John Bacon (sculptor, born 1777)
John Bacon (1777–1859), also known as John Bacon Junior to distinguish him from his equally famous father, was an English sculptor.
Life[]
John Bacon Junior was the second son of the sculptor John Bacon and his wife Elizabeth Wade. He was born at his parent's home in Newman Street in London on 13 March 1777.[1]
He entered the Royal Academy Schools at the age of twelve, one of the youngest members ever.
At fifteen, he exhibited his first work; at sixteen, he was awarded the silver medal of the Royal Academy; and i 1797 won the Gold Medal for his statue of Cassandra. His brother Thomas Bacon also exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1793–5. His father died in 1799 and John Bacon Jr. succeeded to his business. He finished such works as he found in progress, including the well-known statue of Lord Cornwallis and managed to secure ample patronage for himself. He ceased to exhibit at the Academy in 1824.
Building projects included the figure of Providence on Trinity House in 1796 and replacing the figures of "Madness" and "Melancholy" over the entrance to Bethlem Hospital (better known as Bedlam) in 1814.
There are six of his monuments in St. Paul's Cathedral and at least eight in Westminster Abbey. There are also two in Windsor Castle.
From 1818 until 1843, he worked in partnership with his former pupil, Samuel Manning, but the work appears to be largely by Manning, taking advantage of Bacon's reputation but lacking the quality of Bacon's work. Bacon himself went into virtual retirement from 1830.[2]
He died in Bath, Somerset on 14 July 1859.
He contributed articles on sculpture to Rees's Cyclopædia.
Family[]
In 1801 he was married to Susanna Sophia Taylor (b.1782).
Works[]
John Bacon Junior's notable works include:[3]
- Moses Striking the Rock (1792) RA
- Bust of John Thomas, Bishop of Rochester (1793) Westminster Abbey
- Monument to Captain John Harvey, Westminster Abbey, (1794)[4]
- Monument to Captain John Hutt, Westminster Abbey, (1794)[5]
- Bust of his father, John Bacon RA, (1798)
- Monument to Captain Edward Cooke, Westminster Abbey, (1799)[6]
- Tomb of Dr William Heberden (1801) in Windsor Parish Church
- Monument to Admiral Thomas Totty, Westminster Abbey, (1802)
- Monument to Lord Rokeby, Armagh Cathedral, (1802)
- Monument to John and Richard Forbes, Westminster Abbey, (1803)
- Bust of William Markham, Archbishop of York (1804) in Christ Church, Oxford
- Statue of Marquess Cornwallis, Calcutta, (1803), copy in Bombay (1809)
- Monument to Richard Solly, Worcester Cathedral, (1804)
- Bust of Dr Maxwell Garthshore (1804) at RA
- Monument to John Burland, Wells Cathedral, (1804)
- Monument to Richard Down's children, St James the Great, Friern Barnet, (1814)
- Monument to General Dundas, St Paul's Cathedral, (1805)
- Monument to Captain George Duff, St Paul's Cathedral, (1806)
- Monument to Lord Henniker, Rochester Cathedral, (1806)
- Monument to Captain George Nicholas Hardinge (1808) in Bombay Cathedral
- Statue of William III, St. James's Square, (1808)
- Monument to Admiral Richard Kempenfelt, Westminster Abbey, (1808)
- Monument to Sir William Bensley, Bletchingley, Surrey, (1809)
- Monument to General Giles Stibbert (1809) in South Stoneham
- Monument to , Westminster Abbey, (1809)
- Monument to Sir John Moore, St Paul's Cathedral, (1809)[7]
- Monument to General Coote Manningham, Westminster Abbey (1809)
- Monument to Thomas Drake Tyrwhitt-Drake (1809) in Amersham
- Statues of Marquess Wellesley, Calcutta and Bombay, (1809)
- Monument to Dr John Littlehales MD, Winchester Cathedral, (1810)
- Monument to Charles Lawson, Manchester Cathedral, (1810)
- Monument to John Creighton, St. John's Anglican Church (Lunenburg), Nova Scotia, (1810)
- Monument to Dr John Plenderleath, Westminster Abbey, (1811)
- Monument to General Crawfurd and General MacKinnon, St Paul's Cathedral, (1812)
- Statue of George III, Bank of Ireland (1813)
- Monument to Admiral Sir William Rowley, Stoke-by-Nayland, Suffolk, (1813)
- Monument to George Fraser, Canterbury Cathedral, (1813)
- Monument to Sir Thomas Trigge, Westminster Abbey, (1814)
- Monument to Rev Dr , Westminster Abbey cloisters, (1814)
- Monument to Sir Henry Sullivan (1814) in Thames Ditton
- Monument to Henry Jodrell MP (1814) in Letheringsett
- Monument to Mary Markham, Westminster Abbey cloisters, (1814)[8]
- Monument to Charles Agar, 1st Earl of Normanton, Westminster Abbey, (1815)[9]
- Monument to Sir John Sheffield (1815) in Burton-on-Stather
- Monument to Sir Henry Strachey, 1st Baronet (1816) in Chew Magna
- Monument to the Duchess of Chandos (1816) in Worlingworth
- Monument to Sir John Lombe (1817) in Bylaugh
- Monument to Bishop John Parsons, Balliol College, Oxford (1818)
- Bust of Warren Hastings, Westminster Abbey, (1818)
- Monument to Edward Madden, Chichester Cathedral, (1819)
- Monument to Augusta Slade, Chester Cathedral, (1822)
- Monument to Admiral Sir John Borlase Warren, Stratton Audley, Oxfordshire (1822)
- Reredos of St Laurence's Church in Exeter (c.1835)
- Tomb of his daughter aka Mrs Medley in St Thomas Church in Exeter (1842)
With Samuel Manning[]
- Memorial to Robert, Viscount Kilmorey (1818) at Adderley
- Memorial to Walter, Marquess of Ormonde (1820) in Ulcombe
- Memorial to Francis, Earl of Kilmorey (1824) at Adderley
- Memorial to Sir John Walsh, 1st Baronet (1825) at Warfield
References[]
- Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900. .
Attribution: This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Bacon, John (1777–1859)". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
- 1777 births
- 1859 deaths
- English sculptors
- English male sculptors
- 18th-century English people
- 19th-century English people
- 18th-century British artists
- 19th-century British sculptors