Printed from Woolley & Wallis

Description

A RARE LEAD EQUESTRIAN FIGURE OF KING GEORGE II
ATTRIBUTED TO JOHN MICHAEL RYSBRACK, (FLEMISH 1694-1770), C.1730

the monarch originally modelled astride a horse, the horse now absent, wearing a flowing wig, classical armour, and a cloak, a baton formally in his right hand, mounted later on a white marble cylinder plinth (2)

32.3cm high

Catalogue Note

This lead figure represents King George II (1683–1760), and is attributed to the eminent sculptor John Michael Rysbrack, one of the leading figures in British sculpture during the first half of the eighteenth century. Rysbrack was renowned for his portraits of members of the royal family, aristocracy, and political elite, helping to establish a monumental style that shaped British public sculpture for generations.

In 1732 the Corporation of the City of Dublin declared it's intention to raise an equestrian monument to George II following in the tradition established in 1717 when John Nost the Elder (1678-1729) had supplied an equestrian sculpture of George I to stand on the Essex Bridge in the heart of the Irish capital. Michael Rysbrack and Peter Scheemakers both submitted models (now lost) and it is most likely that the present lead figure of George II relates to the former's submission and bears similarities to his equestrian monument of William III commissioned by the City of Bristol.