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JAMES MORRISON AND THE ACQUISITION OF POLYPHEMUS FOR FONTHILL
On 20 July 1843, J.B. Papworth, architect and designer to the fabulously wealthy merchant, politician and art collector, James Morrison ('the richest commoner in England’), advised him of several lots in a sale of the stock of the Coade Artifical Stone Manufactory that was to begin the following day, 21 July 1843, by Rushworth & Jarvis, and of the suitability of ' Polyphemus Acis and Galatea’ for the Pavilion at Fonthill, Morrison’s preferred summer retreat.
'At Coade’s in the Belvedere Road there are works that would suit your objects – some for indoor and some out. ... The Polyphemus Acis and Galatea in the third days sale – this will probably be sold for a small sum – for its taking down removing & repair will be a considerable draw back to biddings for it – The Giant would certainly perform well over the covered way at the Landing, Fonthill & the Acis & Galataea [sic] in the Cavern of the Rookery (quoted in C. Dakers, A Genius for Money: Business, Art and the Morrisons, New Haven and London, 2011, p. 94).
The trio, Polyphemus, Acis and Galatea, cost sixteen guineas at the Coade sale (op. cit.). Morrison spent a total of £137 at the Coade sale also acquiring 40 Gothic heads to decorate the tunnel and grottos (Dakers, op. cit., p. 270, f/n 46).
Morrison and his family had officially purchased the Pavilion in December 1838. The Pavilion was the only remaining wing of the Palladian mansion, Fonthill Splendens, built by Alderman Beckford, and largely supplanted by his son’s (William Beckford), nearby Fonthill Abbey (R. Gatty, Portrait of a Merchant Prince: James Morrison, 1789–1857, Northallerton, 1977). The sale of the Pavilion effectively broke up the estate of Fonthill Abbey; the Abbey ruins were acquired by John Benett of Pyt House, and Lord Westminster procured the remainder. Papworth was regularly invited to the Pavilion, visiting at least twice a year for 10 days each time, to advise and supervise the refurbishment both inside and out of the mansion, which housed Morrison’s notable collection of Italian and Dutch old masters and contemporary English paintings.
The cluster of grottos located around the serpentine lake or 'river’ in the grounds of the Pavilion had been commissioned by Alderman Beckford in circa 1749; the grottos had excited the imagination and works of his son, William, but by Morrison’s tenure were virtually in ruins (T. Mowl, 'Inside Beckford’s Landscape of the Mind’, Country Life, 7 February 2002, p. 60). Papworth created a grand landing stage on the east side of the lake that led to the first of three grottos, which is presumably the landing refered to by Papworth in his letter to Morrison of 20 July 1843. Interestingly, the architectural historian, Timothy Mowl, describes what may be the present figure, and another figure, probably Galatea, on a visit he made to the grottos in the late 20th century, 'Relics of some abandoned garden project by the Alderman, half-finished stone statues, a naked god and a broken nymph they lie there in the dark’ (op. cit., p. 62).
POLYPHEMUS AND THE NEW COADE GALLERY
This powerful statue of Polyphemus was conceived as part of a larger sculptural group which depicted Polyphemus hurling rocks at Acis and Galatea. The statue is both a fascinating and important discovery because until recently the group was considered lost (I. Roscoe, A Biographical Dictionary of Sculptors in Britain 1660-1851, New Haven and London, p. 288, no. 116). Furthermore, in 1990, Alison Kelly, the leading authority on Coade, wrote, 'there appears to be no illustration for it’ (A. Kelly, Mrs. Coade’s Stone, Upton-upon-Severn, 1990, p. 68). In 1799, the sculptural group was the 'coup de théâtre’ (op. cit.) in the Coade 'Gallery’, and described in the visitor’s guidebook thus: 'This stupendous design is conceived at the moment when Polyphemus discovers, from the summit of the rock, the nymph Galatea with his rival Acis, upon whom, in his fury, he hurls a fragment of stone, and kills him. This work occupies a space of 20 feet in height by 12 in width, the Polyphemus is a statue of 10 ft. 6 ins. a cave is formed in the rock, at the entrance of it lays the Acis and Galatea, much larger than the life’ (Coade’s Gallery or Exhibition in Artificial Stone, Westminster Bridge Road, Specimens from the Manufactory at King’s Arms Stairs Narrow-Wall Lambeth, 1799, p. 22, no. 37).
The description was followed by a quote from Ovid’s Metamorphoses,
'Insequitur Cyclops, partemque e monte revulsam
Mittit, et extremus quamvis pervenit ad illum
Angelus e saxo, totum tamen obruit Acin’
In 1824, the sculpture was still in situ in the Gallery, and described by a visitor in The Somerset House Gazette, 'There was a group larger than life, representing Acis and Galatea crouching under the dread of impending destruction, which Polyphemus with the fragment of rock in his uplifted hands, threatened to them from the mountain above’ (vol. I, p. 381).
The Gallery, a permanent exhibition space for Coade’s works, opened in 1799; it was a separate building to the Coade factory, at the south end of Westminster Bridge. John Sealy (d. 1813) who by this date was in partnership with his cousin, Eleanor Coade, the founder, was almost certainly instrumental in setting out the impressive showroom that allowed visitors to view a wide range of Coade works. These were not labeled or priced but rather a visitor was issued with a guidebook that took them on a tour of the premises with each piece described in an embellished fashion with quotations from classical and contemporary authors.
The present figure was probably designed by John de Vaere (d. 1830) possibly in circa 1798-99. The model is not featured in earlier Coade catalogues (1777 or 1784), and it was in 1799 that the neoclassical sculptor, John Bacon died, who had been the chief designer and supervisor of the firm from 1771. Bacon was probably replaced by de Vaere who is cited in the new guidebook, '[de Vaere] is now constantly engaged at the Manufactory in its various branches of statuary &tc.’ (Coade’s Gallery, op. cit., p. v). Furthermore, prior to working for Coade, de Vaere was sent to Rome in 1787 by Josiah Wedgwood to make models from the Antique under the supervision of the sculptor, John Flaxman, R.A. (d. 1826), an experience which would have ably equipped him for the role at Coade.
THE COADE ARTIFICIAL STONE MANUFACTORY
At the end of the 18th century, the Coade Artificial Stone Company was at the pinnacle of its success. Established in 1769 by Eleanor Coade (d. 1821), the manufactory produced a wide range of architectural and garden ornaments, decorative details and furnishings for interiors; together with funerary monuments and commemorative statues of the highest quality. Eleanor Coade received a royal appointment to George III, producing the Gothic screen at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, and to the Prince of Wales, later George IV, for whom she worked at the first Royal Pavilion, Brighton and Carlton House, London. The 1799 guidebook describes the 'numerous and substantial advantages’ of 'Artifical Stone’, which was exposed to extremely high temperatures in the kiln rendering it as durable as 'Jasper or Porphyry’ (op. cit., p. iv). Over an almost 70 year period the firm was successively linked to four generations of the Coade family. Its great success was evidently due to the quality of the works it produced as well as their fashionable design. The firm engaged leading sculptors such as Bacon, and was, in turn, engaged by leading architects including Robert Adam, James Wyatt, William Chambers, John Nash and John Soane as well as prestigious private patrons. The firm’s reputation was far reaching, with pieces being as far afield asRussia, Poland and South Africa; furthermore, over 650 examples of Coadestone can still be located across Britain, in Canada, the USA, Brazil and the Caribbean, standing as testament to the outstanding quality of Eleanor Coade’s stone.
On 20 July 1843, J.B. Papworth, architect and designer to the fabulously wealthy merchant, politician and art collector, James Morrison ('the richest commoner in England’), advised him of several lots in a sale of the stock of the Coade Artifical Stone Manufactory that was to begin the following day, 21 July 1843, by Rushworth & Jarvis, and of the suitability of ' Polyphemus Acis and Galatea’ for the Pavilion at Fonthill, Morrison’s preferred summer retreat.
'At Coade’s in the Belvedere Road there are works that would suit your objects – some for indoor and some out. ... The Polyphemus Acis and Galatea in the third days sale – this will probably be sold for a small sum – for its taking down removing & repair will be a considerable draw back to biddings for it – The Giant would certainly perform well over the covered way at the Landing, Fonthill & the Acis & Galataea [sic] in the Cavern of the Rookery (quoted in C. Dakers, A Genius for Money: Business, Art and the Morrisons, New Haven and London, 2011, p. 94).
The trio, Polyphemus, Acis and Galatea, cost sixteen guineas at the Coade sale (op. cit.). Morrison spent a total of £137 at the Coade sale also acquiring 40 Gothic heads to decorate the tunnel and grottos (Dakers, op. cit., p. 270, f/n 46).
Morrison and his family had officially purchased the Pavilion in December 1838. The Pavilion was the only remaining wing of the Palladian mansion, Fonthill Splendens, built by Alderman Beckford, and largely supplanted by his son’s (William Beckford), nearby Fonthill Abbey (R. Gatty, Portrait of a Merchant Prince: James Morrison, 1789–1857, Northallerton, 1977). The sale of the Pavilion effectively broke up the estate of Fonthill Abbey; the Abbey ruins were acquired by John Benett of Pyt House, and Lord Westminster procured the remainder. Papworth was regularly invited to the Pavilion, visiting at least twice a year for 10 days each time, to advise and supervise the refurbishment both inside and out of the mansion, which housed Morrison’s notable collection of Italian and Dutch old masters and contemporary English paintings.
The cluster of grottos located around the serpentine lake or 'river’ in the grounds of the Pavilion had been commissioned by Alderman Beckford in circa 1749; the grottos had excited the imagination and works of his son, William, but by Morrison’s tenure were virtually in ruins (T. Mowl, 'Inside Beckford’s Landscape of the Mind’, Country Life, 7 February 2002, p. 60). Papworth created a grand landing stage on the east side of the lake that led to the first of three grottos, which is presumably the landing refered to by Papworth in his letter to Morrison of 20 July 1843. Interestingly, the architectural historian, Timothy Mowl, describes what may be the present figure, and another figure, probably Galatea, on a visit he made to the grottos in the late 20th century, 'Relics of some abandoned garden project by the Alderman, half-finished stone statues, a naked god and a broken nymph they lie there in the dark’ (op. cit., p. 62).
POLYPHEMUS AND THE NEW COADE GALLERY
This powerful statue of Polyphemus was conceived as part of a larger sculptural group which depicted Polyphemus hurling rocks at Acis and Galatea. The statue is both a fascinating and important discovery because until recently the group was considered lost (I. Roscoe, A Biographical Dictionary of Sculptors in Britain 1660-1851, New Haven and London, p. 288, no. 116). Furthermore, in 1990, Alison Kelly, the leading authority on Coade, wrote, 'there appears to be no illustration for it’ (A. Kelly, Mrs. Coade’s Stone, Upton-upon-Severn, 1990, p. 68). In 1799, the sculptural group was the 'coup de théâtre’ (op. cit.) in the Coade 'Gallery’, and described in the visitor’s guidebook thus: 'This stupendous design is conceived at the moment when Polyphemus discovers, from the summit of the rock, the nymph Galatea with his rival Acis, upon whom, in his fury, he hurls a fragment of stone, and kills him. This work occupies a space of 20 feet in height by 12 in width, the Polyphemus is a statue of 10 ft. 6 ins. a cave is formed in the rock, at the entrance of it lays the Acis and Galatea, much larger than the life’ (Coade’s Gallery or Exhibition in Artificial Stone, Westminster Bridge Road, Specimens from the Manufactory at King’s Arms Stairs Narrow-Wall Lambeth, 1799, p. 22, no. 37).
The description was followed by a quote from Ovid’s Metamorphoses,
'Insequitur Cyclops, partemque e monte revulsam
Mittit, et extremus quamvis pervenit ad illum
Angelus e saxo, totum tamen obruit Acin’
In 1824, the sculpture was still in situ in the Gallery, and described by a visitor in The Somerset House Gazette, 'There was a group larger than life, representing Acis and Galatea crouching under the dread of impending destruction, which Polyphemus with the fragment of rock in his uplifted hands, threatened to them from the mountain above’ (vol. I, p. 381).
The Gallery, a permanent exhibition space for Coade’s works, opened in 1799; it was a separate building to the Coade factory, at the south end of Westminster Bridge. John Sealy (d. 1813) who by this date was in partnership with his cousin, Eleanor Coade, the founder, was almost certainly instrumental in setting out the impressive showroom that allowed visitors to view a wide range of Coade works. These were not labeled or priced but rather a visitor was issued with a guidebook that took them on a tour of the premises with each piece described in an embellished fashion with quotations from classical and contemporary authors.
The present figure was probably designed by John de Vaere (d. 1830) possibly in circa 1798-99. The model is not featured in earlier Coade catalogues (1777 or 1784), and it was in 1799 that the neoclassical sculptor, John Bacon died, who had been the chief designer and supervisor of the firm from 1771. Bacon was probably replaced by de Vaere who is cited in the new guidebook, '[de Vaere] is now constantly engaged at the Manufactory in its various branches of statuary &tc.’ (Coade’s Gallery, op. cit., p. v). Furthermore, prior to working for Coade, de Vaere was sent to Rome in 1787 by Josiah Wedgwood to make models from the Antique under the supervision of the sculptor, John Flaxman, R.A. (d. 1826), an experience which would have ably equipped him for the role at Coade.
THE COADE ARTIFICIAL STONE MANUFACTORY
At the end of the 18th century, the Coade Artificial Stone Company was at the pinnacle of its success. Established in 1769 by Eleanor Coade (d. 1821), the manufactory produced a wide range of architectural and garden ornaments, decorative details and furnishings for interiors; together with funerary monuments and commemorative statues of the highest quality. Eleanor Coade received a royal appointment to George III, producing the Gothic screen at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, and to the Prince of Wales, later George IV, for whom she worked at the first Royal Pavilion, Brighton and Carlton House, London. The 1799 guidebook describes the 'numerous and substantial advantages’ of 'Artifical Stone’, which was exposed to extremely high temperatures in the kiln rendering it as durable as 'Jasper or Porphyry’ (op. cit., p. iv). Over an almost 70 year period the firm was successively linked to four generations of the Coade family. Its great success was evidently due to the quality of the works it produced as well as their fashionable design. The firm engaged leading sculptors such as Bacon, and was, in turn, engaged by leading architects including Robert Adam, James Wyatt, William Chambers, John Nash and John Soane as well as prestigious private patrons. The firm’s reputation was far reaching, with pieces being as far afield asRussia, Poland and South Africa; furthermore, over 650 examples of Coadestone can still be located across Britain, in Canada, the USA, Brazil and the Caribbean, standing as testament to the outstanding quality of Eleanor Coade’s stone.