Footnotes

Provenance
By repute Gelli Aur (Golden Grove), Carmarthenshire
Sotheby's London, Old Master Sculpture & Works Of Art, 4th December 2018, lot 108.

Christopher Hewetson executed a marble bust of John Campbell during the sitter's first visit to Rome, circa 1784. The signed, original version is housed at Cawdor Castle in Nairnshire, Scotland (Roscoe, op. cit., p. 611). The present bust closely resembles the original marble, the main distinction being the absence of a signature. Nevertheless, the quality of the execution and the similarities in details, such as the eyebrows and the reverse—which closely mirrors the original—suggest that this marble is a second version commissioned by the patron and crafted by Hewetson, possibly with the assistance of his workshop. Hewetson is known to have sculpted multiple versions of the same model, with a notable example being his Bust of Pope Clement XIV, one of which is titled and dated but unsigned (de Breffny, op. cit., p. 55, no. 4a). While the majority of Hewetson's busts are signed, this is not universally the case. According to de Breffny, the marble bust of Frau von Kniphausen is unsigned (de Breffny, op. cit., p. 56, no. 16b). It is possible that Hewetson saw no need to sign this bust if it was commissioned by the same patron as the original.

John Campbell, who later became the first Baron Cawdor of Castlemartin, was an Italophile who visited Italy several times throughout his life. He was the first British patron of Antonio Canova, commissioning some of the sculptor's iconic works, including Cupid and Psyche (Louvre, Paris, inv. no. MR 1777) and Hebe (Chatsworth, Trustees of the Devonshire Settlement). By the early 19th century, he was one of the largest landowners in Britain, owning both the vast Stackpole Court and Golden Grove estates in Wales, as well as Cawdor Castle in Scotland. Nonetheless, Campbell faced financial difficulties and was compelled to sell much of his art collection in 1800, including the Lante Vase, now at Woburn Abbey. Canova mentioned Campbell in a letter to Mengs in June 1787: "My head is still full of the good time the Colonel [Campbell] gave me, bless him, and I shall never forget, come what may. If it is true that friendship and gratitude can raise a man's spirits, when I take my chisel in hand to work for the Colonel, I shall work better than I have ever worked and perhaps better than I shall ever work for anyone else" (as quoted in Davis, op. cit., p. 50). Campbell first visited Rome in 1784, during which it is believed Hewetson carved the original version of his portrait, as Campbell attended an event with Thomas Giffard, whose portrait was also created that same year (de Breffny, op. cit., no. 3). He returned to Rome in 1786-1787, and it seems reasonable to conclude that Campbell may have commissioned this bust during his second visit.

The Irish-born sculptor Christopher Hewetson moved within an elite circle of artists and scholars at the heart of intellectual life in Rome during the closing decades of the 18th century. He associated with Anton Raffael Mengs, Gavin Hamilton, and Johannes Pichler, particularly with the influential Thomas Jenkins, who effectively served as a banker to Grand Tourists in Rome. Hewetson established himself as the pre-eminent portrait sculptor in Rome in the 1770s and 1780s. His career was significantly advanced by a commission for a Bust of Pope Clement XIV in 1771. He went on to sculpt portraits of many prominent visitors to Rome, including the Duke of Gloucester and, of course, John Campbell, Lord Cawdor. Malcolm Baker has noted that Hewetson's works exhibit a unique sensitivity in the depiction of facial physiognomy and, particularly, hair. According to Baker, Hewetson adopted various formats for his busts, ranging from Baroque (Clement XIV) to Roman Republican (Cawdor, bare-chested) (Baker, op. cit.). Later in life, Hewetson's prominence was overshadowed by the rise of Canova, but he did not resent his rival's success. Instead, after losing two commissions to the younger sculptor, he hosted a dinner in Canova's honour in 1787. Hewetson died in Naples in 1798 and is regarded as the greatest Irish sculptor of the 18th century.

Related Literature
T. Hodgkinson, 'C. Hewetson: An Irish Sculptor in Rome', The Volume of the Walpole Society, vol. 34, 1952-1954, pp. 42-54.
F. Russell, 'A Distinguished Generation, The Cawdor Collection', Country Life, vol. CLXXV, June 1984, pp. 1746-1748.
B. de Breffny, 'Christopher Hewetson', Irish Arts Review (1984-1987), vol. 3, no. 3, Autumn, 1986, pp. 52-75.
M. Baker in E. P. Bowron and J. J. Rishel (eds.), 'Art in Rome in the Eighteenth Century', exh. cat. Philadelphia Museum of Arts, Philadelphia, and MFA, Houston, 2000.
J. E. Davies, 'John Campbell, First Baron Cawdor (1755-1821) Patron, Collector and Connoisseur'
C. Mason (ed.) 'Canova: Bust of Peace', London, 2018, pp. 50-55.