Coade Figure of Westmacott's Nymph
Provenance:
Christie's The Secret Courtyard Collection The Seago Collection June 9th 1999
Private Collection UK
Among the most celebrated sculptural models produced by the Coade Manufactory during its final years is the elegant figure known as Westmacott's Nymph, one of the most successful collaborations between Britain's finest artificial stone manufacturer and the leading sculptor of the Regency age.
The model originated with Sir Richard Westmacott RA, the pre-eminent British sculptor of his generation. Trained in Rome under Antonio Canova and later appointed Professor of Sculpture at the Royal Academy, Westmacott was responsible for some of the most important public monuments of the early nineteenth century, including the west pediment of the British Museum and the monumental Achilles erected in Hyde Park. His work united a profound understanding of Classical antiquity with the refined sensibility of European Neoclassicism.
The present figure derives from Westmacott's celebrated marble Venus Attiring Herself After the Bath, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1824 and subsequently acquired for Castle Howard. Although the marble was destroyed during the devastating fire at Castle Howard in 1940, the composition survives through a small number of contemporary versions, including the celebrated plaster preserved at Sir John Soane's Museum and a handful of Coade stone examples produced at Lambeth.
The sculpture depicts a young nymph gently turning as she loosens her zone, the girdle traditionally worn by unmarried women in Classical antiquity. The action gives rise to the alternative title A Nymph Unclasping Her Zone. Westmacott's treatment is characteristically restrained. Rather than overt drama, the figure relies upon elegant contrapposto, refined anatomical modelling and flowing drapery to convey grace, movement and beauty. The result is a work of remarkable poise, capturing a fleeting moment poised between modesty and revelation.
The model enjoys an especially important connection with Sir John Soane. A plaster version acquired directly from Westmacott formed part of Soane's celebrated collection at Lincoln's Inn Fields and remains in the museum today. Positioned prominently within the Picture Room, the sculpture was incorporated into one of the most sophisticated domestic interiors of the period and became an integral component of Soane's carefully choreographed architectural vision. The survival of the model within the museum provides an invaluable link between Westmacott's original conception and the Coade stone versions produced shortly afterwards.
The association between Westmacott, Soane and Coade is particularly significant. Few British sculptures can claim direct connections to three of the most important artistic figures and institutions of the Regency period. Westmacott supplied the artistic genius, Soane provided one of the era's most influential settings for its display, and the Coade Manufactory translated the model into a material capable of withstanding the British climate while retaining an extraordinary degree of sculptural refinement.
Alison Kelly, whose pioneering scholarship transformed modern understanding of Coade stone, identified Westmacott's Nymph as one of the most important sculptural introductions of the factory's final years. Introduced in 1831, only two years before the closure of the Lambeth works, the model stands amongst the last major artistic achievements of the manufactory. Kelly recognised that the figure represented far more than a decorative garden ornament. Instead, it demonstrated the continuing ambition of the Coade enterprise and its ability to collaborate with the foremost sculptors of the day.
The date of introduction is particularly important. By 1831 the reputation of Coade stone was already firmly established. For more than half a century the manufactory had supplied architectural ornament and sculpture for many of Britain's most distinguished houses and public buildings. Architects including Robert Adam, John Nash and Sir John Soane had all employed the material extensively, attracted by its remarkable durability and ability to reproduce the finest sculptural detail.
Developed and perfected by Eleanor Coade during the late eighteenth century, Coade stone remains one of Britain's greatest artistic and industrial achievements. Despite often being described as an artificial stone, it is more accurately understood as a highly sophisticated ceramic body fired at exceptionally high temperatures. The resulting material possesses extraordinary resistance to weathering whilst retaining the crispness and precision of freshly carved stone. More than two centuries after manufacture, surviving examples continue to display a remarkable freshness of surface and detail, a testament to the brilliance of the Coade formula.
What makes Westmacott's Nymph particularly compelling is the way it encapsulates the highest aspirations of British Neoclassicism. The figure combines Westmacott's mastery of the Classical tradition with the technical innovations of the Coade manufactory and the intellectual world of Sir John Soane. It is simultaneously a work of sculpture, a triumph of ceramic technology and a tangible expression of Regency taste.
Produced during the final years of the Coade factory and based upon one of Westmacott's most admired compositions, the present figure represents a rare survival from the closing chapter of one of Britain's most important artistic enterprises. As both an object of beauty and an artefact of considerable historical significance, it stands amongst the finest sculptural productions ever to emerge from the Lambeth works.