Christ bearing the cross, the incredulity of Saint Thomas, the raising of Lazarus
George Tinworth (London 1843 - London 1913)
Category
Art / Sculpture
Date
circa 1875 - circa 1881
Materials
Terracotta in oak frame
Measurements
200 mm (H); 1040 mm (W); 50 mm (D)
Place of origin
H Doulton Pottery, Lambeth, London
Order this imageCollection
Belton House, Lincolnshire
NT 436779
Summary
Terracotta, three relief panels in oak frame, Christ bearing the Cross, the incredulity of Thomas, the raising of Lazarus, George Tinworth (1843–1913) for H Doulton & Co., Lambeth, 1875-81, individually signed 'G Tinworth Sc’ and monogrammed. Three relief panels in Doulton terracotta depicting scenes from the bible, set into an oak frame.
Full description
Left panel: Christ bearing The Cross Inscribed bottom right ‘G TINWORTH SC’ with monogram. Inscribed bottom left ‘H DOULTON & CO LAMBETH’ Christ is represented bearing the head of the Cross on his shoulders while Simon supports the foot on his back. Women accompany the procession, one of them providing water to quench Christ’s thirst. A man who has fallen before Christ in worship is being dragged away by a soldier at left. At right a Roman soldier and a Jew are reading the superscription prepared for the head of the cross (INRI). The panel is inscribed in Tinworth’s hand: Top ‘AND HE BEARING HIS CROSS WENT FORTH INTO A PLACE CALLED THE PLACE | OF A SKULL’ (John 19: 17) Bottom ‘WHO IS THIS THAT COMETH FROM EDOM WITH DYED GARMENTS FROM BOZRAH’. (Isiah 63) A version with alternative scripture in place of Isiah 63 is listed in Gosse 1883, p.59: ‘And they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus.’ (Luke 23:26). Centre panel: The Incredulity of Saint Thomas Inscribed bottom right ‘G TINWORTH’ | 'monogram SC’ Inscribed bottom left ‘H DOULTON & CO LAMBETH’ Christ (centre left) stands among the Apostles and calls upon Thomas (centre right) to see and feel the wounds he suffered during the Crucifixion. The doubting apostle bows in veneration. The panel is inscribed in Tinworth’s hand: Top to right descending: ‘REACH HITHER MY HAND AND THRUST IT INTO MY SIDE AND BE | NOT FAITHLESS BUT BELIEVING. AND THOMAS ANSWERED AND SAID UNTO HIM MY | LORD AND MY GOD’ (John 20: 27) with scroll pattern. Bottom: ‘FOR WHAT A MAN SEETH, WHY DOTH HE YET HOPE FOR?’ (Romans 8:24) Right panel: The Raising of Lazarus Inscribed bottom right ‘G TINWORTH SC’ with monogram below Inscribed bottom left ‘H DOULTON LAMBETH’ Lazarus, raised from the dead, sits at the edge of his tomb looking up at Christ, his resurrector, in adoration. The mourners look on in disbelief, their mouths wide with shock and awe. According to Christ’s instruction, Lazarus’ burial shroud is being unwound by the mourners attending him. The panel is inscribed in Tinworth’s hand: Top: ‘JESUS SAITH UNTO THEM | LOOSE HIM, AND LET HIM GO’ (John 11:44) Right: ‘NEITHER WILL THEY BE PERSUADED |THOUGH ONE ROSE FROM THE DEAD’ (Luke: 16:31) Bottom: ‘THE DEAD SHALL HEAR THE VOICE OF THE SON OF | GOD’ (John 5:25) Left: ‘UNTO GOD THE LORD BELONG THE ISSUES | FROM DEATH’ (Psalms 68:20). A version with alternative scripture in place of the verses from Luke, John and Psalms is listed in Gosse 1883, p.56: ‘Unto God the Lord belong the issues from death.’ (Psalms 68:20) and ‘Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.’ (John 20:29). Tinworth was initially trained at the Lambeth School of Art, attending evening classes to learn modelling and technique under John Sparks and Edwin Bale. He entered the Royal Academy Schools in 1864 and joined the Royal Doulton Potteries, Lambeth, three years later, remaining there until his death in 1913. Tinworth exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1866 to 1885. This is one of a series of biblical terracotta reliefs, called Scripture Panels, Tinworth produced at Doulton & Co between 1875 and 1891. Those he exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1875 gained him critical acclaim from John Ruskin and a commission to produce the Crucifixion reredos at York Minster. Although no archival evidence exists for their acquisition, it is conceivable that the panels were bought by Lady Marian Alford (1817-88), the wife of Viscount Alford (1812–1851), heir to Belton. Lady Marian was a great patron of the arts, particularly of the sculptors John Gibson (1790-1866) and his protégée Harriet Hosmer (1830-1909). A cultured woman, she was well-known in the London art world. Along with these panels she also acquired Tinworth’s Release of Barabbas: a salt and vitreous glazed panel depicting Pilate’s judgment to release the criminal Barabbas and crucify Christ at the crowd’s behest (NT 433587). The panels may have been acquired to decorate Lady Marian’s London residence, Alford House, built to her designs in 1872, and noted for its ‘moulded red brick’, ‘terracotta ornaments’ and conservatory housing Hosmer’s fountain, Siren (Surtees 2004). Alice Rylance-Watson October 2018
Provenance
Probably acquired by Lady Marian Alford (1817-88). Purchased with a grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) from Edward John Peregrine Cust, 7th Baron Brownlow, C. St J. (b.1936) in 1984.
Credit line
Belton House, The Brownlow Collection (acquired with the help of the National Heritage Memorial Fund by the National Trust in 1984)
Marks and inscriptions
Left panel: Bottom right G TINWORTH SC with monogram. Bottom left H DOULTON & CO LAMBETH Top AND HE BEARING HIS CROSS WENT FORTH INTO A PLACE CALLED THE PLACE | OF A SKULL Bottom WHO IS THIS THAT COMETH FROM EDOM WITH DYED GARMENTS FROM BOZRAH. Centre panel: Bottom right G TINWORTH | monogram SC Bottom left H DOULTON & CO LAMBETH Top to right descending: REACH HITHER MY HAND AND THRUST IT INTO MY SIDE AND BE | NOT FAITHLESS BUT BELIEVING. AND THOMAS ANSWERED AND SAID UNTO HIM MY | LORD AND MY GOD Bottom: FOR WHAT A MAN SEETH, WHY DOTH HE YET HOPE FOR? Right panel: Bottom right: G TINWORTH SC with monogram below Bottom left: H DOULTON LAMBETH Top: JESUS SAITH UNTO THEM | LOOSE HIM, AND LET HIM GO Right: NEITHER WILL THEY BE PERSUADED |THOUGH ONE ROSE FROM THE DEAD Bottom: THE DEAD SHALL HEAR THE VOICE OF THE SON OF | GOD Left: UNTO GOD THE LORD BELONG THE ISSUES | FROM DEATH
Makers and roles
George Tinworth (London 1843 - London 1913), sculptor
References
Gosse 1883: Gosse, E.W. A Critical Essay on the Life and Works of George Tinworth London, 1883, pp.56, 58, 59 Rose 1982: Rose, P. George Tinworth, Chronology of Principal Works, Harrimann- Judd Collection, I, Los Angeles, 1982 Surtees 2004: Virginia Surtees, Egerton [née Compton], Marianne Margaret, Viscountess Alford [known as Lady Marian Alford] (1817–1888), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford 2004