CHARLES JAMES FOX

Charles James Fox was a celebrated Whig politician and orator. The leading opponent of William Pitt the Younger in Parliament, Fox was Foreign Secretary three times, and was a staunch opponent of the slave trade. Fox also gained notoriety in Parliament for his outspoken support of American Independence and the French Revolution. In the 1770s Fox was acquainted with Thomas Jefferson and met Benjamin Franklin in Paris, leading to his support for the Patriot cause. Fox would often be seen in Parliament dressed in the colours of the uniforms of George Washington’s army, much to the humour of his friends and chagrin of the more conservative Members of the House.

Nollekens was closely connected to Fox and made two famous images of him during his lifetime. In 1791 he exhibited his first portrait of the statesman at the Royal Academy, with Fox shown with a long hair in a wig. In 1802 Nollekens carved a new portrait of Fox for the Duke of Bedford at Woburn Abbey, from which the present bust derives. In this composition Fox is depicted with unconventionally short, cropped hair, which recalls Roman Republican portraiture, an allusion to Fox’s republican sympathies. These portraits of Fox were exceedingly popular and there are approximately thirty known versions, of which the present bust is one of the finest, particularly in the crispness of the finish and the expressive rendering of Fox's hair and facial features.