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THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL 



[Jan. 



than to instil the belief that we have retrograded instead of advanced. And 

 then to lind not only that the impression is utterly erroneous, but that the 

 truth is directly the reverse, and that the veneration of society is directed 

 towards a people of whom it has been lately said by a talented author,* that 

 " their history is a fable, and their philosophy a farce," makes the case still 

 more to be deplored. 



Perhaps it will be asked — how should this belief be so universal if it is 

 without foundation ? a very sensible question, but one to which there is no 

 difficulty in finding an answer, and I may remark that the same cause that 

 induces the feeling in society generally, is the origin of the predisposition of 

 the same character in the architect. That cause exists in the present system 

 of classical education. 



H. S. 



Derby, Dec. 15, 1841. 



SIR FRANCIS CHANTREY. 



The life of a man of genius, passed in the study, observes a celebrated 

 writer, has few incidents but the production of his works, and in no case is 

 this more true than in that of the distinguished sculptor whose loss to art we 

 liave to lament. Truly English as he was in his style, he had much con- 

 tributed to the formation of the present school of art, at the same time it 

 must be observed that his addiction to portraitureandneglcct of the imagina- 

 tive has not been without its influence in impeding the progress of high art. 

 Under all circumstances, too, and considering how his chisel has been em- 

 ployed in celebrating the greatest men of the age, and how his works are 

 distributed over every part of our vast empire, the name of Chantrey is indis- 

 solubly attached to the literary and avtistical history of the age. 



Francis Chantrey, the son of a farmer in Derbyshire, was born at Norton, 

 a village in that county, on the 7th of April, 1782. Having been intended 

 for the legal profession, he was taken to Sheffield to be articled to a solicitor, 

 when a casual circumstance directed him to that career in which he was ulti- 

 mately destined to attain so much honour. Having arrived before his friends, 

 he was walking thrcugh the streets, and looking in the shop window of a 

 carver and gilder, he felt such a strong bent for art, that he prevailed on bis 

 relations to ajiprentice him to the proprietor of the shop, a Scotchman of the 

 name of Rogers, with whom he remained three years. Carving on wood, it 

 is observed, was not his bent ; before he was seventeen, he had applied him- 

 self to modelling in clay, and devoted his nights to that study. Having left 

 the carver, he successively visited Dublin and Edinburgh, but not meeting 

 with encouragement in either city, in 1808 he made his appearance in London 

 and soon found, in the exhibitions of the Royal Academy, the opportunity of 

 making his genius known. A bust which Chantrey sent to the Academy 

 attracted the attention of NoUekens, who, with his love of kindred art, ex- 

 claimed, " That's a siilendid work, let the man be known ; remove one of my 

 busts, and put this in its place, for it well deserves it." The words were 

 prophetic ; the bust that of John Raflael Smith, was generally admired, and 

 Nollekens, pleased with its success, took the artist under his protection, 

 saying often to his friends, when applied to on the subject, " If you want a 

 b'ust, Chantrey's the man." Tlie late Earl of Egremont was another of the 

 young artist's early patrons, and g.ive him a commission for the execution of 

 a work in marble, but so rapidly did Chantrey's practice increase, that the 

 work was never executed. 



Early in his life Chantrey is said to have visited the Louvre, and inspected 

 the magnificent collection of works collected by Napoleon from all parts of 

 Europe. In 181G our artist was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy, 

 and in 1817 it was that he exhibited the celebrated group called the " Sleep- 

 ing Children," erected in Lichfield Cathedral in memory of the two infant 

 children of the late William Robinson. The homage paid to this work has 

 been great, for when exhibited, young mothers are said to have wept over it, 

 so affecting was the expression ; for this work Stothaid furnished the design. 

 In 1818 he was elected a Royal Academician, and exhibited another well 

 known work, the statue of Lady Louisa Russell when a child, now at Woburn 

 Abbey. In the following year Chantrey visited Italy, and we And, among 

 his works, a statue of Dr. Anderson executed for Madras, and monuments to 

 Kirke White, Porson. and FoxTownsend at Cambridge. Chantrey, it may be 



* Philosophic Nuts, by Edward Johnson. 



observed, was much employed for India, many of his largest works having 

 been executed for the three presidential cities. He had now a very great 

 share of the public husiness, and a curious anecdote is told in relation to this. 

 Handling the brush as well as the chisel, Chantrey sent in such a model for 

 the George III. statue for Guildhall, that the wise men of the east intended 

 to reject it on the supposition that the artist was a painter ; and it was not 

 until Sir W. Curtis sent for him to be examined on this point that the pre- 

 ference was given to him. 



In 1820. 21, 22, and 23, we find few important works exhibited in the Aca- 

 demy, but his chisel was far from idle. In 1821 he exhibited his statues of 

 the Countess of Liverpool and Dr. Cyril Jackson, but in the next year his 

 name was wanting in the catalogue. In 1826 he began casting in bronze, 

 and we find, among his works, bronze statues of Pitt for Hanover Square, 

 Grattan for Dublin, and George IV. for Brighton, Windsor, and Edinburgh. 

 He had also a commission from the United Stales for a statue of AVashington- 

 In 1827 he executed statues of Sir Joseph Banks for the British Museum, and 

 Mr. Stephen Babington for Bombay. The only work exhibited in 1828 was 

 a bust of Sir W. Curtis. The next year produced a statue of Sir Edward 

 Hyde East, for the Court House, Calcutta, and a classical has relief, and 

 1830, a statue of Bishop Heber. In 1831, he completed his statue of 

 George IV. for Edinburgh, 12 feet high, and the coronation medal of Wil- 

 liam IV. and Queen Adelaide was executed by Wyon from his models. In 

 1832 he completed a statue of Canning for Liverpool, and in 1833 one of Sir 

 Howard Elphinstone. From William IV. Chantrey received the honour of 

 knighthood. In 1834, 5, 8 & 9, Chantrey did not exhibit, but in the inter- 

 vening years he exhibited his statue of Sir John Malcolm, and one of Dr. 

 Dalton. In 1840 our sculptor produced statues of William Roscoe, and of 

 Northcote, the painter, and of Sir C. Forbes, and also an equestrian one of 

 Sir Thomas Munroe. In the present year only two works were exhibited, 

 namely his statues of the late Bislmps of Norwich and Lichfield, executed 

 for their respective cathedrals. 



On the 25th of November, having only returned on the day before from a 

 visit to the Earl of Leicester at Holkham, he died at his house in Eccleston 

 Street, between eight and nine o'clock in the evening. In the morning he 

 was in his usual spirits, inspecting the progress of the various works in his 

 studio, and conversing cheerfully with his assistants ; but during the day he 

 had complained of illness, and had been compelled, by violent pains in his 

 stomach, to return from Buckingham Palace, whither he had walked in 

 company with a friend. He then received some medical advice from which 

 he obtained relief. At seven he dined moderately as usual with a small 

 circle of friends ; but feeling unwell, he sent for a medical man, who directly 

 required the attendance of his physician ; but before the arrivalof Dr. Bright 

 Sir Francis breathed his last, it is supposed from apoplexy. 



In person Sir Francis was under the average height, possessing a compact 

 form and a highly intellectual countenance. He drew with taste, and en- 

 gravings from his views in Dovedale were published ; he was also an admirer 

 of less artistic pursuits, having recently purchased a large geological collec- 

 tion for five thousand pounds. In his studio he possessed all the resources 

 for carrying out great works, having for his assistants Allan Cunningham, 

 who had been with him 28 years, Mr. Heffernan 30 years, and Mr. Weeks, 

 and possessing a regular establishment for casting in bronze. He had in 

 hand an equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington, which is in a forward 

 state, and he was appointed to execute the statues of Sir David Wilkie and 

 Mrs. Siddons. Sir Francis Chantrey was a Royal Academician, Member of 

 the Academies of Rome and Florence, and a Fellow of the Royal Society. 

 He was married, and has left a widow but no children ; his large fortune he 

 is said to have bequeathed, after his Lady's death, to the Royal Academy, to be 

 devoted to the promotion of the arts. Of him it may be truly said, that his 

 good deeds will survive him, and that his fame and good report will live for 

 ever. 



Of his works we have not yet seen any complete catalogue, but will en- 

 deavour to furnish one as copious as our materials allow, with the dates of 

 exhibition and places in which preserved. 



Equestrian statues :— Wellington (Mansion House, not completed) ; Sir 

 Thomas Munroe (Madras, 1840). 



Statues :— George III. (Guildhall); Go rge IV. (Brighton, Windsor, and 

 Edinburgh); Washington (United States, 1826); Pitt (Hanover Square) 



