A Chelsea white bust of William, Duke of Cumberland, circa 1750

Footnotes

Provenance
Simon Spero exhibition, 1995, no.1
Dr James Tatchell Collection
Simon Spero exhibition, 2009, no.5

Literature
White, Mary, People at the Whites' House, Vol.5, 2024, p.280

Prince William Augustus (1721-1765) was the youngest son of George II and Caroline of Ansbach, and was granted several titles including Duke of Cumberland in 1726. The Duke pursued a distinguished military career and is best known as commander of the loyalist troops against the Jacobite forces of Charles Edward Stuart. The aftermath of the battle and the Duke's vindictive and brutal crackdown on Jacobitism earned Cumberland the taunt 'Butcher'.

There has been much speculation concerning the Duke of Cumberland's involvement in the Chelsea porcelain factory. An account from an employee of the Chelsea factory by the name of Mr Mason, transcribed by William Chaffers, Marks and Monograms on Pottery and Porcelain, 1947, p.937, reads 'I think the Chelsea China manufactory began about the year 1748 or 1749... It was first carried on by the Duke of Cumberland and Sir Everard Fawkener, and the sole management was entrusted to a foreigner of the name of Sprimont...' Sir Everard Fawkener was the Duke's secretary and there is no doubt Fawkener was closely involved with Nicholas Sprimont's enterprise. Sir Charles Hanbury Williams arranged for Fawkener to borrow his collection of Meissen porcelain so that Chelsea could make copies. In a letter to his friend Henry Fox dated 9 June 1751, Hanbury-Williams wrote 'I find also that the Duke is a great encourager of the Chelsea China, and has bespoke a set for his own Table.' Aside from providing the factory with his custom, it seems unlikely that the Duke had any financial involvement in the venture. Indeed, a note published in 1763 stating that 'The paragraph in the Gazetteer of Saturday, Dec 24 1763, that his Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland has been lately at the manufactory, in order to purchase the secret is without Foundation' indicates that Sprimont went to great lengths to disassociate himself from the Duke.

Even if he was not a financial backer, the Duke was still an important and wealthy patron of the Chelsea factory and Sir Everard Fawkener no doubt encouraged the production of this bust of his employer. A similar bust in the British Museum is illustrated by Elizabeth Adams, Chelsea Porcelain, 2001, p.70, fig.6.7, where the Duke's involvement is discussed. Another at Colonial Williamsburg is illustrated by John C Austin, Chelsea Porcelain at Williamsburg, 1977, p.114, pl.107, and an example from Lord and Lady Fisher's collection by F Severne Mackenna, Chelsea Porcelain: The Triangle and Raised Anchor Wares, 1948, pl.14, no.35. Others include one from the Untermyer Collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (inv. no.1974.28.140) and one from the Schreiber Collection in the Victoria and Albert Museum (inv. no.2917-1901). See also the bust from the Jervis family collection at Darlaston Hall, sold by Bonhams on 4 November 2015, lot 3. Mary White suggests that the source for the bust may be an engraving by Simon François Ravenet dated 1747 which was also used on Battersea enamel plaques.