A PLASTER BUST OF WILLIAM PITT THE YOUNGER (1759-1806)

A PLASTER BUST OF WILLIAM PITT THE YOUNGER (1759-1806)

AFTER JOSEPH NOLLEKENS (1737-1823), 19TH CENTURY

64.2cm high

Catalogue Note

William Pitt the Younger became Britain's youngest British prime minister in 1783 at the age of 24 and the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in January 1801.

The present lot is a plaster version of an original bust commissioned posthumously from Nollekens in 1807. To maximise his financial return, it is reputed that Nollekens produced seventy-four examples of the bust, examples of which can be found in a variety of collections including the Royal Collection Trust and the Met Museum, New York.