BY PETER ROUW, 1804

Details

A PINK WAX PORTRAIT RELIEF OF JAMES WATT
BY PETER ROUW, 1804
Signed on the truncation P.Rouw, London 1804, set in a gilt brass mounted square frame, inscribed on paper on the reverse A portrait of James Watt Esq, Soho, Birmingham. Peter Rouw Sculptor Portland Road London, 1804

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Lot Essay

Peter Rouw (1770-1852) sculptor and wax modeller, attended the Royal Academy Schools in 1788 and was appointed Sculptor, Modeller of Gems to H.R.H. the Prince of Wales (later George IV) in 1807. He is also recorded as sending a collection of his wax portrait to the Great Exhibition of 1851.

James Watt (1736-1819) engineer and scientist, was born in 1736 in Greenock, Renfrewshire. In 1769 he patented the improved steam engine which made possible the widespread use of steam power in manufacturing. Watt devised the original calculation to define 'horsepower' and the unit of electrical power was named after him.
A very similar wax portrait of Watt by Rouw dated 1802 is in the National Portrait Gallery, London, No.183.

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