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John Bacon (sculptor, born 1740) facts for kids

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Father Thames outside Ham House
Bacon's sculpture of Father Thames in Coade stone, in the grounds of Ham House

John Bacon RA (24 November 1740 – 7 August 1799) was a British sculptor who worked in the late 18th century. Bacon has been reckoned the founder of the British School of sculpture. He won numerous awards, held the esteem of George III, and examples of his works adorn St Paul's Cathedral and Westminster Abbey in London, Christ Church, Oxford, Pembroke College, Oxford, Bath Abbey and Bristol Cathedral.

Biography

John Bacon was born in Southwark on 24 November 1740, the son of Thomas Bacon, a clothworker whose family had formerly held a considerable estate in Somersetshire. At the age of fourteen, John was apprenticed to Mr Crispe's porcelain manufactory at Lambeth, where he was at first employed in painting small ornamental pieces of china. He was swiftly promoted to modeller and used the additional income to support his parents, then in straitened circumstances. Observing the models sent by different eminent sculptors to be fired at the adjoining pottery kiln determined the direction of his genius: he began imitating them with such proficiency that a small figure of Peace sent by him to the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts won a prize. Subsequently, its highest awards were given to him nine times between 1763 and 1776. During his apprenticeship, he also improved the method of working statues in stoneware, an art which he afterwards carried to perfection.

Bacon first attempted working in marble around 1763, when he resided in George Yard on Oxford Road near Soho Square. He exhibited a medallion of George III and a group of Bacchanalians that year and a bas relief of the Good Samaritan the next. During this period, he was led to improve the method of transferring the form of the model to the marble ("getting out the points") by the invention of a more perfect instrument for the purpose. This instrument possessed many advantages: it was more exact, took a correct measurement in every direction, was contained in a small compass, and could be used on either the model or the marble.

By 1769, Bacon was working for Eleanor Coade's Artificial Stone Manufactory. The same year he was awarded the first gold medal for sculpture awarded by the Royal Academy for a bas-relief representing the escape of Aeneas and Anchises from Troy. In 1770, he exhibited a figure of Mars, redone in marble the next year for Charles Pelhalm, which gained him the gold medal from the Society of Arts and his election as an associate of the Royal Academy (ARA). In 1771, Eleanor Coade appointed him works supervisor at her manufactory: he directed both model-making and design there until his death. In 1774, he was gifted with a new establishment at 17 Newman St. by a Mr Johnson who was a great admirer of his work. He executed a bust of George III for Christ Church, Oxford, and retained that king's favour throughout his life. Jealous competitors criticised him for ignorance of classic Greek sculpture, a charge he refuted with a bust of Jupiter Tonans. In 1795, he completed a statue of John Howard for St Paul's Cathedral. That statue was the first to be erected on the floor of the cathedral, ending a century-long prohibition on monuments in the body of that church. Bacon was considered the most successful public sculptor in England at the time and the church authorities awarded him the commissions for the next two statues erected in the cathedral, that of Samuel Johnson in 1795 and of the judge Sir William Jones in 1799.

On 4 August 1799 Bacon suddenly developed an "inflammation" and died a little more than two days later on the 7th. He was buried in Whitefield's Tabernacle in London. His estate was valued at £60,000, which was divided equally among his children. His widow was his second wife; he left a family composed of six sons and three daughters. His sons Thomas Bacon and John Bacon Jr. continued his work, and one of his daughters married the artist Mr Thornton. His memoirs were edited by Rev. Cecil and published in 1801.

Legacy

Bacon has been reckoned the founder of the British School of sculpture, although he himself considered Roubiliac's statue of Eloquence for Waterloo Bridge to be such a fine piece of sculpture that he was sure he could never equal it. He won numerous awards, held the esteem of George III, and continued to be praised in the 19th and 20th centuries. His works adorn St Paul's Cathedral and Westminster Abbey in London, Christ Church, Oxford, Pembroke College, Oxford, Bath Abbey and Bristol Cathedral.

Selected public works

1770-1779

Image Title / subject Location and
coordinates
Date Type Material Dimensions Designation Wikidata Notes
Memorial to George Montagu Dunk, Earl of Halifax.jpg George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax Westminster Abbey, London 1771 Bust with sculpture group Marble
Memorial to Thomas Gray Westminster Abbey, London 1771 Sculpture with medallion portrait Marble
George III Windsor Castle 1775 Bust Marble
Statue at Guy Hospital (12375394855).jpg Aesculapius Guy's Hospital, London c. 1774 Statue in niche Stone Q96801491
Hygieia Guy's Hospital, London c. 1774 Statue in niche Stone
Sculpture of Old Father Thames in the forecourt of Ham House - geograph.org.uk - 3358670.jpg Old Father Thames Forecourt of Ham House 1775 Statue on plinth and steps Coade stone Grade II Q26487358
Bernard Brocas monument - St James's church, Bramley (detail - 1).jpg Bernard Brocas of Beaureparie (1730-1777) St James' Church, Bramley, Hampshire After 1777 Sculpture group on tomb chest Marble Grade I
Britannia & Pitt the Elder, Westminster Abbey.jpg William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham Westminster Abbey, London 1778 Monumental sculpture group Marble
Monument to Thomas Guy, Guy's Hospital Chapel.jpg Monument to Thomas Guy Guy's Hospital Chapel, London 1779 Sculpture group on pedestal Marble
Somerset House-Strand-Statue Of George III & Neptune.jpg George III with the River Thames Somerset House, London 1779 Sculpture groups on pedestal Bronze and stone Grade I Q17527239

1780-1789

Image Title / subject Location and
coordinates
Date Type Material Dimensions Designation Wikidata Notes
Charles Roe Monument.JPG Charles Roe Christ Church, Macclesfield 1781 Low relief sculpture Black & white marble Grade II*
Monument to William Pitt the Elder, Guildhall, London.jpg William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham Guildhall, London 1782 Monumental sculpture group Marble

1790-1794

Image Title / subject Location and
coordinates
Date Type Material Dimensions Designation Wikidata Notes
Ann Whytell memorial, Westminster Abbey.jpg Memorial to Ann Whytell Westminster Abbey, London 1791 Sculpture group Marble
Bust of John Thomas, Westminster Abbey.jpg John Thomas, Bishop of Rochester Westminster Abbey, London 1793 Bust Marble Also attributed to John Bacon, Junior
Henry Hope memorial, Westminster Abbey.jpg Memorial to Henry Hope Westminster Abbey, London 1793 Deep relief sculpture Marble
Memorial to Etheldred Anne Cust in St Peter and St Paul's Church, Belton.jpg Memorial to Etheldred Cust Church of Saint Peter and St. Paul, Belton, South Kesteven 1793 Plaque with relief Grade I
Memorial to Sir Francis Henry Drake in St Andrew's Church, Buckland Monachorum.jpg Memorial to Sir Francis Henry Drake, 5th Baronet St Andrew's Church, Buckland Monachorum, Devon After 1794 Low relief sculpture on narrow pedestal Marble Grade I

1795-1799

Image Title / subject Location and
coordinates
Date Type Material Dimensions Designation Wikidata Notes
Memorial to Admiral Lord Heathfield in St Andrew's Church, Buckland Monachorum.jpg Memorial to George Augustus Eliott, 1st Baron Heathfield St Andrew's Church, Buckland Monachorum, Devon 1795 Sculpture group and portrait medallion on pedestal Marble Grade I
Howard statue in St Paul's, London.jpg John Howard St Paul's Cathedral, London 1795 Statue on pedestal Marble
Top of Radcliffe Observatory, Green Templeton College, Oxford.JPG Atlas and Hercules Radcliffe Observatory, Oxford 1795 Sculpture group Bronze Grade I
George Pocock memorial, Westminster Abbey.jpg Memorial to Sir George Pocock Westminster Abbey, London 1796 Statue on narrow plinth Marble
Samuel Johnson by Bacon, Senior, St Paul's Cathedral.jpg Dr Samuel Johnson St Paul's Cathedral, London 1796 Statue on pedestal Marble
St Paul's Cathedral (29155834400).jpg Sir William Jones St Paul's Cathedral, London 1799 Statue on pedestal Marble
William Mason memorial, Westminster Abbey.jpg Memorial to William Mason Westminster Abbey, London 1799 Relief sculpture Marble

Other works

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