George I, an Ivory Bust by David Le Marchand

 

An Exceptionally Large Ivory Bust of George I.

David le Marchand (1674 - 1726).

 

Circa 1714.

Victoria and Albert Museum.

 

Inscribed 'Le Marchand ad Viv. Scul.'

Height: 37.5 cm whole, Height: 25 cm bust alone, Height: 13.5 cm pedestal

Bought from Alfred Spero for £175, 12A Regent Street, London, in 1931. Previously sold Waring and Gillow, 26 October 1920, lot 1075 ('a unique contemporary carved bust of Louis XVI...on ebonised pedestal').

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

George I

Ivory relief by David le Marchand

ad vivum

British Museum.

 

see - http://english18thcenturyportraitsculpture.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/busts-of-william-iii-george-i-and.html

 

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Wax portrait of George I

Probably Isaac Gosset

Victoria and Albert Museum.

 

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Portrait of George I.

Engraving by Pieter van Gunst.

Published by Marrebeeck.

Dutch

Early Eighteenth Century

570 x 420 mm.

British Museum.

 

 

William III by Henry Cheere, Bank of England

William III

Henry Cheere

1734.

 

Bank of England

 

 

 

 

Copyright: © Courtauld Institute of Art

Bust of Vincentio Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua.

 

Bust of Vincentio Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua.

as Julius Caeser.

1599.

 

Andreani, Andrea, born 1558 - died 1629 (print-maker)
Andrea Mantegna, born 1430 - died 1506 (after, artist).

from The TRIUMPH of JULIUS CÆSAR. After Andrea Mantegna.
M. D. XCVIII. In 10 woodcuts printed in chiaroscuro with the title. B.101-11.

Frontispiece, in the centre of which, at the top, is a bust of Vincentio Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, and beneath it the title "Sermo Principi Vincêtio Gõzagae D. G. Mantuae ac Montis Ferrati optimo duci. Tabulae Triumphi Caesaris, &c. Bernar, Malpitius Pict. Mant. F. Mantuae. MDXCVIIII.” 1356

 

 

 

 

 Frontispiece, in the centre of which, at the top, is a bust of Vincentio Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, and beneath it the title 'Sermo Principi Vincêtio Gõzagae D. G. Mantuae ac Montis Ferrati optimo duci. Tabulae Triumphi Caesaris, &c. Bernar, Malpitius Pict. Mant. F. Mantuae. MDXCVIIII.'; After Andrea Mantegna; Woodcut printed in chiaroscuro, on paper.

 

Equestrian Statue of George II, Formerly on St Stephens Green, Dublin.

 

 

The Bronze Equestrian Statue of George II.

Formerly on St Stephen's Green, Dublin.

John van Nost III.

1752.

 

 

 

Dictionary of Irish Artists published in 1913 notes - 

"The Corporation of Dublin having resolved to erect a statue of “King George II,” advertised for tenders for the proposed work in 1752. Two designs were submitted by Van Nost, “whom we apprehend,” says the report of the Committee, “to be the most knowing and skillful statuary in this Kingdom”; and one was accepted and agreed to by the Council in July, 1753. Van Nost went to London and had sittings from the King, returning in August, 1754, when he commenced the work. The statue, which cost £1,000 exclusive of the pedestal, was completed in 1756, and erected in the centre of St. Stephen’s Green in 1758, and was, say the Corporation Records, “allowed by persons of skill and judgment to be a complete and curious piece of workmanship".

 

 

 

 

 

 

Model of the Equestrian Statue of George II by John van Nost III.

 

Formerly in the Collection of Dublin Civic Museum.

 

Donated by Friends of the National Collections of Ireland.

 

http://www.fnci.ie/contact-us.html

 

Currently in store at Dublin Castle. Hopefully I will be able to obtain much better photographs in due course.

 

 

 

 

 

 

From the Dublin Penny Journal, 1835.

 

 

 

 

Press photograph of 20 May 1937.

George II St Stephen's Green, destroyed by an IRA bomb.

 

 

 

 

Another press photograph.

 

Reported in The Irish Times: “Early yesterday morning the statue of King George the second in St. Stephen’s Green Dublin was blown up by an explosive surreptitiously placed in position during the night. Only the day before the newly crowned King, and the Queen were driving through north London where they were received with great enthusiasm. Shortly after eight o’clock a deafening explosion shattered the quiet of St. Stephen’s Green, wrecking many windows in the surrounding houses and causing a good deal of distress among residents and passers-by. The bronze equestrian statue of King George the second and which stood in the centre of the Green since 1758 was blown to pieces and fragments of the granite were hurled thirty yards away.”

Portrait of Walpole with Busts.

 

 

Portrait of Sir Robert Walpole

with Busts of George I and George II.

 

c.1754.

 

 

Portrait of Sir Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, and Catherine Shorter, Lady Walpole.

with busts of George I and George II

 

Strawberry Hill ID: sh-000035
c.1754; frame: c. 1680
Eccardt, John Giles (British painter, d. 1779). 
Wootton, John (British landscape painter, c.1681/2-1764).
Gibbons, Grinling, attributed to (English woodcarver and sculptor, 1648-1721).

Painting
Oil on canvas, in a carved frame in the stle of Grinling Gibbons, gilt and black.
50.8 x 101.6 x 23 cm [painting]

The Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University.

 History of this portrait from Strawberry Hill

Location: Blue Bedchamber

1774 Description: .... over the chimneypiece ... In a frame of black and gold carved by Gibbons, sir Robert Walpole and Catharine Shorter; small whole lengths; by Eckardt, after Zinck: the hounds and view of Houghton by Wootton. Sir Robert is sitting; by him, on a table, is the purse of chancellor of the exchequer, leaning against busts of George 1st. and 2d. to denote his being first minister to those kings: by lady Walpole are flowers, shells, a pallet and pencils, to mark her love of the arts.(37)

1784 Description: Text same as 1774 Description (28-29)

Sale Text: A very interesting and valuable picture, Portraits of Sir Robert Walpole and Catherine Shorter, Lady Walpole, small whole lengths, the former in his robes sitting, on a table near him is the purse of the Chancellor of the Exchequer leaning against busts of George I. and II., to denote his being First Minister to those kings; near Lady Walpole are flowers, shells, a pallet and pencils to mark her love of the arts; their favourite hounds in the foreground and a view of Houghton in the distance. This painting is from the united efforts of Eckardt and Wootton, and is considered a masterpiece of art; the Portraits of Sir Robert and Lady Walpole are from the miniatures by Zincke, the hounds and view of Houghton by Wootton. The black and gold frame enclosing the picture, one of the finest specimens carving, is by Gibbons, displaying with wonderful effect the arms of the family, enriched with Cupid figures as supporters, birds, fruit, grapes and foliage, most beautifully designed and perfect as a work of art. Eckardt and Wootton.

 

Provenance: Probably commissioned by Horace Walpole; 1842, Strawberry Hill Sale, day 22, lot 84, bt Marquis of Lansdowne for £51.9.0; 1930, March 7, Christie's, (Landsdowne Sale), lot 40, bt Basil Dighton, £336; 1930, June, The Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University.

For Horace Walpole and Strawberry Hill and its collection see -

http://images.library.yale.edu/strawberryhill/oneitem.asp?i=2&id=164

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This a copy of the painting and the frame from Factum Foundation exhibited at the Masterpiece fair in London 2016.

 see - www.factumfoundation.org

 

 

 

Small Bronze Equestrian Statue of William III Rijksmuseum.

 

Equestrian Statue of William III

after Rysbrack.

poss. William Low

Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

 

36.3 x 26.3 cms.

 

 

Equestrian Statue Regisole Pavia

 

 

 

Regisole

The Sun King

Antique Bronze Equestrian Statue

Pavia, Italy.

 

 

 

 

Originally in Ravenna and removed to Pavia in the 11th Century

 

Destroyed by the Jacobins as a symbol of monarchy in 1796 in the wake of the Napoleonic invasion.

 

It has been replaced with a modern version by Francesco Messina in the 1930's.

 

For an in depth article on the Equestrian Statues of Louis XIV see -

 

http://www.collegeart.org/pdf/BerniniPDF2r.pdf

 

Comodus as Hercules by Hubert Le Sueur

 

 

 

Comodus as Hercules

By Hubert Le Sueur.

 

Windsor, Royal Collection.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://spenceralley.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/capitoline-hercules-farnese-hercules.html

Photograph of Statue by John Piper in the Tate.

 

 

 

A Photograph of an Unidentified Statue

in an unidentified location.

by John Piper in the Tate Gallery Archives.

 

Described as possibly Oxford.

 

 

Here tentatively identified as William III

Model and designs for William III by John van Nost the Elder

 

 

Terracotta Modellos of William III and Queen Mary.

by John van Nost the Elder

c.1695.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Height: 53.5 cm, Width: 35 cm maximum, Depth: 19 cm maximum, Width: 18 cm base, Depth: 16 cm base.

 

Purchased from Montague Marcussen Ltd, Antiques & Works of Art. 98 Crawford Street, London, in 1939, for £25. It was on long-term loan to Historic Royal Palaces at Hampton Court from 1992 -1999.

 

Victoria and Albert Museum.

 

These were models for life-size figures that were erected in 1695 on the Royal Exchange in London. They were from a series of sculptures depicting English monarchs.

 

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Queen Mary.

By John van Nost the Elder

 

 

 

 

Height: 61 cm, Width: 30 cm maximum, including sceptre, Depth: 21 cm.

 

Previously owned by the donor's mother, Lady Younghusband. The donor 'understood from her [mother] that is was one of the statues of Kings and Queens of England which stood in Gloucester Cathedral, until they were removed many years ago'. Given by Miss Eileen L. Younghusband, Holland Park, London, in 1946.

Victoria and Albert Museum.

 

http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O77792/queen-mary-ii-model-nost-john-van/

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Preparatory Drawing by John van Nost the Elder for a projected statue of William III.

circa 1700.

 

 

49.5 x 18.1 cms

The workshop made a number of pieces for William III's gardens. Other statues by Nost also show the King as a Roman emperor, including two in lead, one at Wrest Park, Bedfordshire, and one in Portsmouth Dockyard, Hampshire, which could relate to this drawing.

This preparatory drawing was probably shown to the client, William III. There are very few identified drawings by Nost, the others being in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, and the British Museum, London.

Victoria and Albert Museum.

http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O77340/king-william-iii-william-of-design-nost-john-van/

 

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Design for a fountain, with a statue of William III; fountain surmounted by a statue wearing antique armour, carrying sword, with various figures seated on scrolls, at centre, a royal crest carried by putti (?), above, two dolphins entwined, related to scheme to alter the Diana fountain at Hampton Court. c.1700.

318 x 518 mm. 

Pen and brown ink and grey wash

British Museum.

Stainton & White 1987

A design connected with one of several schemes to alter Inigo Jones' and Hubert Le Sueur's Diana Fountain, moved in 1656 from Somerset House to the Privy Garden at Hampton Court (see Stainton & White 1987, no. 90). The fountain was first altered by Edward Pierce between 1689 and 1694 (see Stainton & White 1987, cat. no. 130) but there is evidence to suggest that in about 1700 the figure of Diana was to be replaced by one of William III. Two designs by Nost have survived which are connected with this project: one drawing (Victoria and Albert Museum 9145) shows a statue of William III on a simple pedestal with boys representing the continents at each corner, while the other, exhibited here, is not only more elaborate but shows a clear relationship with the Diana Fountain as remodelled by Pierce. Of Jones' and Le Sueur's original design only the figure surmounting the fountain, the boys holding dolphins and the scallop-shell basins remain: the carved stone pedestal is that designed by Pierce and recorded in Sutton Nicholls's engraving of about 1699 (see Stainton & White 1987, p. 170). The upper parts of both the present drawing and that in the Victoria and Albert Museum are separate sheets of paper pasted down, suggesting that they were alternative proposals. Nost also made a model of a proposed fountain, incorporating the same elements, for which he submitted an account in August 1701. The death of William III in 1702 (while riding in Bushy Park), however, put an end to any plans for the work. I November 1712, under Wren's direction, the Diana Fountain was re-sited in Bushy Park, with a new high rusticated base to Pierce's pedestal (see Stainton & White 1987, p. 127), perhaps made to the design of Nost, who had recently died. Alternatively, it may have been designed by William Talman, who had been responsible for the layout of the grounds: he had submitted an estimate for a "pedestall of Portland stone for a Diana in brass" in December 1699, but was dismissed as Comptroller of Works in 1702.

Although Nost's scheme for the fountain was not carried out, he made several statues of William III, including one formerly at Walton Hall, Lancashire, now in the Yale Center for British Art, and two others similar in design to that shown in this drawing, one now in Portsmouth Dockyard and another at Wrest Park, Bedfordshire. Nost's precedents seem to have been Grinling Gibbons's statues of Charles II, at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, and James II, now outside the National Gallery, Trafalgar Square.

 

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William III

Ivory attributed to Jean Cavalier.

c.1690 - 1.

Ivory 8.1 cms.

Victoria and Albert Museum.

 

This portrait medallion is likely to have been carved by the itinerant French ivory sculptor, Jean Cavalier or by a sculptor working in his circle. It may be related to an engraved image. Although it differs slightly in size, it is likely to be a pendant to the relief of Queen Mary II (Mus. no. A.126-1956). Jean Cavalier (1650/60-1698/9), a Hugenot, was a native of France, and perhaps a Protestant. He travelled extensively, working as a wax modeller and ivory sculptor, and specialising in portrait medallions. In the 1682/3 he went to London, where he stayed until 1686; he then went to Trier, perhaps Stuttgart, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Hannover, Kassel, and in 1689 to Vienna, Munich and perhaps Dresden. By 1690 he was back in London, where he carved pictures of the King and Queen and was given the passport as the 'King's medallist'. He was then at the Danish Court in 1691/3, and from 1694/5-7 in Stockholm, from whence he and his brother Denis, also a sculptor, journeyed as ambassadors on behalf of Sweden to Russia and Persia, where they both died. Cavalier was the most accomplished ivory-carver working in late Stuart England until the arrival of David Le Marchand around 1700.

http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O202851/king-william-iii-medallion-jean-cavalier/

 

 

 

William III.

Ivory.

Jean Cavalier

9 cms diam.

Victoria and Albert Museum.

 

 

 

 

William and Katherine Conolly by Thomas Carter

The Rt Hon. William Conolly and his wife Katherine Conolly.

 

This entire post lifted from the blog without permission from -

 

The Irish Aesthete.

 

I highly recommend this blog to anyone interested in the culture of Ireland, in particular its architecture in the past and in many places its disintegration in the present.

 

https://theirishaesthete.com/2016/07/27/the-speaker-and-his-wife/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

'In August 1736 the Dublin Gazette reported, 'On Friday last two curious fine monuments, lately finished by Mr Carter near Hyde Park Corner, were put on board a ship in the river in order to be carried to Ireland, to be erected in the church of Castletown near Dublin, to the memory of the Rt. Hon. William Conolly Esq., Late Speaker to the House of Commons, and his lady.' The two life-sized figures of William and Katherine Conolly were commissioned by the latter after her husband's death in 1729 from London-sculptor Thomas Carter (although it has been proposed that Mrs Conolly's likeness may be from the hand of his son, Thomas Carter Junior). Originally they formed part of a larger monument in a mausoleum attached to the church in nearby Celbridge but in recent decades this fell into disrepair and in 1993 the figures were removed to Castletown where they can be found facing each other in a ground floor passage behind the main staircase'.

 

 

 

Lead Statues on the Roof of the Clarendon Building, Oxford University by John van Nost II.

Lead Statues on the Roof of the Clarendon Building

Oxford University.

Perhaps cast by John van Nost II.

 The lead statues on the roof, formerly nine in number, represent the Muses, and were designed by Sir James Thornhill, whose drawings for them are preserved in the Clarke collection at Worcester College (in a volume of engravings in Case T.D. 5).

  According to an entry in Hearne's 'diary, dated 12 Nov. 1717, 'Last week began to be put up upon the new Printing House in Oxford, a Parcell of Heavy Leaden Statues call'd the nine Muses. These leaden Statues had lain at ye Wharf above Two Years, having been first of all refused. But Basket at last prevail'd with the Delegates to take them, and by that means he hath got more Money from them, these statues coming to about six hundred Pounds.'  In fact the Vice-Chancellor's accounts show that they cost the University only £300. Their place of origin is not mentioned, but it is likely that it was John van Nost's leaden figure manufactory in Piccadilly, for in March 1719–20.

 Dr. Clarke and Townesend went up to London in order to bespeak some 'Vases for the printing house', and 'agreed with Mr. Noist for 80^li for the three, to be delivered to the Oxford barge'. These vases were intended to occupy vacant pedestals on the roof, where they can be seen in Williams's view of 1732–3, but they have since disappeared.

see - http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/oxon/vol3/pp54-55

 

 

 

 

 

Brief Biography of John van Nost III.

 

This post is still under construction.

It is my intention to update it in due course.

Brief Biography of John van Nost the Younger.

fl. Dublin, Ireland 1750 - 1787.

This 1913 biog is not to be taken too seriously and must be treated with caution.

John Nost Nost the Elder (fl. 1678 - 1710) was a native of Malines in The Netherlands. He is first recorded in England around 1678, working at Windsor Castle under Hugh May. His workshop was in the Haymarket and he specialised in lead figures, though he also worked in other materials, such as stone and terracotta. 

He had many important patrons and was commissioned to make a number of garden figures for great houses and palaces, including Castle Howard and Hampton Court Palace.

 

The biog. Lifted from A Dictionary of Irish Artists, 1913.

This account is not entirely to be trusted and is a brief sketch from 1913 - knowledge of the works of the three van Nosts has much advanced since this was written.

 

 

Son of J. Van Nost, a native of Mechlin, who worked in London, and was employed by the Duke of Chandos in the statuary work at Canons. It was presumably this, the elder, Van Nost who executed the statue of George I formerly on Essex Bridge. In 1717 the Corporation of Dublin appointed a committee "to treat with some skilful and able statuary of Great Britain or this Kingdom for such statue." The committee proceeded to London and gave the commission to Van Nost. 

The statue was finished in 1721, sent to Dublin, and exposed to public view on Essex Bridge on the 1st August, 1722. It stood on a pedestal in the river, connected with the western side of the bridge by a short passage, and faced to the east. When the bridge was taken down in 1753 the statue was removed, and after lying neglected for some years was re-erected in its present position in the Mansion House Garden, Dawson Street, in 1798, when the following inscription was cut on the pedestal: "Be it remembered that at the time when Rebellion and Disloyalty were the characteristics of the day the Loyal Corporation of the City of Dublin re-elevated this statue of the First Monarch of the illustrious House of Hanover. Thomas Flemming, Lord Mayor; Jonas Paisley and William Henry Archer, Sheriffs. Anno Domini 1798."

 

Young Van Nost learned his art from his father. In, or shortly before, 1750 he came to Dublin, where he immediately found plenty of employment. In that year he executed the first of the many important works which he did in Ireland, a "Statue of King George II" for the Guild of Weavers. It was placed in an arched niche over the door of the Weavers' Hall in the Coombe, where it still is, and was exposed to public view on the anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne, "when the covering was taken off," says "Faulkner's Journal," "in the sight of many spectators, who all expressed their satisfaction thereat by the loudest acclamations and demonstrations of joy."

In the same or following year Van Nost did the busts of "Samuel Madden" and "Thomas Prior," now in the Royal Dublin Society's House; and in 1754 he did busts of "William III" for a number of subscribers. In announcing the completion of these busts he expressed the hope that "no Gentleman subscriber will injure him by lending the said Bust to be moulded by any other hand" ("Faulkner's Journal," 13th April, 1754). 

He also executed a bust of "Henry Boyle," Speaker of the House of Commons, for the Farmers' Club in Munster. A notice in "Faulkner's Journal" (6th April, 1754) says: "Mr. John Van Nost, the celebrated statuary, hath finished a model in yellow clay for a Busto of the right honourable Henry Boyle, Esq., Speaker of the Hon. House of Commons, in his Parliament Gown and full wig, which is esteemed the most exact likeness that the art of man could perform. Mr. Van Nost is to cast a great number of Bustos from it in plaster of Paris for subscribers, and another is to be cut in beautiful Italian marble for the above society, which is to be placed in their great room as a Testimony of their regard to that distinguished person who is their President."

In 1752 Van Nost was selected as the sculptor of the proposed monument in College Green to Dean Swift; but the project was not carried out.

 

Over the gateways in the Upper Castle Yard are two statues, "Justice" and "Mars," the work of Van Nost, which were placed in their present position in November, 1753.

The Corporation of Dublin having resolved to erect a statue of "King George II," advertised for tenders for the proposed work in 1752. Two designs were submitted by Van Nost, "whom we apprehend," says the report of the Committee, "to be the most knowing and skilfull statuary in this Kingdom"; and one was accepted and agreed to by the Council in July, 1753. 

Van Nost went to London and had sittings from the King, returning in August, 1754, when he commenced the work. The statue, which cost £1,000 exclusive of the pedestal, was completed in 1756, and erected in the centre of St. Stephen's Green in 1758, and was, say the Corporation Records, "allowed by persons of skill and judgment to be a complete and curious piece of workmanship."

 

 

Mars.

........................................

 

 

Justice

 

 

Another view of Justice. 

 

 

In 1756 the Friendly Brothers of St. Patrick resolved that a marble or brass statue of General Blakeney should be erected in some conspicuous part of the city at their expense, in commemoration of his gallant defence of Port Phillip in the island of Minorca against the French in that year, and the work was entrusted to Van Nost. This statue, which was at first intended to be placed in the square in the Royal Barracks, was erected in the centre of the Mall in Sackville Street, and was unveiled in March, 1759. An account of the event was given in "Pue's Occurrences" for 17th-20th March, 1759: "Last Friday evening the fine Brass Statue of the Right Hon. Lord Blakeney, Knight of the Bath, richly gilded and done by Mr. Van Nost, was carried from his house in Aungier Street, and erected on a superb white marble pedestal in the centre of the Mall in Sackville Street, and Saturday, being St. Patrick's Day, the anniversary festival of that Patron of Ireland, the Grand Knot of the Ancient and Most Benevolent Order of the Friendly Brothers of St. Patrick, assembled in the morning at the Rose Tavern in Castle Street, and, according to annual custom, walked in procession to St. Patrick's Cathedral, where they heard a sermon preached by the Rev. Mr. Benson; after which they proceeded to the Mall where that curious figure was unmasked in the presence of that illustrious body, and amidst unnumbered spectators, amongst whom were many travellers and competent judges of statuary, who declared this performance to be equal, if not superior, to any piece of the kind in Europe, not only for the strength and judgment expressed in the likeness of the brave old original, but also in the beauty and elegance with which the drapery and armour is executed, and which will be a monument to perpetuate the memory of the noble veteran whom it represents, as well as a lasting honour to him and his native country at whose expense it was erected, and which produced a member so worthy of such a reward for his valour, integrity and unshaken fortitude in his eminent services to the King and the public. After the statue was unmasked the Society returned to the Rose, where an elegant entertainment was prepared for their reception. Underneath the inscription on the pedestal are his lordship's arms supported by a centinel in his regimentals with a drawn sword and a lion embattled and crowned, and on the back a curious gilded figure of the Grand Knot with the other emblems of the Order. Since the said statue has been erected there has been the greatest resort of people to see it that can be imagined, many of whom have seen Lord Blakeney and declare the likeness to be extremely great, so well is this curious piece of statuary executed."

 

The statue, which, as the foregoing account tells us, was of brass, stood upon a pedestal four or five feet high on which were cut the following inscriptions. On the plinth: "Si Pergama dextrâ Defendi possent, etiam hec defensa fuissent"; on the front: "William Lord Blakeney, the Governor of Minorca, in the year MDCCLVI"; on the back: "Erected by the Ancient and Most Benevolent Order of the Friendly Brothers of St. Patrick." This statue appears to have been the subject of frequent attacks and outrages by "evil-minded persons," and in 1763, within six years of its erection, it was thrown down from its pedestal and much damaged ("Faulkner's Journal," 2nd-5th July, 1763). On account of this or subsequent outrages the statue was removed, but at what time is not known. In a "Tour through the City of Dublin in 1782," which appeared in the "Hibernian Magazine" for 1783, it is stated that there "formerly stood a pedestrian statue of General Blakeney in the centre of this walk [i.e., the Mall]; what became of it we know not."

 

When Dr. Mosse was laying out the New Gardens (now Rutland Square) he commissioned Van Nost to execute metal statues for the adornment of the grounds, and marble busts for the Assembly Rooms. It was also intended to have large statues of King George II and Frederick, Prince of Wales, of metal, gilt, to be placed on the two pavilions of the building. Six of the garden statues were delivered and erected before Mosse's death in 1759, viz.: "Antinous," "Venus de Medici," "A sitting Venus," "Mercury," "Apollo" and "Faunus"; and four busts were done, viz.: "The Earl of Kildare," "Robert Clayton, Bishop of Clogher," "The Earl of Shannon" and "Arthur Lord Sudley, afterwards 1st Earl of Arran." The sculptor was unable to obtain full payment for his work, and on 24th October, 1757, he addressed a letter to the governors of the hospital asking for payment for his statues. "My present distress," he wrote, "compels me immediately to dispose of them, and am very willing to sell them many pounds cheaper at this juncture than at any other time I could afford them, being just now in misfortune, and must, this instant, raise a large sum to extricate me." After Dr. Mosse's death, in February, 1759, the statues, being still unpaid for, were removed by the sculptor. Of the busts, those of the "Bishop of Clogher," "Lord Shannon" and "Lord Arran" are now in the entrance hall of the hospital.

 

 

Van Nost executed other important works in Dublin besides those already mentioned. In Christ Church Cathedral are his monuments to John Lord Bowes and to Thomas Prior; the latter put up by the Dublin Society in 1756. In St. Patrick's Cathedral is the monument to Archbishop Arthur Smyth designed and begun by Van Nost, but finished in 1775 by Henry Darley, which cost fifteen hundred pounds and was described as "the most magnificent ever seen in this Kingdom" ("Hibernian Magazine," 1775). In the City Hall is a bronze statue of "George III" on a marble pedestal, presented to the merchants of Dublin by the Lord Lieutenant, the Duke of Northumberland, who paid the sculptor seven hundred guineas. To carry out this work Van Nost went to London in 1765 to take a model of the King from life. Thackeray, in his "Irish Sketch Book," refers to this work as "a pert statue of George III in a Roman toga simpering and turning out his toes."

 

 

In 1760 Van Nost executed for the city of Cork an equestrian statue in metal of "King George II." This was erected in the centre of Tuckey's Bridge, which had been widened and reconstructed for the purpose, and it was unveiled on the 16th July, 1761. Its pedestal bore the inscription in gilt letters: "The citizens of Cork erected this statue to the memory of King George II in gratitude for the many blessings they enjoyed during his auspicious reign, A.D. MDCCLXI." The site of the statue was afterwards changed to the end of the South Mall. It suffered many indignities, and was finally removed and broken up. An engraving of it is in Fisher's "Views," 1830. Other works by him about this period, when he was busily employed as a sculptor, were busts of the King and Queen, the "Earl of Halifax," "Sir Edward Hawke" and others, as well as the large monument to Judge Gore in Tashinny church, County Longford, and that to the Earl of Charleville in Tullamore church, a work of considerable merit.

 

Van Nost was living in Aungier Street in 1759, and in 1763 "in the garden of the Right Hon. Anthony Malone, on the east side of Stephen's Green" (see "Faulkner's Journal," 11th June, 1763, and "Georgian Society," Vol. II). On his leaving Aungier Street he had a sale of his moulds and models, and some of them were bought by the young sculptor, Patrick Cunningham, who had been an apprentice of Van Nost. In 1779 the sculptor was residing at No. 21 Mecklenburgh Street, and in that year, on 19th October, his statue of "Hugh Lawton," Mayor of Cork, 1776, was erected in Cork. In the following year he went to London, where he stayed four years on account of ill-health. Returning to Dublin he there passed the remainder of his life, dying in Mecklenburgh Street in 1787.

 

Van Nost for long enjoyed almost a monopoly of sculptural work in Ireland, at a time when there were no native artists to compete with him, or capable of carrying out important works. Mrs. Delany, in her "Correspondence," praises him, saying that "he takes as strong a likeness as ever I saw taken in marble; his price is forty guineas for the model and bust." Two medals by Van Nost are known: one, a memorial medal of George II, probably done in 1763; the other of William, Duke or Cumberland, done in 1766. The statue of William III in College Green was long attributed to Van Nost, but as it was erected in 1701 it could not have been his work. The mistake arose, probably, from the fact that at the reparation of the statue in 1836 by John Smyth, a new head was modelled from a bust of the King done by Van Nost in 1754. Since the publication of the Records of the Dublin Corporation it is now known that the execution of the statue was entrusted by the Corporation to Grinling Gibbons.

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The following list gives Van Nost III's known works (not definitive):

John van Nost's input to the busts at Trinity needs to be clarified.

I suspect that although given to be the works of Roubiliac and Scheemakers at least some of them were sub contracted to John van Nost III

 

Sir Arthur Acheson, Bart. Monument, with bust. [Mullabrack church, Co. Armagh.]

 

Arthur, 1st Earl of Arran, when Viscount Sudley. Bust. [Rotunda Hospital.]

 

General William, Lord Blakeney. Brass statue, erected in Sackville Street, Dublin, in 1759. Removed before 1782.

 

John, Lord Bowes. Monument. A life-sized figure of "Justice" leaning on a medallion bearing the head of Bowes in relief. [Christ Church Cathedral.]

 

John, Lord Bowes. Bust, 1763.

 

Henry Boyle, Speaker. Bust, 1754.

 

Henry Boyle, Speaker, when Earl of Shannon. Bust. [Rotunda Hospital.]

 

Charles (Moore), Earl of Charleville. Mural monument, with recumbent effigy of Lord Charleville between two female figures; above, on a pedestal, is a bust of John Bury of Shannongrove, son of Lord Charleville's only sister. The monument was, as recorded in the inscription, "designed and begun by John Bury, Esq., who died August 4th, 1764, much lamented. His intentions were carried into execution by Catherine, his widow, now Mrs. Prittie, second daughter of Francis Sadleir, of Sopwell Hall, in the county of Tipperary, Esq., who has added his bust as a monument also to a most affectionate husband, and in faithful remembrance of his many virtues." The monument bears Van Nost's name and the date, 1764. [Tullamore church.]

 

Philip, Earl of Chesterfield, Lord Lieutenant, Bust. [Royal Dublin Society, Kildare Street.] Done in 1769 for the Members Room, at a cost of 35 guineas.

 

Robert Clayton, Bishop of Clogher. Plaster bust. [Rotunda Hospital.]

 

William, Duke of Cumberland. Memorial medal, done in 1766.

 

Nicholas Fitzgerald of King's Meadow, and John Fitzgerald of London. Monument, 16 ft. high. [Waterford Cathedral.] Erected pursuant to the will of Richard, son of Nicholas Fitzgerald. Over a vault, "Time" with his glass representing life run out, and a female figure of "Piety," seated and leaning on a medallion on which are bust portraits of the deceased. Above are the arms of Fitzgerald. The figures are in white marble, the background of grey marble. An engraving of the monument is in Smith's "History of Waterford."

 

George II. Statue, 1750. [Weavers' Hall, Coombe.]

 

George II. Equestrian statue, 1756. [St. Stephen's Green.]

 

George II. Equestrian statue. Formerly in Cork, but no longer existing.

 

George II. Statue, in Portland stone. Erected in Golden Square, London, 14th March, 1753.

 

George II. Memorial medal, done probably in 1753. Signed I. V. N.

 

George III. Statue. [City Hall, Dublin.] Presented to the merchants of Dublin by the Duke of Northumberland in 1765.

 

 

 

George III

 

 

George Gore, Justice of the Common Pleas (d. 1753), and his wife, Bridget Sankey. Monument. [Tashinny church, Co. Longford.] A large monument in white and grey marble, with recumbent figure.

 

George, Earl of Halifax, Lord Lieutenant. Bust, 1763.

 

Sir Edward Hawke. Bust, 1763.

 

Earl of Inchiquin. Bust, 1755.

 

Lord Kingsborough. Bust, 1755.

 

Earl of Kildare. Just, formerly in Rotunda.

 

Hugh Lawton, Mayor of Cork in 1796. Statue erected in Cork in 1779.

 

Samuel Madden. Bust, 1751. [Royal Dublin Society, Kildare Street.]

 

James, 1st Duke of Leinster. Bust. [Duke of Leinster, Carton.]

 

Mrs. Susanna Mason, daughter of Sir John Mason. Monument. [Waterford Cathedral.]

 

Dr. B. Mosse. Bust. [Rotunda Hospital.]

 

Thomas Prior. Bust, 1751. [Royal Dublin Society, Kildare Street.]

 

Thomas Prior. Monument, erected by the Dublin Society in 1756. [Christ Church Cathedral.]

 

Arthur Smyth, Archbp. of Dublin. Monument. [St. Patrick's Cathedral.] The monument originally stood between the fourth and fifth pillars on the south side of the nave; it was moved to its present position in the south transept at the restoration of the Cathedral in 1862.

 

Lord Sudley.—See Arran.

 

Catherine (Poer), Countess of Tyrone. [In a grotto at Curraghmore, Co. Waterford.] Life-sized statue, dated 1754.—See "Faulkner's Journal," 3rd June, 1755.

 

William III. Bust, 1754. It was from this bust that John Smyth modelled the new head when he repaired the statue of the King in College Green in 1836.

 

Justice. Statue in metal, 1753.

 

 

This Biog from the Dictionary of Irish Architects

 

see - http://www.dia.ie/architects/view/5423/nost,+john+(van)+%5B2%5D*

 

Sculptor, of London and Dublin. John Nost the Younger may have been a son of JOHN NOST [1] JOHN NOST [1] , in which case he must have been born around the time of his father's death in 1710 or 1711, or one of the two sons of the John Nost, who carried on John Nost the Elder's business and died in 1729. On 17 October 1726 he was apprenticed to Henry Scheemakers in Westminster for seven years. It is possible that he then worked in the Nost workshop, which remained in the family until 1739,(1) but there is no record of his career until he settled in Dublin in about 1749. On his arrival he was immediately taken up by the Dublin Society, which commissioned busts of some of its founder members and, arranged for a number of pupils to become his apprentices.(2) He 'soon enjoyed an almost complete monopoly of sculptural work in Ireland'.(3) He made a number of visits to London: these included one in 1753 or 1754 to hold sittings with King George II for the equestrian statue in St Stephen's Green, another in 1763, when he even had a London address 'At Mr Clarke's, St Martin's-lane, opposite May's-buildings',(4) and another in 1765 to make a model for his statue of George III for the City Hall in Dublin. A much later visit in 1776 is said to have been much prolonged on account of his poor health. He died in Dublin in October 1780. His will of 24 October 1779 appointed his wife 'Ann Van Nost otherwise Armstrong' as his executor and made bequests to a widowed sister, Catherine Legross, and a nephew, Richard Lynd.(5) He appears to have had no surviving children.

Addresses: Aungier Street, Dublin, 1752(5)-1760;(6) 'in the Gardens of the Right Hon. Anthony Malone, the east side of Stephen's-green', 1763;(7) 21 Mecklenburgh Street, 1779-1780.(8)

See WORKS for Irish works only (excluding free-standing busts).

References

Genealogical and biographical information in this entry is from S. O'Connell, 'The Nosts: a revision of the family history', Burlington Magazine 129, December 1987, 802-6, and Paul Spencer Longhurst & Andrew Naylor, 'Nost's equestrian George I restored', Sculpture Journal II (1998), 33, which further amends O'Connell's account. There are entries on Van Nost in W.G. Strickland, A Dictionary of Irish Artists (1913), II, 478-487, Rupert Gunnis, Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851 (revised edition, n.d.), 282, and Homan Potterton, Irish Church Monuments 1570-1880 (UAHS, 1975), 85.

(1) The Nost workshop belonged to an Anthony Nost in 1739, when it passed to John Cheere (O'Connell, op. cit., 803).

(2) Potterton, loc. cit.; the School of Modelling was not established until 1811.

(3) Gunnis, loc.cit.

(4) O'Connell, op.cit., 803; he is described as 'lately arrived from London' in Faulkner's Dublin Journal, 11-14 June 1763.

(5) P.B. Eustace, Registry of Deeds Dublin: Abstracts of Wills II 1746-85 (1954), 310 (no. 629).

(6) Faulkner's Dublin Journal, 21-25 Jan 1752.

(7) Faulkner's Dublin Journal, 22-26 Jan 1760.

(8) Faulkner's Dublin Journal, 11-14 Jun 1763.

(9) Faulkner's Dublin Journal, 7-9 Sep 1779 and 24-26 Aug 1780 (street number in latter edition misprinted or mistranscribed as 11 Mecklenburgh Street).

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George III.

John van Nost III.

Marble Bust.

1767

Victoria and Albert Museum.

https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O75361/george-iii-bust-nost-john-van/