Lot 265: A PLASTER EQUESTRIAN PORTRAIT OF THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON ON HIS CHARGER COPENHAGEN, ENGLISH, MID 19TH CENTURY

ENGLISH, MID 19TH CENTURY

75 by 54 by 28.5cm.; 29½ by 2¼ by 11¼in.

heavily overpainted with the right arm reaattached

NOTE

This plaster equestrian portrait might be attributable to the sculptor Matthew Cotes Wyatt (1777-1862), creator of the monumental bronze statue of the Iron Duke which originally surmounted Decimus Burton's arch at Hyde Park Corner but was moved to Aldershot in 1884. The many layers of overpaint disguise the original pale plaster surface and much of the original details. Wyatt probably made a number of studies before deciding on the final model and this version displays some similarity to the bronze as completed.