Peter Scheemakers
Peter Scheemakers | |
---|---|
![]() Portrait of Scheemakers by Andreas Bernardus de Quertenmont | |
Born | 1691, Antwerp |
Died | 12 September 1781 | (aged 90), Antwerp
Nationality | Flemish |
Known for | Sculpture |
Notable work | Tomb monuments and garden statuary |
Patron(s) | William Kent |
Peter Scheemakers or Pieter Scheemaeckers II or the Younger (1691[a] – 12 September 1781)[2] was a Flemish sculptor who worked for most of his life in London. His public and church sculptures in a classicist style had an important influence on the development of modern sculpture in England.[3]
Scheemakers is perhaps best known for executing the William Kent-designed memorial to William Shakespeare which was erected in Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey in 1740[4] as well as that to John Dryden in the same church.[5]
Life[]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3e/The_lives_of_the_British_sculptors%2C_and_those_who_have_worked_in_England_from_the_earliest_days_to_Sir_Francis_Chantrey_%281911%29_%2814784250232%29.jpg/220px-The_lives_of_the_British_sculptors%2C_and_those_who_have_worked_in_England_from_the_earliest_days_to_Sir_Francis_Chantrey_%281911%29_%2814784250232%29.jpg)
He was born in Antwerp and followed in the footsteps of his father, the sculptor Pieter Scheemaeckers. He served his formal apprenticeship in Copenhagen in Denmark where he studied for four years with the court sculptor (1683–1741).[6]
In 1715 he allegedly walked from Copenhagen to Rome (over 1500km) where he studied both classical and baroque styles of sculpture. In 1716 he sailed to England and settled in London where he befriended Laurent Delvaux (who had also studied in Rome).[7] He and Delvaux worked there with another Flemish sculptor on a funeral monument to John Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham, which they delivered in 1722 after the death of Plumier.[6] Scheemakers and Delvaux entered into a formal partnership and set up a workshop in Millbank, south of Westminster in London, in 1723. Their workshop produced many sober classical monuments and garden statuary in the Antique style. The partners sold their stock in the partnership and travelled to Rome in 1728. Scheemakers stayed there for two years to study both antique and recent masterpieces. Upon his return to England in 1730 Scheemakers restarted the Millbank workshop (in St Martin's Lane) on his own.[6] His 'ideal' classical sculptures became very popular with the landowning class and the city merchants. He moved his workshop a few times: first to Old Palace Yard in 1736 and then in 1740 to Vine Street, where he remained active until his retirement in 1771. On retiral he returned to Antwerp where he died at the age of 90.[6]
He worked for a time with Francis Bird,[7] and was the teacher of Henry Cheere and , amongst others.[2] Joseph Nollekens joined his studio in 1747 and served his apprenticeship here, before leaving for Rome in 1762.[1]
Scheemakers' brother, Henry Scheemakers, and his son, Thomas Scheemakers, were both also sculptors.
Works[]
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Westminster Abbey[]
Fifteen of Scheemakers' works – monuments, figures and busts – are in Westminster Abbey. Two were executed in collaboration with his master, Delvaux: the “Hugh Chamberlen” (d. 1728, and therefore perhaps produced during his first visit to London); and “Catherine, Duchess of Buckinghamshire.” However, he is best known by his monument to William Shakespeare (1740), but, as this work was designed by Kent, the responsibility must not all be laid to Scheemakers' account.
In addition to these, there are the monuments to Admiral Sir Charles Wager, Vice-Admiral Watson, Lt. General Percy Kirke, George Howe, 3rd Viscount Howe, General Monck, and Sir Henry Belasyse. His busts of John Dryden (1720) and Dr Richard Mead (1754), also in the Abbey, are noted examples of his smaller works.[7] A memorial to Thomas Jordan was created in 1736, to Lord Aubrey Beauclerk in 1741, and to Admiral John Balchen in 1744.
Tombs by Scheemakers in the Abbey include Dr John Woodward (d.1728) and Magdalen Walsh (d.1747). The latter was relocated due to he placement of the Memorial to the Armed Forces in 2008.
Other Works in England[]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c6/Bacchus_by_Peter_Scheemakers_-_Wrest_Park_-_Bedfordshire%2C_England_-_DSC08011.jpg/220px-Bacchus_by_Peter_Scheemakers_-_Wrest_Park_-_Bedfordshire%2C_England_-_DSC08011.jpg)
- Monument to Sir Michael Warton (c.1730) in Beverley Minster
- Monument to Montague Garrard Drake (c.1730) in Amersham
- Monument to Sir Thomas Hodgson (1732) in Barnby-upon-Don in Yorkshire
- Monument to William Douglas (1732) i St Lawrence's Church in Reading, Berkshire
- Monument to Sir and his wife Philadelphia Ernle (1733) in Blunsdon
- Statue of Thomas Guy (1734) courtyard of Guy's Hospital in London
- Equestrian Statue of William III (1734) in Kingston-upon-Hull
- Statue of Sir John Barnard (1737) for Royal Exchange, London
- Statue of King Edward VI (1737) in St Thomas's Hospital, London
- Memorial (with busts) to Sir Thomas Reeve and his wife (1737) in John the Baptist Church in Windsor
- Memorial to Lady Newton of Culverthorpe Hall (1737) in Heydour Parish Church
- Memorial to Lord and Lady Curzon of Kedleston Hall (1737) in Kedleston Parish Church
- Memorial to Sir George Beaumont, 4th Baronet (1737) in Stoughton
- Memorial to Charles Fleetwood (1737) in Ely Cathedral
- Memorial to Sir Justinian Isham, 5th Baronet (1737) in Lamport
- Memorial to Dr Samuel Palmer FRS (1738) in Wandsworth Parish Church
- Memorial to Mary daughter of John Hanger (1739) in St Michael's Church, Bray
- Statue of (1739) in Kirkleatham in Yorkshire
- Bust of William Harvey (1739) in Royal College of Physicians
- Memorial to Lady Elizabeth Hastings (1739) in Ledston
- Memorial to John Rudge (1740) in Wheatfield, Oxfordshire
- Bust of Earl Temple of Stowe (1740) at Stowe House
- Tomb of Admiral Salmon Morrice (1740) in St Mary's Church in Betteshanger
- Tomb of Susanna Hare (1741) in Stow Bardolph
- Tomb of Abraham Sharp (1742) in Bradford Cathedral
- Tomb of Sir Christopher Powell, 4th Baronet (1742) in Boughton Monchelsea
- Various statues (including the Dying Gladiator) (1743) at Rousham House
- Grave of Sir Michael Newton of Culverthorpe Hall (1746) in Heydour
- Tomb of Samuel Rolle (1746) in Chittlehampton Parish Church
- Bust of King Edward (1747) at King Edward's School, Birmingham
- Tomb of Thomas Lewis (1747) in Soberton
- Tomb of Admiral John Norris (1750) in St George's Church in Benenden
- Tomb of John Whitbread (grandfather of Samuel Whitbread) (1750) in Cardington, Bedfordshire
- Tomb of Sir Brook Bridges (1752) in Goodnestone
- Tomb of Robert Tothill and his wife (1753) in Urchfont
- Tomb of Sir Jemmet Raymond (1754) in Kintbury
- Tomb of Margaret Verney, Lady Feversham (1755) in Downton, Wiltshire
- Tomb of Lord Raymond (1756) at Abbots Langley
- Bust of Roger Cotes (1758) in Trinity College, Cambridge
- Bust of Dr Robert Smith (1758) in Trinity College, Cambridge
- Grave of Sir Matthew Decker (1759) in St Mary Magdalene Church in Richmond, Surrey
- Tomb of Sir George Petre (1759) in St Mary's Church in Studley
- Bust of Sir Paul Methuen (1764) at Corsham Court in Wiltshire
- Statues of Admiral Sir George Pocock, Lord Clive and General Laurence (1764) in the India Office in London
- Statuary group of Cain killing Abel (c.1760) at Chiswick House
- Bust of James Jurin (1766) in Trinity College, Cambridge
- Tom of Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke (1766) in Wimpole, Cambridgeshire
- Bust of Edward Wortley Montagu (1766) in Trinity College, Cambridge
- Busts of both the 3rd and 4th Earl of Shaftesbury (DNK) at St Giles House in Dorset
- Tablet to Mary Gardiner (died 1748) St George Tombland Norwich (signature visible on monument)
1st and 2nd Dukes of Ancaster at Edenham, Lincolnshire; Lord Chancellor Hardwicke at Wimpole, Cambridgeshire; the Duke of Kent, his wives and daughters, at Flitton, Bedfordshire; the Earl of Shelburne, at Wycombe, Bucks; and the figure on the sarcophagus to Montague Sherrard Drake, at Amersham.[7] Another example of his work is the memorial to Topham Foote (or Foot) in the parish church of St John the Baptist Church, Windsor. This burial monument, which includes the young man's bust and the Foote family crest, greets visitors in the main High Street entrance, just 300 feet (90 m) from the Henry VIII gate to Windsor Castle. There is also a memorial to Sir Thomas Reeve, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, 1736-37 in the church.[8] He also sculpted a memorial for the Petty family, marking the family burial place in All Saints' Parish Church, High Wycombe, which depicts the family in Roman dress.
Ireland[]
In 1743, Mary Coghill erected the parish church of Clonturk (now Drumcondra Church) in memory of her brother Marmaduke Coghill, and placed in it a statue of her brother by Peter Scheemakers.[9]
He also was the sculptor of fourteen of the busts in the Long Room of the Trinity College Library in Dublin, including James Ussher, William Shakespeare, John Milton, John Locke, Cicero, Homer, Aristotle and Socrates.
Trivia[]
Between 1970 and 1993, an image of Scheemakers's Shakespeare statue appeared on the reverse of Series D £20 notes issued by the Bank of England. Alongside the statue was an engraving of the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet.[10][11]
See also[]
Notes[]
- ^ Sources differ on his birth date. A Biographical Dictionary of Sculptors in Britain indicates he was baptised on 10 January 1691,[1] the Netherlands Institute for Art History says he was born on 16 January 1691,[2] whereas Encyclopædia Britannica gives a baptismal date of August 1691.[3]
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b Roscoe, Ingrid; Hardy, Emma; Sullivan, M. G., eds. (2009). "Scheemakers, Peter". A Biographical Dictionary of Sculptors in Britain, 1660-1851. Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300149654.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Biographical details at the Netherlands Institute for Art History
- ^ Jump up to: a b Peter Scheemakers at online Encyclopædia Britannica
- ^ "Poets' Corner: William Shakespeare". Westminster Abbey. Archived from the original on 26 July 2008.
- ^ "John Dryden". Poets' Graves. Retrieved 22 October 2008.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d Helena Bussers and Ingrid Roscoe. "Scheemakers." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 27 Mar. 2014; See also Alain Jacobs (1999), Laurent Delvaux 1696-1778, Paris, Arthena, 1999, passim.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica. 24 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. .
- ^ "Find A Grave: Sir Thomas Reeve". Retrieved 4 February 2021.
- ^ Hayton, David (2005). Letters of Marmaduke Coghill, 1722–1738. Dublin: Irish Manuscripts Commission. p. xxii. ISBN 9781874280682.
- ^ "What Did Shakespeare Look Like?". The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. Archived from the original on 14 October 2008. Retrieved 17 October 2008.
- ^ "Withdrawn Banknotes Reference Guide". Bank of England. Retrieved 22 October 2008.
- 1691 births
- 1781 deaths
- British sculptors
- British male sculptors
- Flemish Baroque sculptors
- Belgian Roman Catholics
- English Baroque sculptors
- Portraits of William Shakespeare
- Artists from Antwerp
- Belgian expatriates in England
- Belgian expatriates in Italy