English 18th Century Portrait Sculpture: Roubiliacs Statue of Shakespeare for David Garrick

The Marble Statue of William Shakespeare

Made for David Garrick's Villa at Hampton

By Louis Francois Roubiliac.

Terracotta statuette of William Shakespeare.

The Model for David Garrick's Temple at Hampton.

Louis Francois Roubiliac.

Inscribed on top left side of the desk LF Roubiliac in.t et Fec. 1757.

Height 55.9cms.

The Folger Shakespeare Library. Washington DC.

Provenance.

Not included in The Roubiliac posthumous sale.

The portrait painter Thomas Hudson sale, Lot 36, Christie's 25 -26 February 1785

Held by Langford's of the Piazza, Covent Garden.

Bought Jean Baptiste Le Brun, Paris.

Eduard Chappey, Paris.

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Roubiliac with the Model for Garrick's Shakespeare.

by Adrien Carpentier, active in England from 1739, died 1778.

1257 mm x 1003 mm

Signed Adrien Carpentiers p: 1762.

Currently at Beningborough Hall

National Portrait Gallery.

If the date was added later, this may be the 'half length of M^r Roubiliac' exhibited by Carpentiers at the Society of Artists 1761. Roubiliac died 11 January 1762 and the quality of this portrait suggests it is unlikely to be a copy. The terracotta of his statue of Shakespeare commissioned by Garrick, now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, is dated 1757; the marble passed on the death of Mrs Garrick to the British Museum.

A version of this portrait without date or signature, was owned in 1931 by Kenneth Sanderson, and is apparently the source of the mezzotint by D. Martin engraved 1765 (see below) when in the possession of R. Alexander of Edinburgh. Both show a large pair of callipers on the stand in addition to the two small tools shown in the above portrait. A number of scholars have taken this to be a repetition. Where is it now?

Text lifted from -http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/explore/by-publication/kerslake/early-georgian-portraits-catalogue-roubiliac.php/#18

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Roubiliac and the Modello of Garrick's Shakespeare

after Carpentier.

Mezzotint

David Martin

1765.

British Museum.

Terracotta Statuette

Signed on the Base.

Height 422 mm.

A slightly earlier sketch version of the Folger statuette.

The waistcoat is shown slightly differently revealing less of a paunch, The plinth of the desk has no drapery and the index finger is in a different position..

Victoria and Albert Museum.

Not included in the Roubiliac posthumous sale.

At the sale of the property of Edward Stevens (architect), held on 7 February 1776, lot 38 is described as 'A terracotta figure of Mr Roubiliac's Shakespeare'.

Noted on departmental records at the V and A, as having been purchased by Mr. A. Myers from the Henry Farrer Esq, F.S.A. sale (held at Christie's between 12 and 18 June 1866). Sold on the second day's sale, 13 June 1866, as lot 218, described as 'Shakespeare, by Corbett: a copy of the statue by Roubillac [sic]'.

The annotated catalogue is held in the National Art Library records it was purchased by Myers' for £2. Lots 221 and 222 in the same sale, described as models for a tomb in Westminster Abbey, were also purchased by Myers for 10s each.

The Shakespeare statuette was purchased by the Museum from Mr Myers in 1867 lot £4 4s. A terracotta model by Rysbrack for the Locke monument was also purchased from Myers at this time.

See - http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O111038/william-shakespeare-sketch-model-roubiliac-louis-francois/