BY JOSEPH NOLLEKENS (1737-1823) AND WORKSHOP, 1813

Details

A CARVED MARBLE BUST OF CHARLES JAMES FOX
BY JOSEPH NOLLEKENS (1737-1823) AND WORKSHOP, 1813
On a circular marble socle; signed and dated 'Nollekens Ft. 1813.' to reverse of bust
20¾ in. (52.7 cm.) high; 27 in. (68.6 cm.) high, overall

Provenance

George Byng, MP (d. 1847) at Wrotham Park and by descent until sold, Christie's London, 9 June 2005, lot 90.
Bought at the above sale by the present owner.

Literature

LITERATURE:
Wrotham Park 1847 Inventory, LIBRARY 'A marble bust of Charles Fox'.

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
New York, The National Gallery of Art, The Treasure Houses of Britain, 3 Nov. 1985 - 16 Mar. 1986, G. Jackson-Stops ed., no. 476, p. 539.

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Lot Essay

Nollekens modelled his first bust of Fox in 1791 for the 4th Earl Fitzwilliam's Mausoleum to Lord Rockingham at Wentworth Woodhouse, Yorkshire; this was ultimately acquired by Catherine II of Russia (now in The Hermitage, St. Petersburg). Six further versions of the 1791 model, including those at Holkham, Yale, Melbury and Southill followed (Kenworthy-Brown, loc. cit.). The prototype for the present bust was commissioned for the 5th Duke of Bedford's Temple of Liberty in 1801; it found considerable success amongst his political admirers, and was repeated in marble at least thirty times. It is entirely appropriate, therefore, that George Byng, not only a Whig politician but also the Father of the House - should have acquired a bust of Fox for his library at Wrotham Park.

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