William Pitt (1759-1806) Prime Minister

Location

Country: UK
City: London
Place: Cabinet Office, 70 Whitehall

Here Prime Minister William Pitt is represented in draped fabric, demonstrating the influence of antique Roman sculpture. This marble bust is one of a number of copies of a prime version by Nollekens, which the sculptor signed and dated it 1813, seven years after Pitt’s death.

Joseph Nollekens, son of Joseph Francis Nollekens, a painter from Antwerp, was born in Dean Street, Soho. He studied under the sculptor Peter Scheemakers, before attending William Shipley’s drawing school on the Strand. In 1762 he travelled to Rome where he worked as an antiques dealer, restorer and copier, as well as sculpting portraits of English tourists. By 1771, he had returned to London and taken a house in Mortimer Street, Marylebone. He was elected a Royal Academician in 1772. He sculpted several church monuments and mythological subjects but it was his portrait busts which grew in popularity throughout his career. His final years were plagued by ill health and by 1816 he was almost deaf. He died at the age of 85.

People

William Pitt (1759 - 1806)

Places

Subjects

male portrait, man, Leader of the House of Commons, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Prime Minister

Materials & Techniques

marble, bust (as object name), marble bust

Artist

Joseph Nollekens (1737 - 1823)

Title

William Pitt (1759-1806) Prime Minister

Date

Medium

Marble bust

Dimensions

height: 68.00 cm, width: 44.00 cm

Acquisition

Possibly purchased from Frank Partridge, 1937

Provenance

Purchased from Frank Partridge, 1937 (probably)

GAC number

155