Editing Joseph Nollekens

{{Short description|18th-century British sculptor}}
{{for|his father, the Flemish painter|Joseph Francis Nollekens}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| name        = Joseph Nollekens
| image       = Joseph Nollekens, by William Beechey.jpg
| alt         = Joseph Nollekens.
| caption     = ''Portrait of Joseph Nollekens'' by [[William Beechey]], 1822
| other_names =
| occupation  = British sculptor
| birth_date  = {{birth date|1737|8|11|df=y}}
| death_date  = {{death date and age|1823|4|23|1737|8|11|df=y}}
| birth_place = Soho, London
| death_place =
}}

[[File:nollekens.jpg|thumb|[[Castor and Polydeuces|Castor and Pollux]]; copy of an antique statue by Joseph Nollekens, [[Victoria and Albert Museum]]]]
[[File:Samuel Johnson by Joseph Nollekens 1777.jpg|thumb|''[[Samuel Johnson]]'', [[Plaster cast|plaster]], by Joseph Nollekens, [[Yale Center for British Art]], 1777.]]
'''Joseph Nollekens''' [[Royal Academy of Arts|R.A.]] (11 August 1737 – 23 April 1823)<ref name="armstrong" /> was a [[sculpture|sculptor]] from [[London]] generally considered to be the finest British sculptor of the late 18th century.

==Life==
Nollekens was born on 11 August 1737 at [[Quo Vadis (restaurant)|28 Dean Street]], [[Soho]], London,<ref name="smith1" /> the son of the [[Austrian Netherlands|Flemish]] painter [[Josef Frans Nollekens]] (1702–1748) who had moved from [[Antwerp]] to London in 1733.<ref name="rkd" /><ref name="eb1911" /> He studied first under another Flemish immigrant in London, the sculptor [[Peter Scheemakers]], before studying and working as an antiques dealer, restorer and copier in [[Rome]] from 1760 or 1762.<ref name="browne" /> The sculptures he made in Rome included  a marble of ''Timocles Before Alexander'', for which he was awarded fifty guineas by the [[Royal Society of Arts|Society of Arts]], and busts of [[Laurence Sterne]] and [[David Garrick]], who were visiting the city.<ref name="ggc" />

On his return to London in 1770 he set up as a maker of [[Bust (sculpture)|bust]]s and monuments at 9, [[Mortimer Street]],<ref name="smith1" /> where he built up a large practice. Although he preferred working on mythological subjects, it was through his portrait busts that he became famous and one of the most fashionable portrait sculptors in Britain.<ref name="ggc" /> In 1772 he married Mary, daughter of the judge and grocer [[Saunders Welch]].<ref name="smith1" />

He enjoyed the patronage of King [[George III]] and went on to sculpt a number of British political figures, including George III himself, [[William Pitt the Younger]], [[Charles James Fox]], the [[:Image:Nollekens Russell p1070191.jpg|Duke of Bedford]] and [[Charles Watson-Wentworth]]. He also made busts of  figures from the arts such as [[Benjamin West]]. Most of his subjects were represented in classical costume.

''Faith'', a sculpture commissioned by Henry Howard following the death of his wife Maria in 1788 in childbirth at [[Corby Castle]], is said to be Nollekens' finest work. The sculpture can be seen in the Howard Chapel at the Parish Church of [[Wetheral]], Cumbria.<ref name="holmes" />

[[File:Faith by Joseph Nollekens.JPG|thumb|''Faith'' in [[Wetheral]] Parish Church, Cumbria. Commissioned by Henry Howard after the death of his wife Maria in 1788.]]

Although he took great care over the modelling of the details of his sculptures, the marble versions were normally made by assistants,{{sfn|Whinney|1971|page=113}} such as [[Sebastian Gahagan]] who carved Nollekens' statue of William Pitt for the [[Senate House, Cambridge]],<ref name="moore" /> and L. Alexander Goblet.{{sfn|Whinney|1971|page=155}} Some subjects were produced in large numbers: more than 70 replicas of Nollekens' bust of Pitt are known.<ref name="scherf" />

Nollekens became an associate of the [[Royal Academy of Arts|Royal Academy]] in 1771 and a full academician the following year.{{sfn|Whinney|1971|page=113}}

Painted around that time, his portrait by the celebrated artist [[Mary Moser]] now hangs in the [[Yale Center for British Art]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Joseph Nollekens - YCBA Collections Search |url=https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:952 |access-date=2023-02-28 |website=collections.britishart.yale.edu}}</ref>

==Death==
He died in London in 1823, having made a considerable fortune from his work; he left around £200,000 in his will. He is buried in [[St James's Church, Paddington]] with a monument by [[William Behnes]].<ref name="dict" />

A biography ''Nollekens and his Times''<ref name="smith2" /> by his executor [[John Thomas Smith (1766–1833)|John Thomas Smith]] was published in 1828, portraying him as a grotesque miser. It has been described as "perhaps the most candid biography ever published in the English language."<ref name="graves" /> It has been suggested he was the model for the miser Briggs in ''[[Cecilia (Burney novel)|Cecilia]]''.<ref name="roscoe1" /> His collection of prints and drawings, including 'a matchless collection of the works of Sir [[Joshua Reynolds]]', was sold at auction by R. H. Evans on 4 December 1823. A copy of the catalogue, priced and with buyers' names, is at [[Cambridge University Library]] (shelfmark Munby.c.126(14)).

No. 44 Mortimer Street in [[Fitzrovia]] stands on the site of the house where Nollekens died and has a [[blue plaque]] commemorating him.<ref name="plaque" />

American poet [[Randall Jarrell]] commemorated Nollekens in his poem entitled "Nollekens", collected in his 1956 volume ''Selected Poems''.<ref name="jarrell" />

==List of works==
{{incomplete list|date=December 2022}}
* Bust of [[Samuel Johnson]], [[Yale Center for British Art]], [[New Haven, Connecticut|New Haven]], [[Connecticut]]
* ''Faith'', St. Constantine's Church, [[Wetheral]], [[Cumbria]]
* [[Castor and Polydeuces|Castor and Pollux]], [[Victoria and Albert Museum]], [[Kensington]], [[Greater London]]
* Memorial to [[William Windham]], [[St Margaret's Church, Felbrigg|St. Margaret's Church]], [[Felbrigg]], [[Norfolk]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Norfolk Churches |url=http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/felbrigg/felbrigg.htm |access-date=2025-01-27 |website=www.norfolkchurches.co.uk}}</ref>
*Bust of [[Charles James Fox]], [[Hunterian Museum, University of Glasgow ]], marble 1796
*Bust of Primate Robinson, St Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh

==References==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em|refs=
<ref name="armstrong">{{cite DNB |first=Walter |last=Armstrong |wstitle=Nollekens, Joseph (1737-1823) <!--NB dash not ndash on wikisource--> |display=Nollekens, Joseph (1737–1823) |volume=41 | pages=97–99}}</ref>
<ref name="browne">{{cite journal |last=Kenworthy-Browne |first=J. |title=Establishing a reputation: Joseph Nollekens the years in Rome|journal=Country Life|date= 7 June 1979|page=1847}}</ref>
<ref name="dict">Dictionary of British Sculptors, 1660–1851, Rupert Gunnis</ref>
<ref name="eb1911">{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Nollekens, Joseph |volume=19 |page=734}}</ref>
<ref name="ggc">{{cite book|title=Eminent Englishmen: Volume VII, Part II|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AykAAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA269|editor=G.G. Cunningham |year=1837 |location=Glasgow|publisher=A. Fullarton}}</ref>
<ref name="graves">{{cite DNB |first = Robert Edmund|last = Graves|authorlink = Robert Edmund Graves |wstitle=Smith, John Thomas (1766-1833) <!--NB dash not ndash on wikisource--> |display=Smith, John Thomas (1766–1833)|volume=48 |pages=89–90}}</ref>
<ref name="holmes">A statement supported by the bas relief above his tomb in the sanctuary of St Mary's Church, Paddington Green, London, which shows the sculptor working on 'Faith'. Nigel Holmes (2013) 'The History of Wetheral Parish Church' (booklet on sale in the church)</ref>
<ref name="jarrell">{{cite book|last=Jarrell|first=Randall|title=Selected Poems|publisher=Faber & Faber|year=1956|isbn=9780374530884}}</ref>
<ref name="moore">{{cite web|url=http://217.204.55.158/henrymoore/sculptor/browserecord.php?-action=browse&-recid=1020&from_list=true&x=0|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203041736/http://217.204.55.158/henrymoore/sculptor/browserecord.php?-action=browse&-recid=1020&from_list=true&x=0|url-status=dead|archive-date=3 December 2013|title=Sebastian Gagahan|work=A Biographical Dictionary of Sculptors in Britain, 1660–1851|publisher=Henry Moore Institute/Paul Mellon Centre|access-date=6 February 2012}}</ref>
<ref name="plaque">{{cite web|url=http://openplaques.org/plaques/268|title=Joseph Nollekens blue plaque|publisher=openplaques.org|access-date=24 November 2013}}</ref>
<ref name="rkd">[http://explore.rkd.nl/explore/artists/59815 Biographical details of Josef Frans Nollekens] at the [[Netherlands Institute for Art History]] {{in lang|nl}}</ref>
<ref name="scherf">{{cite book |last=Scherf |first=Guilhem |chapter=Sculptured Portraits 1770–1830: Real Presences|title=Kings and Citizens|publisher=Royal Academy|type=Exhibition Catalogue|year=2007|isbn=978-1-903973-23-3 }}</ref>
<ref name="smith1">{{cite book |last=Smith |first=J.T. |chapter=Chronology|editor=Whitten, Wilfred|title=Nollekens and his Times|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.76988 |page=xii|year=1920|publisher=John Lane|location=London}}</ref>
<ref name="smith2">John Thomas Smith. {{Citation |title=Nollekens and his Times: Comprehending a life of that celebrated sculptor; and memoirs of several contemporary artists, from the time of Roubiliac, Hogarth, and Reynolds, to that of Fuseli, Flaxman, and Blake|year=1829|volume= 1 of 2 |edition = 2nd|place= London|publisher=Henry Colburn|url=http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Nollekens_and_his_Times}}.</ref>
<ref name="roscoe1">Edward Stanley Roscoe. {{Citation |title=The English Scene in the Eighteenth Century|year=1829|place= New York|publisher=Putnam's|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F_BKAQAAIAAJ&dq=frances%20burney%20cecilia%20briggs%20The%20English%20Scene%20in%20the%20Eighteenth%20Century&pg=PA234 |page=234}}.</ref>
}}

==Sources==
*{{cite book |last=Whinney |first=Margaret | title=English Sculpture 1720–1830  |year=1971|type=Victoria and Albert Museum Monograph  |publisher=HMSO |location=London  |isbn=978-0-11-290083-2 }}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book |author1=Smith, John Thomas, 1766–1833  |author-link1=John Thomas Smith (engraver) |author2=Whitten, Wilfred, 1864–1942 |author-link2=Wilfred Whitten| title=Nollekens and his times : and memoirs of contemporary artists from the time of Roubiliac, Hogarth and Reynolds to that of Fuseli, Flaxman and Blake |url=https://archive.org/details/nollekenshistime01sm1917 |year=1917 |volume=1}}
*{{cite book |author1=Smith, John Thomas, 1766–1833 |author-link1=John Thomas Smith (engraver)  |author2=Whitten, Wilfred, 1864–1942|author-link2=Wilfred Whitten| title=Nollekens and his times : and memoirs of contemporary artists from the time of Roubiliac, Hogarth and Reynolds to that of Fuseli, Flaxman and Blake |url=https://archive.org/details/nollekenshistime02smit_0 |year=1917 |volume=2}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Joseph Nollekens}}
*{{Art UK bio}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20100713224952/http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artMakerDetails?maker=446 Joseph Nollekens (Getty Museum)]
*[http://www.getty.edu/education/for_teachers/curricula/mythology/downloads/goddesses.pdf Three goddesses, Nollekens (Getty Museum)]
*[http://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15324coll10/id/59328/rec/1 ''Europe in the age of enlightenment and revolution''], a catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Nollekens (see index)

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nollekens, Joseph}}
[[Category:1737 births]]
[[Category:1823 deaths]]
[[Category:18th-century English sculptors]]
[[Category:18th-century English male artists]]
[[Category:19th-century English sculptors]]
[[Category:19th-century English male artists]]
[[Category:English male sculptors]]
[[Category:English people of Flemish descent]]
[[Category:Royal Academicians]]
[[Category:Sculptors from London]]