Richard Westmacott

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For other people named Richard Westmacott, see Richard Westmacott (disambiguation).

Sir
Richard Westmacott
RA
Born(1775-07-15)15 July 1775
London, England
Died1 September 1856(1856-09-01) (aged 81)
London, England
Resting placeChastleton, Oxfordshire
NationalityBritish
Known forsculpture

Sir Richard Westmacott RA (15 July 1775 – 1 September 1856) was a British sculptor.[1]

Life and career

Westmacott studied with his father, also named Richard Westmacott, at his studio in Mount Street, off Grosvenor Square in London before going to Rome in 1793 to study under Antonio Canova.[2] Westmacott devoted all his energies to the study of classical sculpture, and throughout his life his real sympathies were with pagan rather than with Christian art. Within a year of his arrival in Rome he won the first prize for sculpture offered by the Florentine Academy of Arts, and in the following year he gained the papal gold medal awarded by the Academy of St Luke with his bas-relief of Joseph and his brothers.[3] On returning to England in 1797, he set up a studio, where John Edward Carew and Musgrave Watson gained experience.

Westmacott had his own foundry at

Trustees of the British Museum, which allowed him to make moulds and supply plaster casts of classical sculpture in the museum's collection to country house owners, academies and other institutions.[4]

Statue of Achilles (1822) on the Wellington Monument at Hyde Park Corner, London.

Westmacott exhibited at the

Corporation of London about a possible sculpture commission, Westmacott replied that he had not been active as a sculptor for some years.[9]

Works

Among Westmacott's works are the reliefs for the north side of

Grand Duke of Tuscany
.

His

Duke of Wellington, paid for by £10,000 raised by female subscribers.[13][10]

Westmacott's sculptures of poetical subjects were in a style similar to those of the contemporary Italian school: his works of this type included Psyche and Cupid for the Duke of Bedford; Euphrosyne for the Duke of Newcastle; A Nymph Unclasping her Zone; The Distressed Mother and The Houseless Traveller.[2]

Westmacott also sculpted the memorials to William Pitt the Younger, Spencer Perceval, Charles James Fox and Joseph Addison in Westminster Abbey; the statue of Fox in Bloomsbury Square; and those to Sir Ralph Abercromby, Lord Collingwood and Generals Pakenham and Gibbs in St Paul's Cathedral.[2] The Abercromby monument is considered by some critics as the most original composition of Westmacott's entire career.[14] The idea to create a memorial to a British military hero by showing his death in action was a bold departure from the more common use of allegorical figures and personifications of virtue.[14] The memorial, a free-standing marble group on a oval base, showed Abercromby falling dead from his charging horse into the arms of soldier and established Westmacott's reputation for originality.[14] His memorial to Pitt in Westminster Abbey, commissioned in 1807, shows a male figure representing anarchy writhing in chains at Pitt's feet, a reference to Pitt's suppression of revolutionaries by press censorship and other means.[9]

Blue plaque at 14 South Audley Street, London

Westmacott's other church monuments include those to Lt. General Christopher Jeaffreson (died 1824) in St.Mary's Church in

St. Mary's Church, Stockport, showing a seated effigy[18] and to Mary Henson (died 1805) in Bainton parish church, showing a seated figure against an urn. A bust of David Garrick by Westmacott is in Lichfield Cathedral.[19]

He created a sculptural group for the marble arch of the Cumberland Gate to Hyde Park.[20]

Personal life

Westmacott lived and died at 14 South Audley Street, Mayfair, London where he is commemorated by a blue plaque.[21] Two of his brothers, George, who was active between 1799 and 1827, and Henry, (1784–1861) were also sculptors.[10] In 1798 Westmacott married Dorothy Margaret Wilkinson.[3] Their son, also called Richard Westmacott, followed closely in his footsteps also becoming a notable sculptor, a Royal Academician and professor of sculpture at the academy.

Westmacott is buried in a tomb at St Mary's Church, Chastleton in Oxfordshire, where his third son Horatio was rector in 1878.

Selected public works

1800–1809

Image Title / subject Location and
coordinates 		Date Type Material Dimensions Designation Wikidata Notes
Bishop John Warren Westminster Abbey, London After 1800 Sculpture group White and grey marble [22]

More images 		General Ralph Abercromby St Paul's Cathedral, London 1802-1805 Equestrian sculpture group on pedestal & plinth with flanking sphinx figures White marble [23][14]
Adam Duncan, 1st Viscount Duncan Crypt of St Paul's Cathedral, London After 1804 Statue on pedestal Marble [24]
Memorial to John Cooke Crypt of St Paul's Cathedral, London After 1805 Sculpture on shallow pedestal Marble 3m tall [25][26]
John Locke University College London 1808 Statue Marble

More images 		William Pitt the Younger Westminster Abbey, London c. 1808 Statue group Marble Q113700278 [27][28]

More images 		Statue of Horatio Nelson The Bull Ring,
Birmingham, West Midlands
 		1809 Sculpture group on pedestal Bronze and stone Statue 170cm high, pedestal 370cm high Grade II* Q7604486 [19][29][30]

More images 		Francis Russell, 5th Duke of Bedford Russell Square, London 1809 Statue group on cylindrical pedestal Bronze and granite Grade II Q27082115 [19][31]

More images 		Joseph Addison Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey, London 1809 Statue on pedestal Marble [32]

1810–1819

Image Title / subject Location and
coordinates 		Date Type Material Dimensions Designation Wikidata Notes
Sir Isaac Brock St Paul's Cathedral, London c. 1813 Sculpture group Marble [33]

More images 		Cuthbert Collingwood, 1st Baron Collingwood St Paul's Cathedral, London 1813 Sculpture group on plinth Marble [34]

More images 		Statue of Robert Milligan West India Docks, London 1813 Statue on pedestal with plaques Bronze and stone Q96183031 Removed 2020

More images 		Monument to Horatio Nelson Exchange Flags, Liverpool 1813 Statue group on pedestal with plaques Stone, bronze and granite Grade II* Q4343277 Designer, Matthew Cotes Wyatt[19][35]

More images 		Statue of Horatio Nelson Bridgetown, Barbados 1813 Statue on pedestal Bronze and stone Q107548492 Relocated to
Barbados Museum in 2020[36]

More images 		Statue of Charles James Fox Bloomsbury Square, London 1814, erected 1816 Statue on cuboid pedestal Bronze and granite 5.2m tall Grade II* Q17542668 [19][37][38]

More images 		Memorial to Elizabeth Stanhope Newton Chapel, Bristol Cathedral After 1816 Relief & plaque Marble [39]

More images 		William Pitt the Younger Pembroke College, Cambridge 1819 Seated statue on pedestal Stone [40]

1820–1829

Image Title / subject Location and
coordinates 		Date Type Material Dimensions Designation Wikidata Notes

More images 		Charles James Fox Westminster Abbey, London 1822 Sculpture group Marble [41]

More images 		Spencer Perceval Westminster Abbey, London 1822 Statue group & relief Marble [42][43]

More images 		Wellington Monument, London Hyde Park Corner, London 1822 Statue on pedestal Bronze and granite Grade I Q13528921 [19][44][10]

More images 		George III Monument Place, Liverpool 1822 Equestrian statue on pedestal Bronze and stone Grade II Q26629818 [19][45]
Memorial to John Egerton, 7th Earl of Bridgewater and Charlotte Egerton, Countess of Bridgewater Church of St Peter and St Paul, Little Gaddesden After 1823 Plaque with relief Stone [46]

More images 		Generals Edward Pakenham & Samuel Gibbs St Paul's Cathedral, London 1824 Twin statues on pedestal Marble [47]
Memorial to Caroline, Countress Brownlow Church of St Peter and St Paul, Belton, South Kesteven 1824 Relief Marble Grade I [48][49]

More images 		The Distressed Mother, memorial to Elizabeth Warren Westminster Abbey, London c. 1825 Statue on pedestal Marble [22]

More images 		England with Scotland and Ireland and Peace with Trophies of War North face of Marble Arch, London 1828 Two reliefs Marble 150cm square Grade I Q845529 [50][51]
Francis Egerton, 8th Earl of Bridgewater
 Church of St Peter and St Paul, Little Gaddesden 1829 Sculpture group in relief Stone

1830–1839

Image Title / subject Location and
coordinates 		Date Type Material Dimensions Designation Wikidata Notes
Warren Hastings
Victoria Memorial
, Kolkata 		1830 Statue Marble [52]
Waterloo Vase Buckingham Palace Garden, London 1830 Vase with reliefs Carrara marble 5.5m x 3.0m Grade I Q7974302 [53]

More images 		Tomb of Antoine Philippe, Duke of Montpensier Westminster Abbey, London 1830 Tomb effigy Marble Second version at the Château de Randan, France[54][55]

More images 		Statue of George III Windsor Great Park 1831 Equestrian statue on pedestal Bronze and stone Grade I Q7727584 [19][56]

More images 		Statue of George Canning
Parliament Square, London
 		1832 Statue on pedestal Bronze and granite 7.9m tall Grade II Q21546419 [19][37][57]

More images 		Duke of York Duke of York Column, London 1833 Statue on pedestal and column Bronze and stone 4.2m statue, 3m pedestal, 34m column Grade I Q2911131 Architect, Benjamin Dean Wyatt[19][37][58]
Dr. John Alderson Hull Royal Infirmary 1833 Statue on pedestal Marble and stone Grade II Q26568781 [19][59]
Dorothy Margaret Westmacott
St Nicholas' Church, Brighton
 		1834 Funerary bust
Joseph Drury St Mary's Church, Harrow on the Hill, London 1835 Relief plaque Marble Grade I [60][61]

1840 and later

Image Title / subject Location and
coordinates 		Date Type Material Dimensions Designation Wikidata Notes
Lord William Bentinck
Victoria Memorial
, Kolkata 		1841 Statue on pedestal Bronze & stone [52]

More images 		The Progress of Civilisation British Museum, London 1847 Pediment sculptures Stone Grade I [62][63][64]
Mary, Queen of Scots Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire Statue on pedestal Marble and stone Relocated from Chatsworth House[19]

Other works

References

  1. ^ "Richard Westmacott". Royal Academy of Arts.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Charles Knight, ed. (1858). "Westmacott, Sir Richard, R.A.". The English Cyclopedia. Biography – Volume 6. London: Bradbury and Evans. p. 653.
  3. ^ a b Chisholm 1911, p. 547.
  4. ^ a b c British bronze sculpture founders and plaster figure makers, 1800-1980, National Portrait Gallery
  5. ^ Algernon Graves (1905). The Royal Academy: A Complete Dictionary of Contributors from its Foundations in 1769 to 1904. Vol. 8. London: Henry Graves. pp. 239–40.
  6. ^ "Jupiter and Ganymede, 1811". Royal Academy. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  7. ^ "No. 19525". The London Gazette. 25 July 1837. p. 1910.
  8. ^ Chisholm 1911, pp. 547–548.
  9. ^
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  11. Liverpool Museums
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  12. ^ Liverpool Mercury, 27 September 1822
  13. ^ Henry B. Wheatley (1891), "Hyde Park", London Past and Present: Its History, Associations and Traditions, vol. 2, London: John Murray, p. 253
  14. ^ a b c d e H W Janson (1985). Nineteenth-century sculpture. Thames & Hudson.
  15. ^ Pevsner 1970, p. 332.
  16. ^ Pevsner 1970, p. 435.
  17. ^ Pevsner 1970, p. 443.
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    ISBN 0-300-09588-0
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    ISBN 0-356-17609-6
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  20. ^ Charles Kendall Adams (ed.). Johnson's Universal Cyclopædia: A New Edition. Vol. 8. p. 717. ("Westmacott, Sir Richard M.A." entry revised by Russell Sturgis) (found in this Google book search)
  21. ^ "English Heritage website". Archived from the original on 25 September 2006. Retrieved 12 March 2007.
  22. ^ a b "John and Elizabeth Warren". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
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  25. ^ "War Memorials Register: Capt J Cooke". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
  26. ^ "Monument to Captain John Cooke". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  27. ^ "Monument to William Pitt". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  28. ^ "William Pitt and family". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  29. ^ Historic England. "Monument to Lord Nelson (1343362)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
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  31. ^ Historic England. "Statue of Francis Russell, 5th Duke of Bedford (1246153)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  32. ^ "Joseph Addison". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  33. ^ "Monument to Sir Isaac Brock". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  34. ^ "Monument to Lord Collingwood". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  35. ^ Historic England. "Nelson Monument (1068235)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  36. ^ "Maritime Memorials: M2219". Royal Museums Greenwich. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
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  39. ^ John Britton; John Le Keux; Edward Blore (1836). Peterborough, Gloucester, and Bristol. Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, and T. Longman. p. 64.
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  41. ^ "Charles James Fox and Henry V. Fox, Lord Holland". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  42. ^ "Monument to Spencer Perceval". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  43. ^ "Spencer Perceval". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  44. ^ Historic England. "The Achilles Statue (1231393)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  45. ^ Historic England. "George III Monument (1346252)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  46. ^ "Monument to the 7th Earl of Bridgewater". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  47. ^ "Monument to Major General Sir E. Pakenham and Major General Samuel Gibbs". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  48. ^ "Monument to Caroline, Countress Brownlow". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  49. ^ Historic England. "Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul (1298472)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
  50. ^ Historic England. "The Marble Arch (1239534)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
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  54. ^ "Tomb of Duc de Montpensier". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
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  57. ^ Historic England. "Statue of George Canning (1226371)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  58. ^ Historic England. "Duke of York Column and Steps (1239383)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  59. ^ Historic England. "Statue of Doctor John Alderson Outside Hull Royal Infirmary (Infirmary Not Included) (1279574)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
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  72. ^ "Monument to Francis Bauer". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 4 November 2022.

Sources

External links

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