An Early 19thC Plaster Portrait Bust of a Young Boy by William Spence (1793-1849)
SOLD
Origin: British
Period: Regency/William IV
Provenance: Unknown
Date: c.1825-30
Height: 14.5”
Width: 8.5”
Depth: 6” or 3.5” at socle
The deftly executed plaster bust of a boy, signed to the reverse and mounted to a turned socle base, surviving from the early section of the nineteenth century by William Spence (1793-1849).
The bust has been restored and rebuilt at some stage. Therefore the signature and date and name of the sitter is difficult to make out as some parts of the plaster have had to be re-rendered which is fully reflected in its asking price. He stands true and is now in complete order.
William Spence (1793-1849) was a near contemporary of John Gibson, with whom he worked at Messrs. Franceys. Spence went on to become a partner in the firm, and though he stayed in Liverpool he was able to send his son Benjamin (1822-66) to study and practise as a sculptor in Rome, following in Gibson's footsteps. There are busts by Spence of William Roscoe in the National Portrait Gallery and Manchester Art Gallery and of Reverend H.McNeile in the Walker Art Gallery.
This portrait bust may well be of his son Benjamin, which would date it at around 1828 when he would have been six years old.
A finely realised portrait by a well listed sculptor.
Period: Regency/William IV
Provenance: Unknown
Date: c.1825-30
Height: 14.5”
Width: 8.5”
Depth: 6” or 3.5” at socle
The deftly executed plaster bust of a boy, signed to the reverse and mounted to a turned socle base, surviving from the early section of the nineteenth century by William Spence (1793-1849).
The bust has been restored and rebuilt at some stage. Therefore the signature and date and name of the sitter is difficult to make out as some parts of the plaster have had to be re-rendered which is fully reflected in its asking price. He stands true and is now in complete order.
William Spence (1793-1849) was a near contemporary of John Gibson, with whom he worked at Messrs. Franceys. Spence went on to become a partner in the firm, and though he stayed in Liverpool he was able to send his son Benjamin (1822-66) to study and practise as a sculptor in Rome, following in Gibson's footsteps. There are busts by Spence of William Roscoe in the National Portrait Gallery and Manchester Art Gallery and of Reverend H.McNeile in the Walker Art Gallery.
This portrait bust may well be of his son Benjamin, which would date it at around 1828 when he would have been six years old.
A finely realised portrait by a well listed sculptor.