John Bacon (sculptor, born 1740)
John Bacon RA (24 November 1740 – 7 August 1799) was a British sculptor who worked in the late 18th century. Bacon has been reckoned the founder of the British School of sculpture. He won numerous awards, held the esteem of George III, and examples of his works adorn St Paul's Cathedral and Westminster Abbey in London, Christ Church, Oxford, Pembroke College, Oxford, Bath Abbey and Bristol Cathedral.
Biography
John Bacon was born in
Bacon first attempted working in marble around 1763,
By 1769, Bacon was working for
On 4 August 1799 Bacon suddenly developed an "inflammation" and died a little more than two days later
Legacy
Bacon has been reckoned the founder of the British School of sculpture,
Selected public works
1770-1779
Image | Title / subject | Location and coordinates |
Date | Type | Material | Dimensions | Designation | Wikidata | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax | Westminster Abbey, London | 1771 | Bust with sculpture group | Marble | [2][8] | ||||
Memorial to Thomas Gray | Westminster Abbey, London | 1771 | Sculpture with medallion portrait | Marble | [2][9] | ||||
George III | Windsor Castle | 1775 | Bust | Marble | [10] | ||||
Aesculapius
|
Guy's Hospital, London | c. 1774 | Statue in niche | Stone | Q96801491 | [11] | |||
Hygieia | Guy's Hospital, London | c. 1774 | Statue in niche | Stone | [12] | ||||
More images |
Old Father Thames | Forecourt of Ham House | 1775 | Statue on plinth and steps | Coade stone | Grade II | Q26487358 | [13] | |
More images |
Bernard Brocas of Beaureparie (1730-1777) | St James' Church, Bramley, Hampshire | After 1777 | Sculpture group on tomb chest | Marble | Grade I | [14][15] | ||
More images |
William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham | Westminster Abbey, London | 1778 | Monumental sculpture group | Marble | [2][16][17] | |||
More images |
Monument to Thomas Guy | Guy's Hospital Chapel, London | 1779 | Sculpture group on pedestal | Marble | ||||
More images |
George III with the River Thames | Somerset House, London | 1779 | Sculpture groups on pedestal | Bronze and stone | Grade I | Q17527239 | [18][19][20] |
1780-1789
Image | Title / subject | Location and coordinates |
Date | Type | Material | Dimensions | Designation | Wikidata | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Charles Roe | Christ Church, Macclesfield | 1781 | Low relief sculpture | Black & white marble | Grade II* | [21] | |||
More images |
William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham | Guildhall, London | 1782 | Monumental sculpture group | Marble | [22] |
1790-1794
Image | Title / subject | Location and coordinates |
Date | Type | Material | Dimensions | Designation | Wikidata | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
More images |
Memorial to Ann Whytell | Westminster Abbey, London | 1791 | Sculpture group | Marble | [2][23] | |||
John Thomas, Bishop of Rochester | Westminster Abbey, London | 1793 | Bust | Marble | Also attributed to John Bacon, Junior[2][24] | ||||
Memorial to Henry Hope | Westminster Abbey, London | 1793 | Deep relief sculpture | Marble | [2][25] | ||||
Memorial to Etheldred Cust | Church of Saint Peter and St. Paul, Belton, South Kesteven | 1793 | Plaque with relief | Grade I | [26][27] | ||||
Memorial to Sir Francis Henry Drake, 5th Baronet | St Andrew's Church, Buckland Monachorum, Devon | After 1794 | Low relief sculpture on narrow pedestal | Marble | Grade I | [28] |
1795-1799
Image | Title / subject | Location and coordinates |
Date | Type | Material | Dimensions | Designation | Wikidata | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Memorial to George Augustus Eliott, 1st Baron Heathfield | St Andrew's Church, Buckland Monachorum, Devon | 1795 | Sculpture group and portrait medallion on pedestal | Marble | Grade I | [28] | |||
More images |
John Howard | St Paul's Cathedral, London | 1795 | Statue on pedestal | Marble | [2][5][29] | |||
Atlas and Hercules | Radcliffe Observatory, Oxford | 1795 | Sculpture group | Bronze | Grade I | [30] | |||
Memorial to Sir George Pocock | Westminster Abbey, London | 1796 | Statue on narrow plinth | Marble | [2][31] | ||||
More images |
Dr Samuel Johnson | St Paul's Cathedral, London | 1796 | Statue on pedestal | Marble | [2][5][32][33] | |||
More images |
Sir William Jones | St Paul's Cathedral, London | 1799 | Statue on pedestal | Marble | [2][5] | |||
Memorial to William Mason | Westminster Abbey, London | 1799 | Relief sculpture | Marble | [34] |
Other works
- Bust of Samuel Johnson, Pembroke College, Oxford[35]
- Bust of George III in Christ Church, Oxford (1770)
- Bust of John Guise in Christ Church, Oxford (1770)
- Seated statue of
- Pediment, Guy's Hospital, London (c. 1774) [38]
- Chimneypiece for the Duke of Richmond at Goodwood House (1777)
- Bust of Royal Academy(1778)
- Monument to Mrs Draper, Bristol Cathedral (1780)[39]
- Bust of Sir Francis Dashwood for his mausoleum at West Wycombe, Buckinghamshire (1780)
- Bust of Inigo Jones for the Carpenters Hall, London (1780)
- Monument to James Harris in Salisbury Cathedral (1780)
- Monument to John Bentley Ashley and his wife, Church of St Leogidanius, Ashby St Ledgers, Northamptionshire (1784)[40][41]
- Statue of Henry VI for Eton College sited in the Upper Chapel (1786)
- Memorial to Admiral Samuel Graves in Dunkeswell, Devon (1787)
- Monument to Simpson, Buckinghamshire(1789)
- Monument to James Dennis, 1st Baron Tracton in Cork, Ireland (1781)
- Ornate chimney-piece at Fonthill Abbey (1790)
- Ornate chimney-piece for Warren Hastings at Daylesford House (1793)
- Monument to St Giles Cripplegate, London (1793)
- Bust of the 3rd Duke of Portland for the Rockingham Mausoleum at Wentworth Woodhouse(1793)
- Bust of John Howard for Shrewsbury Prison (1793)
- Pediment for the offices of the East India Company (1797–99)
- Monument to Samuel Whitbread at Cardington, Bedfordshire (1799)
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o EB (1911).
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rupert Gunnis (1951). Dictionary of British Sculptors, 1660–1851. The Abbey Library.
- ^ a b c d e f g h John Smith (1829), "Bacon", 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, vol. Vol. II, London: S. & R. Bentley for Henry Colburn, pp. 153–163
- ^ a b c d e EB (1878).
- ^ ISBN 978-1-78551-360-2.
- ^ The National Cyclopaedia of Useful Knowledge, Volume II, (1847) Charles Knight, London, p.646
- Cecil, Richard, ed. (1801), Memoirs of John Bacon, Esq. R.A., with Reflections drawn from a review of his Moral and Religious Character, London: R. Noble for F. & C. Rivington
- ^ "George Montagu-Dunk, Earl of Halifax". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
- ^ "Thomas Gray". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
- ^ "George III 1775". Royal Collection Trust. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
- ^ "Guy's Hospital". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
- ^ "Guy's Hospital". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
- ^ Historic England. "Forecourt of Ham House (1192685)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
- ^ "Monument to Bernard Brocas". Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
- ^ Historic England. "Church of St James (1093029)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
- ^ "William Pitt and family". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
- ^ "Monument to William Pitt, Earl of Chatham". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
- ^ "George III with River Thames". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
- ^ "Design for the monument to King George III in the courtyard of Somerset House c. 1778 - c. 1789". Royal Collection Trust. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
- ^ Historic England. "Statue of George III in Somerset House Quadrangle (1237087)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
- ^ Historic England. "Christ Church, Macclesfield (1206916)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
- ^ "Monument to William Pitt the Elder". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
- ^ "Ann Whytell". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
- ^ "John Thomas". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
- ^ "Henry Hope". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
- ^ "Monument to Etheldred Cust". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
- ^ Historic England. "Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul (1298472)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
- ^ a b Historic England. "Church of St Andrew (1326380)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
- ^ "Statue of John Howard". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
- ^ Historic England. "The Nuffield Institute for Medical Research the Radcliffe Observatory (1047070)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
- ^ "George Pocock". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
- ^ H W Janson (1985). Nineteenth-century Sculpture. Thames & Hudson.
- ^ "Monument to Samuel Johnson". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
- ^ "William Mason". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
- ^ "Bust of Samuel Johnson, Pembroke College Library, Oxford". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
- ^ "Statue of Sir William Blackstone". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
- ISBN 0-356-17609-6.
- ^ "Pediment, Guy's Hospital". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
- ^ "Monument to Mrs Draper". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
- ^ "Monument to John Bentley Ashley and his wife". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
- ^ Historic England. "Church of Saint Leodegarius (1076499)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
- Baynes, T. S., ed. (1878), Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 3 (9th ed.), New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, p. 218 ,
Attribution:
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911), "Bacon, John", Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 3 (11th ed.), Cambridge University Press, p. 152 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the