John Thomas Smith

“ He carved a group of the Virgin and Child, in marble, as large as life, and of which he unfortunately could find no better mode of disposing than by lottery. He also carved for Nollekens, and was often, to the no little mortification of his employer, mistaken by strangers as the master of the studio, not only from his superior manners, but by his dashing mode of dressing in a fashionable coat and red morocco slippers. ”

“ I cannot suffer the uninformed reader to conclude, that the carver's powers are not absolutely requisite to the fame of the designer and modeller; for, without his tasteful finishing, the most exquisite model may be totally deprived of its feeling, by the want of that fleshiness, which must ever charm the eye accustomed to dwell upon the fine productions of ancient Sculpture. ”

“ Scheemakers, for some time, shared the patronage of the great with Roubiliac and Rysbrack; and not many require to be informed that the statue of Shakspeare in Westminster Abbey was carved by Scheemakers from the design of Kent the Architect; but very few persons appear to be aware, that the beautiful little bronze statue of King Edward VI. in the court-yard of St. Thomas's Hospital, is also by the hand of the same Sculptor. For my own part, I never go into the Borough without indulging myself with a sight of that truly elegant production of Art. ”

“ Felpham is a sweet place for study, because it is more spiritual than London. Heaven opens here on all sides her golden gates; her windows are not obstructed by vapours; voices of celestial inhabitants are more distinctly heard, and their forms more distinctly seen, and my cottage is also a shadow of their houses. ”

“ The green hills appear beneath; with the graves of the blessed, which are seen bursting with their births of immortality; parents and children embrace and arise together, and in exulting attitudes tell each other, that the New Jerusalem is ready to descend upon earth; they arise upon the air rejoicing; others newly awaked from the grave, stand upon the earth embracing and shouting to the Lamb, who cometh in the clouds with power and great glory. ”

“ But, alas! how fondly do we deceive ourselves! what was his chagrin, when, instead of hearing the name of Flaxman, that of Engleheart was pronounced as the successful candidate!
This timely lesson, he declared, so effectually operated upon his conceit, that he was determined ever after to talk less of his own talents, and to endeavour to do justice to those of others, who were also aspiring to the pinnacle of fame.—Sir Joshua Reynolds meeting Flaxman soon after he had received the hand of Miss Denman, in 1782, said to him, "So, Flaxman, you are married; there's no going to Italy now." ”

“ Flaxman, knowing me to be a collector of autographs, among many others, gave me the following letter, which he received from Blake immediately after his arrival at Felpham, in which he styles him
Dear Sculptor of Eternity.
"We are safe arrived at our cottage, which is more beautiful than I thought it, and more convenient. It is a perfect model for cottages, and, I think, for palaces of magnificence; only enlarging, not altering, its proportions, and adding ornaments, and not principals. Nothing can be more grand than its simplicity and usefulness. ”

“ Before the Throne of Christ on the right hand, the Just, in humiliation and in exultation, rise through the air, with their Children and Families; some of whom are bowing before the Book of Life, which is opened by two Angels on clouds: many groups arise with exultation; among them is a figure crowned with stars, and the moon beneath her feet, with six infants around her, she represents the Christian Church. ”

“ George Keate has observed, that a man of business should not indulge in much reading, if he wish to make money; and it was certain that Patterson gave up too much of his time to the contents of his books, without looking to the amount of his gains: indeed, so little did he profit by his occupation as an auctioneer, that he was at length glad to become the Librarian of the first Marquess of Lansdowne, with whom he remained until death deprived him of his patron, at which time the library was sold, and poor Patterson discharged. ”

“ It has usually been a practice with me, to ask questions of aged persons, or those who have travelled, and to put down their answers as nearly as possible in the words in which they were delivered; and I have invariably found, that the best mode of gaining information from those who are advanced in years, is by having a series of questions ready prepared, so that a long story might not deprive me of the points I might be anxious to obtain. This method I now and then observed with Mr. Nollekens, from whom I received the following answers, as to his master Scheemakers. ”

“ When Northcote was touching upon his celebrated picture of the lowering the Princes down the steps to their place of burial, so spiritedly engraved by Skelton for Boydell's Shakspeare, Fuseli objected to the hands belonging to a figure below, raised to receive the victims. "You should not," observed the critic, "have the fellow's hands so employed; he ought to be digging the hole for them: only think how awfully grand it would have been had you made him with a pick-axe—dump—dump—dump!" ”

“ Ceracchi, highly gifted as he certainly was, met with so little encouragement in this country, that after disposing of his property in Margaret-street, he quitted England for Rome, where he continued to practise as a Sculptor until the breaking out of the French Revolution, when he became so violent a partizan and so desperate, that he was condemned to death as the leader of the conspirators connected with the infernal machine contrivance, and was guillotined at Paris in 1801. ”

“ Lord and Lady Inchiquin solicited Nollekens to execute Sir Joshua's monument, which he declined, by stating that his engagements would not permit him to undertake it; but I never heard until lately, that he had recommended it to Flaxman, as some have asserted. For my own part, too, I do not believe it, as they were never intimate, and their modes of thinking and living were so diametrically opposite, that it was not possible for a man with Flaxman's elegant and benevolent feelings, to associate with Nollekens. ”

“ This intelligent group is rendered still more interesting by the charm of colouring, which though simple is strong, and most harmoniously distributed throughout the picture. The landscape has a deep-toned brightness that accords most admirably with the figures; and the painter has ingeniously contrived to give a value to a common scene and very ordinary forms, that would hardly be found, by unlearned eyes, in the natural objects. ”

“ No one could be more blessed with the friendship of men of worth than Flaxman. Those highly esteemed characters William Hayley, Thomas Hope, and Samuel Rogers, were among his dear and inseparable friends ”

“ The style of the whole work is square and bold beyond conception, and appears as if the great artist had played with his chisel, as he did with his modelling tool: the hand of the Virgin is inimitable.
Nollekens's time was mostly employed in modelling, and in consequence of his great practice, he acquired such dexterity with his clay, that he brought a bust wonderfully forward with his thumb and finger only. Flaxman also principally employed himself in modelling; but though not so dexterous as Nollekens, he kneaded the clay in a rough manner with the hand, under the influence bf a great mind. ”

“ Scheemakers was a native of Antwerp, a disciple of old Delvaux, and I have frequently heard his pupil Mr, Nollekens relate the following recollections of his life. Scheemakers, when a young man, had so ardent a love for the art of Sculpture, that, notwithstanding his slender means, he was determined to quit Antwerp, and walk to Rome. ”

“ BLAKE.
I believe it has been invariably the custom of every age, whenever a man has been found to depart from the usual mode of thinking, to consider him of deranged intellect, and not unfrequently stark staring mad ”

“ Its effect is so imposing, that when the spectator is standing at a little distance, this inestimable treasure, though unfinished, appears more like the commencement of a chiaro-oscuro picture, than a production in any kind of stone. ”

“ The mouth promises a spirit of application and precision, and yet it costs the original the greatest effort to give the finishing touch to the smallest piece. His extreme vivacity gets the better of that portion of attention and exactness with which Nature endowed him, and which is still distinguishable in the detail of all his works. You will even sometimes find in them a degree of finishing almost over-curious, and which, for this reason, affords a singular contrast with the boldness of the whole. ”

“ The person to whom he is fondly attached, while near him, may lead him like a child; but, quit him, and the most perfect indifference will follow. He must be roused, be struck, in order to be carried along. Though capable of the greatest actions, to him the slightest complaisance is an effort. His imagination is ever aiming at the sublime, and delighting itself with prodigies. ”

“ Knowles is my authority, that when his friend, the late Mr. Coutts, requested him to recommend a Sculptor to execute a bust of him, Fuseli immediately answered, "Go to Nollekens for a bust."
It is well known that Fuseli could put forth his sting when he indulged his wit, as will appear in the following anecdote. Fuseli, hearing that Northcote, the Painter, kept a dog, immediately exclaimed, "What? Northcote keep a dog! what must he feed upon? Why he must eat his own fleas." ”

“ Harlow was unquestionably an artist of very high talent, but owing to some circumstances, he did not make his way into the Royal Academy, though he, like all other Waltonites, attempted to tickle the trout, by painting portraits of some of its members. In addition to the one already mentioned of Fuseli, he produced a capital likeness of Northcote, of which Lewis has made an admirable print: he also painted the one of Stothard, so well engraved by Worthington; and he began one of Nollekens, which was never completed. ”

“ Fuseli, speaking of Nollekens to me, said, "He think himself a very cunning little fellow in his plagiarisms, but he can be detected as well as other artists. Why, the principle of the position of the Mercury he modelled from you, he took from Stella's print after Poussin's picture of the 'Accusation of Peter.'" This accusation reached the ear of Nollekens, who observed to me, that Fuseli had no occasion to make such a remark; "for I know," said he, "he fluently steals things himself. ”

“ It is now the property of John Varley, the Artist, whose landscapes will ever be esteemed as some of the finest productions in Art, and who may fairly be considered as one of the founders of the Society of Artists in Water Colours; the annual exhibitions of which continue to surpass those of the preceding seasons. ↑ Blake's talent is not to be seen in his engravings from the designs of other artists, though he certainly honestly endeavoured to copy the beauties of Stothard, Flaxman, and those masters set before him by the few publishers who employed him ”

“ Many figures chained and bound together fall through the air, and some are scourged by Spirits with flames of fire into the abyss of Hell, which opens to receive them beneath, on the left hand of the harlot's seat; where others are howling and descending into the flames, and in the act of dragging each other into Hell, and of contending in fighting with each other on the brink of perdition. ”

“ It may also be suspected that he is subject to impetuous emotions; but will any one say that he loves with tenderness, with warmth, to excess? There is nothing, however, more true: though, on the other hand, his sensibility has occasion continually to be kept awake by the presence of the beloved object: absent, he forgets it, and troubles himself no more. ”

“ Medland is so fond of jumping, I would advise him to go to Sadler's Wells; that is the best academy I know of for the improvement of agility."
Rembrandt, who painted and etched his own portrait oftener than any other artist, in one of his pictures, represented himself with so large a nose, that Fuseli exclaimed, upon seeing it, "What a nose! why his nose is as big as his face! Well, he was a fine fellow; I like to see a great man with a great those. ”

“ Knowles may soon favour the public with his intended Life of him, for the composition of which his dose intimacy With Mr. Fuseli afforded him such excellent opportunities; indeed I am convinced, that no one is better qualified for the work, nor in possession of a richer mine of materials; as I understand that he has six imprinted Lectures, an abundance of papers of the most interesting kind, and two hundred original aphorisms, which, if we may judge from Fuseli's pungent wit, would alone make an entertaining volume. ”

“ Rundell and Bridge. ↑ Lavater, speaking of Fuseli, says:
"The curve which describes the profile in whole, is obviously one of the most remarkable; it indicates an energetic character, which spurns at the idea of trammels. The forehead, by its contours and position, is more suited to the poet than the thinker. I perceive in it more force than gentleness; the fire of imagination rather than the coolness of reason. The nose seems to be the seat of an intrepid genius. ”

“ Roubiliac and Scheemakers's contemporary, John Michael Rysbrack, was born at Brussels, and was the son of a Landscape-painter, by whom there are several truly spirited etchings. He studied under Theodore Balant, a famous Sculptor; came to England in 1720, and resided in Vere-street, Oxford-street, where he had extensive workshops, which his great run of business required. ”