An English Marble Bust of George Hamilton, First Earl of Orkney, Attributed to Michael Rysbrack (1694-1770), Circa 1733

depicted as a Roman general, carved with close-cropped curly hair and furrowed brow, his breast plate partially covered with a heavy cloak attached with a morse on his right shoulder, upon waisted socle with square base,   the base of the socle inscribed: Georgius Comes D Orkney filius quintus Gulielmi Dux Hamiltoniae Aetatis sui 67 AD 1733

John Teed, England

Acquired by Denys Sutton between 1957 and 1972

G. Vertue, Walpole Society XXII , Vertue Notebooks vol. III, 1732, p. 57

M. I. Webb, Michael Rysbrack Sculptor, London, 1954, p.222 

R. Gunnis, Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851, Cambridge, MA, 1954, pp.333-338

M. I. Webb,'A Rysbrack Discovery' in Country Life, November 22, 1956, p. 1182

M. Whinney, Sculpture in Britain 1530-1830, London, 1964, p. 87 and 1988 (rev.ed.)

K. Eustace, Michael Rysbrack Sculptor 1694-1770, City of Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, 1982

M. Baker, 'The making of the portrait busts in the mid-eighteenth century: Roubiliac, Scheemakers and Trinity College, Dublin', in The Burlington Magazine, December 1995, pp.821-831

M. Baker Figured in Marble: the making and viewing of eighteenth century sculpture, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 2000, p.141, fig. 111.

Overall wear and weathering throughout, although surface is still smooth; the carving is still extremely crisp and details are extant. Some large chips to upper section of base in front and back (visible in catalogue photograph). Some small chips to edges of lower section including lower corners. Very minor abrasions in some places. Some internal hairline flaws in the marble on the back which are stable. Some small losses along that flaw. Very small hairline crack with tiny losses on his left shoulder. Some minor pitting and abrasions to drapery on back of his right shoulder. There are a few very small black marks in the hair, under an eyebrow, and on drapery. Dirt throughout. Some light brown spotting in areas including drapery and neck (see catalogue illustration) and there is a light orange staining from his right shoulder down right side of drapery with some traces of rust colored surface pigmentation in crevices. The spots and pigment on his right side seem to be removable when lightly cleaned with washing up soap and a toothbrush.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

RELATED LITERATURE

J. Kenworthy-Browne 'Portrait Busts by Rysbrack', National Trust Studies 1980, London 1979

J. Lord, 'J. M. Rysbrack and a group of east Midlands Commissions', in The Burlington Magazine, vol. 132, no.1053, December 1990, pp.866-870 

D. Bilbey and M. Trusted, British Sculpture 1470-2000. A Concise Catalogue of the Collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London 2002

D. Saywell and J. Simon, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, National Gallery of Art, London, 2004

L. Smith, 'Hamilton, George, first earl of Orkney (bap. 1666, d. 1737)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004

In a 1956 article in Country Life magazine, M. I. Webb, the author of the monograph on Rysbrack's life and work, identified the present bust of Lord Orkney (fig.1), as the one associated with that listed by George Vertue in his 1732 volume: 'Lord Orkney- A Moddel'. Vertue was the first great British art historian and a close friend of Rysbrack who compiled his Notebooks in the 1730s in which he gave a detailed and personal account of the sculptor. In 1732, Vertue recorded a list of the works, excluding monuments, produced by Rysbrack. While the majority of Michael Rysbrack's oeuvre has been located, there are a number of busts by this celebrated British sculptor that are now lost. The present work is unsigned, like several of his marbles, and it is closely related to many of his notable portraits.

 

Lord Orkney was a close friend of Alexander Pope who had his portrait carved by the sculptor in 1730. Sir Isaac Newton also commissioned a bust of himself from Rysbrack in 1730 (now in the National Portrait Gallery, London) and in 1733, the year this bust was probably carved, Rysbrack was invited to become a member of the Spalding Gentleman's Society, an antiquarian society to which Newton, among many other literati and members of society, belonged. As Lord explains in his article concerning Rysbrack's commissions in the East Midlands of England (op.cit.), these relationships with the highest levels of society and the arts must have contributed to a continual rewarding of commissions to the sculptor.

 

Rysbrack was the preeminent sculptor in Britain in the early 1730s and this position was established in part with the success of his monument to the Duke of Marlborough at Blenheim (1732). The Battle of Blenheim made the Duke of Marlborough a national hero and ended a very serious threat of French domination in Europe until the turn of the century. His second in command was Lord Orkney. It is likely that Orkney, an important British military figure and a member of the House of Lords, contracted Rysbrack to produce a portrait of him. One of his earliest dated works in England was a bust of Marlborough's son-in-law, The Earl of Sunderland (1722) which is at Blenheim. Rysbrack would go on to execute a great deal of work for the family who in turn,  introduced the sculptor to other members of the nobility and perhaps to high-ranking military figures. Moreover, Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough was a major patron of Rysbrack's for 15 years and only one bust, the Sunderland portrait, commissioned by her, is signed.

 

Rysbrack's prolific output of very high quality portrait busts was extraordinary; in fact he seems to have made more than 60 by 1732. His group of patrons included the Royal Family, politicians and noble families including the Marlboroughs, the Argylles and the Duke of Kent as well as other artists and historical figures. Vertue wrote:

 

From that time to this he had Modelld from the life many Nobleman Ladies & Learned men & others. A list of them as follows. I had from himself – and I have seen the Models when done.

 

The British artistic tradition of representing a contemporary military figure as a hero from classical antiquity is evident here. As Baker noted in Figured in Marble (op.cit., p. 141), the Earl of Orkney apparently not only requested that he be represented in classical armour in his bust of 1733 but also he commissioned from Giacomo Leoni to design two buildings at his country estate, Cliveden, one of which was the Blenheim Pavillion (1727) which was adorned with military trophies and which commemorated the British military victory at the Battle of Blenheim.

 

Rysbrack's bust of Daniel Finch, 2^nd Earl of Nottingham and 7th Earl of Winchilsea  (fig. 2), circa 1723, sold in these rooms in July 8, 1998, lot 81,  was an early work that helped to establish the sculptor's reputation in England. His dignified portrait of Nottingham in the Roman is like the present bust of Lord Orkney, the forms are full and rounded, like many of his portraits, and the features are individualized. Both have close-cropped hair and curls of nearly identical patterns, blank eyes, as well as the cloak broached on the right shoulder, in the Roman manner. The overall facial structure and shape are remarkably similar in these two busts. Rysbrack's ability to carve his marbles with great sensitivity and attention to detail is clearly demonstrated here. Furthermore, the backs of the busts with their smooth, open curves and the concave curves below the arms are idiosyncratic of Rysbrack's oeuvre. In his article on the technical aspects of 18^th century portrait busts, Baker (Burlington, op.cit., p. 827) discusses different workshop practices of the primary sculptors in England during the period, noting that "...Rysbrack frequently employs either the smoothly worked, deep curve seen on his Pope in the National Gallery Portrait, London or a back with a central, cylindrical support, such as that found on his bust of Francis Smith." Both the Finch and the Orkney busts (fig.3) as well as the Gibbs in the Victoria and Albert Museum, among others, have this distinctive and meticulously finished, open, curved back.  

 

The drapery on the Orkney bust is similar to several of Rysbrack's other portraits from the 20s and 30s; tThe deeply undercut, three dimensional folds of drapery can be found, for example, in the busts of Robert Walpole, first Earl of Orford (1738) in the National Portrait Gallery, London and his Alexander Pope of 1730. A nearly identical use of drapery is also apparent in the unsigned bust of the 1st earl of Godolphin (Webb, op.cit, fig. 28, p.72), commissioned by the Duchess of Marlborough. Additionally, Rysbrack used the same armour and medusa head emblazoned on the chest plate on several of his portraits, such as the bust of William III at the Yale Center for British Art (circa 1736) and his bust of Admiral Boscowen on his monument of 1763 (Webb, op.cit., fig.292, p.188) and on the bust of Admiral Jennings on his monument in Hertfordshire (Webb, op.cit., fig.93, p.88).

 

The present bust was presumably first modeled in terracotta from life, as was the custom and seems to be indicated by Vertue's notes.  The model is now lost.

 

George Hamilton, first Earl of Orkney (bap.1666-1737) was the fifth son of William Douglas, third Duke of Hamilton and Anne Hamilton. He married Elizabeth Villiers, sister of the Earl of Jersey and the mistress of William III, in 1695 and was created Earl in 1696. He began his military training early and by the time he was 18, he held a commission as Captain in the Royal Scots, the 1^st regiment of foot, the British army's premier infantry regiment. In 1696 he was ennobled with the Scottish titles of earl of Orkney, Viscount Kirkwall and Lord Dechmont. In 1702 he rose to the rank of major-general and two years later to lieutenant-general. He played a critical role in all four of Marlborough's major victories against the French, as well as a significant part in numerous sieges in the Low Countries. After many more successes in the field, he retired from active service in 1712 and became an active member of the House of Lords and was sworn to Privy Council in 1710. In 1714 he became a gentleman of the bedchamber of George I as well as governor of Edinburgh Castle. Finally, in 1736 he was appointed field marshal of his majesty's forces. He lived in both London and Cliveden, his country estate in Buckinghamshire, which was decorated with Flemish tapestries commemorating Marlborough's victories in which Orkney had played a prominent role. He entertained George I at Cliveden in 1724 and George II in 1729. His wife died in 1733 and he followed in 1737 and is buried at Cliveden.

 

Michael Rysbrack was a sculptor and draughtsman born in Antwerp and trained under Van der Voort. In 1720 he moved to London with his brother Pieter Andreas Rysbrack where he soon began to work on marble monuments, some designed by the architect James Gibbs... In England, he was one of a trio of foreign-born artists—with Louis François Roubiliac and Peter Scheemakers, who dominated sculpture in the mid-18th century. The peak of Rysbrack's career came in the 1730s. His major works of this time include the monument to Sir Isaac Newton (1731), designed by William Kent, in Westminster Abbey, the tomb of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough (1733), in the chapel of Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, and the equestrian statue of William III (1735) in Queen Square, Bristol, which is generally regarded as the most impressive work of its type produced in Britain during the 18th century. All three of these works show the grandeur and vivacity typical of Rysbrack's style