John Bacon (1740-1799) | British, circa 1777 | Charity assisting a poor boy

‘The first man in the kingdom in sculpture’ is how the sculptor John Deare described his teacher, John Bacon (Smith, op. cit., p. 311). Bacon is the prime example of a late Baroque British sculptor who was highly successful without ever having visited Italy, and more specifically Rome. He was particularly favoured by King George III, but his impressive sculptural achievements are as much due to his ambitious sculptural vision and adaptability as an artist, as well as his hard work and business acumen. In the last decade of the 18^th century, Bacon employed around 20 assistants and was always ready to bid for the most prestigious commissions; usually for the most competitive price.

Bacon had a humble beginning in Southwark, South London, the son of a cloth-worker. He started chiefly as a modeler for Eleanor Coade, Josiah Wedgwood and Matthew Boulton. When Coade took control of the artificial stone business from Daniel Pincot, she appointed Bacon as superintendent around 1771, and he continued to provide important designs for the company for the next three decades. A terminus ante quem for the Charity is provided by a painting of Jonas Hanway by Edward Edwards in the Marine Society completed on 17 September 1779, which shows the group in a niche on the façade of then headquarters of the Society in Clark’s Place on Bishopsgate Street. Roscoe (op. cit.) dates Charity to after 1769. It is, therefore, a significant early work by Bacon for Coade and one that demonstrates his growing talent and independence as a sculptor in his own right.

The tall and beautiful, classically dressed, allegorical figure of Charity puts her right arm around the ragged and disheveled boy, who steps forward his hands clasped together in supplication. The elegant contrapposto of Charity is enhanced by the complex folds of her drapery that contrast with the awkward, twisting forward step of the urchin. The group shows Bacon developing his personal form of a late Baroque style, with a bold approach to composition and attention to details, such as the fringing on Charity’s drapery and the contemporary costume of the boy.

Whilst Eleanor Coade exhibited this group of Charity under her name at the Society of Artists, in the handbook of Coade’s Gallery published in 1799 (op. cit.) she attributed the model to Bacon. As one of the three theological virtues this subject of Charity resonates with Bacon’s strong religious beliefs that informed much of his work. Bacon wrote his own epitaph: What I was as an artist seemed of some importance while I lived; what I really was as a believer in Jesus Christ is the only thing of importance to me now.

Incorporated by an Act of Parliament in 1772, The Marine Society is the world’s oldest public maritime charity. The origins of the society date back to 1756 when advertisements were published promising volunteers ‘with a view to learn the duty of seaman … shall be handsomely clothed and provided with bedding, and their charges born down to the ports where His Majesty’s Ships lye with all other proper encouragement.’ Admiral Horatio Nelson was an enthusiastic trustee and by the time of the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 it was estimated that 15% of British manpower was supplied, trained and equipped by the Marine Society. In times of peace the Society pioneered proper nautical training and became involved in both the Royal and Merchant navies. After 1945, the Marine Society was active helping individual seafarers and supporting many maritime charities. In recent years, the Society has amalgamated with various maritime charities with common aims and objectives. The Marine Society’s objectives are to facilitate and to provide practical and financial support for the education, training and well-being of all professional seafarers and to encourage young people to embark on maritime careers. In 2004 it merged with Sea Cadet Corps and remains the UK’s largest not for profit maritime organization as the Marine Society and Sea Cadets.

John Bacon’s allegorical group depicting charity being extended to the destitute boy embodies the abiding core aims of the Marine Society.

RELATED LITERATURE

J. T. Smith (ed. W. Whitten), Nollekens and his Times, London, 1920, p. 311