{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O75463"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O75463/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AM8549/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AM8549/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AM8549","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2018KW7515","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2018KW7514","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O75463/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O75463","accessionNumber":"A.12-1956","objectType":"Bust","titles":[{"title":"George IV","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"<b>Object Type</b><br>This posthumous bust is an idealised representation of George IV, similar to the famous painted portrait by Sir Thomas Lawrence. The King is shown in classical dress, but with a movement and bravura reminiscent of Italian Baroque sculpture. A bust of George IV by Joseph was apparently exhibited at the Suffolk Galleries, London, in 1831, and one was shown at the Royal Academy in 1835. It is unknown whether either of these (they may have been the same piece) was the present bust.<br><br><b>People</b><br>Samuel Joseph (1791-1850) was a pupil of the sculptor and wax modeller Peter Rouw; he also trained at the Royal Academy Schools in London. In 1823 he went to Edinburgh, and became one of the founder-members of the Royal Scottish Academy; he  introduced a more naturalist, less classicist, style of portrait sculpture which was admired in Scotland at the time. He returned to London in 1828, but despite some prestigious commissions, including the monument to the slavery abolitionist William Wilberforce in Westminster Abbey, he died in some poverty.<br><br><b>Materials & Making</b><br>Marble busts were among the most prestigious types of portrait undertaken in Britain during the 18th century. The marble, a relatively expensive material, was imported, usually from Italy via The Netherlands, since there are no marble quarries in this country. The skills needed to carve marble might also be learnt abroad, where an aspiring artist would probably gain his most important training assisting an established sculptor.","physicalDescription":"The subject looks to his half right. The head tilts slightly upward. He wears a tunic, with a band of ornament along the top, under a cloak which is caught on the left shoulder with a clasp in the form of a lion's mask. Signed and dated.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Joseph, Samuel","id":"A8562"},"association":{"text":"sculptor","id":"AAT25181"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"marble","id":"AAT11443"}],"techniques":[{"text":"carving","id":"AAT53149"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Carved marble","categories":[{"text":"Sculpture","id":"THES48896"},{"text":"Royalty","id":"THES48899"},{"text":"Portraits","id":"THES48906"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"SCP","id":"THES48600"},"images":["2006AM8549","2018KW7515","2018KW7514"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"120 (VA)","id":"THES49226"},"free":"","case":"PL14","shelf":"","box":"44"}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Bust","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"England","id":"x28826"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1831","earliest":"1831-01-01","latest":"1831-12-31"},"association":{"text":"carved","id":"AAT53149"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"87.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"with socle","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"126 kg","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"'S.JOSEPH.SCULP.t. : 1831'","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":"A8877"},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Signed and dated on the truncation at the back"}],"objectHistory":"Bought from Robert Tunstill, Old Manor House, Bradford-on-Avon for £60, in 1956.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Bust, marble, posthumous portrait of George IV, by Samuel Joseph, England, 1831","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"Bilbey, Diane and Trusted, Marjorie, British Sculpture 1470-2000: A Concise Catalogue of the Collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum. London: V&A Publications, 2002","id":"AUTH401363"},"details":"p. 312, cat. no. 477","free":""},{"reference":{"text":"Whinney, Margaret, English Sculpture 1720-1830. London: H. M. Stationery Off., 1971","id":"AUTH401360"},"details":"p. 160","free":""},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Graves, A., <u>The Royal Academy of Arts. A Complete Dictionary of Contributors and their work from its foundation in 1769 to 1904</u>, (8 vols), 1905-1906, IV, p. 288, nos. 1265 and 1052"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Gunnis, R., <u>Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851</u>, (revised edition, first published London 1953), London, 1968, p. 222"},{"reference":{"text":"<i>The exhibition of the Society of British Artists ... MDCCCXXXI</i>, London : Printed by W. Clowes, 1831","id":"AUTH357932"},"details":"no.876","free":""},{"reference":{"text":"<i>The Romantic Movement : fifth exhibition to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Council of Europe</i> London : Arts Council of Great Britain, 1959","id":"AUTH357933"},"details":"no. 981","free":""},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Jonathan Marsden, European Sculpture in the Collection of His Majesty the King, London, 2025, vol. 1, pp. 22."}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[{"text":"George IV (King of Great Britain)","id":"N726"}],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"tunic","id":"AAT209869"},{"text":"lion's mask","id":"x47170"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"British Galleries:\nThis bust, carved the year after the death of George IV in 1830, shows the king as an idealised figure, still young, stylish and animated. The loosely clasped robes suggest that the figure may have been based on classical busts but the long, curling hair and the sense of immediate movement give it a Romantic air.","date":{"text":"27/03/2003","earliest":"2003-03-27","latest":"2003-03-27"}}],"partNumbers":["A.12-1956"],"accessionNumberNum":"12","accessionNumberPrefix":"A","accessionYear":1956,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":["2019LV7095"],"recordModificationDate":"2026-01-16","recordCreationDate":"2003-02-26","availableToBook":false}}