Richard Westmacott

For other people named Richard Westmacott, see Richard Westmacott (disambiguation).

Sir Richard Westmacott RA
Born	(1775-07-15)15 July 1775 London, England
Died	1 September 1856(1856-09-01) (aged 81) London, England
Resting place	Chastleton, Oxfordshire
Nationality	British
Known for	sculpture

Sir Richard Westmacott RA (15 July 1775 – 1 September 1856) was a British sculptor.[1]

Life and career

Westmacott studied with his father, also named Richard Westmacott, at his studio in Mount Street, off Grosvenor Square in London before going to Rome in 1793 to study under Antonio Canova.[2] Westmacott devoted all his energies to the study of classical sculpture, and throughout his life his real sympathies were with pagan rather than with Christian art. Within a year of his arrival in Rome he won the first prize for sculpture offered by the Florentine Academy of Arts, and in the following year he gained the papal gold medal awarded by the Academy of St Luke with his bas-relief of Joseph and his brothers.[3] On returning to England in 1797, he set up a studio, where John Edward Carew and Musgrave Watson gained experience.

Westmacott had his own foundry at Pimlico, in London, where he cast both his own works, and those of other sculptors, including John Flaxman's statue of Sir John Moore for Glasgow. Late in life he was asked by the Office of Works for advice on the casting of the relief panels for Nelson's Column.[4] He also had an arrangement with the Trustees of the British Museum, which allowed him to make moulds and supply plaster casts of classical sculpture in the museum's collection to country house owners, academies and other institutions.[4]

Statue of Achilles (1822) on the Wellington Monument at Hyde Park Corner, London.

Westmacott exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1797 and 1839. His name is given in the catalogues as "R. Westmacott, Junr." until 1807, when the "Junr." was dropped.[5] He was elected an associate of the Royal Academy in 1805, and a full academician in 1811.[2] His academy diploma piece, a marble relief of Jupiter and Ganymede, remains in the academy's collection.[6] He was professor of sculpture at the academy from 1827 until his death.[2] He received his knighthood on 19 July 1837.[7][8] In 1852 when contacted by the Corporation of London about a possible sculpture commission, Westmacott replied that he had not been active as a sculptor for some years.[9]

Works

Among Westmacott's works include: the reliefs for the north side of Marble Arch; the Greek revival pedimental sculptures of figures representing The Progress of Civilisation on the British Museum;[10][11] the Achilles of the Wellington Monument, London; and the Waterloo Vase, now in Buckingham Palace Gardens.

The Waterloo Vase was sculpted from a single piece of Carrara marble, earmarked by Napoleon to represent his military victories. Following the French defeat in the Napoleonic Wars, the vase was presented unfinished to George IV in 1815 by Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany. George IV later commissioned Westmacott to complete the piece.[12][13][14]

His statue of Horatio Nelson, Birmingham was the first statue of Nelson unveiled in Britain. There are other monuments to Nelson by Westmacott at the Bull Ring, Birmingham, in Barbados,^[citation needed] while that at Liverpool was modelled and cast by Westmacott, to a design by Matthew Cotes Wyatt.[4][15] In Liverpool there is also an equestrian statue of King George III sculpted by Westmacott, which was unveiled in 1822.[16] He was responsible for the statue of the agriculturalist and developer Francis Russell, 5th Duke of Bedford in Russell Square, and the one of the Duke of York on top of the column in Waterloo Place.[2] His Achilles in Hyde Park, a bronze copy of an antique sculpture from Monte Cavallo in Rome, is a tribute to the Duke of Wellington, paid for by £10,000 raised by female subscribers.[17][10]

Westmacott's sculptures of poetical subjects were in a style similar to those of the contemporary Italian school: his works of this type included Psyche and Cupid for the Duke of Bedford; Euphrosyne for the Duke of Newcastle^[clarification needed]; A Nymph Unclasping her Zone; The Distressed Mother and The Houseless Traveller.[2]

Westmacott also sculpted the memorials to William Pitt the Younger, Spencer Perceval, Charles James Fox and Joseph Addison in Westminster Abbey; the statue of Fox in Bloomsbury Square; and those to Sir Ralph Abercromby, Lord Collingwood and Generals Edward Pakenham and Samuel Gibbs in St Paul's Cathedral.[2] The Abercromby monument is considered by some critics as the most original composition of Westmacott's entire career.[18] The idea to create a memorial to a British military hero by showing his death in action was a bold departure from the more common use of allegorical figures and personifications of virtue.[18] The memorial, a free-standing marble group on an oval base, showed Abercromby falling dead from his charging horse into the arms of soldier and established Westmacott's reputation for originality.[18] His memorial to Pitt in Westminster Abbey, commissioned in 1807, shows a male figure representing anarchy writhing in chains at Pitt's feet, a reference to Pitt's suppression of revolutionaries by press censorship and other means.[9]

Blue plaque at 14 South Audley Street, London

Westmacott's other church monuments include those to Lt. General Christopher Jeaffreson (died 1824) in St.Mary's Church in Dullingham;[19] to Commander Charles Cotton (died 1828) at St. Mary's Church in Madingley;[20] to William Pemberton (died 1828) at St Margaret's Church in Newton, South Cambridgeshire;[21] to Sir George Warren (died 1801) at St. Mary's Church, Stockport in Greater Manchester, depicting a standing female figure by an urn on a pillar;[22] to Rev. Charles Prescott (died 1820), in St. Mary's Church, Stockport, showing a seated effigy[22] and to Mary Henson (died 1805) in Bainton parish church, showing a seated figure against an urn. A bust of David Garrick by Westmacott is in Lichfield Cathedral.[23]

He created a sculptural group for the marble arch of the Cumberland Gate to Hyde Park.[24]

Personal life

Westmacott lived and died at 14 South Audley Street, Mayfair, London where he is commemorated by a blue plaque.[25] Two of his brothers, George, who was active between 1799 and 1827, and Henry, (1784–1861) were also sculptors.[10] In 1798 Westmacott married Dorothy Margaret Wilkinson.[3] Their son, also called Richard Westmacott, followed closely in his footsteps also becoming a notable sculptor, a Royal Academician and professor of sculpture at the academy.

Westmacott is buried in a tomb at St Mary's Church, Chastleton in Oxfordshire, where his third son Horatio was rector in 1878.

Selected public works

1800–1809

Image	Title / subject	Location and coordinates	Date	Type	Material	Dimensions	Designation	Wikidata	Notes
	Bishop John Warren	Westminster Abbey, London	After 1800	Sculpture group	White and grey marble				[26]
More images	General Ralph Abercromby	St Paul's Cathedral, London	1802-1805	Equestrian sculpture group on pedestal & plinth with flanking sphinx figures	White marble				[27][18]
	Adam Duncan, 1st Viscount Duncan	Crypt of St Paul's Cathedral, London	After 1804	Statue on pedestal	Marble				[28]
	Memorial to John Cooke	Crypt of St Paul's Cathedral, London	After 1805	Sculpture on shallow pedestal	Marble	3m tall			[29][30]
More images	John Locke	University College London	1808	Statue	Marble
More images	William Pitt the Younger	Westminster Abbey, London	c. 1808	Statue group	Marble			Q113700278	[31][32]
More images	Statue of Horatio Nelson	Bull Ring, Birmingham, West Midlands	1809	Sculpture group on pedestal	Bronze and stone	Statue 170 cm high, pedestal 370 cm high	Grade II*	Q7604486	[23][33][34]
More images	Francis Russell, 5th Duke of Bedford	Russell Square, London	1809	Statue group on cylindrical pedestal	Bronze and granite		Grade II	Q27082115	[23][35]
More images	Joseph Addison	Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey, London	1809	Statue on pedestal	Marble				[36]

1810–1819

Image	Title / subject	Location and coordinates	Date	Type	Material	Dimensions	Designation	Wikidata	Notes
	Sir Isaac Brock	St Paul's Cathedral, London	c. 1813	Sculpture group	Marble				[37]
More images	Cuthbert Collingwood, 1st Baron Collingwood	St Paul's Cathedral, London	1813	Sculpture group on plinth	Marble				[38]
More images	Statue of Robert Milligan	West India Docks, London	1813	Statue on pedestal with plaques	Bronze and stone			Q96183031	Removed 2020
More images	Monument to Horatio Nelson	Exchange Flags, Liverpool	1813	Statue group on pedestal with plaques	Stone, bronze and granite		Grade II*	Q4343277	Designer, Matthew Cotes Wyatt[23][39]
More images	Statue of Horatio Nelson	Bridgetown, Barbados	1813	Statue on pedestal	Bronze and stone			Q107548492	Relocated to Barbados Museum in 2020[40]
More images	Statue of Charles James Fox	Bloomsbury Square, London	1814, erected 1816	Statue on cuboid pedestal	Bronze and granite	5.2m tall	Grade II*	Q17542668	[23][41][42]
More images	Memorial to Elizabeth Stanhope	Newton Chapel, Bristol Cathedral	After 1816	Relief & plaque	Marble				[43]
More images	William Pitt the Younger	Pembroke College, Cambridge	1819	Seated statue on pedestal	Stone			Q26379565	[44]

1820–1829

Image	Title / subject	Location and coordinates	Date	Type	Material	Dimensions	Designation	Wikidata	Notes
More images	Charles James Fox	Westminster Abbey, London	1822	Sculpture group	Marble				[45]
More images	Spencer Perceval	Westminster Abbey, London	1822	Statue group & relief	Marble				[46][47]
More images	Wellington Monument, London	Hyde Park Corner, London	1822	Statue on pedestal	Bronze and granite		Grade I	Q13528921	[23][48][10]
More images	George III	Monument Place, Liverpool	1822	Equestrian statue on pedestal	Bronze and stone		Grade II	Q26629818	[23][49]
	Memorial to John Egerton, 7th Earl of Bridgewater and Charlotte Egerton, Countess of Bridgewater	Church of St Peter and St Paul, Little Gaddesden	After 1823	Plaque with relief	Stone				[50]
More images	Generals Edward Pakenham & Samuel Gibbs	St Paul's Cathedral, London	1824	Twin statues on pedestal	Marble				[51]
	Memorial to Caroline, Countress Brownlow	Church of St Peter and St Paul, Belton, South Kesteven	1824	Relief	Marble		Grade I		[52][53]
More images	The Distressed Mother, memorial to Elizabeth Warren	Westminster Abbey, London	c. 1825	Statue on pedestal	Marble				[26]
More images	England with Scotland and Ireland and Peace with Trophies of War	North face of Marble Arch, London	1828	Two reliefs	Marble	150 cm square	Grade I	Q845529	[54][55]
	Francis Egerton, 8th Earl of Bridgewater	Church of St Peter and St Paul, Little Gaddesden	1829	Sculpture group in relief	Stone

1830–1839

Image	Title / subject	Location and coordinates	Date	Type	Material	Dimensions	Designation	Wikidata	Notes
	Warren Hastings	Victoria Memorial, Kolkata	1830	Statue	Marble				[56]
More images	Waterloo Vase	Buckingham Palace Garden, London	1830	Vase with reliefs	Carrara marble	5.5m x 3.0m	Grade I	Q7974302	[57]
More images	Tomb of Antoine Philippe, Duke of Montpensier	Westminster Abbey, London	1830	Tomb effigy	Marble				Second version at the Château de Randan, France[58][59]
More images	Statue of George III	Windsor Great Park	1831	Equestrian statue on pedestal	Bronze and stone		Grade I	Q7727584	[23][60]
More images	Statue of George Canning	Parliament Square, London	1832	Statue on pedestal	Bronze and granite	7.9m tall	Grade II	Q21546419	[23][41][61]
More images	Duke of York	Duke of York Column, London	1833	Statue on pedestal and column	Bronze and stone	4.2m statue, 3m pedestal, 34m column	Grade I	Q2911131	Architect, Benjamin Dean Wyatt[23][41][62]
	Dr. John Alderson	Hull Royal Infirmary	1833	Statue on pedestal	Marble and stone		Grade II	Q26568781	[23][63]
	Dorothy Margaret Westmacott	St Nicholas' Church, Brighton	1834	Funerary bust
	Joseph Drury	St Mary's Church, Harrow on the Hill, London	1835	Relief plaque	Marble		Grade I		[64][65]

1840 and later

Image	Title / subject	Location and coordinates	Date	Type	Material	Dimensions	Designation	Wikidata	Notes
	Lord William Bentinck	Victoria Memorial, Kolkata	1841	Statue on pedestal	Bronze & stone				[56]
More images	The Progress of Civilisation	British Museum, London	1847	Pediment sculptures	Stone		Grade I		[66][67][68]
	Mary, Queen of Scots	Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire		Statue on pedestal	Marble and stone				Relocated from Chatsworth House[23]

Other works

• Life-sized marble relief monument to John Yorke, 1801, St Andrews Church, Wimpole, Cambridgeshire[18][69][70]
• Memorial sculpture group, erected 1821, to Richard Pennant, 1st Baron Penrhyn, died 1808, Church of St Tegal, Llandygai, Wales[71][72]
• Memorial to Rev. John Chetwynd Talbot, 1827, St Mary's Church, Ingestre, Staffordshire[73]
• Memorial to Dr. John Wooll, c. 1833, Utah[74]
• Memorial plaque, with portrait medallion, to Francis Bauer, 1840, St. Anne's Church, Kew,[75][76]

References

1. "Richard Westmacott". Royal Academy of Arts.
2. Charles Knight, ed. (1858). "Westmacott, Sir Richard, R.A.". The English Cyclopedia. Biography – Volume 6. London: Bradbury and Evans. p. 653.
3. Chisholm 1911, p. 547.
4. British bronze sculpture founders and plaster figure makers, 1800-1980, National Portrait Gallery
5. Algernon Graves (1905). The Royal Academy: A Complete Dictionary of Contributors from its Foundations in 1769 to 1904. Vol. 8. London: Henry Graves. pp. 239–40.
6. "Jupiter and Ganymede, 1811". Royal Academy. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
7. "No. 19525". The London Gazette. 25 July 1837. p. 1910.
8. Chisholm 1911, pp. 547–548.
9. Philip Ward-Jackson (2003). Public Sculpture of Britain Volume 7: Public Sculpture of the City of London. Liverpool University Press / Public Monuments & Sculpture Association. ISBN 0-85323-977-0.
10. Ian Chilvers (2004). The Oxford Dictionary of Art. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-860476-9.
11. Hartwig Fischer. "Richard Westmacott's Pediment Sculptures for the British Museum". HENI Talks. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
12. "Sir Richard Westmacott (1775-1856)". The Victorian Web. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
13. "The Waterloo Vase". War Memorials online. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
14. "The Waterloo Vase". Royal Collection Trust. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
15. "Prisoner sculpture from the monument to Lord Nelson". Liverpool Museums. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
16. Liverpool Mercury, 27 September 1822
17. Henry B. Wheatley (1891), "Hyde Park", London Past and Present: Its History, Associations and Traditions, vol. 2, London: John Murray, p. 253
18. H W Janson (1985). Nineteenth-century sculpture. Thames & Hudson.
19. Pevsner 1970, p. 332.
20. Pevsner 1970, p. 435.
21. Pevsner 1970, p. 443.
22. Nikolaus Pevsner; Edward Hubbard (2003) [1971], The Buildings of England: Cheshire, New Haven: Yale University Press, pp. 339–340, ISBN 0-300-09588-0
23. Jo Darke (1991). The Monument Guide to England and Wales. Macdonald Illustrated. ISBN 0-356-17609-6.
24. Charles Kendall Adams (ed.). Johnson's Universal Cyclopædia: A New Edition. Vol. 8. p. 717. ("Westmacott, Sir Richard M.A." entry revised by Russell Sturgis) (found in this Google book search)
25. "English Heritage website". Archived from the original on 25 September 2006. Retrieved 12 March 2007.
26. "John and Elizabeth Warren". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
27. Jason Edwards, Amy Harris & Greg Sullivan (2021). Monuments of St Paul's Cathedral 1796-1916. Scala Arts & Heritage Publishers Ltd. ISBN 978-1-78551-360-2.
28. "Statue of Adam Lord, Viscount Duncan". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
29. "War Memorials Register: Capt J Cooke". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
30. "Monument to Captain John Cooke". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
31. "Monument to William Pitt". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
32. "William Pitt and family". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
33. Historic England. "Monument to Lord Nelson (1343362)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
34. George T. Noszlopy (1998). Public Sculpture of Birmingham including Sutton Coldfield. Liverpool University Press / Public Monuments & Sculpture Association. ISBN 0-85323-692-5.
35. Historic England. "Statue of Francis Russell, 5th Duke of Bedford (1246153)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
36. "Joseph Addison". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
37. "Monument to Sir Isaac Brock". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
38. "Monument to Lord Collingwood". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
39. Historic England. "Nelson Monument (1068235)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
40. "Maritime Memorials: M2219". Royal Museums Greenwich. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
41. John Blackwood (1989). London's Immortels. The Complete Outdoor Commemorative Statues. Savoy Press. ISBN 0-9514296-0-4.
42. Historic England. "Statue of Charles James Fox at north end of garden (1244458)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
43. John Britton; John Le Keux; Edward Blore (1836). Peterborough, Gloucester, and Bristol. Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, and T. Longman. p. 64.
44. "Statue of William Pitt". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
45. "Charles James Fox and Henry V. Fox, Lord Holland". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
46. "Monument to Spencer Perceval". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
47. "Spencer Perceval". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
48. Historic England. "The Achilles Statue (1231393)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
49. Historic England. "George III Monument (1346252)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
50. "Monument to the 7th Earl of Bridgewater". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
51. "Monument to Major General Sir E. Pakenham and Major General Samuel Gibbs". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
52. "Monument to Caroline, Countress Brownlow". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
53. Historic England. "Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul (1298472)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
54. Historic England. "The Marble Arch (1239534)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
55. Philip Ward-Jackson (2011). Public Sculpture of Britain Volume 1: Public Sculpture of Historic Westminster. Liverpool University Press / Public Monuments & Sculpture Association. ISBN 978-1-84631-662-3.
56. Mary Ann Steggles & Richard Barnes (2011). British Sculpture in India: New Views & Old Memories. Frontier Publishing. ISBN 978-1-872914-41-1.
57. Historic England. "Waterloo Vase in Buckingham Palace Garden (Grade I) (1239244)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
58. "Tomb of Duc de Montpensier". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
59. "Antoine Philippe, Duc de Montpensier". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
60. Historic England. "Statue of George III (1323671)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
61. Historic England. "Statue of George Canning (1226371)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
62. Historic England. "Duke of York Column and Steps (1239383)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
63. Historic England. "Statue of Doctor John Alderson Outside Hull Royal Infirmary (Infirmary Not Included) (1279574)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
64. "Monument to Joseph Drury". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
65. Historic England. "Parish Church of St Mary (1079742)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
66. "Pediment of the British Museum". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
67. Historic England. "The British Museum (1130404)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
68. Hartwig Fischer. "Richard Westmacott's Pediment Sculptures for the British Museum". HENI Talks.
69. "Monument to the Honourable John Yorke". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
70. Historic England. "Church of St Andrew (1330900)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
71. "Monument to Lord Penrhyn". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
72. Cadw. "Church of St Tegal (3657)". National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
73. "Monument to Reverend John Chetwynd Talbot". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
74. "Monument to Dr. John Wooll". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
75. "St Anne's Church, Kew Green" (PDF). Local History Notes. London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
76. "Monument to Francis Bauer". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 4 November 2022.

Sources

• Busco, Marie. "Westmacott, Sir Richard (1775–1856)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/29114. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
• Dodgson, Campbell (1899). "Westmacott, Richard (1775-1856)" . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 60. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Westmacott, Sir Richard". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 547–548.
• Pevsner, Nikolaus (1970). Cambridgeshire. The Buildings of England (second ed.). Penguin Books.

External links

• Works by or about Richard Westmacott at Wikisource
• 28 artworks by or after Richard Westmacott at the Art UK site
• Nymph and Zephyr., a poem on the statuary group by Letitia Elizabeth Landon as part of her Poetical Sketches of Modern Pictures, in The Troubadour (1825).
• Hindoo Girl, By an Urn, from a Group, by Westmacott. A poetical illustration by Letitia Elizabeth Landon, to an engraving of the statuary, in Friendship's Offering, 1826.