John Scott, 1st Earl of Eldon (1751-1838) Lord Chancellor

Location

Country: UK
City: London
Place: Government Art Collection

A marble bust of Lord Chancellor John Scott, first Earl of Eldon, also by Frederick Tatham and sculpted in 1830 is in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, London. It shows the sitter in a long wig and legal robes and was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1831.

The original marble version of this plaster cast, showing the sitter wearing a short wig, was exhibited at the Academy the following year and is now at Lincoln’s Inn.

English painter and sculptor Frederick Tatham was born in London; the son of architect Charles Heathcote Tatham (1772-1842). He exhibited between 1825 and 1854, mainly at the Royal Academy, but also at the British Institution and the Society of British Artists. As a young man he befriended William Blake and became a member of the loose brotherhood of Blake followers called ‘The Ancients’. In 1826 Tatham pooled his resources with Samuel Palmer, allowing both artists to settle in the Shoreham, Kent. They initially lodged with farmer Arthur Tooth but later bought an old cottage. Here, other ‘Ancients’ (and once Blake himself) paid visits. About six months after Blake’s death in 1827, his wife Catherine became Tatham’s live-in housekeeper.

People

John, 1st Earl of Eldon Scott (1751 - 1838)

Places

Subjects

male portrait, man, 19th century costume, robe, wig, legal bands, judge, lawyer, Earl, Solicitor General, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, Attorney General, Member of Parliament, Lord Chancellor

Materials & Techniques

bust (as object name), plaster bust, plaster

Artist

Frederick Tatham (1805 - 1878)

Title

John Scott, 1st Earl of Eldon (1751-1838) Lord Chancellor

Date

cast 1977; after an original of c.1832

Medium

Plaster bust

Dimensions

height: 78.50 cm, width: 50.00 cm

Acquisition

Commissioned and cast in 1977

Provenance

Cast, made 1977, of bust owned by Lincolns Inn (version of NPG 181)

GAC number

15969