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Richard Westmacott

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

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

Life and career

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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 Pimlico, in London, where he cast both his own works, and those of other sculptors, including John Flaxman's statue of Sir John Moore for Glasgow. Late in life he was asked by the Office of Works for advice on the casting of the relief panels for Nelson's Column.[4] He also had an arrangement with the 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 Royal Academy between 1797 and 1839. His name is given in the catalogues as "R. Westmacott, Junr." until 1807, when the "Junr." was dropped.[5] He was elected an associate of the Royal Academy in 1805, and a full academician in 1811.[2] His academy diploma piece, a marble relief of Jupiter and Ganymede, remains in the academy's collection.[6] He was professor of sculpture at the academy from 1827 until his death.[2] He received his knighthood on 19 July 1837.[7][8] In 1852 when contacted by 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

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Among Westmacott's works include: the reliefs for the north side of Marble Arch; the Greek revival pedimental sculptures of figures representing The Progress of Civilisation on the British Museum;[10][11] the Achilles of the Wellington Monument, London; and the Waterloo Vase, now in Buckingham Palace Gardens.

The Waterloo Vase was sculpted from a single piece of Carrara marble, earmarked by Napoleon to represent his military victories. Following the French defeat in the Napoleonic Wars, the vase was presented unfinished to George IV in 1815 by the Grand Duke of Tuscany. George IV later commissioned Westmacott to complete the piece.[12][13][14]

His statue of Horatio Nelson, Birmingham was the first statue of Nelson unveiled in Britain. There are other monuments to Nelson by Westmacott at the Bull Ring, Birmingham, in Barbados,[citation needed] while that at Liverpool was modelled and cast by Westmacott, to a design by Matthew Cotes Wyatt.[4][15] In Liverpool there is also an equestrian statue of King George III sculpted by Westmacott, which was unveiled in 1822.[16] He was responsible for the statue of the agriculturalist and developer Francis Russell, 5th Duke of Bedford in Russell Square, and the one of the Duke of York on top of the column in Waterloo place.[2] His Achilles in Hyde Park, a bronze copy of an antique sculpture from Monte Cavallo in Rome, is a tribute to the Duke of Wellington, paid for by £10,000 raised by female subscribers.[17][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.[18] 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.[18] The memorial, a free-standing marble group on an oval base, showed Abercromby falling dead from his charging horse into the arms of soldier and established Westmacott's reputation for originality.[18] 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 Dullingham;[19] to Commander Charles Cotton (died 1828) at St. Mary's Church in Madingley;[20] to William Pemberton (died 1828) at St Margaret's Church in Newton, South Cambridgeshire;[21] to Sir George Warren (died 1801) at St. Mary's Church, Stockport in Greater Manchester, depicting a standing female figure by an urn on a pillar;[22] to Rev. Charles Prescott (died 1820), in St. Mary's Church, Stockport, showing a seated effigy[22] 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.[23]

He created a sculptural group for the marble arch of the Cumberland Gate to Hyde Park.[24]

Personal life

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Westmacott lived and died at 14 South Audley Street, Mayfair, London where he is commemorated by a blue plaque.[25] 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

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1800–1809

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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 [26]
 
More images 		General Ralph Abercromby St Paul's Cathedral, London 1802-1805 Equestrian sculpture group on pedestal & plinth with flanking sphinx figures White marble [27][18]
  Adam Duncan, 1st Viscount Duncan Crypt of St Paul's Cathedral, London After 1804 Statue on pedestal Marble [28]
  Memorial to John Cooke Crypt of St Paul's Cathedral, London After 1805 Sculpture on shallow pedestal Marble 3m tall [29][30]
 
More images 		John Locke University College London 1808 Statue Marble
 
More images 		William Pitt the Younger Westminster Abbey, London c. 1808 Statue group Marble Q113700278 [31][32]
 
More images 		Statue of Horatio Nelson The Bull Ring, Birmingham, West Midlands 1809 Sculpture group on pedestal Bronze and stone Statue 170 cm high, pedestal 370 cm high Grade II* Q7604486 [23][33][34]
 
More images 		Francis Russell, 5th Duke of Bedford Russell Square, London 1809 Statue group on cylindrical pedestal Bronze and granite Grade II Q27082115 [23][35]
 
More images 		Joseph Addison Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey, London 1809 Statue on pedestal Marble [36]


1810–1819

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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 [37]
 
More images 		Cuthbert Collingwood, 1st Baron Collingwood St Paul's Cathedral, London 1813 Sculpture group on plinth Marble [38]
 
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[23][39]
 
More images 		Statue of Horatio Nelson Bridgetown, Barbados 1813 Statue on pedestal Bronze and stone Q107548492 Relocated to Barbados Museum in 2020[40]
 
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 [23][41][42]
 
More images 		Memorial to Elizabeth Stanhope Newton Chapel, Bristol Cathedral After 1816 Relief & plaque Marble [43]
 
More images 		William Pitt the Younger Pembroke College, Cambridge 1819 Seated statue on pedestal Stone Q26379565 [44]


1820–1829

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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 [45]
 
More images 		Spencer Perceval Westminster Abbey, London 1822 Statue group & relief Marble [46][47]
 
More images 		Wellington Monument, London Hyde Park Corner, London 1822 Statue on pedestal Bronze and granite Grade I Q13528921 [23][48][10]
 
More images 		George III Monument Place, Liverpool 1822 Equestrian statue on pedestal Bronze and stone Grade II Q26629818 [23][49]
  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 [50]
 
More images 		Generals Edward Pakenham & Samuel Gibbs St Paul's Cathedral, London 1824 Twin statues on pedestal Marble [51]
  Memorial to Caroline, Countress Brownlow Church of St Peter and St Paul, Belton, South Kesteven 1824 Relief Marble Grade I [52][53]
 
More images 		The Distressed Mother, memorial to Elizabeth Warren Westminster Abbey, London c. 1825 Statue on pedestal Marble [26]
 
More images 		England with Scotland and Ireland and Peace with Trophies of War North face of Marble Arch, London 1828 Two reliefs Marble 150 cm square Grade I Q845529 [54][55]
  Francis Egerton, 8th Earl of Bridgewater Church of St Peter and St Paul, Little Gaddesden 1829 Sculpture group in relief Stone


1830–1839

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Image Title / subject Location and
coordinates 		Date Type Material Dimensions Designation Wikidata Notes
Warren Hastings Victoria Memorial, Kolkata 1830 Statue Marble [56]
 
More images 		Waterloo Vase Buckingham Palace Garden, London 1830 Vase with reliefs Carrara marble 5.5m x 3.0m Grade I Q7974302 [57]
 
More images 		Tomb of Antoine Philippe, Duke of Montpensier Westminster Abbey, London 1830 Tomb effigy Marble Second version at the Château de Randan, France[58][59]
 
More images 		Statue of George III Windsor Great Park 1831 Equestrian statue on pedestal Bronze and stone Grade I Q7727584 [23][60]
 
More images 		Statue of George Canning Parliament Square, London 1832 Statue on pedestal Bronze and granite 7.9m tall Grade II Q21546419 [23][41][61]
 
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[23][41][62]
  Dr. John Alderson Hull Royal Infirmary 1833 Statue on pedestal Marble and stone Grade II Q26568781 [23][63]
  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 [64][65]


1840 and later

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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 [56]
 
More images 		The Progress of Civilisation British Museum, London 1847 Pediment sculptures Stone Grade I [66][67][68]
  Mary, Queen of Scots Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire Statue on pedestal Marble and stone Relocated from Chatsworth House[23]


Other works

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References

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  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. ^ a b Philip Ward-Jackson (2003). Public Sculpture of Britain Volume 7: Public Sculpture of the City of London. Liverpool University Press / Public Monuments & Sculpture Association. ISBN 0-85323-977-0.
  10. ^ a b c d Ian Chilvers (2004). The Oxford Dictionary of Art. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-860476-9.
  11. ^ Hartwig Fischer. "Richard Westmacott's Pediment Sculptures for the British Museum". HENI Talks. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  12. ^ "Sir Richard Westmacott (1775-1856)". The Victorian Web. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  13. ^ "The Waterloo Vase". War Memorials online. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  14. ^ "The Waterloo Vase". Royal Collection Trust. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  15. ^ "Prisoner sculpture from the monument to Lord Nelson". Liverpool Museums. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  16. ^ Liverpool Mercury, 27 September 1822
  17. ^ Henry B. Wheatley (1891), "Hyde Park", London Past and Present: Its History, Associations and Traditions, vol. 2, London: John Murray, p. 253
  18. ^ a b c d e H W Janson (1985). Nineteenth-century sculpture. Thames & Hudson.
  19. ^ Pevsner 1970, p. 332.
  20. ^ Pevsner 1970, p. 435.
  21. ^ Pevsner 1970, p. 443.
  22. ^ a b Nikolaus Pevsner; Edward Hubbard (2003) [1971], The Buildings of England: Cheshire, New Haven: Yale University Press, pp. 339–340, ISBN 0-300-09588-0
  23. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Jo Darke (1991). The Monument Guide to England and Wales. Macdonald Illustrated. ISBN 0-356-17609-6.
  24. ^ 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)
  25. ^ "English Heritage website". Archived from the original on 25 September 2006. Retrieved 12 March 2007.
  26. ^ a b "John and Elizabeth Warren". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  27. ^ Jason Edwards, Amy Harris & Greg Sullivan (2021). Monuments of St Paul's Cathedral 1796-1916. Scala Arts & Heritage Publishers Ltd. ISBN 978-1-78551-360-2.
  28. ^ "Statue of Adam Lord, Viscount Duncan". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  29. ^ "War Memorials Register: Capt J Cooke". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
  30. ^ "Monument to Captain John Cooke". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  31. ^ "Monument to William Pitt". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  32. ^ "William Pitt and family". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  33. ^ Historic England. "Monument to Lord Nelson (1343362)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  34. ^ George T. Noszlopy (1998). Public Sculpture of Birmingham including Sutton Coldfield. Liverpool University Press / Public Monuments & Sculpture Association. ISBN 0-85323-692-5.
  35. ^ Historic England. "Statue of Francis Russell, 5th Duke of Bedford (1246153)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  36. ^ "Joseph Addison". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  37. ^ "Monument to Sir Isaac Brock". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  38. ^ "Monument to Lord Collingwood". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  39. ^ Historic England. "Nelson Monument (1068235)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  40. ^ "Maritime Memorials: M2219". Royal Museums Greenwich. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  41. ^ a b c John Blackwood (1989). London's Immortels. The Complete Outdoor Commemorative Statues. Savoy Press. ISBN 0-9514296-0-4.
  42. ^ Historic England. "Statue of Charles James Fox at north end of garden (1244458)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  43. ^ 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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  45. ^ "Charles James Fox and Henry V. Fox, Lord Holland". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  46. ^ "Monument to Spencer Perceval". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
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  48. ^ Historic England. "The Achilles Statue (1231393)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  49. ^ Historic England. "George III Monument (1346252)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  50. ^ "Monument to the 7th Earl of Bridgewater". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  51. ^ "Monument to Major General Sir E. Pakenham and Major General Samuel Gibbs". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  52. ^ "Monument to Caroline, Countress Brownlow". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
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  62. ^ Historic England. "Duke of York Column and Steps (1239383)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  63. ^ 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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  67. ^ Historic England. "The British Museum (1130404)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  68. ^ Hartwig Fischer. "Richard Westmacott's Pediment Sculptures for the British Museum". HENI Talks.
  69. ^ "Monument to the Honourable John Yorke". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
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  71. ^ "Monument to Lord Penrhyn". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
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  73. ^ "Monument to Reverend John Chetwynd Talbot". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
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  76. ^ "Monument to Francis Bauer". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 4 November 2022.

Sources

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