The Lead Sculpture at the Royal Summer Palace of Queluz, Portugal.
Commissioned by Infante Dom Pedro (1717 - 86),
younger son of King Dom Joao V.
Made and Supplied by John Cheere (1709 - 87),
in two lots in 1755.
The Garden designed by Jean Baptiste Robillon (1704 - 82).
The Garden designed by Jean Baptiste Robillon (1704 - 82).
Some notes -
I have recently visited Portugal and taken photographs of the lead sculpture at Queluz.
I will be posting them and more detailed notes in due course but in the mean time here are some samples.
This will form part of a wider study of the works of John Cheere.
The sculpture at Queluz should be compared with the groups at Wrest Park installed in 1839.
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Information on the Cheere statuary at Queluz (below) culled from - John Cheere's lead garden statues.... by Maria Joaon Neto and Fernando Grilo. Sculpture Journal Vol. 15.1, 2006.
The Gardens of the National Palace of Queluz, Ana Duarte Rodrigues, Denise Pereira da Silva and Gerald Luckhurst, pub. 2011.
For a not very satisfactory introduction to the works of John Cheere.
see John Cheere, the Eminent Statuary ..... Moira Fulton, Sculpture Journal, Volume X, 2003.
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Details of the purchases are contained in Correspondence between the Portuguese Ambassador in London Don Louis da Cnha Manuel and the Foreign Secretary in Lisbon Sebasteao Jose de Carvalho e Melo (future Marquis of Pombal).
A stipulation by Dom Pedro was that the statues not be embarrassingly naked and an assurance from the sculptor that they were "girdled".
The sculptures exported from England to Queluz consisted in total of 9 Sculptural Groups, 57 individual figures and 72 lead vases.
The first Collection sent in May? 1755 in 36 crates on board the ship Camberwell consisted of -
Meleager and Atalanta (as Diana and Endymion at Wrest Park).
Vertumnus and Pomona.
23 statues of Mythological figures -
Neptune, Meleager, Mercury, Fame, Apollo, Diana, Bacchus, Venus, Ceres and Flora.
A Gladiator and 4 Seasons,
4 Commedia dell' Arte figures, - (Pierrot, Harlequin, Scaramouche and Columbine)
4 Picturesque figures - Shepherd and Shepherdess a man with a flute and drum and a woman with a rake.
24 Vases.
Cost £290.5s. 2d including shipping - £340.18s. 6d.
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The second lot of sculptures sent in 58 crates on the ship Nossa Senhora do Socorro in September 1755.
The speed with which these sculptures were ordered suggests that John Cheere already had these objects in stock at his premises at Hyde Park Corner..
7 Sculptural Groups -
Rape of Proserpine.
Aeneas Carrying his father Anchises.
Rape of the Sabine Women (another at Wrest Park).
David and Goliath
Cain and Abel actually Samson Slaying the Philistine from the Giambologa original then at Buckingham House (another lead version at Harrowden Hall, Northants).
Venus and Adonis (another at Wrest Park),
Bacchus and Ariadne.
and 6 individual figures -
Hercules.
Meleager.
Atalanta.
Justice.
Mars.
and Minerva.
and 16 animals -
4 Monkeys.
4 Lions.
4 Tigers.
2 Foxes a Harpy and an Eagle.
4 Groups with holes for the large tanks and water spouts?
8 Boys to decorate the waterfalls.
48 Painted Bronze and gold vases.
Cost with 10% discount £853.14s.1d.
________________________________________
This will form part of a wider study of the works of John Cheere.
The sculpture at Queluz should be compared with the groups at Wrest Park installed in 1839.
___________________________
Information on the Cheere statuary at Queluz (below) culled from - John Cheere's lead garden statues.... by Maria Joaon Neto and Fernando Grilo. Sculpture Journal Vol. 15.1, 2006.
The Gardens of the National Palace of Queluz, Ana Duarte Rodrigues, Denise Pereira da Silva and Gerald Luckhurst, pub. 2011.
For a not very satisfactory introduction to the works of John Cheere.
see John Cheere, the Eminent Statuary ..... Moira Fulton, Sculpture Journal, Volume X, 2003.
______________________________
Details of the purchases are contained in Correspondence between the Portuguese Ambassador in London Don Louis da Cnha Manuel and the Foreign Secretary in Lisbon Sebasteao Jose de Carvalho e Melo (future Marquis of Pombal).
A stipulation by Dom Pedro was that the statues not be embarrassingly naked and an assurance from the sculptor that they were "girdled".
The sculptures exported from England to Queluz consisted in total of 9 Sculptural Groups, 57 individual figures and 72 lead vases.
The first Collection sent in May? 1755 in 36 crates on board the ship Camberwell consisted of -
Meleager and Atalanta (as Diana and Endymion at Wrest Park).
Vertumnus and Pomona.
23 statues of Mythological figures -
Neptune, Meleager, Mercury, Fame, Apollo, Diana, Bacchus, Venus, Ceres and Flora.
A Gladiator and 4 Seasons,
4 Commedia dell' Arte figures, - (Pierrot, Harlequin, Scaramouche and Columbine)
4 Picturesque figures - Shepherd and Shepherdess a man with a flute and drum and a woman with a rake.
24 Vases.
Cost £290.5s. 2d including shipping - £340.18s. 6d.
___________________________
The second lot of sculptures sent in 58 crates on the ship Nossa Senhora do Socorro in September 1755.
The speed with which these sculptures were ordered suggests that John Cheere already had these objects in stock at his premises at Hyde Park Corner..
7 Sculptural Groups -
Rape of Proserpine.
Aeneas Carrying his father Anchises.
Rape of the Sabine Women (another at Wrest Park).
David and Goliath
Cain and Abel actually Samson Slaying the Philistine from the Giambologa original then at Buckingham House (another lead version at Harrowden Hall, Northants).
Venus and Adonis (another at Wrest Park),
Bacchus and Ariadne.
and 6 individual figures -
Hercules.
Meleager.
Atalanta.
Justice.
Mars.
and Minerva.
and 16 animals -
4 Monkeys.
4 Lions.
4 Tigers.
2 Foxes a Harpy and an Eagle.
4 Groups with holes for the large tanks and water spouts?
8 Boys to decorate the waterfalls.
48 Painted Bronze and gold vases.
Cost with 10% discount £853.14s.1d.
________________________________________
___________________________________
Links.
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This links to the first page of the Sculpture Journal piece, John Cheere's lead garden statues.... by Maria Joaon Neto and Fernando Grilo on the Cheere lead sculpture at Queluz and offers the rest of the article for the bargain price of £25. Contact me if anyone is interested in the contents of this article. I will, in due course, be publishing my own photographs (samples above) and a more up to date look at the works of John Cheere which were supplied to Queluz.
Two invaluable general works on the subject of Lead Statuary are English Leadwork, ..... by Lawrence Weaver, pub. 1909 and available on line at -
https://archive.org/stream/englishleadworki00weav#page/n9/mode/2up
and Antique Garden Ornament by John Davies, pub Antique Collectors Club, 1999.
Two invaluable general works on the subject of Lead Statuary are English Leadwork, ..... by Lawrence Weaver, pub. 1909 and available on line at -
https://archive.org/stream/englishleadworki00weav#page/n9/mode/2up
and Antique Garden Ornament by John Davies, pub Antique Collectors Club, 1999.
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The website of Rupert Harris
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https://wmf.org.uk/Projects/the-john-cheere-sculptures-at-queluz-national-palace-portugal/
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For Lead Sculpture at Wrest Park, Bedfordshire.
http://leadrestoration.co.uk/h-a-r-l-e-q-u-i-n-a-n-d-c-o-l-u-m-b-i-n-e
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aeneas_and_Anchises_by_John_Cheere,_1700s_-_Wrest_Park_-_Bedfordshire,_England_-_DSC08325.jpg
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/wrest-park/history/collection
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1113789
https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/statue-of-the-young-adonis-at-wrest-park/IAGV4fdMEWYITw
For the statue of William III at Wrest Park see -
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1158878
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For the Giambologna marble version of Samson slaying the Philistine (Cain and Abel) at Buckingham House at the time, from which the Cheere lead version derives, now in the V and A, see -
http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/s/giambolognas-samson-and-a-philistine/
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For Lead Sculpture at Wrest Park, Bedfordshire.
http://leadrestoration.co.uk/h-a-r-l-e-q-u-i-n-a-n-d-c-o-l-u-m-b-i-n-e
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aeneas_and_Anchises_by_John_Cheere,_1700s_-_Wrest_Park_-_Bedfordshire,_England_-_DSC08325.jpg
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/wrest-park/history/collection
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1113789
https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/statue-of-the-young-adonis-at-wrest-park/IAGV4fdMEWYITw
For the statue of William III at Wrest Park see -
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1158878
________________________________________
For the Giambologna marble version of Samson slaying the Philistine (Cain and Abel) at Buckingham House at the time, from which the Cheere lead version derives, now in the V and A, see -
http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/s/giambolognas-samson-and-a-philistine/
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