Lot 572: JOSEPH NOLLEKENS

A GROUP OF DESIGNS FOR FREE-STANDING CLAY FIGURES


All black chalk, except one drawn in pen and brown ink (recto);inscribed in black chalk, verso: 43 North St;three are drawn on the reverse of letters addressed to the artist in Mortimer Street, London, one bears the date in brown ink, April 22 and another bears part of a letter on the verso: ...precaution.- Mr ... has inserted the / inscription.- / In memory / of H:W:B: Portman Esqr of Bryanston / in the County of Dorset - / who died Jany. 16th. 1796 - aged 57 years. / Mr. Portman would wish to have a line when the / Monument is put on board the Vessel with its / name & c.-

The smallest 5 1/4 by 3 3/4 in, 143 by 95 mm; the largest 8 by 6 7/8 in, 205 by 176 mm (16)

Probably Nollekens' Estate sale, London, Evan's, 4-5 December 1823, as part of lots 232-262;
probably Mrs Russell (neé Palmer) of Curzon Street, London,
by whom sold, London, Christie's, 20-22 March 1847, as part of lots 212-262;
Two designs:
Oliver Hill, FRIBA, FRSA, FILA,
by whose widow, Mrs M. Hill, sold, London, Sotheby's, 27 March 1969, lots 285 (for £48) and 287 (for £140);
all to Brian Sewell;
with the Heim Gallery, London, from whom purchased

The drawings in the present lot have all been associated with a number of small figures or groups modelled in clay by Nollekens. Some are preparatory for monuments, others for statues and some, described in the 1823 Nollekens sale as Pensieri, are rapid sketches in clay which may have been produced in their own right. J.T. Smith, in his biography of the artist Nollekens and his Times... published in 1829, wrote:

'The greatest pleasure our sculptor ever received, was when modelling small figures in clay, either singly or in groups, which he had baked; and in consequence of his refusing to sell them, and giving very few away, they became so extremely numerous, that they not only afforded a great display of his industry, but considerable entertainment to his friends.'

Both the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Ashmolean have a number of comparable sheets and, like some of the drawings in the present lot, most of those at the Ashmolean are drawn on the back of letters dated 1800-1820. It is interesting to note that although Nollekens stopped working in marble in 1816, he continued to design and produce figures in clay until the last years of his life. About a hundred and twenty of the figures were sold at Nollekens' studio sale, in London, Christie's, 3-5 July 1823, although to date only seventeen have been identified, including the terracotta Paetus and Arria, the present lot 511. None of the surviving figures may be connected with the studies in the present lot, although several of the drawings' subjects match those that appeared in the Christie's sale.

For further information on Nollekens' terracotta models, see J. Kenworthy-Brown, 'Terracotta Models by Joseph Nollekens, RA', in The Sculpture Journal, vol. II, 1998, pp. 72-84.