Lot 27: JOHN EVAN THOMAS

JOHN EVAN THOMAS BRITISH 1810-1873 BUST OF WALTER SCOTT AFTER THE MODEL BY FRANCIS LEGATT CHANTREY (1781-1841) signed and dated: J.E. THOMAS . SCULPTOR Brecknock 1834. and inscribed: SIR WALTER SCOTT BARONET NATUS AUGUST 17 TH. 1771, OBIIT SEP R . 21 ST . 1832. white marble, on a veined white and grey marble socle 74cm., 29 1/8 in. overall

Sir Walter Scott, the 'minstrel of the border', is not only remembered as Scotland's outstanding literary figure - in particular as the creator of the Waverley novels - but also as Scotland's premier social host in the nineteenth century.

Chantrey's bust of Scott was considered to be the best contemporary likeness of the writer, perhaps owing to its unorthodox creation: dissatisfied with his original clay conceit, Chantrey took a wire to the neck and reattached the head in its present position, thus transforming it from a conventional portrait of 'perfectly serene expression' to one that represented Scott 'about to break into some sly funny old story'.

The portrait of Scott is unique in that Chantrey himself requested the sitting (the only time he recollected doing so) and later presented it to Scott as a token of esteem. A plaster cast of it was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1821, while the finished marble, dated 1822, remains at Abbotsford. A replica of it was purchased by the Duke of Wellington for £157 10s.

At a second sitting in 1828, Chantrey executed a third bust of Scott, making only minor modifications of detail to the Abbotsford version. He kept it in his studio until 1837, when he gave it to Sir Robert Peel. That version is now held in the collection of the Philidelphia Museum of Art.

The present bust is taken from the original version. Other versions are known, including copies in the National Portrait Gallery, London and the Kelvingrove Art Gallery, Glasgow. However, this is the only other version which can conclusively be shown to have been carved within Chantrey's lifetime. John Evan Thomas entered Chantrey's studio in 1824 at the age of fourteen. By 1834 he had left the studio, but this bust must have been produced with the master's authorisation and some involvement seems likely. The discovery of this bust suggests that Thomas may also have worked on the Wellington and Peel busts during his tenure in Chantrey's studio.

RELATED LITERATURE
A. Potts, Sir Francis Chantrey 1781-1841: Sculptor of the Great, ex. cat., National Portait Gallery, 1961, p.21; I. Roscoe, A Biographical Dictionary of Sculptors in Britain 1660-1851, London, 2007, pp. 249 & 1249-52