Plaster Busts formerly at Shardeloes House

The Shardeloes Set of Plaster Busts.

attrib. to John Cheere.

Shakespeare, Milton, Newton, Pope and Locke.

These busts formerly at Shardeloes House, Amersham, Buckinghamshire.

Removed to Aston Hall.

It seems these busts were purchased from T. Crowther of North End Road, Fulham in 1967.

Info from the Iconography of Issac Newton, Milo Keynes Pub. Boydell, 2005.

Shardeloes was built by Stiff Ledbetter and in part designed by Robert Adam c. 1758 - 66, with later decoration from 1773 by James Wyatt

for William Drake.

Five of these busts are now in store with Birmingham Museums.

The Drake family continued to live in the house until the Second World War when it was used as a Maternity hospital.

The house was converted into flats in the 1960's.

Visible in the photograph are busts possibly anonymous female ? on the left hand door case,  - a bronzed or black painted bust of Inigo Jones, Alexander Pope? and Shakespeare on the right hand door case.

Photograph above courtesy Country Life Magazine.

Photograph from Amersham Museum Website

showing busts of an anonymous Female, Antinous and Inigo Jones

http://amershammuseum.pbworks.com/w/page/12607047/Shardeloes%20photographs

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Alexander Pope 

Plaster

Here attrib. John Cheere.

Sold at the Shardeloes Sale, Sotheby's 1932.

Scan from Wimsatt - Portraits of Alexander Pope. pub Yale, 1965.

Alexander Pope

Plaster bust

Here attributed to John Cheere.

Wren Library, Trinity College, Cambridge.

Photograph by the Author

with grateful thanks to Nicolas Ball, Librarian at the Wren Library.

I will be posting on the long series of  plaster busts at the Wren Library in due course.

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Isaac Newton

Shardeloes Plaster bust.

attrib. John Cheere.

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Palladio

Plaster Bust.

here attrib. John Cheere.

Life size

Birmingham Museums.

I am very grateful to staff at Birmingham Museums for allowing me access to their stores.

Photographed in poor lighting so forgive the quality

The drapery on this bust is different from the Rysbrack marble version at Chatsworth making the bust much longer. 

Currently I have no further information about this bust - it appears to be en suite with the other two busts above - the socles match - perhaps it was misidentified and is another of the Shardeloe's busts.

For a further in depth look at the busts of Palladio see -

http://bathartandarchitecture.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/soane-museum-6-bust-of-palladio.html

Image from Birmingham Museums.