Lot 167: John Gibson (1791-1866) English, first half 19th century , A marble statue of Cupid as a Shepherd white marble, on a black painted wooden base

signed: OPVS IOANNIS GIBSON ROMAE white marble, on a black painted wooden base

measurements note figure: 131cm., 51½in. base: 69cm., 27 1/8 in.

E. Eastlake, Life of John Gibson, R. A., Sculptor (London, 1870) p. 250

Sir Robert Peel, Drayton Manor, Staffordshire
Auction of Sir Robert Peel's property, Robinson and Fisher, Dublin, 10 May 1900

The potent god, while slyly concealing behind his back the arrow of soft tribulations, advances his right hand as if to inspire confidence, and assumes an air of modesty and timidity. Below the edge of his mantle behind are just seen the tips of his folded wings.
An extract from the diaries of John Gibson, R. A.

Cupid disguised as a Shepherd was the most popular of John Gibson's statues, with a record number of eight repetitions after the first version was commissioned by Sir John Johnstone in the early 1830s. Several of these are now in important public collections, including the Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, the Museum of Fine Art, Boston, the National Museums, Wales, and the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool. Like the primary version for Johnstone (sold in these rooms 10υ December 2002, lot 145), the present Cupid holds a rose in his outstretched right hand, a feature missing from the other published repetitions. The Johnstone version was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1837.

The present version was commissioned by the Tory politician and statesman Sir Robert Peel. His family had climbed the social and political ladder from humble beginnings in the cloth industries. Both his father and grandfather had been Northern industrial cotton manufacturers and Peel himself retained a faint Lancashire accent throughout his career. He became Prime Minister from 1834-35 following King William IV's sudden dismissal of the Whig Prime Minister Lord Melbourne. The Duke of Wellington advised the new Tory appointment. At the time Peel was visiting Rome with his wife and daughter and had to be recalled. It was during this fateful visit that Peel visited Gibson's studio and commissioned a repetition of his Cupid disguised. Peel was again Prime Minister from 1841-46. On the day of his funeral there was an unprecedented expression of mourning across the country as the great Northern mills shut for the day and ships' flags flew at half-mast.

RELATED LITERATURE
A. Graves, The Royal Academy of Arts: A Complete Dictionary of Contributors and their work from its foundation in 1769 to 1904 (London, 1905) vol. III, p. 230; T. Matthews, The Biography of John Gibson, R. A. Sculptor (Rome, London, 1911) pp. 75-8; E. Eastlake, Life of John Gibson, R. A., Sculptor (London, 1870) pp. 75-6