
seldom  reaches  the  sublime.  Nature  intended  him  for  a 
great  poet,  a  great  painter,  a  great  orator ;  but,  to  borrow 


350        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

his  own  words,  '  inexorable  fate  does  not  always  proportion 
the  will  to  our  powers  ;  it  sometimes  assigns  a  copious 
proportion  of  will  to  ordinary  minds,  whose  faculties  are 
very  contracted ;  and  frequently  associates  with  the 
greatest  faculties,  a  will  feeble  and  impotent.' ' 

Fuseli  was  short  in  stature,  his  eyes  full,  prominent,  and, 
like  the  eagle's,  piercingly  brilliant.  He  dressed  well,  and 
at  all  times  looked  like  a  superior  man.  His  remarks  were 
generally  witty,  and  sometimes  severely  cutting :  but  to 
the  ladies,  particularly  those  who  were  qualified  to  give  him 
the  retort-courteous,  he  was  cautiously  and  precisely 
polite.  In  early  life,  he  suffered  each  of  his  many  female 
admirers  to  suppose  herself  the  favourite  fair.  Miss  Moser, 
at  one  period,  drew  that  conclusion,  and  for  a  long  time  he 
flirted  with  Angelica  Kauffmann ;  but  he  found  at  last 
that  that  lady's  glances  were  directed  towards  Sir  Joshua 
Reynolds  and  Mr.  Parker.  In  Fuseli's  marriage  state, 
Mrs.  Wollstonecraft  fell  desperately  in  love  with  him  ;J  and 
many  other  ladies  were  extremely  delighted  with  his  con- 
versation, even  to  the  extent  of  a  long  life,  for  his  company 
was  much  courted. 

One  evening,  when  Mr.  Nollekens  accompanied  Fuseli 
to  dine  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Coutts,  the  lively  hostess,  who 
had  dressed  herself  as  Morgiana,  went  round  the  room, 
after  dinner,  presenting  a  dagger  to  the  breast  of  every 
one  of  her  visitors,  as  if  she  intended  to  stab  them  ;2  and 
when  she  came  to  Nollekens,  Fuseli  was  heard  to  cry  out, 
'  You  may  strike  with  safety  ;  Nolly  was  never  known  to 
bleed." 

1  In  his  memoir  of  his  wife,  2  This  was  what  Fuseli  told 

Godwin  says  that  Mary  Woll-  Nollekens  was   "  play-acting." 

stonecraft's  visit  to  France  in  (S.) — Mrs.  Coutts  was  Harriet 

1792  arose  out  of  her  untimely  Mellon,  the  actress, 
affection  for  Fuseli,  which  had 
become  "  a  source  of  perpetual 
torment  to  her." 


JOHN    FLAXMAN,    R.A. 

JOHN  FLAXMAN  was  born  in  York,  July  6th,  1755,  * 
and  when  a  boy,  was  not,  like  other  children,  fond  of 
toys  ;    but  took  the  greatest  delight  in  every  thing 
pertaining  to  sculpture.     I  have  heard  my  father 
relate,  that  little  John,  when  only  six  years  of  age,  while 
standing  between  his  knees,  made  the  following  request : 
"  Mr.  Smith,  will  you  let  me  take  a  squeeze  from  your  blue 
seal  ?     My  father  has  given  me  several  impressions,  and 
allows  me  to  look  at  them  when  I  am  not  engaged  with  my 
Latin  books."   To  this  anecdote  I  also  subjoin  the  following, 
as  it  may  be  useful  to  some  future  biographer,  who  may  be 
inclined  to  favour  the  public  with  a  classic  life  of  the  inimit- 
able Flaxman. 

I  have  heard  my  late  friend,  the  Rev.  H.  Mathew,2  relate, 
that  in  consequence  of  an  accident  which  befel  a  model  in 
his  possession,  he  applied  to  M.  Flaxman,  a  plaster  figure- 
maker,  who  then  lived  in  New-street,  Covent-garden,  to 
have  it  repaired.  After  he  had  conversed  with  him  for  some 
time  in  his  shop,  he  heard  a  child  cough  behind  the  counter, 
and  looking  over,  saw  a  little  boy  seated  in  a  small  chair 
before  a  large  one,  upon  which  he  had  a  book.  Mr.  Mathew 
asked  him  wha't  book  he  had.  "It  is  a  Latin  one,  Sir," 

1  Flaxman's    father    was    a  visit  of    his   parents    to   that 

maker  of  plaster  casts  in  New-  city. 

street,  Covent  Garden,  but  he  2  The  Rev.  Henry  Mathew,  of 

often  worked  in  the  provinces,  Percy  Chapel,  Charlotte-street ; 

and  his  second  son,  John,  was  he  is  introduced  more  fully  in 

born  at  York  during  a  brief  Smith's  sketch  of  Blake,  post. 

35' 


352        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

replied  the  interesting  little  fellow,  raising  himself  by  the 
assistance  of  his  crutches  :  "  I  am  trying  to  learn  Latin, 
Sir." — "  Indeed  !  "  observed  the  Divine  :  "  then  I  will 
bring  you  a  better  book  when  I  come  to-morrow ;  "  and 
from  this  incident  Mr.  Mathew  continued  to  notice  him, 
and,  as  he  grew  up,  became  his  first  and  best  friend. 

When  the  boy  could  walk  as  far  as  Rathbone-place, 
(for,  in  consequence  of  a  weak  state  of  body,  it  was  many 
years  before  he  could  take  much  exercise,)  he  was  intro- 
duced to  Mrs.  Mathew  ;  who  was  so  kind  as  to  read  Homer 
to  him,  whilst  he  made  designs  on  the  same  table  with  her 
at  the  time  she  was  reading.  These  were  noticed  by  her 
friend  Mr.  Crutchley,  of  Sunning-hill-park,  who  gave  him 
a  commission  to  make  a  set  of  historical  drawings  for  him 
in  black  chalk,  consisting  of  figures  nearly  two  feet  in  height, 
which  now  are  in  the  possession  of  my  worthy  friend  Dr. 
Mathew,  to  whose  mother  they  had  been  given  by  Mr. 
Crutchley,1  upon  his  leaving  his  town-residence  in  Clarges- 
street.  They  are  six  in  number,  and  the  subjects  are  : — 

i.  (Edipus  conducted  by  his  daughter  Antigone  to  the 
Temple  of  the  Furies  ;  in  which  the  uncertain  step  of  (Edipus 
admirably  expresses  his  blindness.  2.  Dolon  arrested  as  a 
spy  by  Diomedes  and  Ulysses.  3.  The  Death  of  Hector,  in 
which  are  eight  figures  mourning  over  his  body.  4.  Alex- 
ander taking  the  cup  from  Philip,  his  physician,  to  whom 
Alexander  has  handed  the  accusation  of  an  intention  to 
poison  him  ;  wherein  the  Philosopher  and  aged  Soldier  are 
finely  delineated.  5.  Alceste  about  to  preserve  the  life  of 
her  Husband,  of  whom  and  her  Children  she  is  taking  leave  ; 
and  the  6th  represents  her  release  from  the  Infernal  Regions, 
and  her  restoration  to  her  Husband  by  Hercules. 

The  costume  of  the  above  drawings,  and  their  effect  of 
light  and  shade,  prove  the  Artist's  great  attention  to  his 

1  Jeremiah   Crutchley,    who  There  are  many  references  to 

sat   in    Parliament   for   Hors-  him    in    Madame    d'Arblay's 

ham,  was  one  of  the  executors  Diary, 
of  Henry  Thrale,  the  brewer. 


JOHN    KLAXMAN,    K.A. 
From  a  drawing  ly  Ozias  Humphry,  R.A.,  1778,  in  the  Collection  of  Mr.  John  Lane 


JOHN  FLAXMAN,   R.A.  353 

subjects,  even  in  his  youth.  Mrs.  Mathew  also  introduced 
young  Flaxman  to  the  late  Mr.  Knight,  of  Portland-place,1 
who  became  his  first  employer  as  a  Sculptor.  For  this 
gentleman  he  modelled  a  statue  of  Alexander  the  Great ; 
and  it  is  very  remarkable,  that  my  father,  between  whose 
knees  little  Flaxman  had  stood  to  request  an  impression 
of  his  seal,  was  the  Sculptor  selected  by  him  to  carve  it. 
Mr.  Flaxman's  father  had  removed  from  New-street  to 
a  house  in  the  Strand,  opposite  to  Durham-yard,2  where  Mr. 
Flaxman,  Jun.  became  his  lodger ;  but  after  his  marriage, 
he  took  a  small  house  in  Wardour-street,  now  No.  27, 
and  there  he  executed,  as  a  Sculptor,  many  works  for  his 
friend  Mr.  Knight,  who  generously  supplied  him  with  money. 

During  his  residence  in  this  house,  he  was  chosen  by  the 
Parish  of  St.  Anne,  in  which  he  resided,  as  one  of  the  Col- 
lectors for  the  Watch-rate ;  and  I  have  often  seen  him, 
with  an  ink-bottle  in  his  button-hole,  collecting  the  rate. 
I  also  recollect  reading  in  some  newspaper  the  following 
paragraph  :  "  We  understand  that  Flaxman,  the  Sculptor, 
is  about  to  leave  his  modest  mansion  in  Wardour-street 
for  Rome."  In  1787,  he  left  England,  and  studied  in  Rome, 
where  he  increased  his  friends  and  his  fame,  and  returned 
to  England  in  1794.  Upon  his  arrival,  he  took  the  premises 
in  Buckingham-street,  Fitzroy-square,  where  he  died  ;3  and 
perhaps  no  man  of  such  high  and  distinguished  abilities 
had  fewer  enemies,  nor  a  greater  number  of  friends. 

I  cannot  surfer  the  uninformed  reader  to  conclude,  that 
the  carver's  powers  are  not  absolutely  requisite  to  the 
fame  of  the  designer  and  modeller  ;  for,  without  his  tasteful 
finishing,  the  most  exquisite  model  may  be  totally  deprived 

1  Mr.  Knight,  whose  patron-  period    at    No.    52    Portland- 
age  of  Flaxman  was  so  valu-  place, 
able,  does  not  seem  to  have        2  No.  420  Strand, 
been  identified  by  the  sculp-         3  Flaxman's  house  was  No.  6 
tor's  biographers,   but  a  Mr.  Buckingham  -  street,    Fitzroy- 
,  Edward  Knight  lived  at  this  square. 


VOL.  II.— 2   A 


354        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

of  its  feeling,  by  the  want  of  that  fleshiness,  which  must 
ever  charm  the  eye  accustomed  to  dwell  upon  the  fine 
productions  of  ancient  Sculpture.  The  expression  of  a 
feature, — an  eye  for  instance,  so  fascinating  to  the  beholder, 
in  which  the  very  focus  and  soul  of  the  modeller  is  seated,— 
if  carelessly  finished,  might  be  lost  for  ever,  particularly  if 
too  much  of  the  stone  were  cut  away.  What  an  acquisition, 
then,  an  excellent  carver  must  be  in  the  studio  of  the  classic 
Sculptor  of  high  fame,  whose  mind  must  necessarily  be 
engaged  upon  his  designs  ;  and  whose  hand,  had  it  once  been 
master  of  the  tool,  for  the  want  of  practice,  could  not 
manage  it  with  so  much  ease  as  that  of  the  artist  who  is 
continually  employed  on  the  marble  only ;  nor,  indeed, 
could  his  numerous  commissions  be  executed  by  his  hands 
alone.  How,  then,  ought  the  modeller  to  value  that  carver, 
who  possesses  qualifications  so  highly  essential  to  his  future 
fame  ;  and  in  the  hour  of  sickness  or  affliction,  how  wise  it 
would  be  in  the  employer,  setting  aside  gratitude,  whicl 
ought  to  be  the  first  mover,  to  be  attentive  to  the  wants  oi 
one  so  useful  to  him  ! 

In  this  feeling  Nollekens  was  extremely  deficient,  for 
seldom  bestowed  his  encouragement  even  upon  the  mosl 
deserving  person :  though  he  would  raise  the  wages  of 
idle  fellow  who  fed  his  dog,  and  suffer  his  most  valuable 
assistants  to  want .  Poor  Gahagan, 1  for  instance,  who  carvec 
his  figure  of  Pitt,  erected  in  the  Senate-house,  at  Cambridge, 
had  only  three  hundred  pounds  for  the  task,  when  Nollekens's 
charge  was  three  thousand !  and  when  his  excellent  carvei 
applied  to  Nollekens  for  fifty  pounds  more,  stating  that 
he  had  made  a  very  hard  bargain,  his  answer  was,  that  he 
would  think  of  it ;  and  he  certainly  did  leave  him  a  small  sum 
in  his  will ;  but  Gahagan  did  not  receive  it  until  several 
years  had  elapsed,  during  which  time  he  had  undergone 
many  serious  vicissitudes  of  ill-fortune.  Now,  if  the  amount 
of  the  same  sum  had  been  given  at  the  moment,  it  might 
1  Sebastian  Gahagan.  For  other  references  see  Index. 


JOHN  FLAXMAN,  R.A.  355 

have  saved  him  many  a  cheerless  and  melancholy  day.  I 
most  sincerely  lament,  that  it  was  not  in  my  power  to  render 
him  that  assistance,  which,  in  a  letter  addressed  to  me,  he 
requested;  but  had  I  been  a  Residuary  Legatee  of  Mr. 
Nollekens's  vast  property,  I  can  assert  most  solemnly, 
that  my  first  act  should  have  been  to  have  requited  him 
with  the  small  sum  which  he  so  modestly  and  so  painfully 
solicited.  To  the  eternal  honour  of  Flaxman  be  it 
recorded,  that  whenever  any  of  his  assistants  were  ill,  or 
visited  with  misfortune,  he  made  them  frequent  presents, 
or  sent  them  the  full  amount  which  they  would  have  re- 
ceived had  they  been  occupied  for  his  interest ;  nor  did  his 
humanity  rest  here,  for  if  it  were  deemed  expedient  to  have 
the  opinion  or  advice  of  a  physician,  he  always  paid  for  his 
attendance. 

Independently  of  my  own  long  personal  knowledge  of 
Mr.  Flaxman,  I  am  enabled  to  relate  several  anecdotes  of 
his  goodness,  with  which  I  have  been  favoured  by  his  pupil 
Baily,  the  Royal  Academician,  a  native  of  Bristol,  who  now 
stands  so  eminently  conspicuous  in  the  Art  of  Sculpture.1 

In  the  early  part  of  Flaxman's  career,  when  at  Rome, 
he  was  much  noticed  by  an  English  nobleman,  who  em- 
ployed him  to  execute  a  group  of  the  Fury  of  Athamas, 
for  which  he  was  to  receive  a  very  small  recompense.  The 
artist,  after  working  upon  the  marble  for  a  considerable 
time,  in  conjunction  with  De  Vere,2  whom  he  paid  liberally 
for  his  assistance,  often  complained  of  the  severe  task  which 

1  Edward  Hodges  Baily,  R.A.  Rome,    and    was    afterwards 
(1788-1 867),  the  eminent  sculp-  employed  at  Coade's  Artificial 
tor,    who,    on    coming    from  Stone  Manufactory,  where  he 
Bristol,  worked  for  seven  years  executed     the     emblematical 
in  Flaxman's  studio.    He  exe-  group  now  seen  on  the  front 
cuted  the  reliefs  on  the  Marble  of  the  Pelican  Office  in  Lorn- 
Arch    and    many    important  bard-street.       See     note     on 
statues  and  busts.  Coade's  Artificial  Stone  in  the 

2  De  Vaare  (Smith  prints  De  biographical  sketch  of  Bacon, 
Vere)    spent    some    years    in  ante. 


356        NOLLEKENS    AND   HIS   TIMES 

his  inexperience  had  induced  him  to  undertake  for  so  small 
a  sum  of  money  ;  but  at  the  same  time  declaring,  that 
instead  of  giving  it  up,  and  returning  to  England,  he  would 
persevere  with  all  his  powers  to  accomplish  it,  even  though 
he  were  to  die  by  the  block.1 

Modest  as  Flaxman  in  many  instances  certainly  was, 
particularly  in  his  later  days,  when  he  would  listen  to  the 
opinions  of  others,  few  persons  would  believe  that  when 
he  was  a  young  man,  he  was  the  most  conceited  artist  of 
his  day  ;  which,  however,  he  acknowledged  to  his  friend 
Baily  to  have  been  correctly  the  fact.  He  said,  that  when 
he  presented  his  model  for  the  gold  medal  at  the  Royal 
Academy,  he  believed,  what  many  students  then  told  him, 
that  to  a  certainty  he  would  gain  the  prize,  and  he  con- 
tinued to  entertain  that  opinion  even  to  the  very  hour  of 
distribution  ;  though  he  had  received  a  pretty  severe  check 
on  the  day  upon  which  he  and  his  antagonist  were  to  try 
their  skill,  by  modelling  a  subject  proposed  by  the  Council 
in  the  presence  of  the  Keeper,  in  order  to  convince  the 
Academicians  that  each  artist  was  fully  capable  of  producing 
models  equal  to  those  they  had  sent  in.  Now  it  must  be 
here  noticed,  that  the  two  candidates,  Flaxman  and  Engle- 
heart,  had  agreed  to  allow  each  other  to  see  what  he  had 
produced,  within  a  certain  time  of  the  hours  limited  by  the 
Council ;  at  the  expiration  of  the  proposed  time,  Engle- 
heart  stepped  forward  to  see  what  Flaxman,  who  had 
worked  rapidly,  and  with  the  fullest  confidence,  had  done  ; 
but  when  Flaxman  walked  round  to  look  at  Engleheart's 
model,  he  found  that  he  had  not  even  commenced ;  upon 
which,  he  was  bold  enough  to  conclude,  that  the  medal 
must  unquestionably  be  adjudged  to  him.  Engleheart, 

1  Flaxman's    exacting    em-  mixed    characters    who    ever 

ployer     was     the     notorious  sat    on    the   episcopal   bench. 

Frederick    Augustus    Hervey,  His  wayward  career  illustrated 

D.D.,  Earl  of  Bristol  and  Bishop  the  saying  that  God  created 

of    Deny,    one    of    the    most  men,  women,  and  Herveys. 


JOHN  FLAXMAN,   R.A.  357 

who  had  been  deeply  engaged  in  thought,  was  not  dis- 
couraged by  what  he  had  seen,  but  received  fresh  vigour, 
and  ultimately  astonished  Flaxman,  who,  notwithstanding, 
was  so  perfectly  satisfied  in  his  own  mind  of  success,  that  he 
had  boldly  invited  several  friends  to  dine  with  him  on  the 
day  of  distribution,  and  actually  left  them  with  a  view  to 
go  and  take  his  medal,  and  a  promise  to  return  as  soon  as 
he  had  received  it.  But,  alas  !  how  fondly  do  we  deceive 
ourselves !  what  was  his  chagrin,  when,  instead  of  hearing 
the  name  of  Flaxman,  that  of  Engleheart  was  pronounced 
as  the  successful  candidate  ! 1 

This  timely  lesson,  he  declared,  so  effectually  operated 
upon  his  conceit,  that  he  was  determined  ever  after  to  talk 
less  of  his  own  talents,  and  to  endeavour  to  do  justice  to 
those  of  others,  who  were  also  aspiring  to  the  pinnacle  of 
fame. — Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  meeting  Flaxman  soon  after 
he  had  received  the  hand  of  Miss  Denman,  in  1782,  said 
to  him,  "  So,  Flaxman,  you  are  married  ;  there's  no  going 
to  Italy  now."2  Mr.  Baily,  my  informant,  added,  that 
it  has  been  said,  that  it  was  in  consequence  of  this  observa- 
tion of  the  President,  that  he  was  determined  to  visit  Rome. 
Little  did  Sir  Joshua  imagine  that  the  Sculptor  to  whom  he 
then  spoke,  who  at  that  time  was  only  a  student  in  the 
Academy,  and  inhabiting  No.  27,  one  of  the  smallest  houses 
in  Wardour-street,  would  execute  a  statue  to  his  memory, 
and  that  it  would  be  erected  in  the  Cathedral  of  St.  Paul ; 
nor  could  he  ever  suspect,  great  as  his  fame  was,  that  this 
statue  would  have  been  as  often  visited  as  those  of  Pasquin 
and  Marforio,  or  that  the  pedestal  would  have  displayed 

1  The  subject  of  the  com-         2  Flaxman     married     Ann 

petition    was    "  Ulysses    and  Denman,  daughter  of  a  gun- 

Nausicaa."       Thomas    Engle-  stock-maker  in  Mansell-street, 

heart's  wax  medallion  portrait  Whitechapel,  and  took  his  wife 

of  Edward,  Duke  of  Kent,  is  to  Wardour-street.    It  was  the 

in  the  National  Portrait  Gal-  happiest  of  marriages. 
Jery. 


358        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

the  signatures  of  some  of  the  highest  characters  in  Europe, 
so  justly  celebrated  for  their  worth  and  talent. 

Lord  and  Lady  Inchiquin  solicited  Nollekens  to  execute 
Sir  Joshua's  monument,  which  he  declined,  by  stating  that 
his  engagements  would  not  permit  him  to  undertake  it ; 
but  I  never  heard  until  lately,  that  he  had  recommended  it 
to  Flaxman,  as  some  have  asserted.  For  my  own  part, 
too,  I  do  not  believe  it,  as  they  were  never  intimate,  and 
their  modes  of  thinking  and  living  were  so  diametrically 
opposite,  that  it  was  not  possible  for  a  man  with  Flaxman's 
elegant  and  benevolent  feelings,  to  associate  with  Nollekens. 
I  am  fully  convinced  also,  from  the  ignorant  observations 
which  I  have  heard  him  make  upon  Flaxman, — whose 
sublime  ideas  and  conversations  on  Art  he  never  could 
understand, — that  Flaxman  never  would  have  been  pre- 
ferred by  him  to  Scheemakers's  nephew,  whose  business 
of  monument-making,  for  so  I  must  call  it  with  him,  arose 
entirely  from  the  overflowings  of  the  studio  of  Nollekens, 
his  uncle's  pupil. 

At  no  period  of  Mr.  Flaxman's  life  did  he  ever  receive  a 
present  from  any  one  beneath  himself  ;  and  whenever  he 
accepted  any  thing  from  persons,  even  in  the  highest 
station,  he  always  selected  something  to  give  them  in  return, 
of  at  least  double  the  value  of  that  received  :  nor  did  he  at 
any  time,  under  any  consideration  whatever,  when  making 
a  purchase,  give  less  than  what  he  conscientiously  considered 
to  be  the  full  value.  On  the  contrary,  he  has  frequently 
been  heard  most  vehemently  to  reprobate  that  detestable 
custom,  so  often  practised  by  sordid  and  speculative  money- 
getting  men,  of  monopolizing  articles,  with  a  view  of  their 
increasing  enormously  in  value  at  some  future  period. 

Lavater,  who  has  thought  proper  to  judge  of  the  qualities 
of  a  man's  mind,  by  many  slight  peculiarities  in  the  person's 
face  or  hand-writing,  would  have  been  perfectly  safe,  had 
he  estimated  the  eminence  of  Flaxman's  talents  from  the 
simplicity  of  his  dress.  His  hair  was  simply  combed,  he 


JOHN  FLAXMAN,  R.A.  359 

never  at  any  time  wore  powder,  nor  did  he  ever  attempt 
to  exhibit  ornaments  of  finery ;  he  never  kept  a  servant 
in  livery,  though  sometimes  his  polisher  of  marble,  John 
Burge,  stood  behind  his  chair,  at  the  Royal  Academy 
dinners,  in  his  Sunday  clothes. 

It  is  not  the  practice  of  modern  Sculptors  to  use  the 
carving-stool  according  to  the  custom  of  the  ancients  : 
Michel  Angelo  was  at  times  his  own  boaster,  and  it  has  been 
said,  that  he  would  carve  a  figure  at  once  from  the  block, 
without  having  any  model  to  work  from.  Of  Michel  An- 
gelo's  method  of  carving,  our  country  can  boast  of  a  noble 
specimen,  in  the  exquisitely-beautiful  composition  of  the 
Holy  Family,  brought  to  England  by  Sir  George  Beaumont, 
and  now  erected  by  the  worthy  Baronet  in  his  gallery  in 
Grosvenor-square.  Its  effect  is  so  imposing,  that  when  the 
spectator  is  standing  at  a  little  distance,  this  inestimable 
treasure,  though  unfinished,  appears  more  like  the  commence- 
ment of  a  chiaro-oscuro  picture,  than  a  production  in  any 
kind  of  stone.  The  style  of  the  whole  work  is  square  and 
bold  beyond  conception,  and  appears  as  if  the  great  artist 
had  played  with  his  chisel,  as  he  did  with  his  modelling 
tool :  the  hand  of  the  Virgin  is  inimitable.1 

Nollekens's  time  was  mostly  employed  in  modelling,  and 
in  consequence  of  his  great  practice,  he  acquired  such  dex- 
terity with  his  clay,  that  he  brought  a  bust  wonderfully 
forward  with  his  thumb  and  finger  only.  Flaxman  also 
principally  employed  himself  in  modelling ;  but  though 
not  so  dexterous  as  Nollekens,  he  kneaded  the  clay  in  a 
rough  manner  with  the  hand,  under  the  influence  of  a  great 
mind.  The  manner  in  which  he  produced  that  noble  speci- 
men, the  shield  of  Achilles,  for  Messrs.  Rundell  and  Bridge, 
the  eternal  monument  of  his  fame,  was  truly  curious.  He 
first  modelled  the  general  design,  without  attending  minutely 

1  This  work,  a  bas-relief,  is  and  St.  John."  Beaumont  pre- 
more  properly  described  as  sented  it  to  the  Royal  Academy, 
"  The  Virgin,  the  Holy  Child,  in  whose  possession  it  remains. 


360        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

to  the  respective  parts  ;  it  was  then  moulded  in  compart- 
ments, and  cast  in  plaster,  and  he  afterwards  finished  it  up, 
by  cutting  away  to  that  inimitable  height  of  excellence, 
which  enabled  his  spirited  employers  to  produce  those 
splendid  casts  of  it  in  silver  gilt,  which  adorn  the  side- 
boards of  the  King,  his  Royal  Highness  the  Duke  of  York, 
his  Grace  the  Duke  of  Northumberland,  &C.1 

No  one  could  be  more  blessed  with  the  friendship  of  men 
of  worth  than  Flaxman.  Those  highly  esteemed  characters 
William  Hayley,  Thomas  Hope,  and  Samuel  Rogers,  were 
among  his  dear  and  inseparable  friends  ;  the  latter  of 
whom  has  not  only  the  good  fortune  of  having  the  chimney- 
pieces  and  cornices  of  the  rooms  of  his  elegant  mansion  in 
St.  James's-place,  executed  from  the  designs  of  Flaxman, 
but  is  also,  fortunately,  in  possession  of  two  figures  of 
Cupid  and  Psyche  ;  which  works  alone  would  do  eternal 
honour  to  the  artist,  and  the  liberal  and  tasteful  possessor, 
who  bespoke  them.  The  first  monument  by  Flaxman,  after 
his  return  to  England,  was  that  of  Lord  Mansfield,  erected 
in  Westminster  Abbey.  In  1804,  he  had  two  other  public 
monuments  in  hand  ;  one  being  to  the  memory  of  Captain 
Montagu,  for  Westminster  Abbey,  the  other  of  Admiral 
Earl  Howe.  In  1808,  he  was  engaged  in  the  following  public 
works  : — A  national  monument,  for  St.  Paul's,  of  Admiral 
Viscount  Nelson,  in  which  the  hero  is  resting  on  an  anchor, 
surrounded  by  figures  of  the  Seas  ;  and  beside  the  pedestal, 
Britannia  is  directing  the  attention  of  two  boys  to  the 
Admiral.  A  statue  of  Mr.  Pitt,  for  Glasgow.  A  statue  of 
Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  for  St.  Paul's.  A  monument  of  Mr. 
Pitt,  for  India,  as  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer.2 

1  Rundell  and  Bridge  com-  Flaxman  received  620^.  for  his 

missioned  Flaxman  to  execute  model ;    a   copy  in   silver-gilt 

this  famous  work  in  harmony  was  sold    to    George   III    for 

with  the  description  of  Vul-  2000^.,  and  a  few  others  were 

can's  handiwork  in  the  eigh-  made, 

teenth    book    of    the    Iliad.  2  Flaxman's    monument    to 


JOHN  FLAXMAN,   R.A.  361 

In  1820,  the  Duke  of  Bedford  nobly  converted  a  building, 
erected  in  1789  for  a  green-house,  into  a  gallery,  for  the 
reception  of  ancient  and  modern  Sculpture.  It  measures 
one  hundred  and  thirty-eight  feet  in  length,  twenty-five 
in  breadth,  and  twenty-two  by  seven  inches  in  height : 
and  I  shall  here  insert  a  quotation  from  a  magnificent  folio 
volume,  privately  printed  at  the  Duke's  expense,  entitled, 
"  Outline  Engravings  and  Descriptions  of  the  Woburn  Abbey 
Marbles,  1822." 

On  the  tympanum  of  the  pediment  of  the  portico  of  the 
Temple  of  Liberty,  is  a  beautiful  allegorical  group,  composed 
by  Flaxman,  representing  the  Goddess  of  Liberty,  supporting 
a  spear  with  one  hand,  and  elevating  in  the  other  her  pileus, 
or  symbolical  cap.  On  her  right  is  Peace,  holding  a  branch 
of  olive,  and  caressing  a  lamb,  near  which  a  lion  is  reposing. 
On  the  left  of  the  Goddess  are  Genii,  pouring  out  of  the 
horn  of  plenty  the  rich  fruits  of  the  earth  ;  near  which  are 
a  bale  of  merchandize  and  sheaves  of  corn. 

Plate  thirty-eight  of  this  costly  work  exhibits  an  outline 
of  the  above  pediment,  beautifully  etched  by  Moses,  whose 
needle  is  sure  to  enrich  every  work  in  which  it  is  employed.1 

When  the  late  Mr.  Kemble  retired  from  the  stage,  several 
of  his  numerous  friends,  considering  that  some  decided  and 
permanent  mark  of  their  high  approbation  of  his  dignified 
career  should  be  voted  him,  Mr.  Flaxman  was  requested  to 
design  a  cup,  or  vase,  which  it  was  agreed  should  be  executed 
by  Messrs.  Rundell  and  Bridge,  and  presented  at  the  Fare- 
well-dinner. Flaxman,  entertaining  the  most  profound 
veneration  for  the  grand  and  elevated  talents  of  Kemble, 
not  only  acquiesced  in  their  wishes,  by  commencing  im- 

Nelson  in  St.  Paul's  was  not  and  was  employed  upon  the 

erected  and  shown  until  May,  official  Ancient  Marbles  in  the 

1818.    That  to  Sir  Joshua  Key-  British    Museum,    1812-1845. 

nolds  was  erected  in  1813.  He   illustrated   an   edition   of 

1  Henry  Moses  (1782  7-1870)  Pilgrim's  Progress  (1844). 
engraved  many  similar  works, 


362        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

mediately  upon  the  pleasing  task,  but  liberally  presented 
the  design  as  his  part  of  the  subscription,  which  compo- 
sition was  modelled  by  his  pupil  Mr.  Baily. 

The  design  is  a  tripod-stand,  upon  which  a  cup  or  vase 
is  placed,  surmounted  by  a  wreath  of  laurels,  standing  erect. 
The  first  panel  contains  a  bust  of  Shakspeare  on  a  therme. 
Mr.  Flaxman  took  this  head  of  Shakspeare  from  Droe- 
shout's  print,  which,  if  we  may  rely  upon  the  testimony 
of  Ben  Jonson,  who  was  no  flatterer,  was  considered  an 
excellent  likeness  of  his  rival.  My  own  humble  opinion  is, 
that  most,  if  not  all  the  pictures  which  have  been  engraved 
with  the  greatest  avidity,  are  most  impudent  impositions  ; 
produced,  as  many  of  them  can  be  proved,  by  well-known 
impostors  and  needy  men,  whose  necessitous  families  have 
urged  them,  like  the  Apothecary  in  Romeo  and  Juliet,  to 
sell  the  poison.1  A  figure,  representing  Kemble,  is  seated, 
studying  with  a  book  in  his  hands  :  a  winged  figure,  the 
Genius  of  Shakspeare,  has  just  descended  to  direct  his 
attention  to  the  following  characters  of  the  great  dramatic 
poet,  which  are  inscribed  on  the  therme  in  the  following 
order  ;  viz.  King  John,  Macbeth,  Hamlet,  Richard,  Hotspur, 
Wolsey,  Posthumus,  Romeo,  Brutus,  and  Coriolanus. 

The  second  side  represents  Mr.  Kemble,  advanced  in 
years,  and  just  descended  from  the  stage,  upon  which  he 
has  left  his  senatorial  chair,  and  dropped  his  dagger,  while 
a  figure  of  Tragedy,  who  has  followed  him,  is  crowning 
him  with  laurels. 

Upon  the  third  was  engraven  the  dedicatory  inscription, 

1  The  portraits  of  Shake-  once  that  a  long  and  minute 
speare  have  recently  been  ex-  study  of  the  portraits  of 
haustively  studied  by  Mr.  M.  Shakespeare  in  every  medium 
H.  Spielmann,  whose  essay  on  and  material  has  led  me,  other- 
trie  subject  may  be  found  in  wise  hopeful  as  I  was  at  the 
Vol.  X  of  the  Shakespeare  outset  years  ago,  no  distance 
Head  Press  edition  of  Shake-  at  all  towards  the  firm  estab- 
speare.  Mr.  Spielmann,  in  his  lishment  of  any  one  of  them 
turn,  writes:  "I  may  say  at  as  a  true  life-portrait." 


JOHN  FLAXMAN,  R.A.  363 

composed  by  Mr.  Poole.1  The  whole  of  the  working- 
expenses  of  this  elegant  tripod-cup  and  wreath,  (weighing 
nearly  four  hundred  ounces  of  silver,  in  value  about  three 
hundred  guineas,)  were  liberally  presented  by  Messrs. 
Rundell  and  Bridge  as  their  subscription. 

The  cup  not  being  finished,  the  drawing  and  cast  were 
produced,  by  Mr.  Mathews  and  Mr.  Rae,  at  the  Freemasons' 
Tavern,  on  June  27th,  1817,2  the  day  Mr.  Kemble  attended 
his  Farewell-dinner,  which  was  graced  by  the  presence  of 
twenty-two  Noblemen,  nine  Members  of  the  Royal  Academy, 
William  Locke,  Samuel  Rogers,  and  other  eminent  and 
highly  talented  characters. 

Mr.  Flaxman,  after  receiving  the  highest  encomiums 
upon  so  classic  and  elegant  a  design,  in  returning  thanks, 
kept  gradually  walking  up  to  the  noble  President,  and, 
when  he  had  finished  his  address,  returned  to  his  seat, 
filled  his  glass,  with  which  he  again  advanced  to  the  noble 
Lord,  and  drank  to  the  whole  company  for  the  honour  they 
had  done  him  in  drinking  his  health.  The  address  of  Mr. 
Flaxman  to  Lord  Holland  was,  like  most  of  his  speeches, 
short  and  nervous.  He  declared  that  the  merit  of  the 
design  was  highly  increased  by  the  name  of  the  man  whose 
memory  the  cup  was  to  perpetuate  ;  and  he  also  assured  his 
Lordship,  that  he  felt  proud  in  knowing  that  his  name 
would  be  hereafter  associated  with  the  object  of  that  day's 
commemoration . 

When  Mr.  Kemble  left  this  country  for  the  benefit  of  his 
health,  which,  by  his  theatrical  exertions,  was  most  seriously 
impaired,  he  left  this  elegant  memento  in  the  possession  of 
his  celebrated  sister,  Mrs.  Siddons. 

Upon  Mr.  Flaxman  seeing  some  of  Mr.  Stothard's  early 
and  beautiful  designs  for  the  Novelist's  Magazine,  in  the 
course  of  its  periodical  publication,  he  observed  to  his 
father,  that  he  should  like  to  know  the  artist ;  an  intimacy 

1  Thomas  Poole,  the  friend  2  Alexander  Rae,  the  actor 
of  Coleridge.  (1782-1820). 


364        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

soon  commenced,  and  they  ever  after  entertained  a 
mutual  friendship  for  each  other.  Wherever  Mr.  Flaxman 
found  superior  talent,  he  upon  all  occasions  spoke  openly 
and  nobly  of  its  possessor.  I  recollect,  when  my  father 
showed  him  the  early  productions  of  Mr.  Howard,  the  Aca- 
demician, that  he  considered  them  as  works  of  the  highest 
promise,  and  nothing  could  possibly  exceed  the  encomiums 
which  Mr.  Flaxman  continued  to  express,  till  the  end  of  his 
life,  upon  the  productions  of  that  amiable  artist :  and  I 
must  also  declare,  though  I  own  in  feeble  language,  that  the 
eloquent  and  honourable  eulogium  passed  upon  Mr.  Flax- 
man, by  the  President  of  the  Royal  Academy,  did  not 
surpass  in  esteem  and  respect  the  manner  in  which  Mr. 
Howard  has  always  mentioned  the  name  of  Flaxman. 

I  was  present  one  evening,  at  the  Argyll-Rooms,  when 
Pistrucci,  the  Improvisatore,1  received,  amongst  other 
papers,  from  the  audience,  a  request  for  his  ideas  in  poetry 
for  the  composition  for  a  monument  to  the  memory  of 
Canova ;  after  he  had  read  the  request,  he  bowed  to  the 
centre  of  the  second  seat  before  him,  and  passed  an  elegant 
encomium  upon  our  late  British  Phidias  ;  saying,  he  could 
not  think  of  delivering  his  ideas  upon  that  subject,  while 
there  was  a  Flaxman  present,  who  could,  with  a  few  lines 
of  his  pencil,  far  surpass  ten  thousand  lines  of  his  verses. 

To  the  eternal  honour  of  Sir  Thomas  Lawrence,  the 
first  English  Artist  who  has  followed  the  noble  example 
of  Sir  Peter  Paul  Rubens,  by  liberally  purchasing  the  works 
of  contemporary  artists,  he  has  not  only  secured  like- 
nesses of  Fuseli,  Smirke,  and  Stothard,  but  unquestionably 
one  of  the  finest  busts  of  Flaxman  extant,  which  are  from 
the  hand  of  Baily,  the  Academician,  Flaxman's  favourite 
pupil.  Sir  Thomas  is  also  the  fortunate  possessor  of  two 
figures,  designed  and  modelled  by  Flaxman,  measuring 

1  Philip  Pistrucci,  elder  describes  his  improvisations 
brother  of  Benedetto  Pistrucci,  at  Lady  Jersey's  in  his  diary, 
the  medallist.  Tom  Moore  June  2nd,  1823. 


JOHN  FLAXMAN,  R.A.  365 

about  two  feet  in  height ;  one  represents  Michel  Angelo, 
the  other  Raffaelle.  These  stand  in  his  front-parlour, 
unconscious  of  the  inestimable  treasures  the  cabinets  of  that 
room  contain  from  their  immortal  hands. 

For  some  weeks  previous  to  his  decease,  though  he  was 
met  in  the  street  by  several  friends  only  three  days  before 
his  death,  he  certainly  was  on  the  decline  ;  and  yet  his  dis- 
solution was  unexpected.  He  departed  in  his  house  in 
Buckingham-street,  and  was  buried  in  the  church-yard  of 
St.  Giles's-in-the-Fields,  next  to  that  of  St.  Pancras  Old 
Church.  He  was  the  first  Professor  of  Sculpture  in  the 
Royal  Academy. 

The  following  inscription  is  cut  upon  an  altar-tomb 
erected  to  the  memory  of  his  wife  in  the  middle  of  the 
burial-ground  : — 

JOHN  FLAXMAN,  R.A.P.S. 

Whose  mortal  life 
Was  a  constant  preparation 
For  a  blessed  immortality  : 

His  angelic  spirit  returned  to  the  Divine  Giver, 

On  the  7th  of  December,  1826, 

In  the  72d  year  of  his  age. 


WILLIAM    BLAKE 

I    BELIEVE   it   has   been  invariably  the  custom   of 
every  age,  whenever  a  man  has  been  found  to  depart 
from  the  usual  mode  of  thinking,  to  consider  him  of 
deranged  intellect,  and  not  unfrequently  stark  staring 
mad ;   which  judgment  his  calumniators  would  pronounce 
with  as  little  hesitation,  as  some  of  the  uncharitable  part  of 
mankind  would  pass  sentence  of  death  upon  a  poor  half- 
drowned  cur  who  had  lost  his  master,  or  one  who  had  es- 
caped hanging  with  a  rope  about  his  neck.    Cowper,  in  a 
letter  to  Lady  Hesketh,  dated  June  3rd,  1788,  speaking  of 
a  dancing-master's  advertisement,  says,  "  The  author  of 
it  had  the  good  hap  to  be  crazed,  or  he  had  never  produced 
any  thing  half  so  clever ;    for  you  will  ever  observe,  that 
they  who  are  said  to  have  lost  their  wits,  have  more  than 
other  people." 

Bearing  this  stigma  of  eccentricity,  William  Blake,  with 
most  extraordinary  zeal,  commenced  his  efforts  in  Art 
under  the  roof  of  No.  28,  Broad-street,1  Carnaby-market ; 
in  which  house  he  was  born,  and  where  his  father  carried 
on  the  business  of  a  hosier.  William,  the  subject  of  the 
following  pages,  who  was  his  second  son,  showing  an  early 
stretch  of  mind,  and  a  strong  talent  for  drawing,  being  totally 
destitute  of  the  dexterity  of  a  London  shopman,  so  well 
described  by  Dr.  Johnson,  was  sent  away  from  the  counter 
as  a  booby,  and  placed  under  the  late  Mr.  James  Basire, 

1  This  house  stood  at  the  Marshall-street,  where  there  is 
corner  of  Broad-street  and  now  a  chandler's  shop. 

366 


WILLIAM  BLAKE  367 

an  Artist  well  known  for  many  years  as  Engraver  to  the 
Society  of  Antiquaries.1  From  him  he  learned  the  mechani- 
cal part  of  his  art,  and  as  he  drew  carefully,  and  copied 
faithfully,  his  master  frequently  and  confidently  employed 
him  to  make  drawings  from  monuments  to  be  engraven. 

After  leaving  his  instructor,  in  whose  house  he  had  con- 
ducted himself  with  the  strictest  propriety,  he  became 
acquainted  with  Flaxman,  the  Sculptor,  through  his  friend 
Stothard,  and  was  also  honoured  by  an  introduction  to  the 
accomplished  Mrs.  Mathew,  whose  house,  No.  27,  in  Rath- 
bone-place,  was  then  frequented  by  most  of  the  literary 
and  talented  people  of  the  day.2  This  lady,  to  whom  I  also 
had  the  honour  of  being  known,  and  whose  door  and  purse 
were  constantly  open  and  ready  to  cherish  persons  of 
genius  who  stood  in  need  of  assistance  in  their  learned  and 
arduous  pursuits,  worldly  concerns,  or  inconveniences, — was 
so  extremely  zealous  in  promoting  the  celebrity  of  Blake, 
that  upon  hearing  him  read  some  of  his  early  efforts  in 
poetry,  she  thought  so  well  of  them,  as  to  request  the  Rev. 

1  James  Basire  (1730-1802),  lived  in  Wardour-street,  intro- 
illustrator   of    Vetusta   Monu-  duced  me  to  one  of  his  early 
menta.      Blake's    father    had  patrons,      the     Rev.     Henry 
proposed    to    apprentice    him  Mathew,  of  Percy  Chapel,  Char- 
to  the  more  eminent  William  lotte-street.  ...  At  that  gen- 
Wynne  Ryland,  but  the  boy  tleman's  house,  in  Rathbone- 
replied;    "  Father,    I    do    not  place.  ...  At  Mrs.  Mathew's 
like  the  man's  looks,  he  looks  as  most  agreeable  conversaziones 
if  he  would  live  to  be  hanged."  I  first  met  the  late  William 
About  ten  years  later  this  en-  Blake,  the  artist,  to  whom  she 
graver  was  hanged  at  Tyburn  and   Mr.    Flaxman   had   been 
for   forgery.     He   accordingly  truly    kind.      There    I    have 
went   to   Basire   at   31    Great  often  heard  him  read  and  sing 
Queen-street,      opposite      the  several  of  his  poems.    He  was 
Freemason's       Tavern,       and  listened  to   by   the   company 
worked    under    this    engraver  with    profound    silence,    and 
seven  years.  allowed  by  most  of  the  visitors 

2  In  his  Book  for  a  Rainy  to  possess  original  and  extra- 
Day,  under  1784,  Smith  writes  :  ordinary  merit." 

"  This  year  Flaxman,  who  then 


368        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

Henry  Mathew,  her  husband,  to  join  Mr.  Flaxman  in  his 
truly  kind  offer  of  defraying  the  expense  of  printing  them  ; 
in  which  he  not  only  acquiesced,  but,  with  his  usual  urbanity, 
wrote  the  following  advertisement,  which  precedes  the 
poems. 

The  following  sketches  were  the  production  of  an  un- 
tutored youth,  commenced  in  his  twelfth,  and  occasionally 
resumed  by  the  author  till  his  twentieth  year  ;  since  which 
time,  his  talents  having  been  wholly  directed  to  the  attain- 
ment of  excellence  in  his  profession,  he  has  been  deprived  of 
the  leisure  requisite  to  such  a  revisal  of  these  sheets,  as 
might  have  rendered  them  less  unfit  to  meet  the  public 
eye. 

Conscious  of  the  irregularities  and  defects  to  be  found  in 
almost  every  page,  his  friends  have  still  believed  that  they 
possessed  a  poetical  originality,  which  merited  some  respite 
from  oblivion.  These,  their  opinions,  remain,  however,  to 
be  now  reproved  or  confirmed  by  a  less  partial  public. 

The  whole  copy  of  this  little  work,  entitled  "  Poetical 
Sketches,  by  W.  B."  containing  seventy  pages,  octavo,  bear- 
ing the  date  of  1783,  was  given  to  Blake  to  sell  to  friends,  or 
publish,  as  he  might  think  proper. 

The  annexed  Song  is  a  specimen  of  the  juvenile  playful- 
ness of  Blake's  muse,  copied  from  page  10  of  these  Poems. 

SONG 

How  sweet  I  roam'd  from  field  to  field, 
And  tasted  all  the  Summer's  pride, 

'Till  I  the  Prince  of  Love  beheld, 
Who  in  the  sunny  beams  did  glide  ! 

He  show'd  me  lilies  for  my  hair, 

And  blushing  roses  for  my  brow  ; 
He  led  me  through  his  gardens  fair, 

Where  all  his  golden  pleasures  grow. 

With  sweet  May-dews  my  wings  were  wet, 

And  Phoebus  fired  my  vocal  rage  ; 
He  caught  me  in  his  silken  net, 

And  shut  me  in  his  golden  cage. 


WILLIAM  BLAKE  369 

He  loves  to  sit  and  hear  me  sing, 
Then,  laughing,  sports  and  plays  with  me  ; 

Then  stretches  out  my  golden  wing, 
And  mocks  my  loss  of  liberty. 

But  it  happened,  unfortunately,  soon  after  this  period, 
that  in  consequence  of  his  unbending  deportment,  or  what 
his  adherents  are  pleased  to  call  his  manly  firmness  of 
opinion,  which  certainly  was  not  at  all  times  considered 
pleasing  by  every  one,  his  visits  were  not  so  frequent.1 
He  however  continued  to  benefit  by  Mrs.  Mathew's  liberality, 
and  was  enabled  to  continue  in  partnership,  as  a  Printseller, 
with  his  fellow-pupil,  Parker,  in  a  shop,  No.  27,  next  door 
to  his  father's,  in  Broad-street  ;2  and  being  extremely 
partial  to  Robert,  his  youngest  brother,  considered  him  as 
his  pupil.  Bob,  as  he  was  familiarly  called,  was  one  of  my 
playfellows,  and  much  beloved  by  all  his  companions. 

Much  about  this  time,  Blake  wrote  many  other  songs, 
to  which  he  also  composed  tunes.  These  he  would  occa- 
sionally sing  to  his  friends ;  and  though,  according  to 
his  confession,  he  was  entirely  unacquainted  with  the 
science  of  music,  his  ear  was  so  good,  that  his  tunes  were 
sometimes  most  singularly  beautiful,  and  were  noted  down 
by  musical  professors.  As  for  his  later  poetry,  if  it  may  be 
so  called,  attached  to  his  plates,  though  it  was  certainly  in 
some  parts  enigmatically  curious  as  to  its  application,  yet 
it  was  not  always  wholly  uninteresting ;  and  I  have  un- 
speakable pleasure  in  being  able  to  state,  that  though  I 
admit  he  did  not  for  the  last  forty  years  attend  any  place 
of  Divine  worship,  yet  he  was  not  a  Freethinker,  as  some 
invidious  detractors  have  thought  proper  to  assert,  nor 

1  Messrs.  Ellis  and  Yeats,  in         2  This  was  James  Parker,  the 

their     critical     biography     of  stipple  and  line  engraver.    His 

Blake,  surmise  that  the  root  partnership     with     Blake     in 

of  the  trouble  was  social  rivalry  Broad-street,  Carnaby-market, 

and  difference  of  opinion  be-  lasted  three  years.    Parker  died 

tween  Blake  and  Smith  himself,  in  1805. 


VOL.  n.— 2  B 


370        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

was  he  ever  in  any  degree  irreligious.  Through  life,  his 
Bible  was  every  thing  with  him  ;  and  as  a  convincing  proof 
how  highly  he  reverenced  the  Almighty,  I  shall  introduce 
the  following  lines  with  which  he  concludes  his  address  to 

the  Deists. 

For  a  tear  is  an  intellectual  thing  ; 

And  a  sigh  is  the  sword  of  an  Angel- King  ; 
And  the  bitter  groan  of  a  Martyr's  woe 
Is  an  arrow  from  the  Almighty's  bow. 

Again,  at  page  77,  in  his  address  to  the  Christians  : 

I  give  you  the  end  of  a  golden  string  ; 

Only  wind  it  into  a  ball, 
It  will  lead  you  in  at  Heaven's  gate, 

Built  in  Jerusalem's  wall. 

In  his  choice  of  subjects,  and  in  his  designs  in  Art,  per- 
haps no  man  had  higher  claim  to  originality,  nor  ever  drew 
with  a  closer  adherence  to  his  own  conception  ;  and  from 
what  I  knew  of  him,  and  have  heard  related  by  his  friends,  I 
most  firmly  believe  few  artists  have  been  guilty  of  less 
plagiarisms  than  he.  It  is  true,  I  have  seen  him  admire 
and  heard  him  expatiate  upon  the  beauties  of  Marc  Antonio 
and  of  Albert  Durer ;  but  I  verily  believe  not  with  any 
view  of  borrowing  an  idea  ;  neither  do  I  consider  him  at 
any  time  dependent  in  his  mode  of  working,  which  was 
generally  with  the  graver  only ;  and  as  to  printing,  he 
mostly  took  off  his  own  impressions. 

After  his  marriage,  which  took  place  at  Battersea,  and 
which  proved  a  mutually  happy  one,  he  instructed  his 
beloved,  for  so  he  most  frequently  called  his  Kate,  and  allowed 
her,  till  the  last  moment  of  his  practice,  to  take  off  his 
proof  impressions  and  print  his  works,  which  she  did  most 
carefully,  and  ever  delighted  in  the  task  :  nay,  she  became 
a  draughtswoman  ;  and  as  a  convincing  proof  that  she  and 
her  husband  were  born  for  each  other's  comfort,  she  not 
only  entered  cheerfully  into  his  views,  but,  what  is  curious, 
possessed  a  similar  power  of  imbibing  ideas,  and  has  pro- 


WILLIAM  BLAKE  371 

duced  drawings  equally  original,  and,  in  some  respects, 
interesting. 

A  friend  has  favoured  me  with  the  following  anecdotes, 
which  he  received  from  Blake,  respecting  his  courtship. 
He  states  that  "  Our  Artist  fell  in  love  with  a  lively  little 
girl,  who  allowed  him  to  say  every  thing  that  was  loving, 
but  would  not  listen  to  his  overtures  on  the  score  of  matri- 
mony. He  was  lamenting  this  in  the  house  of  a  friend,  when 
a  generous-hearted  lass  declared  that  she  pitied  him  from 
her  heart.  '  Do  you  pity  me  ?  '  asked  Blake.  '  Yes  ;  I  do, 
most  sincerely.' — '  Then,'  said  he,  '  I  love  you  for  that.'— 
'  Well/  said  the  honest  girl,  '  and  I  love  you.'  The  con- 
sequence was,  they  were  married,  and  lived  the  happiest  of 
lives."1 

Blake's  peace  of  mind,  as  well  as  that  of  his  Catherine, 
was  much  broken  by  the  death  of  their  brother  Robert, 
who  was  a  most  amicable  link  in  their  happiness  ;2  and, 
as  a  proof  how  much  Blake  respected  him,  whenever  he 
beheld  him  in  his  visions,  he  implicitly  attended  to  his 
opinion  and  advice  as  to  his  future  projected  works.  I 
should  have  stated,  that  Blake  was  supereminently  en- 
dowed with  the  power  of  disuniting  all  other  thoughts  from 
his  mind,  whenever  he  wished  to  indulge  in  thinking  of  any 
particular  subject ;  and  so  firmly  did  he  believe,  by  this 

1  The  "  lively  little  girl,"  2  Robert  Blake  died  in  1787, 
whom  Blake  first  loved,  was  and  Blake  then  gave  up  the 
Clara,  or  Polly,  Ward.  Made  shop  in  Broad-street  and  moved 
ill  by  her  refusal  of  his  ad-  to  28  Poland-street.  In  1800 
dresses,  he  was  sent  to  stay  Blake  wrote  to  Hayley  :  "  Thir- 
with  a  nursery  gardener  at  teen  years  ago  I  lost  a  brother, 
Richmond,  named  Boucher,  and  with  his  spirit  I  converse 
whose  daughter  Catherine  be-  daily  and  hourly  in  the  spirit, 
came  his  affianced  wife  under  and  see  him  in  remembrance, 
the  circumstances  narrated  in  the  regions  of  my  imagina- 
above.  They  were  married  tion.  I  hear  his  advice,  and 
on  August  i8th,  1782,  and  even  now  write  from  his  die- 
went  to  live  in  Green-street,  tate." 
Leicester- fields. 


372        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

abstracting  power,  that  the  objects  of  his  compositions  were 
before  him  in  his  mind's  eye,  that  he  frequently  believed 
them  to  be  speaking  to  him.  This  I  shall  now  illustrate 
by  the  following  narrative. 

Blake,  after  deeply  perplexing  himself  as  to  the  mode  of 
accomplishing  the  publication  of  his  illustrated  songs, 
without  their  being  subject  to  the  expense  of  letter-press, 
his  brother  Robert  stood  before  him  in  one  of  his  visionary 
imaginations,  and  so  decidedly  directed  him  in  the  way 
in  which  he  ought  to  proceed,  that  he  immediately  followed 
his  advice,  by  writing  his  poetry,  and  drawing  his  marginal 
subjects  of  embellishments  in  outline  upon  the  copper- 
plate with  an  impervious  liquid,  and  then  eating  the  plain 
parts  or  lights  away  with  aquafortis  considerably  below 
them,  so  that  the  outlines  were  left  as  a  stereotype.1  The 
plates  in  this  state  were  then  printed  in  any  tint  that  he 
wished,  to  enable  him  or  Mrs.  Blake  to  colour  the  marginal 
figures  up  by  hand  in  imitation  of  drawings. 

The  following  are  some  of  his  works  produced  in  this 
manner,  viz.  :  Songs  of  Innocence  and  Songs  of  Experience, 
The  Book  of  Jerusalem,  consisting  of  an  hundred  plates, 
The  Marriage  of  Heaven  and  Hell,  Europe  and  A  merica ; 
and  another  work,  which  is  now  very  uncommon,  a  pretty 
little  series  of  plates,  entitled  Gate  of  Paradise. 

Blake,  like  those  artists  absorbed  in  a  beloved  study, 
cared  not  for  money  beyond  its  use  for  the  ensuing  day  ; 
and  indeed  he  and  his  "  beloved  "  were  so  reciprocally  frugal 
in  their  expenses,  that,  never  sighing  for  either  gilded 
vessels,  silver-laced  attendants,  or  turtles'  livers,  they  were 
contented  with  the  simplest  repast,  and  a  little  answered 
their  purpose.  Yet,  notwithstanding  all  their  economy, 
Dame  Fortune  being,  as  it  is  pretty  well  known  to  the 
world,  sometimes  a  fickle  jade,  they,  as  well  as  thousands 
more,  have  had  their  intercepting  clouds. 

1  In  other  words  (Ellis  and  ing  reversed,"  the  lines  being 
Yeats),  the  process  was  "  etch-  raised,  not  sunk,  on  the  copper. 


WILLIAM  BLAKE  373 

As  it  is  not  my  intention  to  follow  them  through  their 
lives,  I  shall  confine  myself  to  a  relation  of  a  few  other 
anecdotes  of  this  happy  pair ;  and  as  they  are  connected 
with  the  Arts,  in  my  opinion  they  ought  not  to  be  lost,  as 
they  may  be  considered  worthy  the  attention  of  future 
biographers. 

For  his  marginal  illustrations  of  Young's  Night  Thoughts,1 
which  possess  a  great  power  of  imagination,  he  received 
so  despicably  low  a  price,  that  Flaxman,  whose  heart 
was  ever  warm,  was  determined  to  serve  him  when- 
ever an  opportunity  offered  itself ;  and  with  his  usual 
voice  of  sympathy,  introduced  him  to  his  friend  Hayley, 
with  whom  it  was  no  new  thing  to  give  pleasure,  capricious 
as  he  was.  This  gentleman  immediately  engaged  him  to 
engrave  the  plates  for  his  quarto  edition  of  The  Life  of 
Cowper,  published  in  1803-4 ;  and  for  this  purpose  he 
went  down  to  Felpham,  in  order  to  be  near  that  highly 
respected  Hermit. 

Here  he  took  a  cottage,  for  which  he  paid  twenty  pounds 
a-year,  and  was  not,  as  has  been  reported,  entertained  in  a 
house  belonging  to  Mr.  Hayley,  rent-free.  During  his  stay 
he  drew  several  portraits,  and  could  have  had  full  employ- 
ment in  that  department  of  the  Art ;  but  he  was  born  to 
follow  his  own  inclinations,  and  was  willing  to  rely  upon  a 
reward  for  the  labours  of  the  day.2 

Mr.  Flaxman,  knowing  me  to  be  a  collector  of  autographs, 

1  These    marginal    illustra-  tinted    by    Blake    in    water- 

tions,  forty-three  in  number,  colours,  was  included  in   the 

were  made   by   Blake   for  an  loan     exhibition     of     Blake's 

edition   of    Dr.    Young's    The  works    held  at   the    National 

Complaint  and  the  Consolation  ;  Gallery  of  British  Art,  October- 

or,  Night  Thoughts,  printed  by  December,  1913.    The  volume 

R.  Noble  for  R.  Edwards,  142  is  fully  described  by  Mr.  A.  G. 

Bond-street,  1797.  A  fine  copy,  B.  Russell  in  The  Engravings  of 

lent  by  A.  M.  S.  Methuen,  Esq.,  William  Blake,  1912. 

originally  in  the  Crewe  collec-  2  Blake's  ever-growing  mys- 

tion,    and    with    the    designs  ticism was  too  much  for  Hayley, 


374        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

among  many  others,  gave  me  the  following  letter,  which  he 
received  from  Blake  immediately  after  his  arrival  at  Felp- 
ham,  in  which  he  styles  him 

DEAR  SCULPTOR  OF  ETERNITY. 

WE  are  safe  arrived  at  our  cottage,  which  is  more 
beautiful  than  I  thought  it,  and  more  convenient.  It  is  a 
perfect  model  for  cottages,  and,  I  think,  for  palaces  of  mag- 
nificence ;  only  enlarging,  not  altering,  its  proportions,  and 
adding  ornaments,  and  not  principals.  Nothing  can  be  more 
grand  than  its  simplicity  and  usefulness.  Simple  without 
intricacy,  it  seems  to  be  the  spontaneous  effusion  of  hu- 
manity, congenial  to  the  wants  of  man.  No  other-formed 
house  can  ever  please  me  so  well ;  nor  shall  I  ever  be  per- 
suaded, I  believe,  that  it  can  be  improved  either  in  beauty, 
or  use. 

Mr.  Hayley  received  us  with  his  usual  brotherly  affection. 
I  have  begun  to  work.  Felpham  is  a  sweet  place  for  study, 
because  it  is  more  spiritual  than  London.  Heaven  opens 
here  on  all  sides  her  golden  gates ;  her  windows  are  not 
obstructed  by  vapours  ;  voices  of  celestial  inhabitants  are 
more  distinctly  heard,  and  their  forms  more  distinctly 
seen,  and  my  cottage  is  also  a  shadow  of  their  houses.  My 
wife  and  sister  are  both  well,  courting  Neptune  for  an 
embrace. 

Our  journey  was  very  pleasant ;  and  though  we  had  a 
great  deal  of  luggage,  no  grumbling.  All  was  cheerfulness 
and  good-humour  on  the  road,  and  yet  we  could  not  arrive 
at  our  cottage  before  half-past  eleven  at  night,  owing  to  the 
necessary  shifting  of  our  luggage  from  one  chaise  to  another  ; 
for  we  had  seven  different  chaises,  and  as  many  different 
drivers.  We  set  out  between  six  and  seven  in  the  morning 

who  tried  to  confine  him  to  conceptions  of  Moses,  Dante, 

mechanical  work.    Blake  wrote  and  Milton,  and  saw  a  fairy's 

grimly  in  a  note-book  :  funeral  in  his  garden.    Blake's 

When  H y  finds  out  what  you  can-  home   still   stands,    a    retired 

not  do'  thatched   cottage,    facing   the 

That  is  the  very  thing  he  sets  you  to.  sea  ^  SQme  distance  f rom  it- 

Nevertheless  Blake  was  happy  (E    v    LucaSj   Highways   and 

at  Felpham,  and  it  was  here  Byeways  in  Sussex). 
that  he  formed  his  symbolic 


WILLIAM  BLAKE  375 

of  Thursday,  with  sixteen  heavy  boxes,  and  portfolios  full 
of  prints. 

And  now  begins  a  new  life,  because  another  covering  of 
earth  is  shaken  off.  I  am  more  famed  in  Heaven  for  my 
works  than  I  could  well  conceive.  In  my  brain,  are  studies 
and  chambers  filled  with  books  and  pictures  of  old,  which  I 
wrote  and  painted  in  ages  of  eternity,  before  my  mortal 
life ;  and  those  works  are  the  delight  and  study  of  archangels. 
Why  then  should  I  be  anxious  about  the  riches  or  fame  of 
mortality  ?  The  Lord,  our  father,  will  do  for  us  and  with 
us  according  to  his  Divine  will  for  our  good. 

You,  O  dear  Flaxman  !  are  a  sublime  Archangel,  my 
friend  and  companion  from  eternity.  In  the  Divine  bosom 
is  our  dwelling-place.  I  look  back  into  the  regions  of  remi- 
niscence, and  behold  our  ancient  days  before  this  earth  ap- 
peared in  its  vegetated  mortality  to  my  mortal-vegetated 
eyes.  I  see  our  houses  of  eternity  which  can  never  be 
separated,  though  our  mortal  vehicles  should  stand  at  the 
remotest  corners  of  Heaven  from  each  other. 

Farewell,  my  best  friend  !  Remember  me  and  my  wife 
in  love  and  friendship  to  our  dear  Mrs.  Flaxman,  whom  we 
ardently  desire  to  entertain  beneath  our  thatched  roof  of 
rusted  gold  :  and  believe  me  for  ever  to  remain, 

Your  grateful  and  affectionate, 

WILLIAM  BLAKE. 
Felpham,  Sept.  2ist,  1800. 

Sunday  morning. 

In  a  copy  of  Hayley's  Triumphs  of  Temper,  illustrated 
by  Stothard,  which  had  been  the  one  belonging  to  the 
Author's  son,  and  which  he  gave  after  his  death  to  Blake, 
are  these  verses  in  MS.  by  the  hand  of  the  donor. 

Accept,  my  gentle  visionary,  Blake, 

Whose  thoughts  are  fanciful  and  kindly  mild  ; 

Accept,  and  fondly  keep  for  friendship's  sake, 
This  favour'd  vision,  my  poetic  child. 

Rich  in  more  grace  than  fancy  ever  won, 
To  thy  most  tender  mind  this  book  will  be, 

For  it  belong'd  to  my  departed  son  ; 

So  from  an  angel  it  descends  to  thee.          w  H 

July  1800. 


376        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

I  copied  the  above  from  the  book,  now  in  the  possession 
of  Mrs.  Blake. 

Upon  his  return  from  Felpham,  he  addressed  the  public, 
in  page  3  of  his  Book  of  Jerusalem,  in  these  words  :  "  After 
my  three  years'  slumber  on  the  banks  of  the  ocean,  I  again 
display  my  giant-forms  to  the  public,"  &c. 

Some  of  the  "  giant-forms,"  as  he  calls  them,  are  mighty 
and  grand,  and  if  I  were  to  compare  them  to  the  style  of 
any  preceding  artist,  Michel  Angelo,  Sir  Joshua's  favourite, 
would  be  the  one  ;  and  were  I  to  select  a  specimen  as  a 
corroboration  of  this  opinion,  I  should  instance  the  figure 
personifying  the  "  Ancient  of  Days,"  the  frontispiece  to 
his  Europe,  a  Prophecy.1  In  my  mind,  his  knowledge  of 
drawing,  as  well  as  design,  displayed  in  this  figure,  must 
at  once  convince  the  informed  reader  of  his  extraordinary 
abilities. 

I  am  now  under  the  painful  necessity  of  relating  an 
event  promulgated  in  two  different  ways  by  two  different 
parties  ;  and  as  I  entertain  a  high  respect  for  the  talents  of 
both  persons  concerned,  I  shall,  in  order  to  steer  clear  of 
giving  umbrage  to  the  supporters  of  either,  leave  the  reader 
to  draw  his  own  conclusions,  unbiassed  by  any  insinuation 
whatever  of  mine. 

An  Engraver  of  the  name  of  Cromek,  a  man  who  en- 
deavoured to  live  by  speculating  upon  the  talents  of  others, 
purchased  a  series  of  drawings  of  Blake,  illustrative  of 
Blair's  Grave,  which  he  had  begun  with  a  view  of  en- 
graving and  publishing.2  These  were  sold  to  Mr.  Cromek 
for  the  insignificant  sum  of  one  guinea  each,  with  the 

1  Blake  returned  from  Felp-  to    his  Europe.      See   a   later 

ham  to  settle,  at  No.  17  South  note. 

Molton-street,  in  1804,  but  his  2  Robert  Blair's  poem,  The 
great  drawing,  "The  Ancient  Grave,  originally  appeared  in 
of  Days,"  had  been  executed  quarto  in  1743,  and  was  there- 
ten  years  earlier,  and  was  after  reprinted  down  to  the  end 
then  used  as  the  frontispiece  of  the  century. 


WILLIAM  BLAKE  377 

promise,  and  indeed  under  the  express  agreement,  that 
Blake  should  be  employed  to  engrave  them  ;  a  task  to 
which  he  looked  forward  with  anxious  delight.  Instead 
of  this  negotiation  being  carried  into  effect,  the  drawings, 
to  his  great  mortification,  were  put  into  the  hands  of  Schia- 
vonetti.1  During  the  time  this  artist  was  thus  employed, 
Cromek  had  asked  Blake  what  work  he  had  in  mind  to 
execute  next.  The  unsuspecting  artist  not  only  told  him, 
but  without  the  least  reserve  showed  him  the  designs 
sketched  out  for  a  fresco  picture  ;  the  subject  Chaucer's 
Pilgrimage  to  Canterbury;  with  which  Mr.  Cromek  ap- 
peared highly  delighted.  Shortly  after  this,  Blake  dis- 
covered that  Stothard,  a  brother-artist  to  whom  he  had 
been  extremely  kind  in  early  days,  had  been  employed  to 
paint  a  picture,  not  only  of  the  same  subject,  but  in  some 
instances  similar  to  the  fresco  sketch  which  he  had  shown 
to  Mr.  Cromek.  The  picture  painted  by  Stothard  became 
the  property  of  Mr.  Cromek,  who  published  proposals  for 
an  engraving  from  it,  naming  Bromley  as  the  engraver  to 
be  employed.  However,  in  a  short  time,  that  artist's 
name  was  withdrawn,  and  Schiavonetti's  substituted,  who 
lived  only  to  complete  the  etching  ;  the  plate  being  finished 
afterwards  by  at  least  three  different  hands.  Blake,  highly 
indignant  at  this  treatment,  immediately  set  to  work,  and 
proposed  an  engraving  from  his  fresco  picture,  which  he 
publicly  exhibited  in  his  brother  James's  shop-window, 
at  the  corner  of  Broad-street,  accompanied  with  an  address 
to  the  public,  stating  what  he  considered  to  be  improper 
conduct. 

In  1809,  Blake  exhibited  sixteen  poetical  and  historical 
inventions,  in  his  brother's  first-floor  in  Broad-street ; 
eleven  pictures  in  fresco,  professed  to  be  painted  according 

1  Luigi  Schiavonetti  (1765-  and  successful  illustrator.  He 
1810),  born  in  Italy,  settled  in  lived  at  No.  12  Michael's-place, 
London  and  became  a  popular  Brompton. 


378        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

to  the  ancient  method,  and  seven  drawings,  of  which  an 
explanatory  catalogue  was  published,  and  is  perhaps  the 
most  curious  of  its  kind  ever  written.  At  page  7,  the  de- 
scription of  his  fresco-painting  of  Geoffrey  Chaucer's  Pil- 
grimage commences.  This  picture,  which  is  larger  than  the 
print,  is  now  in  the  possession  of  Thomas  Butts,  Esq.  a 
gentleman  friendly  to  Blake,  and  who  is  in  possession  of  a 
considerable  number  of  his  works.1 

So  much  on  the  side  of  Blake.  On  the  part  of  Stothard, 
the  story  runs  thus.  Mr.  Cromek  had  agreed  with  that 
artist  to  employ  him  upon  a  picture  of  the  Procession  of 
Chaucer's  Pilgrimage  to  Canterbury,  for  which  he  first 
agreed  to  pay  him  sixty  guineas,  but  in  order  to  enable 
him  to  finish  it  in  a  more  exquisite  manner,  promised  him 
forty  more,  with  an  intention  of  engaging  Bromley  to 
engrave  it ;  but  in  consequence  of  some  occurrence,  his 
name  was  withdrawn,  and  Schiavonetti  was  employed. 
During  the  time  Stothard  was  painting  the  picture,  Blake 
called  to  see  it,  and  appeared  so  delighted  with  it,  that 
Stothard,  sincerely  wishing  to  please  an  old  friend  with 
whom  he  had  lived  so  cordially  for  many  years,  and  from 
whose  works  he  always  most  liberally  declared  he  had 
received  much  pleasure  and  edification,  expressed  a  wish 
to  introduce  his  portrait  as  one  of  the  party,  as  a  mark  of 
esteem. 

Mr.  Hoppner,2  in  a  letter  to  a  friend,  dated  May  3oth, 
1807,  says  of  it : 

This  intelligent  group  is  rendered  still  more  interesting 
by  the  charm  of  colouring,  which  though  simple  is  strong, 
and  most  harmoniously  distributed  throughout  the  picture. 
The  landscape  has  a  deep-toned  brightness  that  accords  most 
admirably  with  the  figures  ;  and  the  painter  has  ingeniously 

1  Butts  was  Muster  Master        2  John  Hoppner,  R.A.  (1758- 
General.    In  1799  he  agreed  to     1810). 
take  fifty  drawings  from  Blake 
at  a  guinea  apiece. 


WILLIAM  BLAKE  379 

contrived  to  give  a  value  to  a  common  scene  and  very  ordi- 
nary forms,  that  would  hardly  be  found,  by  unlearned  eyes, 
in  the  natural  objects.  He  has  expressed  too,  with  great 
vivacity  and  truth,  the  freshness  of  morning,  at  that  season 
when  Nature  herself  is  most  fresh  and  blooming — the 
Spring  ;  and  it  requires  no  great  stretch  of  fancy  to  imagine 
we  perceive  the  influence  of  it  on  the  cheeks  of  the  Fair 
Wife  of  Bath,  and  her  rosy  companions,  the  Monk  and 
Friar. 

In  respect  of  the  execution  of  the  various  parts  of  this 
pleasing  design,  it  is  not  too  much  praise  to  say,  that  it  is 
wholly  free  from  that  vice  which  painters  term  manner  ;  and 
it  has  this  peculiarity  beside,  which  I  do  not  remember  to 
have  seen  in  any  picture,  ancient  or  modern,  namely,  that  it 
bears  no  mark  of  the  period  in  which  it  was  painted,  but 
might  very  well  pass  for  the  work  of  some  able  artist  of  the 
time  of  Chaucer.  This  effect  is  not,  I  believe,  the  result  of 
any  association  of  ideas  connected  with  the  costume,  but 
appears  in  primitive  simplicity,  and  the  total  absence  of  all 
affectation,  either  of  colour  or  pencilling. 

Having  attempted  to  describe  a  few  of  the  beauties  of 
this  captivating  performance,  it  remains  only  for  me  to  men- 
tion one  great  defect.  The  picture  is,  notwithstanding  ap- 
pearances, a  modern  one.  But  if  you  can  divest  yourself  of 
the  general  prejudice  that  exists  against  contemporary 
talents,  you  will  see  a  work  that  would  have  done  honour 
to  any  school,  at  any  period."  See  the  Artist,  by  Prince 
Hoare,  Esq.  No.  13,  Vol.  I.  page  13. 

In  1810,  Stothard,  to  his  great  surprise,  found  that  Blake 
had  engraved  and  published  a  plate  of  the  same  size,  in 
some  respects  bearing  a  similarity  to  his  own. 

I  must  do  Mr.  Stothard  the  justice  to  declare,  that  the 
very  first  time  I  saw  him  after  he  had  read  the  announce- 
ment of  Blake's  death,  he  spoke  in  the  handsomest  terms 
of  his  talents,  and  informed  me  that  Blake  made  a  remark- 
ably correct  and  fine  drawing  of  the  head  of  Queen  Philippa, 
from  her  monumental  effigy  in  Westminster  Abbey,  for 
Cough's  Sepulchral  Monuments,  engraved  by  Basire.  The 


380        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

collectors  of  Stothard's  numerous  and  elegant  designs,  will 
recollect  the  name  of  Blake  as  the  engraver  of  several 
plates  in  the  Novelist's  Magazine,  the  Poetical  Magazine, 
and  also  others  for  a  work  entitled  the  Wit's  Magazine, 
from  drawings  produced  by  the  same  artist.  Trotter,  the 
engraver,1  who  received  instructions  from  Blake,  and  who 
was  a  pattern-draughtsman  to  the  calico-printers,  intro- 
duced his  friend  Stothard  to  Blake,  and  their  attachment 
for  each  other  continued  most  cordially  to  exist  in  the 
opinion  of  the  public,  until  they  produced  their  rival  pictures 
of  Chaucer's  Canterbury  Pilgrimage.  Such  are  the  outlines 
of  this  controversy.2 

Blake's  ideas  were  often  truly  entertaining,  and  after 
he  had  conveyed  them  to  paper,  his  whimsical  and  novel 
descriptions  frequently  surpassed  his  delineations ;  for 
instance,  that  of  his  picture  of  the  Transformation  of  the 


1  Thomas  Trotter  drew  and 
engraved  the  well-known  por- 
trait  of   Dr.    Johnson   in   his 
walking  garb,  and  with  an  oak 
stick,  as  he  travelled  in  the 
Highlands.    He  died  February 
I4th,  1803. 

2  The  merits  of  the  quarrel 
so  lengthily  described  by  Smith 
cannot    now    be    clearly   per- 
ceived.     If    Blake    saw    and 
praised      Stothard's      picture 
while  it  was  on  the  easel,  the 
grievance  he  made  later  would 
seem  to  have  been  imaginary. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  cir- 
cumstance of  the  choice  of  the 
same  subject  at  the  same  time 
by    the    two    artists    suggests 
Cromek's    duplicity    strongly, 
and  this  explanation  is  adopted 
by  Sir  Leslie  Stephen  in  his 
notice  of  Cromek  in  the  Dic- 


tionary of  National  Biography, 
where  he  describes  him  as  "  a 
shifty  speculator,  who  incurred 
the  odium  attaching  to  men 
of  business  who  try  to  make 
money  by  the  help  of  men  of 
genius.  The  fact  that  he 
ruined  himself  in  the  attempt 
has  not  procured  him  pardon." 
Blake  did  not  suffer  his  injury 
passively.  In  his  own  descrip- 
tion of  his  picture,  printed  in 
the  catalogue  of  the  sixteen 
frescoes  he  exhibited  in  1809 
in  Broad-street,  he  bitingly 
criticised  Stothard's  errors  of 
characterisation,  but  these  pas- 
sages are  now  the  least  inter- 
esting in  a  composition  which 
Charles  Lamb  declared  to  be 
the  finest  essay  on  Chaucer 
that  he  had  ever  read. 


WILLIAM  BLAKE  381 

Flea  to  the  form  of  a  Man,  is  extremely  curious.  This 
personification,  which  he  denominated  a  Cupper,  or  Blood- 
sucker, is  covered  with  coat  of  armour,  similar  to  the  case 
of  the  flea,  and  is  represented  slowly  pacing  in  the  night, 
with  a  thorn  attached  to  his  right  hand,  and  a  cup  in  the 
other,  as  if  ready  to  puncture  the  first  person  whose  blood 
he  might  fancy,  like  Satan  prowling  about  to  seek  whom  he 
could  devour.  Blake  said  of  the  flea,  that  were  that  lively 
little  fellow  the  size  of  an  elephant,  he  was  quite  sure,  from 
the  calculations  he  had  made  of  his  wonderful  strength, 
that  he  could  bound  from  Dover  to  Calais  in  one  leap. 
This  interesting  little  picture  is  painted  in  Fresco.  It 
is  now  the  property  of  John  Varley,  the  Artist,  whose  land- 
scapes will  ever  be  esteemed  as  some  of  the  finest  productions 
in  Art,  and  who  may  fairly  be  considered  as  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  Society  of  Artists  in  Water  Colours ;  the 
annual  exhibitions  of  which  continue  to  surpass  those  of 
the  preceding  seasons.1 

Whatever  may  be  the  public  opinion  hereafter  of  Blake's 
talents,  when  his  enemies  are  dead,  I  will  not  presume 
to  predict.  Blake's  talent  is  not  to  be  seen  in  his  engravings 
from  the  designs  of  other  artists,  though  he  certainly 
honestly  endeavoured  to  copy  the  beauties  of  Stothard, 
Flaxman,  and  those  masters  set  before  him  by  the  few 
publishers  who  employed  him  ;  but  his  own  engravings 
from  his  own  mind  are  the  productions  which  the  man 
of  true  feeling  must  ever  admire,  and  the  predictions  of 
Fuseli  and  Flaxman  may  hereafter  be  verified—  '  That  a 
time  will  come  when  Blake's  finest  works  will  be  as  much 
sought  after  and  treasured  up  in  the  portfolios  of  men  of 

1  This  drawing  of  the  "Ghost  before  me,"  and  proceeded  to 

of  a  Flea  "  was  one  of  the  many  draw.    Varley  "  felt  convinced, 

which  Blake  executed  to  please  by   his   mode   of   proceeding, 

Varley,  who  took  a  sympathetic  that  he  had  a  real  image  t 

interest  in  his  friend's  visions,  him." 
Blake  said,   "I  see  him  now 


382        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 


mind,  as  those  of  Michel  Angelo  are  at  present."1  This  I 
am  certain  of,  that  on  the  score  of  industry  at  least,  many 
artists  must  strike  to  him.  Application  was  a  faculty  so 
engendered  in  him  that  he  took  little  bodily  exercise  to 
keep  up  his  health  :  he  had  few  evening  walks  and  little 
rest  from  labour,  for  his  mind  was  ever  fixed  upon  his  art, 
nor  did  he  at  any  time  indulge  in  a  game  of  chess,  draughts, 
or  backgammon  ;  such  amusements,  considered  as  relaxa- 
tions by  artists  in  general,  being  to  him  distractions.  His 
greatest  pleasure  was  derived  from  the  Bible, — a  work  ever 
at  his  hand,  and  which  he  often  assiduously  consulted  in 
several  languages.  Had  he  fortunately  lived  till  the  next 
year's  exhibition  at  Somerset-house,  the  public  would  then 
have  been  astonished  at  his  exquisite  finishing  of  a  Fresco 
picture  of  the  Last  Judgment,2  containing  upwards  of  one 
thousand  figures,  many  of  them  wonderfully  conceived  and 
grandly  drawn.  The  lights  of  this  extraordinary  perform- 


1  The  fulfilment  of  this  pre- 
diction is  a  commonplace,  but 
it  may  be  illustrated  by  two 
events.  In  1903  the  Crewe 
collection  of  Blake's  drawings 
and  illustrations  was  sold  at 
Sotheby's,  when  the  following 
prices  were  realised :  Twenty- 
one  designs  in  colours  for  the 
Book  of  Job,  and  twenty-two 
proof  engravings  from  these, 
£5000  ;  the  original  designs  for 
Milton's  "  L' Allegro  "  and  "  Le 
Penseroso,"  with  the  text  and 
explanations  of  the  designs, 
£1960 ;  The  Book  of  Urizen, 
£307 ;  America  :  a  Prophecy, 
original  coloured  issue,  £295  ; 
the  Marriage  of  Heaven  and 
Hell,  with  twenty-seven  plates, 
£260 ;  and  Europe,  seventeen 
coloured  plates,  £203.  In 
October  -  December,  1913,  a 


most  representative  collection 
of  Blake's  drawings  and  illus- 
trations was  organised  at  the 
National  Gallery  of  British 
Art,  and  gave  rise  to  much 
controversial  discussion.  A 
valuable  catalogue  of  the  ex- 
hibits, with  biography  and 
notes,  was  prepared  by  Mr. 
Archibald  G.  B.  Russell,  who 
also  advised  the  trustees  on 
the  selection  of  the  works 
exhibited. 

2  A  painting  in  tempera 
measuring  7  feet  by  5  feet. 
Blake's  full  account  of  its 
meaning  and  details  is  printed 
in  Gilchrist's  Life,  Vol.  II, 
pp.  161-176.  See  also  Blake's 
letter  to  Ozias  Humphry,  de- 
scribing an  earlier  version  of 
the  same  subject,  post.  This 
picture  has  disappeared. 


WILLIAM  BLAKE  383 

ance  have  the  appearance  of  silver  and  gold ;  but  upon 
Mrs.  Blake's  assuring  me  that  there  was  no  silver  used,  I 
found,  upon  a  closer  examination,  that  a  blue  wash  had 
been  passed  over  those  parts  of  the  gilding  which  receded, 
and  the  lights  of  the  forward  objects,  which  were  also  of 
gold,  were  heightened  with  a  warm  colour,  to  give  the 
appearance  of  the  two  metals. 

It  is  most  certain,  that  the  uninitiated  eye  was  incapable 
of  selecting  the  beauties  of  Blake  ;  his  effusions  were  not 
generally  felt ;  and  in  this  opinion  I  am  borne  out  in  the 
frequent  assertions  of  Fuseli  and  Flaxman.  It  would,  there- 
fore, be  unreasonable  to  expect  the  booksellers  to  embark 
in  publications  not  likely  to  meet  remuneration.  Circum- 
stanced, then,  as  Blake  was,  approaching  to  threescore 
years  and  ten,  in  what  way  was  he  to  persevere  in  his 
labours  ?  Alas,  he  knew  not !  until  the  liberality  of  Mr. 
Linnell,  a  brother-artist  of  eminence,  whose  discernment 
could  well  appreciate  those  parts  of  his  designs  which 
deserved  perpetuity,  enabled  him  to  proceed  and  execute 
in  comfort  a  series  of  twenty-one  plates,  illustrative  of  the 
Book  of  Job.1  This  was  the  last  work  he  completed,  upon 
the  merits  of  which  he  received  the  highest  congratulations 
from  the  following  Royal  Academicians :  Sir  Thomas 
Lawrence,  Mr.  Baily,  Mr.  Philips,  Mr.  Chantrey,  Mr.  James 
Ward,  Mr.  Arnald,  Mr.  Collins,  Mr.  Westmacott,  and  many 
other  artists  of  eminence. 

1  For    details    of    LinnelTs  wards  in  the  Blake  collection 

assistance,  see  Story's  Life  of  of     Lord     Houghton,     which 

John  Linnell,  Vol.  I,   p.  169.  passed  to  his  son,  the  Earl  of 

Blake    had    already    made    a  Crewe.     In    1903  this   collec- 

series  of  designs  for  the  Book  tion   was   sold   at    Sotheby's, 

of  Job  for  his  friend  Captain  and  the  twenty-one  designs  for 

Butts.       In    1821     he    made  the  Book  of  Job,  together  with 

replicas  for  Linnell,  at  whose  as  many  proof  engravings,  and 

wish    he    engraved    these    on  Blake's    portrait    by    himself, 

copper  two  years  later.    In  all  were  bought  by  Mr.  Quaritch 

Linnell  paid  Blake  I5o/.    These  for  s6oo/. 
great     drawings    were     after- 


384        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

As  to  Blake's  system  of  colouring,  which  I  have  not 
hitherto  noticed,  it  was  in  many  instances  most  beautifully 
prismatic.  In  this  branch  of  the  art  he  often  acknowledged 
Apelles  to  have  been  his  tutor,  who  was,  he  said,  so  much 
pleased  with  his  style,  that  once  when  he  appeared  before 
him,  among  many  of  his  observations,  he  delivered  the 
following : — "  You  certainly  possess  my  system  of  colour- 
ing ;  and  I  now  wish  you  to  draw  my  person,  which  has 
hitherto  been  untruly  delineated." 

I  must  own  that,  until  I  was  favoured  by  Mr.  Upcott1 
with  a  sight  of  some  of  Blake's  works,  several  of  which  I 
had  never  seen,  I  was  not  so  fully  aware  of  his  great  depth 
of  knowledge  in  colouring.  Of  these  most  interesting  speci- 
mens of  his  art,  which  are  now  extremely  rare,  and  rendered 
invaluable  by  his  death,  as  it  is  impossible  for  any  one  to 
colour  them  with  his  mind,  should  the  plates  remain,  Mr. 
Richard  Thomson,2  another  truly  kind  friend,  has  favoured 
me  with  the  following  descriptive  lists. 

SONGS  OF  EXPERIENCE.  The  author  and  printer,  W. 
Blake.  Small  octavo  ;  seventeen  plates,  including  the  title- 
page.  Frontispiece,  a  winged  infant  mounted  on  the 
shoulders  of  a  youth.  On  the  title-page,  two  figures  weeping 
over  two  crosses. 

Introduction.  Four  Stanzas  on  a  cloud,  with  a  night-sky 
behind,  and  beneath,  a  figure  of  Earth  stretched  on  a 
mantle. 

Earth's  Answer.  Five  Stanzas.  A  serpent  on  the  ground 
beneath. 

The  Clod  and  the  Pebble.    Three  Stanzas.    Above,  a  head- 
piece of  four  sheep  and  two  oxen  ;    beneath,  a  duck  anc 
reptiles. 

A  Poison  Tree.    Four  Stanzas.    The  tree  stretches  up  the 

1  William     Upcott      (1779-  2  Richard    Thomson,    joint 

1845),  the  autograph  collector  librarian  with  E.  W.  Brayley 

and  assistant  to  Porson  at  the  of  the  London  Institution. 
London  Institution. 


WILLIAM  BLAKE  385 

right  side  of  the  page  ;  and  beneath,  a  dead  body  killed  by 
its  influence. 

The  Fly.  Five  Stanzas.  Beneath,  a  female  figure  with 
two  children. 

Holy  Thursday.  Four  Stanzas.  Head-piece,  a  female 
figure  discovering  a  dead  child.  On  the  right-hand  margin  a 
mother  and  two  children  lamenting  the  loss  of  an  infant 
which  lies  beneath.  Perhaps  this  is  one  of  the  most  tasteful 
of  the  set. 

The  Chimney-Sweeper.  Three  Stanzas.  Beneath,  a  figure 
of  one  walking  in  snow  towards  an  open  door. 

London.  Four  Stanzas.  Above,  a  child  leading  an  old 
man  through  the  street ;  on  the  right-hand,  a  figure  warming 
itself  at  a  fire.  If  in  any  instance  Mr.  Blake  has  copied 
himself,  it  is  in  the  figure  of  the  old  man  upon  this  plate, 
whose  position  appears  to  have  been  a  favourite  one  with 
him. 

The  Tiger.  Six  Stanzas.  On  the  right-hand  margin,  the 
trunk  of  a  tree  ;  and  beneath,  a  tiger  walking. 

A  Little  Boy  Lost.  Six  Stanzas.  Ivy  leaves  on  the  right- 
hand,  and  beneath,  weeping  figures  before  a  fire,  in  which  the 
verses  state  that  the  child  had  been  burned  by  a  Saint. 

The  Human  Abstract.  Six  Stanzas.  The  trunk  of  a  tree 
on  the  right-hand  margin,  and  beneath,  an  old  man  in  white 
drawing  a  veil  over  his  head. 

The  Angel.  Four  Stanzas.  Head-piece,  a  female  figure 
lying  beneath  a  tree,  and  pushing  from  her  a  winged  boy. 

My  Pretty  Rose  Tree.  Two  Stanzas  :  succeeded  by  a 
small  vignette,  of  a  figure  weeping,  and  another  lying  reclined 
at  the  foot  of  a  tree.  Beneath,  are  two  verses  more,  entitled, 
A  h  !  Sun  Flower  ;  and  a  single  Stanza,  headed  The  Lilly. 

Nurse's  Song.  Two  Stanzas.  Beneath,  a  girl  with  a 
youth  and  a  female  child  at  a  door  surrounded  by  vine- 
leaves. 

A  Little  Girl  Lost.  Seven  Stanzas  ;  interspersed  with  birds 
and  leaves,  the  trunk  of  a  tree  on  the  right-hand  margin. 

The  whole  of  these  plates  are  coloured  in  imitation  of 
fresco.  The  poetry  of  these  songs  is  wild,  irregular,  and 


VOL.  II.— 2  C 


386        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

highly  mystical,  but  of  no  great  degree  of  elegance  or 
excellence,  and  their  prevailing  feature  is  a  tone  of  com- 
plaint of  the  misery  of  mankind. 

AMERICA  :  a  Prophecy.  Lambeth  ;  Printed  by  William 
Blake,  in  the  year  1793  ;  folio  ;  eighteen  plates  or  twenty 
pages,  including  the  frontispiece  and  title-page.  After  a 
preludium  of  thirty-seven  lines  commences  the  Prophecy 
of  226,  which  are  interspersed  with  numerous  head-pieces, 
vignettes,  and  tail-pieces,  usually  stretching  along  the  left- 
hand  margin  and  enclosing  the  text ;  which  sometimes 
appears  written  on  a  cloud,  and  at  others  environed  by 
flames  and  water.  Of  the  latter  subject  a  very  fine  specimen 
is  shown  upon  page  13,  where  the  tail-piece  represents  the 
bottom  of  the  sea,  with  various  fishes  coming  together  to 
prey  upon  a  dead  body.  The  head-piece  is  another  dead 
body  lying  on  the  surface  of  the  waters,  with  an  eagle 
feeding  upon  it  with  outstretched  wings.  Another  instance 
of  Mr.  Blake's  favourite  figure  of  the  old  man  entering  at 
Death's  door,  is  contained  on  page  12  of  this  poem.  The 
subject  of  the  text  is  a  conversation  between  the  Angel  of 
Albion,  the  Angels  of  the  Thirteen  States,  Washington, 
and  some  others  of  the  American  Generals,  and  "  Red 
Ore,"  the  spirit  of  war  and  evil.  The  verses  are  without 
rhyme,  and  most  resemble  hexameters,  though  they  are 
by  no  means  exact ;  and  the  expressions  are  mystical  in  a 
very  high  degree. 

EUROPE  :  a  Prophecy.  Lambeth  :  Printed  by  William 
Blake,  1794 ;  folio ;  seventeen  plates  on  the  leaves,  inclusive 
of  the  frontispiece  and  title-page.  Coloured  to  imitate  the 
ancient  fresco-painting.  The  Preludium  consists  of  thirty- 
three  lines,  in  stanzas  without  rhyme,  and  the  Prophecy  of 
two  hundred  and  eight ;  the  decorations  to  which  are  larger 
than  most  of  those  in  the  former  book,  and  approach 
nearest  to  the  character  of  paintings,  since,  in  several 
instances,  they  occupy  the  whole  page.  The  frontispiece  is 
an  uncommonly  fine  specimen  of  art,  and  approaches  almost 
to  the  sublimity  of  Raffaelle  or  Michel  Angelo.  It  represents 
"  The  Ancient  of  Days,"  in  an  orb  of  light  surrounded  by 
dark  clouds,  as  referred  to  in  Proverbs  viii.  27,  stooping 
down  with  an  enormous  pair  of  compasses  to  describe  the 


WILLIAM  BLAKE  387 

destined  orb  of  the  world,  "  when  he  set  a  compass  upon 
the  face  of  the  earth." 

in  His  hand 

He  took  the  golden  compasses,  prepar'd, 
In  God's  eternal  store,  to  circumscribe 
This  universe  and  all  created  things  : 
One  foot  he  centr'd,  and  the  other  turn'd 
Round  through  the  vast  profundity  obscure  ; 
And  said,  '  Thus  far  extend,  thus  far  thy  bounds, 
This  be  thy  just  circumference,  O  World  !'" 

Paradise  Lost,  Book  vii.,  line  236. 

He  was  inspired  with  the  splendid  grandeur  of  this 
figure,  by  the  vision  which  he  declared  hovered  over  his 
head  at  the  top  of  his  staircase  ;  and  he  has  been  frequently 
heard  to  say,  that  it  made  a  more  powerful  impression 
upon  his  mind  than  all  he  had  ever  been  visited  by.  This 
subject  was  such  a  favourite  with  him,  that  he  always 
bestowed  more  time  and  enjoyed  greater  pleasure  when 
colouring  the  print,  than  any  thing  he  ever  produced. 

Mr.  F.  Tatham  employed  him  to  tint  an  impression  of  it, 
for  which  I  have  heard  he  paid  him  the  truly  liberal  sum  of 
three  guineas  and  a  half. x  I  say  liberal,  though  the  specimen 
is  worth  any  price,  because  the  sum  was  so  considerably 
beyond  what  Blake  generally  had  been  accustomed  to 
receive  as  a  remuneration  for  his  extraordinary  talents. 
Upon  this  truly  inestimable  impression,  which  I  have  now 
before  me,  Blake  worked  when  bolstered-up  in  his  bed  only 
a  few  days  before  he  died  ;  and  my  friend  F.  Tatham  has 
just  informed  me,  that  after  Blake  had  frequently  touched 
upon  it,  and  had  as  frequently  held  it  at  a  distance,  he  threw 
it  from  him,  and  with  an  air  of  exulting  triumph  exclaimed, 
"  There,  that  will  do !  I  cannot  mend  it."2  However,  this 

1  Frederick  Tatham,  son  of  to  the  Blake  Exhibition  held 
Charles     Heathcote     Tatham,  at    the    National    Gallery    of 
the  architect.  British  Art,  October-December, 

2  This  tinted  impression  of  1913.     It  is  printed  in  yellow, 
Blake's  great  design  was  lent  and  embellished  in  water-colour 
by  the  Trustees  of  the  Whit-  and  gold. 

worth    Institute,    Manchester, 


388        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

was  not  his  last  production  ;  for  immediately  after  he  had 
made  the  above  declaration  to  his  beloved  Kate,  upon  whom 
his  eyes  were  steadfastly  fixed,  he  vociferated,  "  Stay  ! 
keep  as  you  are  !  you  have  ever  been  an  angel  to  me,  I  will 
draw  you  !  "  and  he  actually  made  a  most  spirited  likeness 
of  her,  though  within  so  short  a  period  of  his  earthly  ter- 
mination. 

Another  splendid  composition  in  this  work,  are  the  two 
angels  pouring  out  the  black-spotted  plague  upon  England, 
on  page  9  ;  in  which  the  foreshortening  of  the  legs,  the 
grandeur  of  their  positions,  and  the  harmony  with  which 
they  are  adapted  to  each  other  and  to  their  curved  trumpets, 
are  perfectly  admirable.  The  subject-matter  of  the  work  is 
written  in  the  same  wild  and  singular  measures  as  the  pre- 
ceding, and  describes,  in  mystical  language,  the  terrors  of 
plague  and  anarchy  which  overspread  England  during  the 
slumbers  of  Enitharmon  for  eighteen  hundred  years  ;  upon 
whose  awaking,  the  ferocious  spirit  Ore  bursts  into  flames 
"  in  the  vineyards  of  red  France."  At  the  end  of  this  poem 
are  seven  separate  engravings  on  folio  pages,  without  letter- 
press, which  are  coloured  like  the  former  part  of  the  work, 
with  a  degree  of  splendour  and  force,  as  almost  to  resemble 
sketches  in  oil-colours.  The  finest  of  these  are  a  figure  of  an 
angel  standing  in  the  sun,  a  group  of  three  furies  surrounded 
by  clouds  and  fire,  and  a  figure  of  a  man  sitting  beneath  a 
tree  in  the  deepest  dejection  ;  all  of  which  are  peculiarly 
remarkable  for  their  strength  and  splendour  of  colouring. 
Another  publication  by  Mr.  Blake,  consisted  only  of  a  small 
quarto  volume  of  twenty-three  engravings  of  various  shapes 
and  sizes,  coloured  as  before,  some  of  which  are  of  extraor- 
dinary effect  and  beauty.  The  best  plates  in  this  series 
are, — the  first  of  an  aged  man,  with  a  white  beard  sweeping 
the  ground,  and  writing  in  a  book  with  each  hand,  naked  ; 
a  human  figure  pressing  out  his  brain  through  his  ears  ;  and 
the  great  sea-serpent ;  but  perhaps  the  best  is  a  figure  sink- 
ing in  a  stormy  sea  at  sunset,  the  splendid  light  of  which, 


WILLIAM  BLAKE  389 

and  the  foam  upon  the  black  waves,  are  almost  magical 
effects  of  colouring.  Beneath  the  first  design  is  engraven 
"  Lambeth,  printed  by  W.  Blake,  1794." 

Blake's  modes  of  preparing  his  ground,  and  laying  them 
over  his  panels  for  painting,  mixing  his  colours,  and  manner 
of  working,  were  those  which  he  considered  to  have  been 
practised  by  the  earliest  fresco-painters,  whose  productions 
still  remain,  in  numerous  instances,  vivid  and  permanently 
fresh.  His  ground  was  a  mixture  of  whiting  and  carpenter's 
glue,  which  he  passed  over  several  times  in  thin  coatings : 
his  colours  he  ground  himself,  and  also  united  them  with 
the  same  sort  of  glue,  but  in  a  much  weaker  state.  He 
would,  in  the  course  of  painting  a  picture,  pass  a  very  thin 
transparent  wash  of  glue-water  over  the  whole  of  the  parts 
he  had  worked  upon,  and  then  proceed  with  his  finishing. 

This  process  I  have  tried,  and  find,  by  using  my  mixtures 
warm,  that  I  can  produce  the  same  texture  as  possessed  in 
Blake's  pictures  of  the  Last  Judgment,  and  others  of  his 
productions,  particularly  in  Varley's  curious  picture  of  the 
personified  Flea.  Blake  preferred  mixing  his  colours  with 
carpenter's  glue,  to  gum,  on  account  of  the  latter  cracking 
in  the  sun,  and  becoming  humid  in  moist  weather.  The 
glue-mixture  stands  the  sun,  and  change  of  atmosphere 
has  no  effect  upon  it.  Every  carpenter  knows  that  if  a 
broken  piece  of  stick  be  joined  with  good  glue,  the  stick  will 
seldom  break  again  in  the  glued  parts. 

That  Blake  had  many  secret  modes  of  working,  both  as 
a  colourist  and  an  engraver,  I  have  no  doubt.1  His  method 

1  Loutherbourg  was  also,  in  species  of  art.    This  he  accom- 

his    way,    very    ingenious    in  plished  by  means  of  differently- 

his    contrivances.      To    oblige  coloured  silks  placed  before  the 

his  friend  Garrick,  he  enriched  lamps  at  the  front  of  the  stage, 

a  Drama,  entitled  The  Christmas  and  by  the  lights  behind  the 

Tale,  with  scenery  painted  by  side  scenes.    The  same  effects 

himself,  and  introduced  such  were    used   for    distance    and 

novelty  and  brilliancy  of  effect,  atmosphere.     As  for  instance, 

as  formed  a  new  era  in  that  Harlequin  in  a  fog,  was  pro- 


390        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

of  eating  away  the  plain  copper,  and  leaving  his  drawn  lines 
of  his  subjects  and  his  words  as  stereotype,  is  in  my  mind 
perfectly  original.  Mrs.  Blake  is  in  possession  of  the  secret, 
and  she  ought  to  receive  something  considerable  for  its 
communication,  as  I  am  quite  certain  it  may  be  used  to 
the  greatest  advantage  both  to  artists  and  literary  characters 
in  general. 

That  Blake's  coloured  plates  have  more  effect  than  others 
where  gum  has  been  used,  is,  in  my  opinion,  the  fact,  and  I 
shall  rest  my  assertion  upon  those  beautiful  specimens  in 
the  possession  of  Mr.  Upcott,  coloured  purposely  for  that 
gentleman's  godfather,  Ozias  Humphry,  Esq.  to  whom 
Blake  wrote  the  following  interesting  letter. 

TO    OZIAS    HUMPHRY,    ESQ. 

THE  design  of  The  Last  Judgment,  which  I  have  com- 
pleted by  your  recommendation  for  the  Countess  of  Egre- 
mont,  it  is  necessary  to  give  some  account  of  ;  and  its  various 
parts  ought  to  be  described,  for  the  accommodation  of  those 
who  give  it  the  honour  of  their  attention.1 

Christ  seated  on  the  Throne  of  Judgment :   the  Heavens 

duced  by  tiffany  hung  between  him  in  his  recollections  of  his 

the  audience  and  himself.    Mr.  small  drawings.  (S.) 

Seguier,    the    father    of    the  x  This    water-colour   design 

Keeper  of  the  King's  Pictures,  was  an  elaborate  rendering  of 

and    those    of    the    National  two  earlier  versions  of  the  same 

Gallery,     purchased     of     Mr.  subject,    the    first    of    which, 

Loutherbourg    ten    small    de-  dated   1806,  was  lent  by  Sir 

signs  for  the  scenery  of  Omai,  John    Stir  ling- Maxwell,  Bart., 

for  which  scenes  the  manager  M. P.,  to  the  exhibition  of  Blake's 

paid  him  one  thousand  pounds,  works  (Oct. -Dec.,  1913)  already 

Mr.  Loutherbourg  never  would  mentioned.   The  design  for  the 

leave  any  paper  or  designs  at  Countess  of   Egremont    is   at 

the  theatre,  nor  would  he  ever  Petworth,  and  is  reproduced  in 

allow  anyone  to  see  what  he  Mr.  A.  G.  B.  Russell's  Letters 

intended  to   produce ;    as   he  of  William  Blake  (1906).     A 

secretly  held  small  cards  in  his  fourth    and    greatly   enlarged 

hand,  which  he  now  and  then  copy,  in  tempera,  has  already 

referred  to  in  order  to  assist  been  mentioned  by  Smith. 


WILLIAM  BLAKE  391 

in  clouds  rolling  before  him  and  around  him,  like  a  scroll 
ready  to  be  consumed  in  the  fires  of  the  Angels ;  who  de- 
scend before  his  feet,  with  their  four  trumpets  sounding  to 
the  four  winds. 

Beneath,  the  Earth  is  convulsed  with  the  labours  of  the 
Resurrection.  In  the  caverns  of  the  earth  is  the  Dragon  with 
seven  heads  and  ten  horns,  chained  by  two  Angels ;  and 
above  his  cavern,  on  the  earth's  surface,  is  the  Harlot,  also 
seized  and  bound  by  two  Angels  with  chains,  while  her 
palaces  are  falling  into  ruins,  and  her  counsellors  and  warriors 
are  descending  into  the  abyss,  in  wailing  and  despair. 

Hell  opens  beneath  the  harlot's  seat  on  the  left  hand, 
into  which  the  wicked  are  descending. 

The  right  hand  of  the  design  is  appropriated  to  the  Re- 
surrection of  the  Just :  the  left  hand  of  the  design  is  appro- 
priated to  the  Resurrection  and  Fall  of  the  Wicked. 

Immediately  before  the  Throne  of  Christ  are  Adam  and 
Eve,  kneeling  in  humiliation,  as  representatives  of  the  whole 
human  race  ;  Abraham  and  Moses  kneel  on  each  side  beneath 
them  ;  from  the  cloud  on  which  Eve  kneels,  and  beneath 
Moses,  and  from  the  tables  of  stone  which  utter  lightning, 
is  seen  Satan  wound  round  by  the  Serpent,  and  falling  head- 
long ;  the  Pharisees  appear  on  the  left  hand  pleading  their 
own  righteousness  before  the  Throne  of  Christ :  The  Book 
of  Death  is  opened  on  clouds  by  two  Angels  ;  many  groups 
of  figures  are  falling  from  before  the  throne,  and  from  the 
sea  of  fire,  which  flows  before  the  steps  of  the  throne  ;  on 
which  are  seen  the  seven  Lamps  of  the  Almighty,  burning 
before  the  throne.  Many  figures  chained  and  bound  together 
fall  through  the  air,  and  some  are  scourged  by  Spirits  with 
flames  of  fire  into  the  abyss  of  Hell,  which  opens  to  receive 
them  beneath,  on  the  left  hand  of  the  harlot's  seat ;  where 
others  are  howling  and  descending  into  the  flames,  and  in 
the  act  of  dragging  each  other  into  Hell,  and  of  contending 
in  fighting  with  each  other  on  the  brink  of  perdition. 

Before  the  Throne  of  Christ  on  the  right  hand,  the  Just, 
in  humiliation  and  in  exultation,  rise  through  the  air,  with 
their  Children  and  Families ;  some  of  whom  are  bowing 
before  the  Book  of  Life,  which  is  opened  by  two  Angels  on 
clouds  :  many  groups  arise  with  exultation  ;  among  them 
is  a  figure  crowned  with  stars,  and  the  moon  beneath  her 


392        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

feet,  with  six  infants  around  her,  she  represents  the  Christian 
Church.  The  green  hills  appear  beneath  ;  with  the  graves 
of  the  blessed,  which  are  seen  bursting  with  their  births  of 
immortality ;  parents  and  children  embrace  and  arise 
together,  and  in  exulting  attitudes  tell  each  other,  that  the 
New  Jerusalem  is  ready  to  descend  upon  earth  ;  they  arise 
upon  the  air  rejoicing ;  others  newly  awaked  from  the 
grave,  stand  upon  the  earth  embracing  and  shouting  to 
the  Lamb,  who  cometh  in  the  clouds  with  power  and  great 
glory. 

The  whole  upper  part  of  the  design  is  a  view  of  Heaven 
opened  ;  around  the  Throne  of  Christ,  four  living  creatures 
filled  with  eyes,  attended  by  seven  Angels  with  seven  vials 
of  the  wrath  of  God,  and  above  these  seven  Angels  with  the 
seven  trumpets  compose  the  cloud,  which  by  its  rolling  away 
displays  the  opening  seats  of  the  Blessed,  on  the  right  and 
the  left  of  which  are  seen  the  four-and-twenty  Elders  seated 
on  thrones  to  judge  the  dead. 

Behind  the  seat  and  Throne  of  Christ  appears  the  Taber- 
nacle with  its  veil  opened,  the  Candlestick  on  the  right,  the 
Table  with  Shew-bread  on  the  left,  and  in  the  midst,  the 
Cross  in  place  of  the  Ark,  with  the  two  Cherubim  bowing 
over  it. 

On  the  right-hand  of  the  Throne  of  Christ  is  Baptism, 
on  his  left  is  the  Lord's  Supper — the  two  introducers  into 
Eternal  Life.  Women  with  infants  approach  the  figure  of 
an  aged  Apostle,  which  represents  Baptism  ;  and  on  the  left- 
hand  the  Lord's  Supper  is  administered  by  Angels,  from  the 
hands  of  another  aged  Apostle  ;  these  kneel  on  each  side  of 
the  Throne,  which  is  surrounded  by  a  glory  :  in  the  glory 
many  infants  appear,  representing  Eternal  Creation  flowing 
from  the  Divine  Humanity  in  Jesus  ;  who  opens  the  Scroll 
of  Judgment  upon  his  knees  before  the  living  and  the  dead. 

Such  is  the  design  which  you,  my  dear  Sir,  have  been 
the  cause  of  my  producing,  and  which,  but  for  you,  might 

have  slept  till  the  Last  Judgment.          ,T,  -r, 

WILLIAM  BLAKE. 

January  18,  1808. 

Blake  and  his  wife  were  known  to  have  lived  so  happily 
together,  that  they  might  unquestionably  have  been  regis- 


WILLIAM  BLAKE  898 

tered  at  Dunmow.  "  Their  hopes  and  fears  were  to  each 
other  known,"  and  their  days  and  nights  were  passed  in  each 
other's  company,  for  he  always  painted,  drew,  engraved 
and  studied,  in  the  same  room  where  they  grilled,  boiled, 
stewed,  and  slept ;  and  so  steadfastly  attentive  was  he 
to  his  beloved  tasks,  that  for  the  space  of  two  years  he  had 
never  once  been  out  of  his  house  ;  and  his  application 
was  often  so  incessant,  that  in  the  middle  of  the  night,  he 
would,  after  thinking  deeply  upon  a  particular  subject, 
leap  from  his  bed  and  write  for  two  hours  or  more  ;  and  for 
many  years,  he  made  a  constant  practice  of  lighting  the  fire, 
and  putting  on  the  kettle  for  breakfast  before  his  Kate 
awoke. 

During  his  last  illness,  which  was  occasioned  by  the  gall 
mixing  with  his  blood,  he  was  frequently  bolstered-up  in 
his  bed  to  complete  his  drawings,  for  his  intended  illustra- 
tion of  Dante  ;  an  author  so  great  a  favourite  with  him,  that 
though  he  agreed  with  Fuseli  and  Flaxman,  in  thinking 
Gary's  translation  superior  to  all  others,  yet,  at  the  age 
of  sixty-three  years,  he  learned  the  Italian  language  pur- 
posely to  enjoy  Dante  in  the  highest  possible  way.  For  this 
intended  work,  he  produced  seven  engraved  plates  of  an 
imperial  quarto  size,  and  nearly  one  hundred  finished  draw- 
ings of  a  size  considerably  larger ;  which  will  do  equal 
justice  to  his  wonderful  mind,  and  the  liberal  heart  of  their 
possessor,  who  engaged  him  upon  so  delightful  a  task  at 
a  time  when  few  persons  would  venture  to  give  him  employ- 
ment, and  whose  kindness  softened,  for  the  remainder  of  his 
life,  his  lingering  bodily  sufferings,  which  he  was  seen  to 
support  with  the  most  Christian  fortitude.1 

1  Blake  began  to  make  these  came    to    a   consideration   of 

designs   for    Linnell   in    1825.  the  mysticism  of  the  Divine 

They   are   described   by   Ellis  Comedy  from  the  independent 

and  Yeats  as  overtopping  all  point  of  view  of  an^equal  and 

that  he  ever  did  for  startling  a  brother  visionary." 
emphasis  and  novelty.     "  He 


394        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 

On  the  day  of  his  death,  August  I2th,  (not  the  I3th,  as 
has  been  stated  by  several  Editors  who  have  noticed  his 
death,)  1827,  he  composed  and  uttered  songs  to  his  Maker  so 
sweetly  to  the  ear  of  his  Catherine,  that  when  she  stood  to 
hear  him,  he,  looking  upon  her  most  affectionately,  said, 
"  My  beloved,  they  are  not  mine — no — they  are  not  mine." 
He  expired  at  six  in  the  evening,  with  the  most  cheerful 
serenity.  Some  short  time  before  his  death,  Mrs.  Blake 
asked  him  where  he  should  like  to  be  buried,  and  whether 
he  would  have  the  Dissenting  Minister,  or  the  Clergyman  of 
the  Church  of  England,  to  read  the  service  :  his  answers 
were,  that  as  far  as  his  own  feelings  were  concerned,  they 
might  bury  him  where  she  pleased,  adding,  that  as  his 
father,  mother,  aunt,  and  brother,  were  buried  in  Bunhill- 
row,  perhaps  it  would  be  better  to  lie  there,  but  as  to  service, 
he  should  wish  for  that  of  the  Church  of  England. 

His  hearse  was  followed  by  two  mourning-coaches,  at- 
tended by  private  friends  :  Calvert,  Richmond,  Tatham, 
and  his  brother,  promising  young  artists,  to  whom  he  had 
given  instructions  in  the  Arts,  were  of  the  number. x  Tatham, 
ill  as  he  was,  travelled  ninety  miles  to  attend  the  funeral 
of  one  for  whom,  next  to  his  own  family,  he  held  the  highest 
esteem.  Blake  died  in  his  sixty-ninth  year,  in  the  back- 
room of  the  first-floor  of  No.  3,  Fountain-court,2  Strand, 

1  Edward  Calvert,  who  exe-  of  Charles  Heathcote  Tatham 

cuted  many  plates  and  wood-  the  architect ;    his  sister  Julia 

blocks  in  Blake's  style,  died  in  was  married  to  George  Rich- 

1883. — George  Richmond,  the  mond. 

portrait     painter,     first     met         2  The  last  remnant  of  Foun- 

Blake    at    LinnelTs    house    at  tain- court  (its  west  side)  and 

Highgate    when    he    was    six-  with    it    Blake's    house,    was 

teen,    and,    walking    back    to  pulled  down  in  1902,  when  the 

Fountain-court  with  him,  said  Savoy    Hotel    buildings  were 

it  was  "  as  though  he  had  been  enlarged.      The    court,    whose 

walking     with     the     prophet  site  and  association  with  Blake 

Isaiah."    His  earlier  work  was  are  now  signified  by  a  tablet, 

influenced  by  Blake. — Freder-  had  its  name  from  the  Foun- 

ick  Tatham  was  the  eldest  son  tain    Tavern    and    the    ante- 


WILLIAM  BLAKE 


395 


and  was  buried  in  Bunhill-fields,  on  the  ijth  of  August,  at 
the  distance  of  about  twenty-five  feet  from  the  north  wall, 
numbered  eighty.1 

Limited  as  Blake  was  in  his  pecuniary  circumstances, 
his  beloved  Kate  survives  him  clear  of  even  a  sixpenny 
debt ;  and  in  the  fullest  belief  that  the  remainder  of  her 
days  will  be  rendered  tolerable  by  the  sale  of  the  few  copies 
of  her  husband's  works,  which  she  will  dispose  of  at  the 
original  price  of  publication  ;  in  order  to  enable  the  collec- 
tor to  add  to  the  weight  of  his  book-shelves,  without  being 
solicited  to  purchase,  out  of  compassion,  those  specimens 
of  her  husband's  talents  which  they  ought  to  possess. 


Walpolian  Fountain  Club  which 
met  there  early  in  the  eighteenth 
century.  Henry  Crabb  Robin- 
son records  a  visit  to  Blake 
here  on  December  lyth,  1825  : 
"  I  found  him  in  a  small  room 
which  seems  to  be  both  a 
working  room  and  a  bedroom. 
Nothing  could  exceed  the 
squalid  air  both  of  the  apart- 
ment and  of  his  dress  ;  yet 
there  is  diffused  over  him  an 
air  of  natural  gentility." 
1  No  memorial  to  Blake  was 


erected,  and  the  site  of  his 
grave  was  long  uncertain.  In 
1911  Mr.  Herbert  Jenkins  ren- 
dered a  great  service  to  lovers 
and  disciples  of  Blake  by  work- 
ing out  and  identifying  the 
visionary's  grave  by  methods 
which  he  fully  explained  in  an 
article  contributed  to  the 
Nineteenth  Century  of  July  in 
tnat  year.  An  asphalt  path- 
way now  passes  over  Blake's 
resting-place. 


FINIS 


INDEX 


INDEX    OF    PERSONS 

(The  page  numbers  refer  to  both  text  and  notes.} 


Abbot,  Francis  Lemuel,  II  73 
Abel,  Karl  Friedrich,  I  157 
Abney,  Sir  Thomas,  II  205 
Abrahams,   Mr.   Aleck,   I   Notes  to 

Illustrations,  35  ;  II  4 
Accutus,  John,  I  210 
Adam,  Robert,  II  56,  61 
Adams  (his  museum  at  the  "  Royal 

Swan  "),  I  205-6 
—  John,  I  165 
Addison,  Joseph,  I  170 
Ainsworth,  Robert,  I  37 
Albani,  Cardinal,  II  7-9 
Albans,  Hugh  de  St.,  II  118 
Alderson,    Amelia    (see    also    Mrs. 

Opie),  II  221 
Alefounder,  John,  I  329 
Alexander,  William,  I  311 
Alscript,  I  366 
Andrews,  Miles  Peter,  I  179 
Andrieu,  Bernard,  I  261-62 
Angelini,  II  58 
Angelo,  Henry,  II  103 
—  (Michael,    Michel),    I    198,    225. 

265,  297,  345  ;    II  3,  85,  170 
Angiband,  Mr.,  II  164 
Annesley,  F.,  I  209 
Aprice,  II  190 
Aratus,  I  98 
Arch  (bookseller),  II  4 
Arden,  Lady,  I  319 
Aretino,  I  295 
Argyle   and   Greenwich,    Duke   of, 

his  monument,  II  27 
Arminger,  W.,  I  52.  97 
Armstrong,  Dr.  John,  II  337 
Arnald,  A.R.A.,  George,  In,  315  ; 

II  1 86 

Arne,  Dr.,  II  149 
Ashburton,  Louisa,  Lady,  II  155 
Astle,  Thomas,  I  214 
Astley,  John  (painter),  II  321-22 
Atkins,  John,  II  no 
Audinet,  Philip,  II  55,  67,  68,  317 


Ausel,  I  22 

Aylesbury,  Lord,  II  113 

Bacon,  R.A.,  John,  and  George  III, 

I  68  ;   II  Life,  88-98 

—  John,  jun.,  II  97-98 
Baddeley,  Sir  J.  J.,  I  304 

—  Robert,  I  181 

Bailey,   R.A.,   E.   H.,   I   232,   293 ; 

II  243,  355 
Baillie,  Captain,  I  119 
Bailye,  Rev.  Hugh,  I  113 
Baker,  John  (flower-painter),  I  25 
Balant,  Theodore,  II  50 
Balme,  Rev.  Edward,  I  349 
Bandinelli,  Baccio,  I  156 
Banks  (cabinet-maker),  II  176-77 

—  (Bancks),  John,  I  48 

—  Sir  Joseph,  I  231  ;   II  137 

—  Lady,  II  137 

—  R.A.,    Thomas,    14;     II    Life, 

"7-3i 
Bannister,  Charles,  I  96-97  ;  II  170 

—  John,  I  182  ;   II  222 
Baptist,  J.  (flower-painter),  I  38 
Barber,  Francis,  I  113 
Bardwell.Thomas  (portrait-painter), 

II  133 
Baretti,  Joseph,  I  21  ;    II  57.  93. 

108-10 

Barker,  Robert,  I  36 
Barnard,  John  ("  Jacky  "),  I  288 
Barrett,  R.A.,  George,  II  30,  100 

—  Rev.  Jonathan  Tyers,  II  30 
Barren,  Hugh,  II  123 
Barrow,  J.  C.,  I  31 

Barry,  R.A.,  I  8,  9,  62-63,  83,  140, 

275  ;   II  211,  213,  Life,  279-83 
Bartolozzi,  R.A.,  Francisco,  II  30, 

75.  134.  J49 
Barton  (actor),  I  130 
Basire,  James,  I  49,  130  ;    II  366 
Baskerville,  John,  I  175 
Bateman,  Lord,  I  29 


399 


400        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 


Bathurst,  Lord  Chancellor,  I  370 ; 
II  n 

—  Dr.  Richard,  I  170 

Batridge  (a  barber),  I  184  ;    II  150 
Bayne,  Capt.  William,  I  370 
Bean,  Rev.  James,  II  212 
Beard,  John,  II  29,  88,  157-58 

—  Lady  Henrietta,  II  157-58  (see 
Powis) 

Beauclerk,  Topham,  II  114 
Beaufoy,  Messrs.,  II  131 
Beaumont,     Sir    George,     I     116; 

II  149,  266 

Beaupre  (a  carver),  II  112 
Beckford,  William  (Lord  Mayor  of 

London),  II  134-35 
Beechey,  R.A.,  Sir  William,  I  327, 

333.  349,  361-62 
Bell,  Mr.  Walter,  I  145 

—  Dr.  William,  I  20,  143 
Bellamy,  Mr.  (a  linen-draper),  II 155 
Bellodi  (an  organ-maker),  II  68 
Bemrose,  Mr.  William,  I  162 
Bensley,  Thomas  (printer),  I  112; 

II  184 

Bentham,  William  (a  collector),  I  30 
Bernini,  G.  L.,  I  225 
Bessborough,  Earl  of,  I  12,  95,  292  ; 

II  4 

Be  tew,  Pan  ton,  I  158-64 
Bicknell,  John,  II  138,  141 
Bird,  Francis,  I  149,  167,  376;    II 

121 

Blackwell,  Mr.  Thomas,  I  39 
Blair,  Robert  (poet),  II  376 

—  Capt.  William,  I  370 
Blake,  William— 

Birthplace,  II  367 

Married  life,  II  371 

At  Felpham,  II  173 

His       Canterbury       Pilgrimage 

fresco,  II  377—80 
The  Ghost  of  a  Flea,  II  380-81 
Predictions  of  his  fame,  II  381-82 
Crewe  collection  of  his  drawings, 

II  382 

His  Book  of  Job  drawings,  II  383 
List  of  his  writings,  II  384-86 
"  The  Ancient  of  Days,"  II  376, 

386-87 

His  technical  methods,  II  389-90 
His   Last   Judgment   design,    II 

382,  390-92 

Death  and  burial,  II  395 
Grave  identified,  II  305 
Blake,  Robert,  II  376 


Blundell,  Henry,!  12:11130,248,297 
Blunt,  Mr.  Reginald,  I  162 
Boitard,  II  203 
Bologna,  John  di,  I  225 
Bone,  R.A.,  Henry,  II  222-24 
Bonomi,  Joseph,  I  39-40,  242,  265, 

278,  280,  311,  326-27 ;   II  281 
Booth,  John  (bookseller),  I  29 

—  Mrs.,  II  152 
Boothby,  Sir  Brooke,  II  79 
Borgard,  Colonel,  II  297 
Borsi,  De,  I  235 

Bossy,  Dr.  (the  quack),  I  255 

Boswell,  James,  I  47,  76,  106,  108. 
202  ;  II  105 

Bourgeois,  Sir  Francis  P.,  R.A..  I 
315,  327;  II  328 

Bowyer,  Robert,  II  286 

Boydell,  Alderman  J.,  II  87,  125, 
183-85,  285 

Bray  (a  silversmith),  I  112 

Braybrooke,  Lord,  II  223 

Brettingham,  Matthew,  I  155 

Bridge,  John  Gawler  (of  Rundell 
and  Bridge),  II  87,  172 

Bridgeman,  Sir  Orlando,  II  209 

Britton,  Thomas,  I  181 

Bromley  (a  Herald  painter),  I  23 

Brompton,  John,  I  298 

"  Bronze  "  (Nollekens's  servant 
Elizabeth  Rosina  Clements, 
"  Black  Bet  "),  I  79,  80,  90-94, 
137,  177,  189,  210,  2ii,  280,  296, 
299,  3°°,  325,  328,  339,  342.  343. 
348 

Brooking,  Charles,  I  159 

Brooks,  John,  I  in 

—  William,  II  267,  269,  322 
Brown,  John,  II  320 

—  Robert,  II  277 
Browne,  Mr.,  I  292 
Brownlow,  Lord,  I  292 
Brudenell,  Lord,  II  136 
Bryan,  Michael,  II  323 
Bubb,  George,  II  106 
Buckland,  Frank,  II  170 
Bulloch,  Mr.  J.  M.,  I  221 
Bunbury,  Lady  Sarah,  I  137 
Bunn,  Mary  (Mrs.  Opie),  II  221 
Buonaparte,  Napoleon,  I  261 
Burch,  Edward,  I  263 
Burdett-Coutts,  Baroness,  I  368 
Burford  (of  Burford's  Panorama), 

136 

Burgess,  Lieut.-Col.,  II  197 
Burgoyne,  General,  I  366 


INDEX  OF   PERSONS 


401 


Burgoyne,  Lady,  her  monument,  II 

238 

Burke,  Edmund,  II  137,  279-80 
Burlington,  Lord,  II  143 
Burney,    Dr.    Charles,    I    36,    93  ; 

II  Life,  136-41 

—  D.D.,  Charles,  I  42,  131 

—  Fanny,  I  36  ;   II  137 
Burrell,  Sir  Merrick,  II  219,  220 
Burton,  Hill,  I  221 

Busby,  Dr.,  I  149-50  ;   II  121 

Bute,  Lord,  his  fine  leg,  II  228 

Butts,  Thomas,  II  378 

Byng,  Admiral,  I  23 

Byres,  James,  I  208 

Byrne,  William,  I  268 

—  Mrs.,  I  352 

Byron,  Lord,  I  241  ;   II  175 


Cadogan,  Lord,  II  201 
Callcott,  R.A.,  Sir  A.  W.,  II  186 
Calvert,  Edward,  II  394 
Cambasio,  Luca,  II  204 
Cambridge,  Owen,  II  297,  300 
Camden,  William,  I  148;    II  118, 

121 

Campbell,  Lord  Frederick,  II  57 
Canaletti,  II  29,  188 
Canova,  I  235  ;   II  96,  334 
Cansby,  Captain,  II  198 
Capitsoldi,  I  21  ;   II  102,  122 
Capon,  William,  I  203 
Careless,  Betty,  II  202 
Carlile,  Mr.,  I  30 
Carlini,     R.A.,     Agostino,     I     131  ; 

II  56,  57,  109,  Life,  132-35 
Carlisle,  Earl  of,  II  6,  77 

—  Sir  Anthony,  I  349 
Carpenter,  General,  II  198,  200 
Carr,  Miss,  II  269 

Carter,    Elizabeth,    I    53,    62,    96, 
1 72-73,  175-76,  277 

—  John,  I  147,  150 

—  Thomas,  II  236 
Cass,  Sir  John,  I  377 
Catherine  of  Russia,  II  12 
Catherine,    Queen,    of   Valois,    her 

remains  in  Westminster  Abbey, 

I  MS 
Catling,  John,  I  142-43,  144,  147, 

150 

Catton,  R.A.,  Charles,  I  25 
Cauldfield,  Joseph,  I  200 
Cavallini,  II  119 
Cave,  Edward,  I  153,  192 

VOL.  n. — 2  D 


Cavendish,  Lord  George,  I  328 
Cawdor,  Lord,  I  216 
"  Cazey,  Little,"  II  202-03 
Ceracchi,  Giuseppe,  II  Life,  56,  57 
Chamberlen,  Dr.,  II  40 
Chambers,  Sir  Robert,  II  105-06 

—  Lady  (Miss  Wilton),  I  21,  174; 
II  105-6,  115 

—  Sir  William,  I  81  ;    II  102,  113, 
130 

Champness  (Champneys),  I  149-50 
Chancellor,    Mr.    E.    Beresford,    I 

xvi ;   II  52,  120 
Chantrey,  R.A.,  Sir  F.  L.,  I  218,  227, 

231,  252,  257,  264-65,  324,  373  ; 

II  13 
Charlemont,  Lord,  II  114,  275 

—  Lady,  II  n 

Charles    I,    Le    Sceur's    statue    of, 

II  171 
Chatelain,     B.C.,     John,     I     158 ; 

II  29,  79,  183 
Chatham,  Earl  of,  II  93 
Chaworth,  Mary,  I  137 
Cheere,  Sir  Henry,  I  63,  234  ;  II  31, 

41,  49,  242 

Cheney,  Bartholomew,  I  151 
Chester,  John  de,  II  118 
Chesterfield,  Lord,  I  56,  57 
Cheyne,  Lady  Jane,  I  225 
Chippendale,  Thomas,  II  175 

—  William,  II  146 
Chippendall     ("  Chippendale  "),    I 

184 
Christie,  the  auctioneer,  I  41,  221, 

275,  353,  362  ;    II  3.  5,  3°,  *3°. 

264 

Churchill,  Charles,  II  274 
Cibber,  Gabriel,  I  190 
Cipriani,  R.A.,  J.B.,  I  21,  22,  168- 

69,  208,  216,  305  ;    II   17,   loo, 

102,  113,  134 
Clarke,  Baron,  II  205 

—  Captain,  II  205 

—  Dr.  Edward  Daniel,  II  234 
Clarkson,  Nathaniel,  I  24 
Claude,  Lorraine,  I  259  ;   II  101 
Clay,  Henry,  I  175 

Clements  (Clement),  John  (a  trunk- 
maker),  I  100 

Clements,  Elizabeth  Rosina,  I  33 
(see  Bronze] 

Clermont,  II  163 

Clint,  George,  II  340 

Clive,  Lord,  II  40 

—  Kitty,  I  97  ;  II  179 


402        NOLLEKENS  AND  HIS  TIMES 


Coade  family,  II  56,  90,  355 

Coade  and  Sealy,  II  go 

Cobb  (an  upholsterer),  II  177-78 

Cobbett,  Pitt,  II  169 

Cockerell,  Samuel  P.,  II  143 

Coke,  Mrs.,  I  325  ;   II  15,  228 

Colburn,  I  xv 

Colchester,  Lord,  II  172 

Cole,  Rev.  William,  I  74 ;   II  270 

Coleraine,  Lord,  I  204  ;   II  142 

Collick,  II  159 

"Collier,  Joel,"  II  138 

Collins,  John,  II  213 

—  Miss,  of  Winchester,  II  76 

—  Samuel,  II  290-94 

—  Sen.,  II  265 

—  Wilkie,  II  265 

—  William  (carver),  II  243 

—  R.A.,  William,  II  265 

—  William  (the  poet),  II  253 
Colman,  George,  I  108 
Combe,  Harvey  Christian,  I  300 

—  Taylor,  I  311-12  ;   II  112 

—  William,  II  321 

Cook,  Mr.,  of  Bedford  Square,  I  201 

—  Captain,  I  36 
Cooke,  "  Memory,"  I  27 
Cooper,  Richard  (the  elder),  I  267 

(the  younger),  I  267  ;    II  179 

Coote,  Sir  Eyre,  I  118;    II  125-26 
Coram,  Captain,  II  147 

Corbet,  Sir  Corbet,  II  234,  253 

"  Corks,  Old,"  an  itinerant  dealer, 

I  182-83 

Correggio,  Antonio,  I  265,  275 

Corri,  Domenico,  II  136 

Cosway,  R.A.,  Richard,  I  94,  112, 

271,  274,  295  ;   II  Life,  319-30 
Cotes,  R.A.,  Francis,  I  59 
Coutts,  Thomas,  I  373 

—  Mrs.  (Harriet  Mellon),  I  373-74  ; 

II  350 

Coverley,  Roger  de,  I  146 

Cowley,  Hannah,  II  324 

Coxe,  Peter,  I  324  ;   II  322-23 

Cozens,  Alexander,  II  125 

Grace,  John,  I  24 

Craft,  I  161 

Craggs,  James,  II  196 

Cranmer,  Charles  (a  model),  I  60 

Craven,  Lord,  I  54 

Cribb,  Mr.  (publisher),  II  334 

Croggan  and  Co.,  II  56,  91 

Cromek,  Robert  Hartley,  II  376- 

78,  380 
Cromwell,  Oliver,  II  151 


Crone,  Robert,  I  226,  288 
Crowe,  Rev.  Henry,  II  13,  225 
Crowle,  John  Charles,  II  30 
Crowther,     John     (Bow    porcelain 

maker),  I  160-61 
Crutchley,  Jeremiah,  II  352 

—  Richard,  II  257 
Cumberland,  Duke  of,  II  135 
Cunningham,  Allan,  II  28,  92 
Cuper,  Boydell,  II  130 
Cussans,  William,  II  Life,  215-17 
Cutler,  Sir  John,  I  376 ;   II  121 

Dallaway,  Rev.  James,  I  154  ;    II 

191 

Dalton,  Richard,  I  66,  225  ;   II  166 
Darner,  Mrs.,  II  57 
Dance-Holland,  R.A.,  Sir  Nathaniel, 

I  22,    131-33,    174,    234,    324; 

II  177 

Daniel,  Lady  Duckenfield,  II  322 
D'Argenson,  Marquis,  II  261 
Darley,  Matthew,  II  320 
Dartrey,  Lord,  I  162 
Dasent,  Mr.  Arthur  Irwin,  I  155  ; 

II  172 

David,  Jacques  Louis,  II  57 
Da  vies,  Tom,  II  76 
Davison,  Alexander,  I  334 
Dawkins,  James,  I  375 
Dayes,  Edward,  II  297-98 
Deacon,  James,  sen.,  II  204-5 

jun.,  II  204 

Dean,  John,  II  346 
Deare,  Edward,  II  235-36 

—  John,    I    167,    207,    346,    375 
II  Life,  234-59 

—  Joseph,  II  236,  254,  259 
De  Cort,  Henry,  II  331 
Deheim,  I  297 

De  la  Faye,  II  193 

De  la  Place,  131 

Delvaux,  Laurent,  I  97 ;    II  38,  39, 

45.  99 

Demar,  II  207 

De  Montrevil,  Marechal,  II  199 
Denman,  Ann  (Mrs.  John  Flaxman), 

II357 

Derby  (Darby),  Mrs.,  I  137 
Desenfans,  Noel,  I  314-15  ;   II  56 
Deval,  I  369 
Devay,  Abbe",  I  213 
De  Vere  (De  Vaare),  II  355 
Deville,  the  phrenologist,  I  321-22 

381 ;    II  10 
Devis,  Arthur,  II  111-12 


INDEX  OF  PERSONS 


403 


Devonshire,  Duke  of,  II  7 

—  Duchess  of,  II  74,  323 
D'Hancarville,  I  213-14 
D'Israeli,  Isaac,  II  143 
De  Wint,  Peter,  I  131 
Dibdin,  Charles,  I  200,  213 
Dighton,  Robert,  II  320 
Dillon,  Mr.  Edward,  II  101 
Dixon,  J.,  I  130—31 
Dobson,  Mr.  Austin,  I  no,  223 
—  William,  I  266 

Dodd,  James  William,  I  129 
Dodimy,  I  328,  331,  362 
Dolben,  Mr.,  I  148 
Dormer,  Colonel,  II  198 
Douce,  Francis,  I  349,  361 
Douglas,    "  Mother "    (of    Covent 

Garden),  I  no  ;    II  190 
Droeshout,  II  362 
Drogheda,  Marquess  of,  II  225 
Drummond,  George,  II  n 

—  Samuel,  II  331 
Dryden,  II  144 

Du  Bourgay,  Colonel,  II  197 
Duckenfield,  II  322  (see  Daniel) 
Duckworth,  Richard,  I  49 
Duff,  Captain  George,  II  94 
Du  jardin,  I  259 
Duncannon,  Lady,  II  74 
Duncombe,  M.P.,  Charles,  II  101 
Dundas,  Sir  Thomas,  I  275 
Dunn,  II  53 
Dyott,  Richard,  I  311 


Earlom,  Richard,  II  320 
Ecksteine,  John,  I  151;   II  238 
Edmonds  (cabinet-maker),  II  298 
Edridge,  Henry,  I  297  ;   II  297 
Edward  VI,  II  40 
Edwards,  Edward,  I  24  ;   II  150 
Egremont,    Earl   of,    I    231,    316 ; 

II  3,  6 

Eldon,  Lord,  I  30 

Eleanour,  Queen,  legend  concern- 
ing, II  234 

Elgin,  Lord,  I  241-44,  250 

Elisha,  James,  I  39 

Ellis  and  Yeats,  II  369 

Ellis,  William  (a  lunatic),  II  202 

Englehart,  Thos.,  II  357 

Evans,  H.,  II  4 

Exeter,  Earl  of,  I  208,  209 

Eyndhoven  and  Co.,  Van,  II  159 

Eyre  Coote,  Lieutenant- General 
Sir,  I  118 


Fagan,  Robert,  I  201  ;   II  255 

Fairy,  Mary,  I  276 

Faithorne,  William,  I  378 

Feary,  John,  I  291 

Ferg,  Paul,  I  163  ;    II  168 

Fiamingo,  I  12,  160,  375 

Fielding,  Sir  John,  I  109,  no,  in 

—  Henry,  I  104,  105,  163,  202 
Finch,  Rev.  D.,  I  xxv 
Finny,  Kit,  I  166 

Fisher,  Edward,  I  34 

—  (Fischer)   Johann,  Christian,  II 

85 

Fitzwilliam,  Lord,  II  78 

Flaxman,  R.A.,  John,  I  vii,  12,  65, 
89,  129,  152,  179,  230,  231,  242, 
245.  255-63,  291,  301,  337,  344, 
346.  373  I  II  7.  27,  37.  126.  130, 
167,  172,  228  ;  II,  Life,  351-65 

Fleming,  II  27 

Flitcroft  (Fleetcraft),  Henry,  I  148- 

49 

Foote,  I  177  ;   II  148 
Ford,  Richard,  I  116,  117 

—  Theodosius,  I  119 
Forrest,  Ebenezer,  I  119 
Foss,  Henry,  II  323 
Fountain,  I  31 
Fountayne,  Dr.,  I  31 

Fox,  Charles  James,  I  xxv,  73,  381, 

382  ;   II  12,  221 
Franklin,  Maria,  II  88 

—  Rev.  Dr.,  II  88 
Franks,  II  263 
Frederick,  Kitty,  II  298 

—  Prince  of  Wales,  I  155  ;   II  188 
Frenz,  Louis,  I  327 

Fry,  Elizabeth,  II  294 

Fryer,  Dr.,  II  89,  281 

Fuller,  II  234 

Furley,  II  199 

Fuseli,  R.A.,  Henry,  I  vii,  57,  60,  80, 
140,  202,  203,  265,  310,  372;  II 
189,  220,  332,  Life,  337-5° 

Gahagan,  Sebastian,  I  97,  278,  321. 

367.  368,  37i  :   H  354 
Gainsborough,  R.A.,  Thomas,  I  58, 
88,  156,  157,  160,  298  ;    II  Life, 
82-87 

—  Mrs.,  II  87 
Gamble,  Ellis,  II  272 
Gardelle,  Theodore,  II  148 
Garrard,  A.R.A.,  George,  I  313-14  '• 

II  34 
Garrick,  David,  I  8,   128-34,   161, 


404        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 


175,  184,  223,  272,  283  ;  II  33, 
34,  69,  83-85,  116,  177,  192,  207 

Garrick,  Mrs.,  I  131—32,  133 

Garthshore,  Dr.,  II  162 

Gaugain,  Thomas,  I  381 

Gay,  John,  I  154  ;   II  152 

Gayfere,  I  147-9,  152—3 

Geddes,  Dr.  Alexander,  I  201 

Geminiani,  Francesco,  I  93 

Genelli  (Gianelli),  II  289 

George  III,  I  xxv,  67-68,  154-55  ; 
II  93,  98,  105,  112,  135,  178 

George  IV,  I  134 

Gerrard     (auctioneer),    I    84,    119, 

313-14 

—  Miss,  I  326 
Giardini,  Felix,  II  85 
Gibbons,  Grinling,  I  29 
Gibson,  Mr.,  I  311 
Gifford,  I  191,  201 
Gilliland,  Thomas,  I  274 

Girdlee  and  Slaughter's  (Sloane, 
Leedham  and  Co.),  II  169 

Gladstone,  Right  Hon.  W.  E.,  II 
164 

Gloucester,  Duke  of,  II  185,  268 

—  Duchess  of,  II  124 

Goblet,  I  280,  342,  348,  363,  371  ; 

II  15 

Godfrey,  Sir  Edmondbury,  II  210 
Golding,  Dr.,  II  158 
Goldsmith,  Oliver,  I  xxv,  52,  59, 

97,  120,  271,  273  ;   II  274 
Goltzius,  Henry,  I  265  ;    II  60 
Gordon,  Duke  of,  II  12 

—  Lord  George,  I  26 
Gorsuch,  Colonel,  II  194,  195 
Gosse,  Mr.  Edmund,  I  xvi,  3 
Gosset,  Dr.,  II  210 
Goubert,  M.,  I  136—37 
Gough,  John,  II  379 
Goupy,  I  19  ;   II  164 
Grafton,  Duke  of,  I  39 
Graham,  Dr.,  II  313 
Granger,  Rev.  James,  I  220 
Grassini,  I  237 

Gravelot,  Hubert,  I  144 
Gray,  Thomas,  II  150 
Green  (a  sculptor),  I  97 

—  Benjamin,  II  306 

—  John  (of  Covent  Garden),  I  173, 
175,  255  ;   II  203,  215,  266 

Greenaway,  Rev.  Stephen,  I  128 
Greenwood  (auctioneer),  I  158,  275 
Grenville,  Lord,  I  65 
Greville,  Hon.  C.,  I  89,  214 


Gribelin,  I  170 

Grignon,   Charles,   I   174,  289  ;     II 
144.  256 

—  Thomas,  I  25,  54,  103,  162,  228; 
II  165,  207,  258 

Grose,  Captain,  I  5,  119  ;   II  151 
Guerchy,  de,  Count,  I  29 
Gurney,  Sir  Goldworthy,  I  309 
Guy,  Thomas,  II  40,  94 
Gwyllim,  Mrs.,  I  236 
Gwynn,  John,  II  145,  159 

Hackman,  Rev.  James,  I  173 

Haid,  Johann,  I  130  ;    II  32 

Hall,  John,  II  67,  307,  Life,  317-18 

—  Rev.  Dr.,  II  67 
Hamilton,  Colonel,  I  157-58 

—  Gavin,  I  58,   156-57,  207,  208, 

305,  312 

Hamlet,  Thomas,  II  30 
Hancock  (Nollekens's barber),  I  205, 

352 

Hand,  II  125-26 
Handel,  I  31  ;    II  27 
Hanger  (George)  (see  Coleraine) 
Hanmer,  Sir  John,  II  144 
Hanway,  Jonas,  I  35 
Harding,  Samuel,  II  159 
Hargrave,  II  27 
Harlow,  G.H.,  II  Life,  331-6 
Harman,  Jeremiah,  I  345 
Harrison  and  Ansley,  II  62 
Harwood,  Rev.  T.,  I  113 
Haslam,  Dr.  j.,  I  199 
Hassau,  Count,  II  197 
Hastings,  Marquis  of,  I  374 
Hatchet,  Mrs.,  II  159 
Hawkins,  John  Sidney,  I  107  ;    II 

183-84 

—  Laetitia,  I  90,  93,  107,  191-4 

—  Sir  John,  1 107,  112-13,  I8i,  190. 
194 

Hawkwood,  Sir  John,  I  210 
Hayley,  William,  I  89  ;   II  103,  373 
Hayman,  R.A.,  Francis,  I  xvi,  78,  81, 

347  ;   II  42,  165,  271 
Hazlitt,  William,  II  329 
Hellyer,  W.  V.,  I  112 
Hemskirk,  Egbert  Van,  II  271,  272 
Henderson,  John,  II  83-85 

—  William,  II  279 
Henning,  I  256,  258,  374,  375  ; 

121 

Henry  VI,  II  94 
Hervey,  Bishop,  II  356 
Hewson,  Hugh,  I  238 


INDEX  OF  PERSONS 


405 


Highmore,  Joseph,  II  154,  155,  271, 

272 
Hill,  Sir  John,  II  138 

—  Aaron,  I  289 
Hilton,  William,  I  131 
Hinchcliffe,  Dr.,  II  73,  86 
Hinchinbrook,  Lord,  II  176 
Hippisley,  I  97 

Hoadly,  John,  Dr.,  I  223 
Hoare,  Prince,  II  97 

—  Sir  Richard,  II  219-20 

—  William,  R.A.,  I  193 

—  Lady,  II  219 
Hoby,  II  295 

Hodges,  R.A.,  William,  II  268-69 
Hodgson,  Mr.  F.  C.,  II  300 
Hogarth,  William,  I  19,  35,  44,  128- 
29,  164-65,  222-23,  233.  266,  348, 
379  ;   II  65,  113-16,  133,  147-48, 
153-55.  160-63,  Life,  270-76 
Holland,  Sir  N.  Dance  (See  Dance- 
Holland) 

Holme,  Anderson,  I  22 
Holt,  Mrs.,  I  340-44,  348-49,  364 
Hone,  A.R.A.,  Horace,  I  123 

—  R.A.,  Nathaniel,  I  119-22,  123- 
28  ;    II  177,  233 

Hoole,  John,  I  184  ;   II  146 
Hope,  Thomas,  II  175,  299 
Hoper,  W.,  I  112 
Hopkins,  Bond,  II  4 
Hoppner,  R.A.,  John,  I  368;  II  378 
Horn,  Count,  I  6r,  234 
Hornby,  II  174-75 
Hornecks,  The,  I  59 
Horsley,  Samuel  (Bishop  of  Roches- 
ter, etc.),   I    142,    150,   372 ;    II 

173 

—  John,  II 29 

Howard,   R.A.,   Henry,   I   381  ;    II 

124,  3°3 

—  John,  II  94 

—  Mrs.,  of  Corby,  monument  to,  by 
Nollekens,  II  15 

Hoyle,  Edmond,  I  18 

Hudson,  Thomas,  I  33,  183,  266  ; 

II  36,  127,  128,  146,  147,  159,  160, 

161 

Hume,  Sir  Abraham,  II  63,  65 
Humphry,  R.A.,  Ozias,  II  Life,  290- 

300 

Hunter,  Dr.  John,  II  170 
Kurd,  Bishop,  II  318 
Hussey,  Mrs.,  I  105,  106 
Hutchins,  Hassell,  I  128  ;   II  151 
Hutton,  Charles,  Dr.,  I  191-92 


Inchiqum,  Lady  (see  Thomond) 

—  Lord  and  Lady,  II  9 
Ireland,  John,  II  211 

—  Samuel,  I  178  ;  II  148,  272-73 

Jackson,  John,  R.A.,  I  325,  374  ;  II 
83 

—  William,  II  291 
Jacobs,  Mr.  Reginald,  I  187 
Janson,  Sir  Stephen,  II  317 
Jarvis  (Jervas)  Thomas,  II  231,  321 
Jebb,  Dr.,  I  172 

Jefferys,    Thomas    (map-engraver), 
II  173 

Jekyll,  Joseph,  I  27 

Jenkins,  Thomas  (antique  dealer), 
I  ii,  12,  207-8,  288 

Jennings,  Henry,  Noel  Constantine 
("  Dog  "),  I  240  ;    II  ioi 

Jernigan,  Henry,  I  289 

Jodrell,  Paul,  I  281 

Johnes,  II  125 

Johnson,  Dr.  Samuel 

Praises  Nollekens's  busts,  I  xv,  48 
Compliments  Mrs.  Nollekens,  1 16 
His  bust  by  Nollekens,  I  xxv, 

46-47, 377 ;  ii  13 

Refuses  to  alter  Goldsmith's 
epitaph,  I  51 

Sips  his  tea,  I  59 

Calls  Nollekens  "  Little  Nolly,"  I 
69 

Seen  in  Mortimer  Street 

Rebukes  Nollekens,  I  95 

Pats  J.  T.  Smith  on  the  head,  I 
xxiii,  98 

Attends  Saunders  Welch's  police 
office,  I  104 

His  friendship  with  Saunders 
Welch,  I  1 06 

Boasts  he  might  have  married 
Mary  Welch,  I  106 

His  liking  for  Ann  Welch  ("  Miss 
Nancy  ")  I  106,  236 

Is  bequeathed  five  guineas  by 
Saunders  Welch,  I  108 

His  death,  I  in 

His  silver  tea-pot,  I  111-12 

His  watch,  I  113-14 

His  punch-bowl,  I  113 

His  Life  of  Pope,  I  114 

His  "  Beauties  "  and  "  Deform- 
ities," I  114-15 

And  the  Westminster  Gate- 
house, I  153 

His  charities,  I  190 


His  judgment  of  Lord  Mansfield, 

I  193 

Would  he  have  condemned  Ho- 
garth ?  I  223 

Said  to  have  portrayed  Mrs. 
Nollekens  as  "  Pekuah,"  I 
277 

Banters  ladies  at  Nollekens's 
table,  I  281 

Miss  Pond :  his  "  Idler  "  essay  on, 

I  3°7 

His  statue  in  St.  Paul's,  II  94 
Writes  a  shop-bill,  II  99 
His  supposed  preface  to  Gwynn's 
"  London   and   Westminster," 

II  145 

Writes  Latin    inscription    to    a 

picture,  II  285 
Johnson,  J.  (a  builder),  II  92 
Johnstone,  Charles,  I  170 

—  John  ("  Irish  "),  I  173 
Jones,  Inigo,  I  184-85,  258 
Joseph,   A.R.A.,   George  Francis,   I 

68,  276 

Kauffmann,  A.R.A.,  Angelica,  I  53, 
57-8,  60— i,  61-2,  78,  120,  125, 
127,  234-36,  299,  305,  375;  II 
232,  350 

Kean,  Edmund,  I  329 

—  Moses,  I  329 

Keate,  George,  I  133  ;  II  211,  Life, 

232-33 

Keene,  Jeremiah,  II  192 
Kemble,  John,  I  315 ;  II  85,  362- 

63 

Kent,  William,  II  43 
Kerrich,  Rev.  Thomas,  I  279,  361, 

368 

Kettle,  Tilly,  II  293 
Killigrew,  Captain,  II  199 
King,  Captain,  I  214 

—  Colonel,  I  37 

—  Mrs.,  murdered  by  Gardelle,  II 
148 

—  Moll,  I  no  ;   II  190,  202,  271 
Kinnaird,  a  magistrate,  II  76 
Kirby,  Joshua,  II  160 
Kirgate,  Thomas,  II  190 
Kirk,  Thomas,  I  88 

Kitchiner,  Dr.  William,  I  179,  180 
Kneller,  Sir  Godfrey,  I  185,  378 
Knight,  Edward,  II  353 

—  Richard  Payne,  I  26,  27,  61 

—  William,  I  369 


Knowles,  John,  I  372  ;  II  333,  338, 
344 

Labelye,  I  154 
Lake,  Lord,  I  367 

—  Sir  James  Winter,  I  161  ;   II  264 
Lamb,  Charles,  I  129,  303 ;  II  165, 

380 
Lambert,  Daniel,  II  205 

—  George,  II  157-58,  160 
Lang,  Andrew,  I  221 
Langford,  I  33  ;   II  41 
Lansdowne,  Marquess  of,  II  211 
Laroon,    Marcellus    (the    younger), 

II  Life,  190-205 
Lauron  (Laroon),  Marcellus,  I  41  ; 

II  192 

Lavater,  II  348—50 
Lawrence,  P.R.A.,  Sir  Thomas,  I  141, 

171,  242,  253,  265,  337,  345  ;    II 

7,  228-31,  312 

—  Major-General,  II  40 
Leake,  John,  II  167 

Le  Bas,  II  188,  260 

Le  Beck  (Lebeck),  I  105 

Le  Brun,  M.,  II  127 

Legat,  Francis,  II  Life,  284-89 

Leicester,  Sir  John,  I  171 

Lely,  Sir  Peter,  I  171,  185,  378 

Lennox,  Sarah,  I  137 

Lenthall,  II  174 

Lerpinidre,  Daniel,  II  185 

Le  Soeur,  II  171 

L'Estrange,  Roger,  I  43 

Lettsom,  Dr.,  I  87 

Lewis,  Mr.,  of  Sussex  Place,  II  154 

—  Frederick  Christian,  II  332,  346 
Lewknor,  Sir  Lewis,  I  no 
Leyland,  F.  R.,  II  171 

Liart,  Matthew,  II  Life,  54-5 
Ligonier,  Lord,  I  34 
Lilburne,  John,  I  103 
Lilly,  I  153 
Lincoln,  Earl  of,  II  42 
"  Lingo,"  I  264 
Linley,  Thomas,  II  291 
Linnell,  John,  II  383,  393 
Lloyd,  Mrs.  (Miss  Moser),  I  54-55, 
57-65,  280-82,  284,  286  ;  II  350 

—  Robert,  I  63 
Lobb,  Mrs.,  I  310-11 

Locatelli,  John  Baptist,  I  265  ;    II 

Life,  58-61 
Locke,  John,  II  100 

—  William,  or  Norbury,  In;    II 

IOO-I,  III,  268 


INDEX  OF   PERSONS 


407 


Lockyer,  Lionel,  II  167-68 
Loggan,  David,  I  378 
Long,  Charles,  II  1 6 
—  Miss  Tylney,  II  43 
Lonsdale,  James,  I  372 
Lovelace,  Richard,  I  153 
Loving,  II  133 
Lort,  Michael,  Rev.,  II  210 
Loutherbourg,  R.A.,  Philip  James, 

I  96  ;   II  207,  389-90 
Lowe,  Tommy,  I  31 

—  David  (hotel  keeper),  I  28 

—  Thomas,  I  96 

Lucas,  Mr.  E.  V.,  I  129  ;   II  374 
Lucian,  quoted,  I  112 
Lupton,  George,  I  368-69 
Lyttleton,  Alfred,  II  30 

Macaulay,  Catherine,  II  134 

—  Zachary,  I  107 
Mackay,  Dr.  Charles,  II  39 
Macklin,  Charles,  II  Life,  206-8 
Macmichael,  Holden,  II  139,  159, 

170 

Macpherson,  Sir  John,  I  275 
Major,  John  (bookseller),  II  191 

—  Richard,  II  260 

—  Thomas,  I  341  ;   II  168-69,  Life, 
260-63 

Malcolm,  James  P.  (London  typo- 
grapher), II  171 

Malone,  Edmund,  I  21  ;  II  211 

Malum,  Mrs.,  I  139 

Manchester,  Earl  of,  II  193^-94 

Mangin,  Dr.,  I  226 

Mann,  Sir  Horace,  II  244-45 

Manners,  Lord  William,  I  370 

Manning,  Major,  II  201 

Mansfield,  Lord,  I  193.  331 

Mapp,  Mrs.,  II  133 

Maratti,  Carlo,  II  204 

Marchant,  R.A.,  Nathaniel,  I  263 

M'Ardell,  James,  I  197;  n  J47. 
166-67,  223 

Maria  Clementina,  of  Poland,  II 
246 

Marlborough,  Duke  of,  II  195 

Martin,  Rev.  T.,  I  82 

Mason,  William,  II  112,  150 

Mathews,  Charles,  II  165 

Mathias,  Thomas,  I  65,  85 

Matthew,  Rev.  H.,  II  351 

Maule,  Mr.,  I  374 

May,  (of  May's  Buildings),  II  174 

Mazzoni,  Matthew,  II  in 

Mead,  Dr.  Richard,  II  44 


Medland,  II  340 
Mendoza,  I  158 
Mengs,  I  266 
Mercier,  Philip,  II  271 
Metcalfe,  Philip,  I  190 
Meyer,  J.,  R.A.,  59,  64,  174 
Meyrick,  Sir  S.  R.,  II  320 
Middiman,  Samuel,  II  64 
Mills,  George,  II  315 
Milne,  Robert,  II  145 
Milton,  John,  II  94,  236 
Misaubin,  Dr.,  II  163-64 
Mitford,  William,  II  78 
M'Kenzie,  II  73 
Moira,  Lord,  I  374 
Molesworth,  Col.,  II  195 
Moll  King,  I  no  ;  II  190,  202,  271 
Monamy,  Peter,  I  23  ;  II  174 
Monk,  General,  I  146 
Monsey,  Dr.,  II  153 
Montague,  Captain,  II  202 

—  Lady  Mary  Wortley,  I  186 
Moore,  J.  F.,  II  134,  215 

—  "  Paddy,"  II  215 
Morandi,  II  188 
Moret,  II  192-93 

Morison  (a  silversmith),  I  164 
Morland,  George,  I  23  ;   II  263-5 
Morris  (a  woollen-draper),  II  29 
Mortimer,  A.R.A.,  J.  Hamilton,  I  26, 

27.  3°5  :   II  M9 

—  Thomas,  II  212 
Morton,  Andrew,  II  348 

Moser,    A.R.A.,     Mary     (see    Mrs. 
Lloyd) 

—  George  Michael,  I  54,  161  ;    J 
148-49 

Mosman,  I  208-9 

Mouchett  and  Wild,  I  123  ;   II  177 

Moyley,  Henry,  II  164 

Moyser,  Colonel,  II  199 

Mudge  and  Dutton,  I  114 

Mulready    (Theophilus    Marchffe). 

II  128-29 

Murphy,  Arthur,  I  76 
Murray,  Lord,  II  200 
Musgrave,  George,  II  164 
Musters,  Mrs.,  I  136-3? 

Nelli,  II  1 88 

Newborough  ("  Newburg,        New- 
burgh  "),  Lady,  I  291,  320 
Newcastle,  Duke  of,  II  4 
Newnham,  II  73 
Newton,  Colonel,  II  201 

—  Sir  Isaac,  I  36  •   n  I39~4° 


408        NOLLEKENS   AND  HIS   TIMES 


Newton,  Francis  Milner,  R.A.,  I 
13,  14,  58,  126;  II  17,  30,  89, 
249 

—  Thomas,  II  125-26 

Nichols,  John  (of  the  Gentleman's 
Magazine),  I  76,  192  ;  II  209 

Nightingale,  II  27-28,  32 

Nollekens,  Corneille  Fra^ois 
(Joseph  Francis),  I  3-4;  II  41 

—  R.A.,  Joseph — 

Sketch  of  his  career,  I  xxi-xxix 

Pedigree,  I  3-5 

Fond  of  bell-tolling,  I  6 

Placed  with  Scheemakers,  I  6 

Goes  to  Rome,  I  7-8 

Habits   and  antique  jobbing  in 

Rome,  I  10-13,  207 
His  smuggling  propensities,  I  13, 

212 

Meets  Garrick,  I  8 

His  bust  of  Sterne,  I  xxv,  8,  13, 

26 

Friendship  with  Barry,  I  8-9 
His  house  and  studio,  I  13,  14 
Elected  A.R.A.  and  R.A.,  I  14 
His   bust   of   George   III,    I    14, 

66-68 

Marriage  to  Mary  Welch,  I  15-16 
Takes  J.  T.  Smith  into  his  studio, 

I32 

His  mother,  I  41,  293,  314 
His    bust   of   Dr.    Johnson    (see 

Johnson) 
His  manners  with  sitters,  I  48—49, 

317,  319-20,  326,  330,  366-67 
His  parsimony,   I  50-51,  68-69, 

287-88,  296,  320,  328,  335-36, 

371-72 

Personal  appearance,  I  69,  73-74 
Gives  a  dinner  party,  I  76-80 
Visits  a  snow  house,  I  82-83 
His  hatred  of  Romney,  I  89 
His  love  of  street  shows,  dancing, 

etc.,  I  91-94,  201,  330 
His  workmen,  I  97 
Acts  of  liberality  and  generosity, 

I  98-99,  293,  316,  331,  336,  341 
Neglect  of  his  relations,  I  99-100 
His  interest  in  Westminster 

Abbey, I  141-50 
His  recollections  of  friends  and 

artists,  I  158-62 
Member  of  Royal  Academy  Club, 

I  187 

Visits  Harrogate,  I  188 
Ignorance  of  Shakespeare,  I  195 


At  his  barber's,  I  205 

Bickerings  with  Mrs.  Nollekens, 
I  210-11 

His  artistic  limitations,  I  225, 
227-28,  323,  337,  345-46 

His  spelling,  I  238 

Gives  evidence  on  Elgin  Marbles, 
I  242 

Contrasted  with  Flaxman,  I  255, 
300-1 

His  collections,  I  262-64,  S1^, 
375  ;  II  4,  7,  223 

His  widowerhood,  I  278-80 

His  love  of  snuff,  I  286—87 

Friendship  with  Lady  New- 
borough,  I  291 

His  ways  as  a  landlord,  I  292, 

329 

His  Confessor,  I  295,  300,  339-40 
His  house  and  pictures,  I  296—99 
His  religion,  I  66,  300-1 
Excursions  on  Paddington  Canal, 

I  308-9 
Visits    J.    T.    Smith    at    British 

Museum,  I  311-12 
Courted  by  legacy  hunters,  I  326, 

336-37 
Intended      legacy      to      Royal 

Academy,  I  326 

Visitor  at  Royal  Academy,  I  330 
Specimen  of  his  diary,  I  335 
His  scanty  wardrobe,  I  343 
His  sketch-books,  I  344 
Fond  of  modelling  small  figures, 

I  347-48 
His  death,  I  349 
His  will,  I  350-60,  364-66 
Funeral,  I  361-64 
His  industry  and  eye  to  business, 

1367 

His  statue  of  Pitt,  I  368-71 
His  "  Three  Captains,"  I  370 
Makes  drawings  of  his  wife,  I  374 
His  death-mask  of  Fox,  I  382 
List   of   his   busts,    monuments, 

etc.,  II  10-23 

Nollekens  mentioned  in  Supple- 
mentary Lives,  II  75,  105, 
113,  167,  168,  181,  202,  207, 
223,  228,  232,  233,  262,  268, 

27°.  35° 
—  Mrs.  (Mary  Welch) — 

Personal  appearance  and   dress, 

I  15-17,  69 
Her  intellect,  I  18 
Thrift    and    miserly    character- 


INDEX   OF   PERSONS 


409 


istics,  I  45,  71-72,  83-85,  89- 

90,  189-91 
Her  religion,  I  66-67 
Her  servants,  I  70,  276 
Jealousy  of  her  husband,  I  85- 

87,  92-^94,  188-89 
Distinguishes      seven      airs      at 

Hampstead,  I  88 
Conversation  with  wife  of  a  dog- 
doctor,  I  135-37 
Visits  Covent  Garden,  I  172-76 
Walking  with  Nollekens,  I  177- 

78 

A  conjugal  dispute,  I  210-11 
Her  female  acquaintances,  I  277 
Portrayed     as     "  Pekuah "     by 

Dr.  Johnson,  I  277 
Her  death,  I  278 
Norman,  Mrs.,  I  135,  136 
Normanton,  Lord,  II  231 
Norris,  Lord,  II  28 
Northcote,  R.A.,  James,  I  xxvii,  4, 
237,  274  ;    II  65,  86,  285,  294, 

338,  347 
Northumberland,  Duchess  of,  II  35 

—  Duke  of,  II  171-73 
Noverre,  I  92 

Nowell  (Noel),  Henry  Constantine 

(see  Jennings) 
Nulty,  II  56 

O'Brien,  William  (the  actor),  I  307 

Ogleby,  Lord,  I  62 

O'Keefe,  I  264 

Oldham,  Nathaniel,  II  154-55 

Opie,  John,  R.A.,  I  201  ;   II  218-22, 

219-21,  294 
Oram,  William,  I  88 
Orkney,  Lord,  II  195-96 
Ottley,  William  Young,  I  141,  345 
Overton,  John,  I  42 
Owen,  David,  keeper  of  the  Royal 

tombs,  I  147 
Oxford,  Earl  of,  II  58,  59,  "8,  191, 

275 

Packer,  William,  I  101,  in  ;  II  5°. 

148 
Palmer,  Mrs.,  I  321,  344,  347,  3^2  ; 

II  3 

—  I  130  ;    II  228 
Palmerston,  Lord,  II  229 
Panzetta,  I  93 

Paoli,  General,  I  90 
Papera,  I  375  ;   II  289 
Paradise,  Mrsv  I  £9,  281-82 


Parker,    John    (historical  painter), 

II  35° 

—  (fellow  pupil  of  Blake),  II  369 
Parkyns,  G.  T.,  I  31 

Parry,  John,  II  149,  150,  151 
Pars,  Henry,  15;   II  319 
Partington  (a  fashionable  dentist), 

I  136 

Pasquin,  Anthony,  I  306 
Paterson,  Samuel,  II  Life,  209-14 
Paula,  de,  Franz,  I  163 
Paulet,  Lady  Betty,  II  176 
Payne,  James,  II  158-59,  293 

—  "  Honest  Tom,"  II  405 

—  Thomas,  II  323 
Peacham,  I  146 
Peake,  Sir  R.,  I  266 
Pearson,  James,  211-12 
Peck,  Jasper,  I  362 
Penn,  John,  I  376 ;   II  257 
Pennant,  Sir  S.,  II  205 
Penny,  I  45 

Pepys,  Samuel,  I  153 

Perceval,  Spencer,  I  276  ;    II  13 

Perreau,  Robert  and  Daniel,  II  170 

Perrier,  Francis,  II  38 

Pesne,  Jean,  I  40  ;   II  338 

Pether,  Abraham,  I  317-18 

—  William,  II  296 

Phillips,  Colonel,  I  36,  135  ;   II  113, 
136,  141,  153,  226 

—  (bookseller),  II  306 
Pidgeon,  "  Bat,"  I  294 

Pigalle,  Jeane  Baptiste,  II  99,  "2 
Pindar,  Peter  (see  Dr.  Wolcot) 
Pine,  John  "  Friar,"  II  162 
Pisano,  Vittore   (Antonio),  I   258, 

263 

Pistrucci,  Philip,  II  364 
Pitt,    William,    I    xxv,    369,    370 ; 

II  14 

Planta,  Joseph,  I  313 
Plara,  I  97 
Plott,  John,  II  233 
Pocock,  Admiral,  II  40 

—  Nicholas,  II  86 
Pond,  Arthur,  I  306 

—  John,  I  308 

—  Miss,  I  307 
Poole,  Thomas,  II  363 

Pope,  Alexander,  I  114,  318;    1 

144 

Pordenone,  I  315 
Poussin,  N.,  I  40,  41  ;   II  4,  75 
Powell,  Edward,  II  103 
Prescott,  T..  II  289 


410        NOLLEKENS  AND   HIS  TIMES 


Preston,  Colonel,  II  200 

Price,  Thomas,  II  267 

Prideaux,  Colonel  W.  F.,  I  xvii,  221 

Prime,  Samuel,  I  379—80 

Prince  of  Orange,  II  298 

Pringle,  Sir  John,  I  xxv 

Proctor,  Thomas,  I  346;    II  Life, 

62-66 

Pugh,  Herbert,  II  271-72 
Pullen,  John,  II  174 
Purling,  Mr.,  II  161 


Quaritch,  Mr.,  II  383 
Quick,  I  129 

Quin,    I    129,    161  ;     II    157, 
278 


277. 


Radcliffe,  Mrs.,  I  137,  138,  139 
Rae,  Alexander,  II  363 
Raffaelle,  I  117,  263,  345  ;    II  149 
Raimondi,  Marc-Antonio,  I  226 
Ramsay,  Allan,  II  227-28 
Rann,        Jack       ("  Sixteen-String 

Jack  "),  I  20-21,  143 
Ravenet,    Francis    Simon,    II    54, 

317 

Rawle,  I  5  ;   II  151 
Rawthmell,  I  5 
Ray,  Miss,  I  173 
Read,  Nicholas,  II  34-36 
Rebecca,  R.A.,  Biaggio,  I  306 
Rembrandt,    I    33,    34,    198,    259 ; 

II  146,  159,  160,  223 
Renton,  John,  I  321 
Revett,  Nicholas,  I  19 
Reynolds,  P.R.A.,  Sir  Joshua — 
Inspired  by  a  ballad  cut,  I  33-34 
His  villa  at  Richmond,  I  82 
Hone's  attack  on  him,  I  120 
His  care  about  a  mop-stick,  1318 
His  throne  chair,  II  8-10 
Repartee  to  Hudson,  II  128 
His  opinion  of  M'Ardell,  II  147, 

223 

His  houses,  II  165 
Life,  II  223-31 
His  pictures  copied  by  Bone,  II 

223-25 
His  portrait  of  the  Marquis  of 

Drogheda,  II  225 
His  snuff-taking,  II  225-26 
Seven     pictures     possessed     by 

S.  Rogers,  II  226 
Emulates  Allan  Ramsay  in  paint- 
ing a  leg,  II  225-26 


His  statue  offered  to  Nollekens, 
II  228 

—  executed  by  Flaxman,  II  228 

Eulogised   by   Sir   T.   Lawrence, 
II  228-31 

His  window  at  Oxford,  II  231 
Ricci,  Marco,  I  35  ;   II  268 
Rich,  John,  II  29,  157 
Richard,  Master  of  Reading,  II  118 
Richardson,  George,  I  98,  99 

—  J.,  jun.,  I  14 

Richmond,  Duke  of,  II   102,   103, 
104,  in 

—  Frances,  Duchess  of,  I  301 

—  George,  II  394 
Rigaud,  R.A.,  J.  F.,  I  170 
Rimbault,  I  256  ;  II  67-68 
Ringstead,  I  22 

Rising,  J.,  II  64 

Ritchie,  D.  (a  hairdresser),  117 

Rivett,  II  171 

Roberts,  Edward,  I  150 

—  (James  ?),  II  79,  80 

—  Charles  Barre,  I  260 
Robertson,  Andrew,  I  323 
Robins,  George,  I  33  ;    II  43 
Robinson,  Mrs.,  I  137  ;    II  77 
Rockingham,   Marquis   of,    I   276 ; 

II  228 
Rogers,  Charles,  II  204 

—  Henry,  II  227 

—  Samuel,  II  226 
Romney,  George,  I  88 

Rooker,  A.R.A.,  Michael  Angelo,  I  31 

Roscoe,  Mr.,  I  vii 

Rossi,  R.A.,  J.  C.  F.,  I  232,  253, 

325  ;   II  6,  58,  61 
Roubiliac,  Louis  Fran9ois,  I  5,  199, 

227»    376 1     II    4,    Life,    27-37, 

mentioned,  96,  100,  115-16,  127, 

143,  146,  148,  150,  157,  166,  176, 

207 

Rowe  (Rouw),  Peter,  II  31 
Rubens,  I  168,  169,  170,  171,  197, 

256 ;    II  223 
Rudd,  Mrs.,  II  170 
Rujolas,  I  22 

Runciman,  Alexander,  I  60  ;  II  360 
Rundell  and  Bridge,  Messrs.,  II 118, 

360 
Russell,  Mr.  A.  G.  B.,  catalogue  of 

W.  Blake's  prints,  etc.,  II  373, 

382 

—  Lady  Elizabeth,  I  146 
Rutland,  Duchess  of,  II  74 
Rutton,  Mr.  W.  L.,  II  143 


INDEX   OF  PERSONS 


411 


Ryder,  Thomas,  II  298 
Ryland,  William  Wynne,  II  227 
Ryley,  Charles  Reuben,  I  291 
Rysbrack,  John  Michael,  II    Life, 
50-53 

Sacq,   Mary  Anne  Le   (mother  of 

J.  Nollekens),  I  4 
St.  Vincent,  Earl,  I  233 
Sala,  George  Augustus,  I  43 
Salisbury,  Lord,  II  169,  174 

—  Earls  of,  II  169 
Salmon,  Mrs.,  I  144 
Sancho,  Ignatius,  I  25-27 
Sandby,  Paul,  I  117,  160 
Sandwich,  Lord,  I  78 
Sarti,  Peter,  I  239  ;  II  243 
Sayer,  I  64-65 

Scheemakers,  Peter,  I  6,  40,  345, 
376  ;    II  Life,  38-49 

—  Thomas,  II  40 
Schiavonetti,  Luigi,  II  377 
Score,  William,  I  33 

Scott,  Samuel,  II  17,  160,  203 

—  Mrs.,  II  204 

—  Sir  George  Gilbert,  I  152 

—  John  Barker  (a  banker),  I  113 

—  Sir  Walter,  I  133 
Seguier,  II  266-67 
Selsey,  Lord,  I  12 
Setchel,  J.  F.,  II  292 
Seward,  William,  I  140 
Shackleton,  John,  II  320 
Shakespeare,   I  147,  178,  195 ;   II 

33-34,  120,  125,  127,  144,  362 
Sharp,    William,    I    219,    267-68  ; 
II  287,  307 

—  Michael  W.,  I  282 
Shaw,  Miss  E.  Sylvia,  II  146 
Shee,  Sir  M.  A.,  I  293,  334  ;   II  10 
Sheldrake,  Mr.,  I  294 

Shelley,  Percy  Bysshe,  I  210 
Sheppard,  M.P.,  Thomas,  I  64 
Sheridan,  Richard  Brinsley,  I  184, 

203  ;    II  149 
Sherwin,  John  Keyse,  I  xxiv,  135, 

JQ2-93  ;    II  Life,  73-81 
Shipley,  William,  15;  II  319 

—  (Mrs.),  II  1 6 
Short,  Sir  Dudley,  I  no 
Shovel,  Sir  Cloudesley,  II  121 
Shuter,  I  182 

Siddons,  Mrs.,  I  370  ;   II  9,  77-78 
Simmonds,  Dr.,  I  362 
Simmons,  John,  II  97 
Simon,  Abraham,  I  260 


Simon,  Peter,  II  87 

—  Thos.,  I  167,  260-61 
Simpson,  Robert,  I  287 
Skelton,  I  219,  381  ;   II  347 
Slangau,  II  193 

Slaughter's  Coffee  Houses,  I  123  ; 

II  144,  150,  158-59 
Smart,  John,  I  295 
Smedley,  Henry,  II  44 
Smirka^  R.A.,  Robert,  22-23 
Smith,  Admiral,  II  267-68 

—  Charles,  I  274 

—  "  Consul,"  II  188 

—  James,  II  60 

—  John      Thomas      (author       of 

Nollekens  and  His  Times) 

His  career,  I  xxi-xxix 

His  "  Antiquities  of  London," 
I  29 

Only  present  from  Nollekens,  I  32 

Encouraged  by  Dr.  Johnson,  I  98 

Apprenticed  to  J.  K.  Sherwin, 
I  192  ;  II  73 

Acts  as  model  to  Nollekens,  I 
77-78,  156,  219 

Collects  material  for  a  history  of 
Covent  Garden,  I  186-87 

Appointed  Keeper  of  Prints  and 
Drawings  at  B.  Museum,  1311; 
11305 

Chagrined  by  Nollekens's  will, 
I  360,  364 

His  "  Walks  in  London,"  II  39 

His  "  Antiquities  of  Westmin- 
ster," II 183 

Origin  of  his  name  Thomas,  II 
268 

Drawing-master  at  Christ's  Hos- 
pital, II  306-7 

—  Nathaniel     (father     of     J.     T. 
Smith),  I  xxii,  5,  7,  32,  97;    II 
no,  134,  150,  166 

Smollett,  Dr.,  I  78 ;  II  103,  277 
Soane,  Sir  John,  I  314,  338 
Somers,  Lord  Chancellor,  I  377 
Southcott,  Joanna,  I  267 
Sneak,  Jerry,  I  177 
Spang,  Michael  Henry,  I  345  ;    II 

1 66 

Sparrow,  Mr.,  I  81 
Speed,  I  210 

Spielman,  Mr.  M.  H.,  II  362 
Spilsbury,  John,  I  307 
Spinnage,  Mr.  (a  magistrate),  I  103 
Stacie,  Jack,  II  274 
Staines,  Sir  W.,  I  304 


412        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 


Standly,  H.  P.,  II  114,  164,  190,  276 
Stanhope,  General,  II  196,  197-99, 

200-1 

Staremberg,  Marechal,  II  196-98 
Steevens,  George,  I  63-65  ;   II  138, 

211 

Stella,  C.  B.,  II  338 
Stepney,  Sir  Thomas,  I  74 
Sterne,  Laurence,  I  xxv,  8,  13,  26 
Stewart,    Wheatley,    and    Adlard, 

11x53 

—  Major,  II  201 

Stone,  John  (a  solicitor),  1 113 

—  Nicholas,  II  120 
Storace,  Stephen,  II  317 
Stothard,  R.A.,  Thomas,  I  146,  338  ; 

II  347.  377-78 
Stow,  James,  I  157 

—  John,  I  210 
Stowger,  Sam,  II  340,  342 
Strange,    Sir    Robert,    I    225 ;     II 

Life,  179-82 

—  Lady  (»/<?  Lumisden),  II  180-82 
Strangways,  Lady  Susan,  I  307 

"  Strap,"  I  258 
Strutt,  II  187 

Stuart,     Sir    Charles,     Nollekens's 
monument  to,  I  xxv 

—  Gilbert,  I  324 

—  (Athenian),  I  10,  19,  35 
Stubbs,  George,  A.R.A.,  I  298 
Sturges,  Joshua,  II  150 
Stutely,  Martin,  II  175 
Suett,  II  151-52 
Sullivan,  Luke,  II  147-48 
Sutherland,  Colonel  A.  Hendras,  I 

30 
Sutton,  Thomas,  II  120 

Tabley,  Lord  de,  II  9 
Tassie,  I  263 

Tatham,  Frederick,  II  387 
Taylor,  John,  I  77,  79,  80,  178,  280, 
347  ;   II  42,  166,  167 

—  Sir  Robert,  I  151 
Tenducci,  Giusto  Ferdinando,  I  73 
Teuscher,  I  14 

Thomas,  Master,  I  118 

—  F.,  II  158 

Thomond,  Lady  (rUe  Mary  Palmer), 
II  228 

—  Lord,  II  228,  231 
Thompson  (a  fashionable  dentist), 

I  136 
Thomson,  R.A.,  Henry,  I  131 

—  Richard,  I  viii ;  II  384 


Thornhill,   Sir  James,  I  162,  185  ; 

II  165-66,  1 68 
Thornton,  II  95,  280 
Thrale,  Mrs.,  I  95 
Thurlow,  Lord,  II  261 
Tijou,  Messrs.,  II  336 
Tinney,  John,  I  267 
Titian,  II  172,  223 
Tomkison,  Thomas,  II  336 
Topham,  Colonel,  II  79 
Toplady,  Augustus  M.,  II  139 
Torregiano,  II  119 
Touche,  de  la,  James  Digges,  II  254 
Townley,  Charles,  I  xxiii,  10,  12,  97, 

155-56,  1 88,  212-21 

—  John,  I  313,  317 

—  Peregrine  Edward,  I  221 
Townsend,  Henry,  II  264 

—  Lieut. -Col.  Roger,  1151 
Tracey,  Hanbury,  II  101 
Tradescant,  I  228 

Tresham,  R.A.,  Henry,  I  202,  297, 

310 ;  II  326 
Trotter,  Thomas,  II  380 
Trumbold,  Mr.,  I  323 
Tull,  Nathaniel,  I  159 
Tupper,  John,  I  320 
Turner,  J.  M.  W.,  R.A.,  I  293  ;    II 

336 

Twigg,  I  172-75 
Twining,  Thomas,  II  137 
Twiss,  I  195-96  ;  II  222 
Tyers,  Jonathan,  I  77 ;    II  31,  277 
Tyrrell,  Admiral,  II  35-36 

Udney,  John,  II  283 
Upcott,  William,  II  31-32,  290,  293, 
384 

Vaare,  De,  II  355 

Vandevelde,  William,  I  173 

Vandyke,  I  120,  171,  259 

Vane,  Lady,  I  78 

Van  Gelder,  II  237 

Van  Hawken  ( Van  Haeken),  II  271 

Van  Nost,  John,  II  165,  207 

Van  Somer,  I  54 

Varley,  John,  I  314 

Vasari,  II  118 

Vendome,  Duke  of,  II  199 

Vendramini,  I  73 

Vere,  Sir  Francis,  II  28 

Vernet,  II  86,  185 

Vernon,  Admiral,  II  173 

Verrio,  Antonio,  I  305 


INDEX  OF  PERSONS 


413 


Vestris,  I  92 

Vevini,  II  42 

Virtue,  George,  I  147 

Vivares,  Thomas,  II  183,  187-88 

Voyers,  I  21 

Waldron,  II  211-12 
Wale,  II  30,  159 
Walker,  John,  II  211-12 
-  T.  (author  of  The  Original],  I  55 
Walpole,  Horace,  I  23  ;  II  114,  190, 
261 

—  Sir  Edward,  II  31,  203 

—  Sir  Robert,  II  203 
Walton,  Parry,  I  169 
Ward,  James,  II  264 

—  Joshua,  II  132-33,  165 

—  Mrs.  Townley,  II  75 

—  William,  II  264 

—  (Anne,  "  Nancy  "),  II  264-65 

—  Clara,  or  Polly,  II  371 
Ware,  Isaac,  II  142-44 
Warren,  Sir  Peter,  II  27 
Watkins,  Joseph  (a  barber),  II  275 
Watson,  James,  I  128 

Webb,  General,  II  195 

Welch,  Saunders,  I  15,  21,  99,  100, 

102,  103,  106,  107-11,  115,  172, 

262,  299  ;   II  202 

—  Mary  (see  Mrs.  Nollekens) 

—  (Anne,  "Nancy"),  1 15, 106, 172, 
177,  236,  238,  269  ;   II  213 

Wesley,  John,  I  206-7 

—  Samuel,  I  195 
West,  P.R.A.,  Benjamin 

Sits  for  his  bust  to  Nollekens,  I 

304-5  ;    II  302 
His  picture  of  the  Paddington 

Canal,  I  309 
Mentioned    in    Nollekens's    will, 

I35i 

His  birth,  II  301 

His  relations  with  Woollett, 
II  302 

Letter  to  Canova,  II  305 

His  friendship  for  J.  T.  Smith, 
II  305-6 

Founder  of  English  Historical 
Painting,  II  307 

His  death  and  funeral,  II  307-12 

Panegyric  by  Sir  T.  Lawrence, 
II  312-14 

His  royal  and  other  commis- 
sions, II  314-16 

—  Mrs.  Benjamin,  I  284  ;    II  278 
Westcott,  George,  II  125 


Westmacott,  R.A.,  Richard,  I  227, 

231,  252,  264,  265  ;   II  65 
Weston,  Rev.  Stephen,  I  362 
Whalley,  Peter,  II  212 
Wharton,  Grace  and  Philip,  I  379 
Wheatley,  Mr.  H.  B.,  I  in,  135 
Whitbread,  Samuel,  I  234  ;    II  49 
White,  George  (a  famous  model),  I 
47 

—  William       (a       Fleet       Street 
hatter),  I  84-85 

Whitefoord,   Caleb,   I   80,   270-74, 

299,  324.  35°.  366,  375 
Whitfield    (Whitefield),    George.    I 

in 

Wickstead,  Philip,  II  122-23 
Wigston,  John,  II  264 
Wilkes,  I  102-4  ;   II  267 
Wilkie,  R.A.,  Sir  David,  I  378 
Wille,  John  George,  II  288 
Willett,  H.  R.,  II  125,  325 
William      Frederick,      Prince      of 

Orange,  II  298 
Williams,  J.  T.,  II  5,  6 

—  W.,  II  165 

—  Rev.  Theodore,  II  153 

—  (Nollekens's  stepfather),  I  6,  7, 

3H 

—  Miss  Anna,  I  46 
Williamson,  Sir  Joseph,  II  193 
Wills,  General,  II  200 

Wilson,  Benjamin,  II  68-69,   149. 
161-62,  185,  222 

—  R.A.,   Richard,   I   25,    115,    172, 
185,  266,  299  ;   II  Life,  266-69 

—  Sir  Robert,  II  160-61 

—  Thomas,  II  260-61 

—  Mrs.  Thomas,  I  34I~42 

—  Rev.  Thomas,  II  i34~35 
Wilton,  R.A.,  Joseph,  I  21,  81,  158  ; 

II  Life,  99-166 

—  Miss,  II  105-6 
Winston,  James,  II  49 
Wivell,  Abraham,  I  332,  333 
Wolcot,  Dr.  (Peter  Pindar),  I  115, 

200,  308  ;    II  218,  219,  220,  221, 

222,  293 

Wolfe,  General,  II  107 
Wollstonecraft,  Mary,  II  350 
Woodburn,  Samuel,  I  141  ;    II  167 
Woodcock,  Mr.,  I  237,  362 
Woodward,  Dr.  John,  I  37 

—  (the  comedian),  II  157.  274 
Woollett,  William,  I  267;    II  101, 

104,  125-26,  Life  (with  Vivares) 
183-87 


414        NOLLEKENS   AND  HIS   TIMES 


Worlidge,  Thomas,  I  184 
Worsley,   Sir  Richard,   I   375  ;     II 

250-51 

Worthington,  William,  II  347 
Wren,  Sir  Christopher,  I  37,  149, 

169,  170 
Wright    (Piccadilly    bookseller),    I 

201 

Wroth,  Mr.  Warwick,  I  363  ;  II  131 
Wyatt,  Richard,  II  220 
—  Misses,  II  219-20 
Wycherley,  I  380 
Wynn,    Sir    Watkins    Williams,    I 

132  ;   II  149,  177 


Yarborough,  Lord,  I  xxv,   12,  46, 

48  ;   II  5,  91,  92 
Yerrel,  II  215-16 
Young,  Matthew,  I  260 
—  II  280-81 


Zincke,  Christian,  I  173  ;   II  204 
Zoffany,  R.A.,  John,  I  58,  64,  130, 

213,  298,  366,  379  ;    II  32,  Life 

67—72,  207 
Zuccarelli,  R.A.,  Francesco,  II  101, 

268,  Life,  188-89 
Zucchi,  I  61,  236,  305 


INDEX    OF   SUBJECTS 


(The  page  numbers  refer  to  both  text  and  notes.) 


Academy  of  St.  Luke,  Rome,  II  334 
Adams's  "  Rarities,"  I  205-6 
.#igina  marbles  at  British  Museum, 

I  311-12 
Age  and  Infancy,   John  Opie's,  II 

220 

"  Alcibiades'  Dog,"  II  101 
All  Alive   and   Merry,    a   farthing 

newspaper,  I  42 
"  All   Friends   round   St.    Paul's," 

I  100 

American  Buccaneers,  The,  I  204 
Analysis  of  Beauty,  Hogarth's,  II 

274 
Ancient  of   Days,   Blake's,   II   376, 

386-87 
Anecdotes   of  Painting,   Walpole's, 

II  191 

Antiques,  Faking  of,  I  11-12 
Antiquities  of  London,  J.  T.  Smith's, 

II  187 
Antiquities   of   Westminster,    J.   T. 

Smith's,  II  183 
Apsley  House,  I  49 
Argyll    Street,    James    Northcote, 

R.A.,  in,  I  237 
Art,  not  hereditary,  I  265 
Artificial   Stone   Factory  in  Lam- 
beth, II  90-91 
Artists'  Fund,  The,  II  81 
Artists,  Inborn  genius  of  great,  I 

265-68 
Arts,  Society  of,  its  London  homes, 

I  5 
Barry's    wall-pictures   for,    I 

91  ;    II  281-82 

its  Octagon  Room,  I  275 

Statue  of  Dr.   Ward  at,   II 

132 

Arundel  House,  II  130-31 
Arundel  Marbles,  The,  II  130-31 
Ashburnham  House,  I  143 
Auctioneer,   earliest   to   sell   books 

in  lots,  II  209 


Banqueting      House,      Whitehall, 

Rubens's  ceiling  in,  I  168-70 
"  Barn,  The,"  a  haunt  of  chess  and 

draughts  players,  II  151,  170 
Bateman's  Buildings,  I  29 
Bat  Pidgeon,  the  hair-cutter,  I  294 
Bedford     Arms     tavern,     Covent 

Garden,  II  274 
Bedford  Street  ("  Little  Bedford" 

Street),  I  105 
Beef   Steaks,    Sublime   Society  of, 

I  102 

Beggar-model,  A  famous,  I  47 
Bell  Bagnio,  The,  II  36 
Bell-tolling,  A  talk  about,  I  49 
Bentinck  Street,  II  119 
Berkeley  Square,  Statue  of  George 

III  formerly  in,  II  112 
Berners  Street,  its  builder,  II  92 
Berwick  Street,  Soho,  II  318 
Bethlehem  Hospital,  I  199-200 
Birdcage   Walk,    Old   privilege   of 

driving  in,  I  135 

Tree  cut  down  in,  I  214 

"  Black    Bull "    sign,    painted   by 

Morland,  I  23 

"  Blackstock,  Greystock,  and  Thin- 
stock,"  II  217 
Bloomsbury  Square,  Isaac  D'Israeli 

in,  II  143 

Bolsover  (Norton)  Street,  II  266 
Bolt  Court,  Disastrous  fire  in,  II  184 
Bonaparte,    Curious    medal    of,    I 

261-62 
Bones     of     Queen     Catherine     of 

Valois,  I  145 

Bones  as  theatre  tickets,  I  201 
Book  auctions  by  Samuel  Paterson, 

II  209-11 

Book  of  Job,   Blake's  designs  for, 

II383 

Bow  porcelain,  I  160-61 
Brentford   Church,    Remarkable 

altar-piece  at,  II  72 


415 


416        NOLLEKENS  AND   HIS  TIMES 


Broad  Street,  Soho,  William  Blake 

in,  II  366,  369 
Buckingham  Street,  Fitzroy  Square, 

Flaxman  in,  II  353,  365 
Bunhill   Fields,    Blake's   grave   in, 

H395 

Busby  wig,  I  149 
Bute,  Lord,  his  fine  leg,  II  227-28 

Caen  Wood,  Highgate,  I  331 

Cane  heads  made  at  Bow  Porce- 
lain factory,  I  160 

"  Canteen,  The,"  in  St.  Martin's 
Lane,  II  170.  See  "  The  Barn  " 

Carmarthen  Square,  I  30 

Carnaby  Market,  I  159 

Cass,  Sir  John,  School  in  Aldgate, 

I  377 

Castle  Street,  II  145,  159 

Oxford  Street,  Barry  enter- 
tains Burke  at  No.  36,  II  279-80 

"  Castle  "  Inn,  St.  Giles's,  I  35 

Cavendish  Square,  No.  32,  I  59 

Cecil  Court,  II  169 

Cecilia,  Sir  Robert  Strange's,  II  181 

Cerberus    (Nollekens's    yard    dog), 

I  46,  1 66 

"  Chair,  The,"  sign  of  Chippendale 
in  St.  Martin's  Lane,  II  175 

Chalk  Farm,  I  70-71 

Chandos  Tavern,  II  174 

Charlemont  House,  Dublin,  II  113 

Charles  I,  Statue  of,  at  Charing 
Cross,  by  Le  Soeur,  II  171 

Charles  II,  Statue  of,  formerly 
in  Soho  Square,  I  38 

Charles  Court,  Strand,  II  142 

—  Street,  Westminster,  I  25  ;    II 
284 

Charterhouse,  Monument  to  Sutton 

in,  II  120 

Chatham,  Lord,  his  double,  II  162 
Chelsea  China  Works,  I  162-63 

—  Farm,  I  162 

Chesterfield,  Earl  of,  Statue  of,  by 

Wilton,  II  1 06 
Cheyne  Walk,  I  225 
Children  in  the  Tower,  Northcote's, 

II  285 

Chimney-sweep  and  Lord  Burling- 
ton, II  142-43 

Chiswick  Hall,  I  150 

Christ  in  the  Temple,  West's,  II 
3I5-I6 

Church  Court,  Co  vent  Garden,  I  26 

Cit's  Country  Box,  The,  I  63 


Claude  and  the  human  figure,   II 

101 

Clocks,  Musical,  II  67-68 
"  Clytie  "  bust  in  Townley  Gallery, 

I  218 

Coach-painting,  I  25 
Coade's  Artificial  Stone,  II  90-91 
Cockney  Ladle  Pond,  I  29 
Cockpit  Steps,  I  222 
Colossal  sculpture,  I  167 
Combe  and  Delafield's  Brewery,  I 

300 
Conjurer,    The,    Nathaniel   Hone's, 

I  120-27 
"  Constitution  "     tavern,    Bedford 

Street,  II  149 
Coronation   coach   of   George    III, 

I  21-22  ;   II  105 
Cottonian  MSS.,  I  143 
Covent  Garden  and  seat  of  fashion, 

I  186 
"  Blackstock,  Greystock,  and 

Thinstock,"  II  217 
Dr.   Bossy,  the  quack,  in,   I 

255 
i8th  century   characters,    II 

202-3,  215,  271-74 
Eccentricities      of      William 

Cussans  in,  II  215-17 

Famous  residents  in,  I  186 

Hackney  chairs  in,  I  175 

Richard    Wilson's    model    of 

its  Piazza,  II  269 

Red  Lion  Tavern,  II  215 

Simplers  in,  I  172 

Covent     Garden     Morning     Frolic, 

Bostard's,  II  202-3 
Cranbourne  Alley,  I  108  ;   II  270 
Craven  Buildings,  II  148 

Curious  wall-painting  in,  I  54 

Cries  of  London,  I  41,  179-83 
Cross  Readings,  Caleb  Whitefoord's, 

I  272-73 

Crown  Court,  Westminster,  I  25 
"  Cumberland  Cock,"  The,  II  135 
Cuper's  Gardens,  II  130-31 

Darner,  Mrs.,  Statue  of,  by  Ceracchi, 

1157 

Dante,  Blake's  designs  for,  II  393 
Dean  Street,  Soho,  I  37-38 
Death  of  Nelson,  Arthur  Devis's,  II 

in 
Death  masks,  How  Nollekens  took, 

I,  367-68 
Death  of  Wolfe,  West's,  II  67 


INDEX   OF  SUBJECTS 


417 


Devil,   John  Deare's  head  of  the, 

II  239-40 

Diet  Drink,  Dr.  Leake's,  II  167 
Dog  doctor,  A  famous,  I  135-37 
Dog  ("  Alcibiades'  "),  Famous 

sculptured,  I  239 
Don  Saltero's  Coffee  House,  I  205 
Drapery  in  sculpture  ;    "  throwing 

the  cloth,"  I  68 
Draughts-players,     Some    famous, 

II  149-51 
Drawing,       Sherwin's      wonderful 

facility  in,  II  76-77 
Dreaming    for    inspiration,    Sculp- 
tor's fatal  resort  to,  II  258 
Drogheda,    Marquess    of,    Curious 

story  of  his  portrait  by  Reynolds, 

II  225 
Drury  Lane  Theatre,  Extraordinary 

riot  at,  I  92 

Duke  Street,  Oxford  Street,  I  29 
—  (Sardinia)  Street,  I  5 
"  Duke  William  "  as  inn  sign,  I  23 
"  Duke  Williams,"  II  218 
Dulwich  Gallery,  Origin  of  the,  I 

3I4-I5 

Dutch  tables,  I  228 
Dyott  Street,  I  310-11 

East  India  Company,  its  chapel  at 

Poplar,  I  65 
Echo  on  Old  Westminster  Bridge, 

I  154 

Edward  VI,  Statue  of,  by  Schee- 

makers,  II  40,  43 
Edward  Street,  Cavendish  Square, 

II  99 

Egham,  Balls  at,  II  220 

Elgin  Marbles,  Arrival  of,  I  241 

Select  Committee  on,  I  242-54 

A  riding-master's  enthusiasm 

for,  I  255 
Elm  trees  near  Middlesex  Hospital, 

II  108 
Eloquence,    Roubiliac's   figure    of, 

II  96 
Embarkation  of  Queen  of  Sheba,  by 

Claude,  I  207 
Engravers,     their     eligibility     for 

Royal  Academy,  II  75 
Enthusiasm  Delineated,   Hogarth's, 

1  no,  223 

Epitaph  on  famous  pill  doctor,  I  376 
Essex  Street  and  House,  II  209 
Evening  Brush,   John  Collins's,   II 

213 

VOL.  II. — 2  B 


Fan  painting,  I  19 

Farmer's  Return,  The,  Garrick's    I 

130 

Farthing  newspapers,  I  44 
Fashions  circa  1760,  I  16-18 

1770,  I  55 

Feathers  Tavern,  Leicester  Square, 

136 
Felpham,  William  Blake  at,  II  373- 

76 

Fifing  boys  in  the  Army,  I  276 
Finding  of  Moses,  J .  K.  Sherwin's, 

II  73-74 

Five  Fields,  I  164 
Flax-dressers  in  Moorfields,  I  199 
Foley  Place,  I  21 
Fountain  Court,  Death  of  William 

Blake  in,  II  394 
Fox  Court,  I  135 
Frantic  Achilles,  Banks's,  II  125 
French  Change,  The,  I  39  ;   II  54 
French  Gardens,  The,  I  70 
"  Friar's  Balsam,"  II  132 
Frogmore,  Miss  Moser's  room  at, 

I  60 
Furnishing    on    the    make-believe 

system,  II  102 

Gainsborough,  R.A.,  Thomas,  as  a 

letter- writer,  II  83-85 
Gaol   fever   in   Newgate,    Terrible 

outbreak  of,  II  205 
Garden  statuary,  I  62-63,  234 
Garrick    Club    collection    of   stage 

portraits,  II  165 
Garrick  play-bill,  A,  I  283 
Garter,  Order  of,  its  Star,  I  132- 

33 

Gate-house  at  Westminster,  I  153 
Gayfere  Street,  I  148 
"  Gazette,"  its  derivation,  I  43 
Gentleman    and    Cabinet    Maker's 

Director,     T.    Chippendale's,    II 

*75 
George  III,  Statue  of,  in  Berkeley 

Square,  by  Wilton,  II  112 
—  as  a  Roman  Emperor,  Statue  of, 

by  Wilton,  II  106-7 
Ghost  of  a  Flea,  Blake's,  II  380-81 
Giant,  A  French,  I  326-27 
"  Goat  and  Star  "  tavern,  I  151 
Go-carts,  I  I97~99 
"  Golden      Ball,"      in      Henrietta 

Street,  II  147 
"  Golden  Head,"  Leicester  Fields, 

Hogarth  at  the,  II  145 


418        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS  TIMES 


Golden    Square.    Angelica    Kauff- 

mann  in,  I  61 

Gold-headed  Cane,  The,  I  170 
Gower   Street,    Fruit   grown   in,    I 

30-31 
Graeme's  Dyke,  Curious  statue  of 

Charles  II  at,  I  38 
Grafton  Street,  Soho,  I  39 
Grangerising   and    Grangerisers,    I 

30,  320-21 
Grapes  grown  in  Central  London, 

I  30  ;   II  163 

Graves  too  short  for  coffins,  II  212 
Great  Newport  Street,  Sir  Joshua 

Reynolds  in,  II  165-66 
Great    Ormond    Street,    Theft    of 

Great  Seal  from,  II  261 
Great  Queen  Street,  I  183-84 

Thomas  Hudson  in,  II  146 

Great  Seal  of  England,  Theft  of,  II 

261 
"  Green  Man  "  tavern  ("  Farthing 

Pye  House  "),  II  267 
Green's   Court  and   Green   Street, 

Leicester    Square,    Woollett    in, 

II  185 

Grosvenor  Square,   Building  of,   I 

185 
Guildhall,  Beckford's  monument  in, 

II  134-35 
Guillotine,  A  sculptor  brought  to 

the,  II  57 
Gurney's  steam  carriage,  I  309-10 

Hackney  chairs  in  Covent  Garden, 

I  i/S 
Hadrian's  Villa,  Excavations  at,  I 

208 

Hair-powder,  its  disuse,  I  312 
Half  Moon  Street,  I  105 
Hampstead,  Artists  who  frequented, 

I  88-9 

—  George  Steevens  at,  I  63-65 

—  said  to  have  seven  airs,  I  88 
Handel,    Statue   of,  by    Roubiliac, 

II  29-31 

Hanway  Street,  I  35 
Harrogate  waters,  I  188 

Hart  Street,  Bloomsbury,  II  143 
Hatches,    Halfpenny,    in    London, 

I  34 

Haymarket,   Murderer  hanged  in, 

II  148 

Hedge  Lane,  I  no  ;   II  99 
"  Hell    Gate,"     in     Great    Queen 
Street,  I  184-85 


Henrietta   Street,   Covent   Garden, 

IIi47 

Famous  club  of  six  in,  II  203 

Herbalist,  A  quack,  II  138 
Highgate,     Charles     Mathews     at, 

II  165 

History  of  a  Guinea,  The,  I  170 
Hoax    A  famous  artistic,   II   159- 

61 

"  Hog  in  the  Pound,"  I  193 
Hog  Lane,  I  42  ;    II  54 
Hoop  Lady's,  as  lover's  refuge,  II 

179 
Household    Furniture    and    Interior 

Decorations,  Thomas  Hope's,  II 

175 

Howard,  John,  Statue  of,  by  Bacon, 

II  94 

Hunter,  Dr.  John,  gruesome  search 
for  his  coffin  by  Frank  Buckland, 
II  170 

Inn  signs,  fashions  in,  I  23-24 

Landlord's  heads  as,  I  105 

painted  by  famous  artists,  I 

23-24 

Irresolution  of  Youth,  Oliver  Gold- 
smith's, I  271 

Jew's  Harp  Tavern,  I  70 
Johnson,  Dr.  Samuel,  his  statue  in 
St.  Paul's,  II  94 

Kensington  Gate  opened  by  a  song, 

I  97 
King      Street,      Covent      Garden, 

Speaker  Lenthall  in,  II  174 
Kit-Kat  Club.  II  172 

Lace-making  in  Devonshire,  II  202 
Lady's  Last  Stake,  Hogarth's,  II  113 
Last  Judgment,  Blake's,  II  382, 

390-92 

Lebeck's  Head,  The,  I  105 
Lewknor's  Lane,  I  no 
Light  in  sculpture  effects,  I  229-30 
Lightning  conductors  on  St.  Paul's 

Cathedral,  II  161 
Line  of  Beauty,  Hogarth's,  II  274 
Litchfield    Street,    Soho,    Curious 

ceiling  in,  II  176-77 
Little  Court,  Castle  Street,  II  145, 

159 

Little  Dean's  Yard,  I  143 
Little  Earl  Street,  I  39 
Liverpool  Street,  I  199 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS 


419 


London  Amusement,   Charles   Dib- 

din's,  II  213 
London  cries,  I  179-83 
"  London  Gazette,"  I  42-43 
London  houses,  Numbering  of,  II 

173 
Long    Acre,     George    Whitefield's 

chapel  in,  I  in 
Lottery,    An   i8th  century  art,   I 

289 
Lowe's  Hotel,  Covent  Garden,  I  28 

Macaulay,  Catherine,  Extraordinary 

statue  of,  II  134-35 
Maccaroni   Painter,    Dighton's,    II 

320 
Macklin,     Charles,     his    age    and 

epitaph,  II  207-8 
Maddox  Street,  William  Seward  in, 

I  140 

Mantelpiece  sculptor,  A,  II  243 
Marble,    use    of    large    blocks    in 

sculpture,  I  231—32 
March   to   Finchley,    Hogarth's,    I 

276  ;   II  148,  161 
Margaret  Street,  Cavendish  Square, 

II  57 

Marriage  a  la  Mode,  Hogarth's,  II 

155 
Mary  Queen  of  Scots  Resigning  her 

Crown,  Gavin  Hamilton's,  II  285 
Marylebone  Basin,  I  29,  30 

—  Famous  Boarding-school  in,  I  31 

—  Gardens,  131 

Masks     of     Rivers     on     Somerset 

House,  II  109 

May-day  dances  in  London,  I  91 
Mayor,  Lord,  his  State  coach,  I  22 
May's  Buildings,  St.  Martin's  Lane, 

IIi74 
Medals,  by  Italian  masters,  I  256- 

59 

—  by  Thomas  Simon,  I  259-60 
Michael  overpowering  Satan,  Flax- 
man's,  I  231 

Middlesex  Hospital,  II  108 

—  Sessions  House,  II  61 
Milkmaids'    dances   in    London,    I 

91-92 
Milton,  Bacon's  bust  in  St.  Giles's, 

Cripplegate,  II  94 
Model,    Venerable,   of    Sir    Joshua 

Reynolds,  I  47 
Monmouth    House,    Soho    Square, 

I  28-29 
Moor  Street,  Seven  Dials,  I  40 


Moorfields,  Flax-dressers  in,  I  199 
Moor's   Yard,    St.   Martin's   Lane, 
II  174 

National  Sporting  Club,  I  28 
Negro,  Famous  literary,  I  25-27 
Nelson,    Lord,    Flaxman's    monu- 
ment in  St.  Paul's,  II  360-61 
New  Burlington  Street,  Numbering 

of  houses  in,  II  173 
Newby,  Yorkshire,  I  12 
Newgate,  I  153 

—  Gaol,  Fever  at,  II  205 

—  Windmill  erected  on,  II  205 
Newmarket,  A  lady's  riding  feat 

at,  I  307 

Newspapers,  Early  London,  I  42-45 
Niobe,  Richard  Wilson's,  II  185-86 
Night  Thoughts,  Dr.  Young's,  II  373 
Noon,  Hogarth's,  Origin  of  a  figure 

in,  II  275 
Norbury  Park,  The  great  room  at, 

II  100 

Norfolk  House,  I  155 
Northumberland    House,  its    lion, 

II  38 

its  marble  staircase,  II  171 

Titian's  "  Cornaro  Family," 

II  172 

Norton  (Bolsover)  Street,  II  266 
Numbering  of  London  houses,  II 

173 

"  Old  Man's  Coffee  House,"  II  152 
Omnibuses,  Shillibeer's,  I  363 
Opera  House,  Haymarket,  I  201 
Orange  Coffee  House,  II  149 

—  Court,  II  219 

—  Street  and  Chapel,  II  139 
Oxford  Market,  I  82 

—  Street,  Blackberries  in,  II  275 

—  church     window,     Sir     Joshua 
Reynolds's  designs  for,  II  231 

Paddington  Canal,  Excursions  on. 
I  308-9 

—  Old     Church,     Mrs.     Nollekens 
buried  in,  I  278 ;  Nollekens  buried 
in.  I  361-63  ;   II  129 

Panorama,  Burford's,  I  36 

Pantheon.  The,  I  201-2 

Papier  mach6,  its  introduction  to 

London,  I  175  ;   II  99 
Park  Street,  Westminster,  I  212 
Parrot  in  Westminster  Abbey,   I 

M4.  3°  i 


420        NOLLEKENS   AND   HIS   TIMES 


Par's  School,  I  5  ;   II  319 
Patrons,  The,  Rev.  Dr.  Franklin's 

Royal  Academy  verses,  II  88-89 
"  Pavement,    The,"    St.    Martin's 

Lane,  II  159-60 
Pelican    Office,     Lombard    Street, 

Curious  sculptures  on,  II  355 
Penmanship,    Gainsborough's   love 

of  good,  II  86-87 

Percy  Chapel,  Charlotte  Street,  I  34 
Perreaus  and  Mrs.  Rudd,  Burial  of, 

II  170 
Phigalian      Marbles      in      British 

Museum,  I  312 
Phrenologist,     A     famous,     James 

Deville,  I  321-22 
Pilgrimage  to  Canterbury,  William 

Blake's,  II  377-80 
Pills,  Lionel  Lockyer's,  I  376 
Pitt,    Statue   of,    by   Nollekens,    I 

368-69,  370-71 
Plate,  Duty  on,  I  206-7 
"  Plum  "  (£100,000),  I  94 
"  Poet's  Head  "  tavern,  The,  I  105 
Poland  Street,  Soho,  William  Blake 

in,  II  371 

Polygraphic  Society,  II  322 
Ponds,  Old,  in  Marylebone,  I  29-30 
Poplar,  Interesting  chapel  at,  I  65 
"  Porto     Bello "     inn     sign,     by 

Monamy,  I  23 

Portrait  of  Richard  II,  I  147 
"  Potato  Man,"  The,  II  60 
Prescot  Street,  Whitechapel,  Num- 
bering of  houses  in,  II  173 
"  Primrose  Hill,"  Covent  Garden, 

I  174 

Privy    Gardens,    Duke    of    Rich- 
mond's art  gallery  in,  II  102-4 
Pronouncing  Dictionary,  Walker's, 

II  211-12 

Puck,  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds's,  II  227 
"  Puddings  "  worn  by  children,  I 

196-97 
Punch  and  Judy,  I  91 

Quacks — 

Bossy,  Dr.,  I  255 

Hill,  Dr.  John,  the  herbalist,  II 

138 
Leake,   Dr.   John,  and  his  Diet 

Drink,  II  167 
Lockyer,    Dr.    Lionel,    and    his 

pills,  I  376  ;   II  167 
Misaubin,  Dr.,  II  163-64 
Ward,  Dr.  Joshua,  II  132-34 


Quakers'  Meeting  House,  St.  Mar- 
tin's Lane,  II  166 
Queen  Anne  Street,  East,  I  21 
"  Queen's    Head   and   Artichoke," 
I  70,  239 

"  Ragged     Regiment,     The,"     in 

Westminster  Abbey,  I  143-44 
Rasselas,  the  original  of  Pekuah  in, 

I  277 

Rathbone  Place,  I  34  ;   II  367 

"  Rat's  Castle,"  I  311 

Rebels    of    '45,    their    arrival    in 

London,  I  42 
Red  Lion  tavern,  Covent  Garden, 

II  215 

Reid's   Hotel,    St.   Martin's  Lane, 

II  157 

Rembrandt  hoax,  II  159 
Request,  Courts  of,  I  6 
Retaliation,  Goldsmith's,  Suspicions 

concerning  the  Whitefoord  lines, 

I  273-74 

Reynolds,    P.R.A.,   Sir   Joshua,   his 

throne-chair,  II  8— 10 
Statue  of,   in   St.    Paul's, 

II  357-58 

Richmond,  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds's 

villa  at,  I  82  ;   II  128 
Richmond  House,  Art  gallery  for 

students  at,  II  102-4,  in 
Robinson  Crusoe,  Author  and  pub- 
lisher of  the  song,  II  216 
Rock  of  Ages,  Author  of,  II  139 
Rome,  A  sculptor's  walk  to,  II  39 
Rope  Walk  near  Middlesex   Hos- 
pital, II  1 08 

Rosamond's  Pond,  II  155-56 
Rose   of   Normandy   tavern,    The, 

I3i 

Rose     Street,     Long    Acre,    Bold 

capture  of  criminal  in,  I  109 
Royal  Academy,  Baretti's  Guide  to, 

II  57.  93 

Club,  I  187 

Eligibility   of    engravers   for 

membership  of,  II  75 
Exhibition  in  1770  described, 

I  57-59 

Poetical  Toast  of,  II  88-89 

Sir  Robert  Strange  on,  I  225 

Two  women  members  of,  I 

53 

Royal  Academians,  Zoffany's  pic- 
ture of,  II  67 

Royal  Exchange,  II  106-7 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS 


421 


"  Royal  Swan,"   Kingsland  Road, 

I  205 

"  Running  Box,  The,"  I  41 
Russell  Square,  No.  67,  I  337 
—  Street,  Covent  Garden,  I  24 

Sabloniere  Hotel,  Leicester  Square, 

II  145 

St.    Albans'    House,    St.    James's 

Square,  I  155 

St.  George's,  Bloomsbury,  I  106 
St.    George    the    Martyr's    burial 

ground,  I  14,  107 ;  II  161 
St.    Giles's,    Cripplegate,  I  303-4; 

II  126 

Bust  of  Milton  in,  II  94 

St.  James's,  Piccadilly,  I  6;  II  336 
St.     James's    Square,     Statue    of 

William  III  in,  II  97 
St.  Martin's  Lane,  its  history  and 

inhabitants,  II  157-78 

Cobb  the  Upholsterer,  II  177 

grapes  grown  there,  II  163 

mistaken   tradition   concern- 
ing Earls  of  Salisbury,  II  169 
Sir  James  Thornhill's  house 

in,  II  165 

Turnpike  in,  II  173 

Watch-house  in,  II  169 

St.   Martin's-in-the-Fields,   Church 

burial  vaults,  II  170 
St.  Martin's  Street,  Dr.  Burney  in, 

I  36  ;    II  136-37 
Sir  Isaac  Newton  in,  II  139- 

4° 

St.  Mary-le-Bow  Church,  Bishop 
Newton's  monument  in,  II  125- 
26 

St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  Bird's  sculp- 
tured figures  on,  II  121 

Figures  of  the  Apostles  on, 

I  167 

First  monuments  erected  in, 

II  94 

Lightning  conductors  on,  II 

161 

Nelson  monument,  II  360-61 

Burial  of  Benjamin  West  in, 

II  309-12 

St.  Peter's  Court,  II  37,  166 
St.    Stephen's,    Walbrook,    Extra- 
ordinary statue  formerly  in,  II 

134-5 

Salt  Box,  The,  II  267 
"  Salutation "       tavern,       Covent 

Garden,  II  215-17 


Sardinia  (Duke)  Street,  I  5 

—  Chapel,  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields,  I 
27 

Schomberg  House,  I  156 ;    II  322- 

23 
Sculpture,  Drapery  in,  I  68 

—  Early  English,  II  117-22 

—  Immense  marble  blocks  used  in, 
I  231-32 

—  Magnitude  in,  depreciated,  I  167 

—  Problem  of  light  in,  I  229-30 

—  an  old  trick  with  sitters,  I  290 

—  Texture  in,  I  226-28 
"  Sea,  The  Little,"  I  30 
Seven  Dials,  I  39 
Shakespeare,  Portraits  of,  II  362 

—  Gallery,  Boydell's,  II  125 

—  sign-board,  Famous,  I  24 

—  Tavern,  The,  I  173 
Shakespeare,   Sir  T.  Hanmer's,   II 

144 
Shield  of  Achilles,   Flaxman's,   II 

359-6o 
Shield,  Curious,  in  British  Museum, 

I  37 

Shoe-blacks,  I  175-76 
Shop-bill,  written  by  Dr.  Johnson, 

II  99 

Short's  Gardens,  I  no 

Simplers  in  Covent  Garden,  I  172 

Simpson's  restaurant,  II  319 

"  Six-and-Thirty  "  pond.  The,  I  30 

Slaughter's  Coffee  Houses,  II  144, 

152-53.  158-59,  162 
SleepingGirl,  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds 's, 

II  226-27 
Smuggling  by  Nollekens,  Ingenious, 

I  13 

Snow-house  in  Oxford  Market,  I  82 
Snuff,  Nollekens's  addiction  to,  I 
287 

—  Sir   Joshua  Reynolds's  use  of, 

II  225-26 

Snuff-box,  Famous,  at  St.  John's 

Church,  Westminster,  I  148 
Soho  Square,  I  28-29  ;   II  56 
Ambassadors'    residences  in, 

I  38 

Sir  Joseph  Banks  in,  I  213 

its  lost  statue  of  Charles  II, 

I  38 
Somerset  House,  its  sculptures,  II 

57,  93,  109-10 
Speakers  of  the  House  of  Commons, 

Portraits  of,  II  172 
Spinning  Wheel  Alley,  I  199 


422        NOLLEKENS  AND   HIS  TIMES 


Spiritualist,  Richard  Cosway,  R.A., 

as  a,  II  328-29 
Splendid  Shilling,  The,  I  170 
Stafford   Row,    Mrs.    Radcliffe   in, 

I  138 

"  Starter,"  I  27 

Steam  Carriage,  Gurney's,  I  309-10 

Stocks    formerly    in    St.    Martin's 

Church  crypt,  II  169-70 
Stratford  Place,   Richard  Cosway, 

R.A.,  in,  II  324-26 
Strawberry  Girl,   Sir  Joshua  Rey- 

nolds's,  II  226 
Suett,    Famous   wig   worn   by,    II 

151-52 
Sun  and  Horsehoe  Tavern,  I  92-93 

Tash  Street,  I  151 

Tavistock  Row,  I  173 

—  Street,  Fashionable  shops  in,  I 

55 

Tea-pot  of  Dr.  Johnson,  I  112-14 
Thornhaugh  Street,  II  295 
"  Three        Loggerheads "        sign, 

painted     by     Richard     Wilson, 

R.A.,  I  25 
"  Three  Pigeons,  The,"  a  famous 

hair-dresser's  shop,  I  294 
Throne-chair,     Sir     Joshua     Rey- 

nolds's,  II  8-10 
Titian,  his  "  Cornaro  Family  "  at 

Northumberland  House,  II  172 
"  Tom  of  Ten  Thousand,"  II  268 
Tothill  Street,  I  152 
Tower,  Lions  at  the,  I  67 
Tower  Street,  Seven  Dials,  I  39 
Townley  Marbles  in  Park  Street, 

Westminster,  I  212-21 

at  British  Museum,  1215 

bought  for  the  nation,  I  10 

Townley  Hall,  I  214 

Trial  of  Queen  Catherine,  Harlow's, 

II  332-33.  346 

Trivia,  Gay's,  I  154 

Trunkmaker  of  St.  Paul's  Church- 
yard, I  100 

Turnpike  in  St.  Martin's  Lane,  II 

173 

Twining's  tea  business,  II  137 
Tyburn,   Jack  Rann  executed  at, 

I  20-21 

Upholsterer  in  St.  Martin's  Lane, 

Famous,  II  177-78 
"  Upper  Flask  "  tavern,  I  63 


Vauxhall  Gardens,  II  29 

Vegetable    System,    Dr.    Hill's,    II 

138 
Venus,  The  Townley,  I  217 

—  Curiously  restored,  in  Townley 
Gallery,  I  219 

—  Torso,  Story  of  a,  II  no 
Vine  Street,  I  6,  40 
Vinegar  Yard,  I  no 
Vortigern  at  Drury  Lane,  I  178 

Walks  in  London,  J.  T.  Smith's,  II 

39 

Walnut  trees,  in  St.  Giles's,  I  35 
Wanstead    House,    Great   sale    at, 

1143 
Ward,   Dr.   Joshua,  Statue  of,  by 

Carlini,  II  132-34 
Wardour  Street,  Flaxman  in,  353, 

357 
Warwick  Street,  Capitsoldi's  freak 

in,  II  102 
Watch-house  in  St.  Martin's  Lane, 

II  169 
Watchman,   a   Sunday   newspaper, 

II  176 
Waterloo  Bridge,  Canova's  tribute 

to,  II  96 
Wax-works,     Mrs.     Salmon's,     in 

Fleet  Street,  I  144-45 
Westminster    Abbey,     altar-piece, 

A  much-removed,  I  148 
Argyle  monument,  and  figure 

of  Eloquence,  II  96 
Aymer  de  Valence,  Tomb  of, 

I  152 

Birds  in,  I  149 

Dr.  Busby,  II  121 

Camden's  injured  monument. 

Story  of,  I  148 
Charges  for  admission  to,   I 

146,  302-3 

Cornewall  monument,  I  151 

Edward       the       Confessor's 

Shrine,  II  119 

Chapel  of  St.  Blaize,  I  150 

Chatham's     monument.     In- 
scription on,  II  93-94 

Coffins  exposed  in,  I  145 

Finger,      Traditional     death 

from  a  pricked,  I  146 

Henry  VII's  tomb,  II  119 

Islip  Chapel,  I  144 

Kissing  a  Queen,  I  145 

General  Monk's  cap,  I  146 

Nightingale  tomb.  The.  II  32 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS 


428 


Westminster  Abbey,  Norris  monu- 
ment, Roubiliac's  tribute,  II  28 

Quack  doctor's  desire  for  a 

grave  in,  II  133 

Rysbrack's  monuments,  II  52 

Shakespeare's  statue  by  Kent, 

II  33-34 
Three    Captains    monument 

by  Nollekens,  I  370 

Tombs  by  Torrigiano,  II  119 

Completion  of  the  Towers  of, 

I  149 

Townshend  monument,  I  151; 

II  238 

Admiral  TyrelTs  monument, 

II  35-36 

Vere  monument,  II  28-29 

Wax  figures  in,  I  143-44 

General   Wolfe's   monument, 

II  107-8 
Woollett's      monument      in 

cloisters,  II  125,  187 
Westminster  Bridge,  Curious  echo 

on  Old,  I  154 

—  Gate-house,  I  153 

—  Scholars  as  Abbey  vandals,  I  146 


Whitefield's    Tabernacle,    Bacon's 

epitaph  in,  II  96 
White  Bear  Tavern,  Piccadilly,  I 

158 
White  Lion  sign,  painted  by  Mor- 

land,  I  23 
White's  Club,  Humorous  address  of 

gamesters  to  George  III,  I  74-75 
Wig,  Dr.  Lettsom's  glass,  I  87 
—  Charles  II's  black,  II  151-52 
Wig-combs,  I  87,  381 
Wigs  in  Art  and  Life,  I  376-81 
Wig-stealing,  an  i8th  century  trick, 

I38o 
William  III,  Statue  of,  by  John 

Bacon,  jun.,  II  97 
Windmill     erected     on     Newgate 

Prison,  II  205 
Windmill  Street,  I  34 
Windsor  Castle,  Practical  jokes  at, 

I  306 
Woodman,  Gainsborough's,  II  87 

"  Yorkshire  Stingo  "  tavern,  I  363 
"Young  Man's"  coffee  house,  II 
152 


I 


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NB  Smith,   John  Thomas 

^97  Nollekens  and  his  times 

N8S? 

1920 

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