Summers, Charles (1827-78; English/Australian) Seal of the Victorian Exhibition 1862 Copper, 10 cm diameter Acquired by 1865 Museums Victoria, NU 18367 (transferred from the NGV, March 1976) The work reproduced here is described by Museums Victoria as a pressing of the official seal for the 1862 International Exhibition, London, showing the Colony of Victoria as
Canova, Antonio (1757-1822; Italian) [after] Two lions Bronze Acquired by 1865 Present location unknown The famous lions from Canova’s tomb of Pope Clement XIII (St Peter’s Basilica, 1783-92), one vigilant and the other asleep, have often been reproduced at reduced scale. A full-scale bronze pair, cast from the originals, was installed outside the Corcoran Gallery
Copeland & Sons (after others) The Prince and Princess of Wales Parian busts Presented by the Art Union of London, by 1871 Present collection unknown In the absence of further information or photographs, it is difficult to be certain of the precise identity of these two busts, listed as shown above in AR 1870-71, since several
Unknown (English 19C [Copeland & Sons?]) Clytie Parian porcelain Presented by William Taylor Copeland, Esq., by 1865 Present location unknown The details listed above appear in NGV 1865 and AR 1870-71, clearly describing this work as a bust “from the antique in the British Museum, in Parian” (for this medium, see * Bonham Carter Florence
Unknown sculptor Cupid Bronze Presented by John Airey, by 1865 Unidentified; current location unknown This work is listed in the 1865 NGV catalogue (with the details noted above), but not thereafter. The donor may have been John Moore Cole Airey (c.1811-93), the member for Port Phillip in the NSW Legislative council, 1847-48. Aireys Inlet in
Gibson, John (1790-1866; Welsh), after Venus and Cupid Parian porcelain Presented by Rev.W.Wade, by 1861 Present location unknown This work was first listed in the 1861 MPL catalogue (under donations to the new Museum of Art), then in the 1865 NGV catalogue, describing it as an Art Union prize, “in Parian marble,” and then in
Woolner, Thomas (1825-92; English) Charles Joseph La Trobe 1853 Plaster medallion, 33.6 cm diameter Signed and dated: T.Woolner Sc. 1853 Acquired by 1880 (?) State Library of Victoria (H141489) La Trobe, Victoria’s first governor (1851-54), was Woolner’s most important local patron between 1852 and 1854, when both men returned to England. This medallion, possibly the work
Summers, Charles (1825-78; English) Gustavus Vaughan Brooke [medallion] Medium and size unknown Acquired by 1880 Unidentified; location unknown This work and Summers (Charles) Gustavus Vaughan Brooke 1868 {1868} SLV [SC] both appeared separately in the 1880 NGV catalogue. Refs. NGV 1880, p.32 (under “Medallion Casts”)
Summers, Charles (1825-78; English) Sir Henry Barkly [medallion] Medium and size unknown Acquired by 1880 Unidentified; location unknown This work, possibly a plaster model for a profile medallion, and the same artist’s marble bust, Summers (Charles) Sir Henry Barkly 1864 {1865} SLV [SC], both appeared separately in the 1880 NGV catalogue. For the sitter, see linked entry.
Simonetti, Achille (1838-1900; Italian/Australian) Commodore James Goodenough [medallion] Medium and size unknown Presented by the sculptor (by 1880) Unidentified; location unknown Goodenough (1830-75) was appointed Commodore of the Royal Navy’s Australian station in Fiji in 1873. As the 1880 NGV catalogue puts it, he was “mortally wounded at Santa Cruz, by the Natives, 12th August 1875.” The
Summers, Charles (1825-78; English) Melbourne Intercolonial Exhibition Medal 1866 Plaster, c.22 cm in diameter Acquired by 1880 Location unknown (possibly Museum Victoria, transferred from NGV 1976) [photo: detail of gilt plaster example held by Museum Victoria] The NGV’s 1880 catalogue of “Statues & Busts in Marble and Casts,” under “Medallion Casts,” lists Summers’ medal without providing
Thomas, Margaret (1843-1929; English) Charles Horsley, Musician [medallion] Medium and size unknown Acquired by 1880 Unidentified; location unknown This work is listed in the NGV’s 1880 catalogue under “Medallion Casts,” but only scanty details are provided, and the work no longer appears to be extant. It may have been a plaster model. Horsley (1822-76) played a
Wyon, Joseph Shepherd (1836-73; English) Melbourne Exhibition Medal 1854 Medium unknown, c.6.4 cm in diameter Donated by W.Brown, by 1861 Location unknown (possibly Museums Victoria) The 1854 Melbourne Exhibition was staged in a purpose-built structure in William Street (on the site where Melbourne’s Royal Mint was built later). On a much smaller scale, both the enterprise and
Summers, Charles (1825-78; English) Sir James McCulloch [bust] Marble, 95 x 70 x 39 cm Bequeathed by Lady McCulloch, 1904 State Library of Victoria (H 39668); transferred from NGV, 1943 McCulloch (1819-93) emigrated to Victoria from Scotland in 1852. A businessman and parliamentarian, he was Premier of Victoria at various times between 1863 and 1877. From
Summers, Charles (1825-78; English) Lynceus and Hypermnestra 1876 Plaster, c.162.5 cm high Presented by Summers 1876; de-accessioned 1908 Location unknown [photo at right: group as shown in Philadelphia, 1876 (Library of Congress, Washington)] Summers researcher Jennie Maggs, to whom I am indebted for most of the information noted here, recently clarified the fact that this was
Scurry, James (1826-94; English/Australian) Charles Summers Plaster Donated by Scurry, 1884; de-accessioned 1908 Location unknown [photo: bust as shown at 1880-81 Melbourne exhibition] The bust of Summers donated by Scurry in 1884 was presumably identical with the sculpture he exhibited at the 1880-81 Melbourne International Exhibition. Many thanks to Summers researcher Jennie Maggs for alerting
Canova, Antonio (1757-1822; Italian) [after] Head of Christ Bronze relief Purchased by 1865 Unidentified; location unknown This work was listed, under bronzes, in the 1865 NGV catalogue, and was still catalogued by the NGV in 1943. However, there do not appear to be any reproductions of it. Perhaps it was based on the head of
Unknown (Italian, 19th century?) Venus de’Medici (replica) Marble, c. 99 cm (3’3”) high Presented by the family of James Purves, 1878; de-accessioned, 1943 Present location unknown [photo: this figure as visible in photograph of Melbourne’s Picture Gallery, 1872 (SLV H96.160/1793)] This statue and * Giambologna [after] Rape of the Sabines {1878} Loc? [SC] are both documented
Unknown (Italian, 19thcentury?) Rebecca at the Well (c.1870?) Marble, 77 cm high Purchased, 1876 State Library of Victoria (H2008.44) In its somewhat alluring treatment of the Old Testament subject, this statuette typifies the period, and is comparable with other later 19th-century examples, such as the larger-scale statues by C.F. Summers in the Ballarat Botanical Gardens, which also
Unknown (Italian, 19th century?) Two lions Zinc, size unknown Purchased, 1862; removed, 1924 No longer extant These statues were bought on the advice of Redmond Barry in London. An 1863 engraving of the library’s entrance hall shows them prominently displayed among the plaster casts and other sculptures acquired in the first years of the collection. They
Unknown (Italian, 19th century) Head of Dionysus (replica) Bronze, 69 x 47.5 x 33 cm Purchased 1892 National Gallery of Victoria (acc.no. 916-D1M) Like the other bronzes acquired for Melbourne in 1892 – see Unknown (Italian 19C) “Berenice” {1892} NGV [SC], etc. – this work is described in the 1894 and 1905 NGV catalogues as a reproduction
Unknown (Italian, 19th century?) Diane de Gabies (replica) Bronze, size unknown Purchased, 1881 Present location unknown NGV 1905 notes that this bronze, presumably a reduced-scale statuette (or perhaps a head), was purchased at the Melbourne International Exhibition in 1881. The Louvre original (1.65 cm high), excavated in Rome in 1792, is generally regarded as a Roman
Unknown (Italian, 19th century) Head of Dante (replica) Bronze, 43.9 x 45.7 x 22.9 cm Purchased, 1892 National Gallery of Victoria (915.a-b-D1M) Like the other bronzes bought for the Melbourne collection in 1892 – see e.g. Unknown (Italian 19C) “Berenice” {1892} NGV [SC] – this is a replica of a work in Naples. In this case, the original is
Unknown (Italian, 19th century) Dancing Faun (replica) Bronze, 79.0 x 35.5 x 30.7 cm Purchased, 1892 National Gallery of Victoria (917-D1M) This is a replica of the bronze figure in the Naples Museum, found at Pompeii in 1830, and widely copied thereafter. Haskell & Penny include the original in their catalogue of the hundred antique statues attracting
Unknown (Italian, 19thcentury) “Berenice” (replica) Bronze, 69.9 x 36.6 x 28.9 cm Purchased, 1892 National Gallery of Victoria (918-D1M) One of several “art bronzes” listed under new acquisitions in the NGV’s 1892 annual report, this bust is a reproduction of the Roman bronze found at Herculaneum in 1756, and acquired for the Naples museum in 1884.
Unknown (German, 19th century) Ecce Homo and Way to Calvary (c.1850) Bronze reliefs Purchased, 1862 National Gallery of Victoria (1201-D1R and 1202-D1R) [photo: Ecce Homo relief] The NGV catalogue, classifying these reliefs as “decorative arts,” describes them as “after Dürer,” which seems optimistic. Refs. Not listed in early NGV catalogue
Unknown (British, 19th century) Innocence Parian ware, size unknown Presented by Captain Lonsdale (c.1860) Unidentified; present location unknown This bust is noted in the NGV’s stock-book, in the earliest list of acquisitions (undated) as in “Parian marble” (for this medium, see * Bonham Carter Florence Nightingale {1880} Loc? [SC]). Lonsdale also donated another work in the same
Noble, Matthew (1817-76; British), after Bust of Queen Victoria Parian ware, size unknown Presented by Captain Lonsdale, 1863 Present location unknown This bust of the Queen in the earlier years of her reign appears in several photographs of the library’s temporary picture gallery (1872 Picture Gallery): detail shown here. In the 1894 NGV catalogue, it
Unknown (Australian, 19th century) James Hemming Webb Marble, size unknown Presented by Mrs Agg, 1886 Unidentified; present location unknown The sitter (1813-81) is identified in NGV 1905 as the Victorian Government shorthand writer from 1866 until his death, but little else seems to be known about him; he does not figure in the Australian Dictionary of
Unknown (Belgian?) St George and the Dragon Bronze, size unknown Presented by Alexander Mollison, 1863; auctioned 1943 Unidentified; present location unknown Various early sources help piece together the history and origins of this work. The 1863 Age report on donations solicited in England and Ireland by Sir Redmond Barry identifies the donor as Alexander Fullerton