Torso of a Roman Military Commander
Christopher Horsnaile the elder (London c.1658 - London 1742)
Category
Art / Sculpture
Date
1730 - 1739
Materials
Portland stone
Measurements
1321 mm high
Order this imageCollection
Wallington, Northumberland
NT 584977
Summary
Portland stone, Torso of a Roman Military Commander by Christopher Horsnaile the elder (London c.1658 - London 1742)
Provenance
Possibly from a gate until the demolition of the City of London's Gates (Ludgate, Cripplegate, Aldgate and Bisopsgate) in 1760 and (Aldersagte and Moorgate in 1761); according to family tradition, the sculptures were probably brought to the Tyne as ballast in one of Sir Walter Blackett's ships. It has been suggested that when he saw them he had them taken to his sham-castle or folly at Rothley, Northumberland (John Hodgson 'History of Northumberland', 1827, Part II, vol. 1,page 305); at Rothley Castle until 1879 and cited in a poem by Thomas Oliver of Wallington as 'Caesar and Pompey' ;[...]; given with the property to the National Trust in 1941 by Sir Charles Philips Trevelyan, 3rd Bt (1870 – 1958)
Makers and roles
Christopher Horsnaile the elder (London c.1658 - London 1742), sculptor
References
Adshead 2007 David Adshead, 'Dragon's on the Lawn The Afterlife of London's City Gates at Wallington', Apollo [National Trust Historic Houses & Collections Annual], 2007, pp.50-6, fig. 8