Bonhams 1793 : Benjamin Cheverton, British (1796-1876) A carved ivory portrait bust of George Saunders after Sir Francis Leggatt Chantrey (1781-1841)

The architect depicted looking slightly to dexter, the reverse inscribed CHANTREY SC 1831 CHEVERTON SC, raised on a veined black marble cylindrical plinth above a wooden base, the ivory 12cm (4.75 inches) high, 27cm (10.5 inches) high overall.

Sold for £2,375 inc. premium

Footnotes

The original marble bust that this ivory carving is based on is in the Guildhall Art Gallery, London (No. 3988). It depicts the renowned architect and theorist George Saunders, who published a Treatise on Theatres in 1790 and was elected as a fellow of the Royal Society in 1812.

Sir Francis Legatt Chantrey began his career as a wood carver and portrait painter, but from 1807 onwards he devoted himself to sculpting in marble and received numerous commissions. His model of the head of Satan was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1808 and he subsequently executed four colossal busts of the Admirals Duncan, Howe, Vincent and Nelson for Greenwich Hospital. In 1819 he visited Italy, and became acquainted with the most distinguished sculptors of Florence and Rome. He was elected as an associate (1815) and afterwards a member (1818) of the Royal Academy and in 1835 he was knighted.

Category: Furniture / English Furniture and Works of Art

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