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Lot Essay
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE
R. Gunnis, Dictionary of British Sculptors, 1660-1851, London, pp. 171-173
M. Greenwood, Victorian Ideal Sculpture 1830-1860: Merseyside Sculptors and Collectors, in Patronage and Practice. Sculpture on Merseyside, Tate Gallery, Liverpool and National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside, 1989, pp. 50-56
Lady Eastlake, Life of John Gibson RA, Sculptor, London, 1870.
Having served his apprenticeship in his home town of Liverpool, John Gibson (d.1866) moved to London, where through connections with Lord
Brougham and Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods, he received portrait
commissions and had his work accepted by the Royal Academy. His heart
set on Rome, he finally arrived there in 1817 and was welcomed into the studio of the celebrated sculptor Canova. He also received assistance from Thorwaldsen, who was living in the city at the time. Gibson's first original work was his life-size figure of the 'Sleeping Shepherd' and his first patron, the Duke of Devonshire, for whom he carved 'Mars and Cupid'. The sculptors rapid success led friends to urge him to return to England where he could make substantial amounts of money through such commissions. However, despite exhibiting at the Royal Academy between 1816 to 1864 and being elected a full member in 1838, Gibson refused to do so, only revisiting the country on two further occasions, each time to execute a statue of Queen Victoria.
Exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1840, the figure of Cupid Disguised as a Shepherd-boy was originally executed for Sir John Johnstone and full-size replicas made for Tsar Alexander II, Sir Robert Peel, Lord Crewe and two American collectors. Gibson recalls how the idea for the subject was conceived: "Taking up the 'Amiula' of Tasso, my imagination was caught by the passage in the Prologue (....). This gave me the idea of modelling love disguised as a shepherd in his Greek hat and little cloak. The (...) God, while slyly concealing behind his back the arrow of (...), advances his right hand as if to inspire confidence and assumes an air of modesty and timidity. Below the edge of his mantle behind are just seen the tips of his folded wings" (see Life of Gibson, edited by Lady Eastlake, 1870).
Another version of this figure with a companion figure of a dancing girl, both by Gibson, were sold by Christie's, London, 16 June 1994, lot 359.
R. Gunnis, Dictionary of British Sculptors, 1660-1851, London, pp. 171-173
M. Greenwood, Victorian Ideal Sculpture 1830-1860: Merseyside Sculptors and Collectors, in Patronage and Practice. Sculpture on Merseyside, Tate Gallery, Liverpool and National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside, 1989, pp. 50-56
Lady Eastlake, Life of John Gibson RA, Sculptor, London, 1870.
Having served his apprenticeship in his home town of Liverpool, John Gibson (d.1866) moved to London, where through connections with Lord
Brougham and Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods, he received portrait
commissions and had his work accepted by the Royal Academy. His heart
set on Rome, he finally arrived there in 1817 and was welcomed into the studio of the celebrated sculptor Canova. He also received assistance from Thorwaldsen, who was living in the city at the time. Gibson's first original work was his life-size figure of the 'Sleeping Shepherd' and his first patron, the Duke of Devonshire, for whom he carved 'Mars and Cupid'. The sculptors rapid success led friends to urge him to return to England where he could make substantial amounts of money through such commissions. However, despite exhibiting at the Royal Academy between 1816 to 1864 and being elected a full member in 1838, Gibson refused to do so, only revisiting the country on two further occasions, each time to execute a statue of Queen Victoria.
Exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1840, the figure of Cupid Disguised as a Shepherd-boy was originally executed for Sir John Johnstone and full-size replicas made for Tsar Alexander II, Sir Robert Peel, Lord Crewe and two American collectors. Gibson recalls how the idea for the subject was conceived: "Taking up the 'Amiula' of Tasso, my imagination was caught by the passage in the Prologue (....). This gave me the idea of modelling love disguised as a shepherd in his Greek hat and little cloak. The (...) God, while slyly concealing behind his back the arrow of (...), advances his right hand as if to inspire confidence and assumes an air of modesty and timidity. Below the edge of his mantle behind are just seen the tips of his folded wings" (see Life of Gibson, edited by Lady Eastlake, 1870).
Another version of this figure with a companion figure of a dancing girl, both by Gibson, were sold by Christie's, London, 16 June 1994, lot 359.