Portrait bust of Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 7th Marquess of Londonderry (1878-1949)
John Tweed (Glasgow 1869 - London 1933)
Category
Art / Sculpture
Date
c. 1930 - 1933
Materials
Bronze and marble
Measurements
610 x 229 x 305 mm; 185 mm (Height)
Place of origin
London
Order this imageCollection
Mount Stewart, County Down
NT 1221052
Summary
Sculpture, bronze; Charles Stewart Henry Vane-Tempest-Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh, later 7th Marquess of Londonderry, MP (1878-1949); John Tweed (1869-1933); c. 1930-33. A bronze portrait bust of the 7th Marquess of Londonderry by the Scottish-born sculptor John Tweed, who also made portraits of the 7th Marquess’s parents.
Full description
A bronze portrait bust, by John Tweed, depicting Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 7th Marquess of Londonderry (1878-1949), with the sitter shown facing ahead, the bust section in herm form, truncated at bottom. The bronze has been given a green patination. Mounted on a shaped green marble base. John Tweed was born in Glasgow and began his career working for various sculptors in the city before, in 1890, moving to London, where he lived and worked for the rest of his life. Tweed was one of the most successful sculptors of his age, who produced numerous public statues and memorials. He has sometimes been termed the ‘sculptor of empire’, because of the large numbers of commissions he received for monuments and statues commemorating individuals who had distinguished themselves in the service of the Empire (for Tweed’s career, see Tweed 1936 and Capon 2013). Among Tweed’s best-known works today are his statue of Captain Cook in Whitby and, more controversially, the statue of Robert Clive in Whitehall. Tweed’s fine Rifle Brigade War Memorial of 1925, with three bronze statues incorporated into the design, is situated in Grosvenor Gardens, close to the National Trust’s London offices. A close friend of the French sculptor Rodin, Tweed promoted the French sculptor’s work in Britain and was instrumental in the gift to the Nation by Rodin of seventeen bronzes in 1914. Working during a golden age for sculpture, Tweed achieved great commercial and public success, although he failed to be elected to be elected to the Royal Academy, despite having been nominated fourteen times. The most significant collection of his sculptures, as well as his archive, are today in the collections of Reading Museum and Art Gallery. John Tweed had a close association with the Londonderry family, Edith Marchioness of Londonderry recording in her memoir that 'we were all devoted to John Tweed, and he was very often at Mount Stewart' (Londonderry 1938,p. 198). The friendship must have begun with Edith's parents-in-law, Charles, 6th Marquess of Londonderry (1852-1915) and his wife Theresa. Tweed’s marble bust of Lady Londonderry was exhibited to some acclaim at the Royal Academy summer exhibition in 1909 (no. 1708; Tweed 1936, pp. 161-62, illustrated; Capon 2013, pp. 39-40, fig. 4.2). A bronze cast is in the collection of Reading Museum (Inv. REDMG: 2000.140.1). He also made a portrait bust of the 6th Marquess, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1923 (no. 1425), the memorial to the 6th Marquess at Seaham in County Durham, as well as a memorial to the 6th Marquess and Marchioness in the form of a bronze relief, in Durham Cathedral. In 1933 was exhibited at an exhibition of Tweed's work a portrait of the late Marchioness Theresa, perhaps the portrait made in 1909 (Exhibition of Sculpture by John Tweed, exh. cat., May 5th to 20th 1933, Knoedler, London 1933, no. 35). The two marble busts of the 6th Marquess and Marchioness were recorded in the Gallery at Londonderry House in an inventory drawn up in 1939, whilst Tweed’s plaster models were at this time also at Londonderry House, stored in a cupboard in the gallery. The whereabouts of both the plaster and the marble versions is unknown today. The bronze bust of the 7th Marquess is likely to have been made towards the end of John Tweed’s life, the most productive period of his career. It was lent to the large commemorative exhibition held at the Imperial Institute in the summer of 1934, and was displayed in the Library at Londonderry House until its sale and demolition in 1962. It was among other works of art and furniture removed to Mount Stewart by Lady Mairi Bury in 1962. Jeremy Warren August 2022
Provenance
Commissioned by the 7th Marquess of Londonderry; 1939-1962, Londonderry House, the Library; 1962 to Mount Stewart; Lady Mairi Bury (1921-2009), by whom lent to the National Trust from 1976; accepted by HM Government in lieu of Inheritance Tax and allocated to the National Trust, 2013.
Makers and roles
John Tweed (Glasgow 1869 - London 1933), sculptor
References
Londonderry House 1939: A Catalogue and Valued Inventory of the Furniture and Works of Art at Londonderry House, Park Lane, W... Prepared for the purposes of insurance, with historical notes, by H. Clifford-Smith, 1939, p. 142, The Library. Londonderry House 1949: Inventory and Valuation of the Contents of the Royal Aero Club, Londonderry House, Park Lane, W. [...]. Prepared for the purpose of [Insurance] by H. Clifford-Smith,1949., p. 43, The Library. Londonderry House 1951: Inventory and Valuation of the Contents of the Royal Aero Club, Londonderry House, Park Lane, W. The property of the Trustees of the Seventh Marquess of Londonderry. Prepared for the purpose of Insurance by H. Clifford-Smith, 1951, p. 13, The Library. Londonderry House 1962: Inventory and valuation of the furniture and effects removed from Londonderry House, Park Lane, London W.1, to Mount Stewart, Newtownards, Co. Down, Northern Ireland. The personal property of Lady Mairi Bury J.P., August 1962, p. 15. Tweed 1934: John Tweed, Memorial Exhibition, June 22 to July 15 1934, exh. cat., Imperial Gallery of Art, Imperial Institute, London 1934, no. 54. Tweed 1936: Lendal Tweed, John Tweed. A Memoir, London 1936, p. 207. Londonderry, 1938: Edith Helen Vane-Tempest-Stewart, Marchioness of Londonderry. Retrospect. London: Frederick Muller, 1938. Capon 2013: Nicola Capon, John Tweed. Sculpting the Empire, Reading 2013.