Death Mask of Oliver Cromwell
Category
Art / Sculpture
Date
1800 - 1840
Materials
Painted plaster
Measurements
210 x 180 x 140 mm
Order this imageCollection
Carlyle's House, London
NT 263812
Summary
Plaster cast of the death mask of Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector (1599-1658). Nineteenth century cast after the original death mask given to Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) by the writer John Sterling (1806-1844) in c.1843. The cast is painted brown and has a hanging fixing attached to the top.
Full description
Thomas Carlyle believed that historical writing should enable readers to understand the past. He was also interested in the way in which an authentic historical portrait could provide historians with an insight into the characters of their subjects; he would collect portraits that he believed to be accurate depictions, and have them at hand while he wrote about the historical figure depicted. Carlyle had two versions of the death mask of Oliver Cromwell; the version now in the collection at Carlyle's house was his first copy and was given to him by the writer John Sterling (1806-1844), probably at the time that Carlyle was beginning to work on Cromwell in 1843. In his Life of Sterling, Carlyle mentions that he and Sterling discussed Oliver Cromwell together during their last meeting: 'We spoke of Cromwell, among other things which I have now forgotten; on which subject Sterling was trenchant, positive, and in some essential points, wrong'. (Carlyle, The Life of John Sterling, London 1851, p.324) Carlyle's work, Letters and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell which was published in 1845, sought to present a positive image of Oliver Cromwell. Carlyle's work published the known letters and speeches of Cromwell, to which he added his own commentary for the reader on the context of Cromwell's time. For Carlyle, Cromwell was a worn-down figure, a subject of pity caused by the lack of understanding of his cause by the nation. Carlyle's second cast of Cromwell's death mask was given to him by the sculptor Thomas Woolner in 1870. In a letter dated 2nd March 1856, Carlyle writes to Woolner about the most accurate depictions of Oliver Cromwell that are known about, including the death mask: 'There are very many false and absurd Portraits of Oliver in circulation: nevertheless the real face of him is capable of being perfectly well known The dead mask of it is to be had in Stucco-shops (a man with an Italian name near Soho-square used to have them)'. (Carlyle, Thomas, and Jane Welsh Carlyle. The Carlyle Letters Online [Thomas Carlyle to Thomas Woolner, 2 March 1856]. Ed. Brent E. Kinser. Duke UP, 2007-2016, www.carlyleletters.org.) Carlyle was probably referring to the Italian Paul Garbanati, from whom Woolner later acquired a death mask of Cromwell and had seven casts taken from it, one of which he gave to Carlyle. This version is now in the collection of Harvard University. Anna Moore, 2018
Provenance
Given to Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) by the Scottish writer John Sterling (1806-1844) probably in c.1843 when Carlyle began to work on Cromwell; by descent to Alexander and Mary Carlyle. Sold at Sotheby's after the death of Alexander Carlyle on 14 June 1932, lot 282. Bought from Sotheby's by Hugh McKay and given to the Carlyle's House Memorial Trust. Transferred to the National Trust in 1936.
Credit line
National Trust Collections (Carlyle's House, Chelsea)