Bust of a young woman, called Ivy.
workshop of John Besnier (fl.1681)
Category
Art / Sculpture
Date
1670 - 1672
Materials
Lead
Place of origin
London
Order this imageCollection
Ham House, Surrey
NT 1140377
Summary
A lead portrait bust of a woman, her dress partly open to reveal her right breast. Inscribed on the socle ‘IVY’. One of thirty-eight lead busts made for the garden walls of Ham House in 1671-72, perhaps in the workshop of John Besnier, thirty-six of which survive in niches on the walls and on the north façade of the house. This bust is however, unlike all the others, situated on the east side of the house. Mounted on a sandstone console.
Full description
A lead portrait bust of a young woman, her neck nagled to the left, looking ahead of her. Her hair is parted in the middle and drawn back, to form a bun at the back. Her dress is open at the right to reveal her naked shoulder and breast. Mounted on a lead plinth, which is inscribed at the bottom ‘IVY’. One of thirty-six lead busts displayed in oval niches in the garden walls and on the north façade of Ham House, probably installed in 1671-72, and recorded in the 1679 inventory of Ham House. The entire series was probably arranged in its present positions along the garden walls and on the north front of Ham House by the 6th Earl of Dysart, as part of improvements undertaken between 1798 and 1803. This bust is detached from the remainder of the series, and was placed on the east side of the house. All the other female busts are on the north side. Some of the female busts may depict the consorts of Roman Emperors or other Classical heroines, although the features in most cases are not distinctive enough to allow identification. Like several others, this particular bust is clearly not based on an antique model but seems clearly to be based on a modern probably Italian model. The significance of the inscription IVY is not entirely clear. It may have been added at a later date. The lead busts may well, like other sculpture at Ham House, have been made in the workshops of the Besnier family, perhaps by John Besnier, who received a commission for lead statuary from the Duke of Ormonde in 1681. For a fuller discussion of the garden wall busts and their history and attribution, see NT 1140333. Jeremy Warren January 2022
Provenance
Probably made and installed in 1671-72, to the commission of John Maitland and Elizabeth Murray, 1st Duke and Duchess of Lauderdale. Thence by descent,until acquired in 1948 by HM Government when Sir Lyonel, 4th Bt (1854 – 1952) and Sir Cecil Tollemache, 5th Bt (1886 – 1969) presented Ham House to the National Trust. Entrusted to the care of the Victoria & Albert Museum until 1990, when returned to the care of the National Trust, to which ownership was transferred in 2002.
Marks and inscriptions
On lower edge of plinth: IVY
Makers and roles
workshop of John Besnier (fl.1681), sculptor
References
Avery 2013: Charles Avery, ‘Seventeenth-century Sculpture at Ham House’ in Christopher Rowell, ed., Ham House. 400 Years of History, New Haven/London 2013, pp. 158-77., pp. 172-76.