Charles Buller
Neville Northey Burnard (Penpont 1818 - Redruth 1878)
Category
Art / Sculpture
Date
1849
Materials
Plaster
Measurements
275 x 137 x 76 mm
Place of origin
London
Order this imageCollection
Carlyle's House, London
NT 263817
Summary
Plaster bust of The Rt. Hon. Charles Buller, PC (1806-1848) by Nevil Northey Burnard (1818 -1878). A portrait bust cast in plaster of Charles Buller. Inscribed on the reverse: 'N.N. Burnard Sc./ 36 Hugh St.,/ Eccleston Sq. /Jul 1849.'
Full description
This small bust of Charles Buller (1806-1848), a liberal politician and MP for Liskeard, Cornwall, was modelled by the Cornish sculptor Neville Northey Burnard (1818 -1878) in 1849; the version at Carlye's house is a cast in plaster after the model. Burnard had decided upon sculpting a bust of Buller in early 1849 following the unexpected death of the MP in 1848. Burnard wrote to his friend, Caroline Fox, the founder of the Falmouth Polytechnic, on February 15 1849 informing her of his intentions:. He writes: ‘I am about to model a bust of the late Mr. Charles Buller from a picture, and shall be glad to get some friends to come and see my model as it progresses. I have not given up the idea of modelling a bust of Mr. Carlyle yet, and as Mr. Carlyle was an intimate friend of Mr. Buller I think if you would be kind enough to give me a note of introduction to your friend Carlyle it would be valuable to me in more than one way. I should get the benefit of his suggestions as to the likeness, and at the same time I could ascertain whether or not he would be inclined to sit to me.’ (Letter quoted by F. Hamilton Davey in his biography of Burnard, published in the Annual Report of the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society, Penryhn 1911, Vol 1 p. 266.) Burnard was a great admirer of Thomas Carlyle, and thanks to his friendship with Miss Fox, he was able to meet with the ‘Sage of Chelsea’ a week later and sought his opinion on the viability of a bust of Buller. Carlyle had been a private tutor to Charles Buller when he lived in Edinburgh, but had remained friends with him and could therefore offer an opinion on the likeness. Carlyle wrote to Burnard following their meeting, providing great encouragement to the sculptor: ‘… Nay, if the conditions never mend, and you cannot get that Bust [of Buller] to do at all, you may find yet (as often turns out in life) that it was better for you you did not. Courage! Persist in your career with wise strength, with silent resolution, with manful, patient, unconquerable endeavour; and if there lie a talent in you (as I think there does), the gods will permit you to develop it yet.’ (Carlyle, Thomas, and Jane Welsh Carlyle. The Carlyle Letters Online [CLO TC TO NEVILL N. BURNARD; 25 February 1849; TC NEVILL N. BURNARD DOI: 10.1215/lt-18490225-TC-NNB-01 CL 23:241-241]. Ed. Brent E. Kinser. Duke UP, 2007-2016, www.carlyleletters.org. ) This letter suggests that Carlyle was not convinced that Burnard would be successful in producing a bust of Buller, but that he saw great potential in the sculptor. Carlyle also wrote to Caroline Fox relating to her his impression of Burnard, which she recorded in her diary: ‘1849, March 1st. – Found a kindly note from Thomas Carlyle. He has seen ‘my gigantic countryman,’ Burnard, and conceives that there is great faculty in him; he gave him advice, and says he is the sort of person whom he will gladly help if he can’. (Horace N. Pym (ed.) Memories of Old Friends. Being extracts from the journals and letters of Caroline Fox, second edition, Philadelphia 1884, p. 255.) Following his meeting with Carlyle, Burnard did embark upon producing a bust of Charles Buller as this small model attests. He scratched on to the reverse of the bust 'N.N. Burnard Sc./ 36 Hugh St.,/ Eccleston Sq. /Jul 1849’. The bust is made of solid plaster, suggesting that it could have been the original version that he directly modelled, or it could be a subsequent cast, which due to the small size of the bust was cast as one piece. However, it would appear that Burnard did not carry out his intention of producing a full size bust of Buller as there is no known example. Burnard exhibited a small bust of Charles Buller at the 1849 annual exhibition of the Falmouth Polytechnic for which he was awarded a first bronze medal. In the Falmouth Polytechnic Committee Report for 1849 it is recorded that ‘a small bust of the late Mr Charles Buller, presented by Mr Burnard’ was given to the Society. Unfortunately the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic dispersed the majority of their collection of busts in 1913 and the whereabouts of Burnard’s bust of Buller is now unknown (thanks to Michael Carver of the Falmouth Poly for his assistance with this research). Although he does not mention it in his letter to Burnard, Thomas Carlyle must have refused to sit to him for a bust as there is no known example. Carlyle was very particular about having his portrait taken and it was not until the 1870s that a statuette was produced by the eminent sculptor Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm (see NT 263799 and NT 263809). Anna Moore (Jan 2018)
Provenance
Possibly owned by Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881); by descent to Alexander Carlyle (1843-1931). Included in the sale of Alexander Carlyle's effects after his death, Sotheby's 14th June 1932, lot 282. Transferred to the National Trust in 1936.
Credit line
National Trust Collections (Carlyle’s House, Chelsea)
Marks and inscriptions
Reverse: N.N. Burnard Sc. 36 Hugh St., Eccleston Sq. Aug 1819. Lot 282, Sotheby's, 14th June 1932
Makers and roles
Neville Northey Burnard (Penpont 1818 - Redruth 1878), sculptor