Lot 84: John Gibson (1791-1866) English, carved in Rome, 1826-1829 , Cupid

signed: GIBSON FECIT ROMAE

measurements note 141cm., 55 ½in.

Royal Academy, London, 1829

E. Eastlake, Life of John Gibson, R. A., Sculptor, (London, 1870) pp. 59-60, 251; T. Matthews, A Biography of John Gibson, R. A., Sculptor, Rome (London, 1911) pp. 66-7, 242; R. Gunnis, Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851 (London, 1951) pp. 171-2; A. Graves, The Royal Academy of Arts. A Complete Dictionary of Contributors and their work from its foundation in 1769 to 1904 (London, 1906) vol. III, p. 230

Commissioned by Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, 1826
Received on loan at Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum, Glasgow, 1906

Born in Conway, North Wales, the son of a market gardener, John Gibson went on to become one of the foremost neo-classical sculptors of the 19υth century. His family moved to Liverpool in 1799 and the young Gibson was first apprenticed to a cabinet maker before joining the workshop of F A Legé. He first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1816 and moved to Rome the following year, where he received distinguished attention from both Antonio Canova and Bertel Thorvaldsen. From Rome he built up an international clientele for his marbles, and his studio became a place of interest for wealthy tourist passing through the Eternal City. The commission for the present marble came out of just such a visit, from fellow Welshman Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, described in Gibson's own words:

In the winter of the same year [1826], the late Sir Watkin Williams Wynn came to Rome. Having heard that I was a native of Conway he made up his mind that I should execute a work for him and that it should be the statue of an eagle in marble. I felt discouraged at the proposal of such a subject, and at this moment there stood before us my group of Psyche and Zephyrs. He expressed his admiration of it, but what could I think of his admiration when he said, "If you take away the Psyche and put in her place a time-piece, it will make a capital clock?"

When I saw Sir Watkin beginning to change my composition according to his own ideas I lost all hopes of him. He said, "Then you don't care about doing an eagle for me?" I said, "No, Sir Watkin, that is out of my way." I then directed his attention to a figure of Cupid I was modelling drawing an arrow with one hand, and holding his bow with the other. He immediately asked me "Would you like to do that for me in marble?" I then said that I should be delighted, and then he replied, "Well, well, then do it" - so my statue of Cupid was executed in marble for him.

The Cupid was exhibited in marble at the Royal Academy in 1829. In 1870 Eastlake recorded it as in St James's Square, London. According to Eastlake and Matthews the present marble is the only version of the model, with no replicas carved. The present Cupid relates to a later version of the subject entitled Love Tormenting the Soul - the winged youth strides similarly forward whilst drawing an arrow from the quiver leaning against a tree stump at his feet. The first version of Love Tormenting the Soul was carved in 1837 and several versions exist, including one in the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool.

During its history the present marble has been subject to damage and the loss of the greater part of the bow which Cupid would have held in his raised left hand as well as the lower part of his right arm, which would have reached for an arrow from the quiver at his feet. However the Cupid remains a unique and important marble in the oeuvre of this distinguished British sculptor.

RELATED LITERATURE
P. Curtis ed., Patronage and Practice: Sculpture on Merseyside, exh. cat., Tate Gallery (Liverpool) 1989, pp. 50-5