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Edward Daniel Clarke, LL.B. (1769-1822), Professor of Mineralogy, 1808-1822: M.2-1865

Object information

Current Location: In storage

Titles

Edward Daniel Clarke, LL.B. (1769-1822), Professor of Mineralogy, 1808-1822

Maker(s)

Sculptor: Chantrey, Francis Legatt

Entities

Categories

Description

Posthumous portrait bust. White marble. The sitter is turned towards the front, looking three-quarters right. He is bare-headed with abundant curly hair and clean shaven. He wears a loose undergarment and a fur-lined wrap, which leaves the throat bare.

Legal notes

Given to the University by the Subscribers, 1824. Placed in the University Library on presentation. Transferred to Fitzwilliam Museum, 1865.

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Transferred (1865) by Cambridge University Library

Dating

19th Century, Early#
Production date: AD 1824 : Commissioned in 1823, completed in 1824

Note

After Clarke's death in1822, the Council of the Cambridge Philosophical Society (of which Clarke had been a founding member) decided on 18 March the same year to commission a bust, which was to be paid for through subscriptions. In 1823, the commission was awarded to Chantrey. Chantrey completed the bust in 1824 and recorded a payment of £210 in cash in his account book on 16 July.

Clarke was also an avid collector of Greek marbles. In 1803, he presented his large collection to the University where it was kept at the University Library until 1865, when it was formally transferred to the Museum. This was the year after the Museum had purchased the large antiquities collection of Lt Col. Leake (M.1-1865). The Clarke collection further extended the scope of the Museum’s holdings and permitted a display that suggested some of the chief chronological and cultural developments of classical antiquity for the first time. Some of Clarke’s objects are on display in the Greek and Roman Gallery, including a beautiful fragmentary marble statue of Aphrodite, made in Asia Minor (Turkey) around 100 BCE.

Edward Daniel Clarke was a clergyman, traveller, chemist and mineralogist who was a key figure in the life of the University of Cambridge. In 1808, he became the first Professor of Mineralogy, in 1817 he was appointed University Librarian in 1817, and in 1819, he was one of the founders of the Cambridge Philosophical Society.

People, subjects and objects depicted

Project

  • Sculpture UK

Components of the work

Plinth Height 13.4 cm
Bust Height 64.7 cm

Materials used in production

White marble

Techniques used in production

Carving : White marble, carved

Inscription or legends present

Inscription present: signed and dated

  • Text: CHANTREY.SC./1824
  • Method of creation: Inscribed
  • Text: E.D. Clarke, LL.D./NAT.1769.mor.1822
  • Location: On the back
  • Method of creation: Inscribed

References and bibliographic entries

Identification numbers

Accession number: M.2-1865
Primary reference Number: 30927
External ID: CAM_CCF_M_2_1865
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Monday 18 December 2023 Last processed: Monday 18 December 2023

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Applied Arts

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Edward Daniel Clarke, LL.B. (1769-1822), Professor of Mineralogy, 1808-1822" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/30927 Accessed: 2024-03-29 10:32:12

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:

{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/30927 |title=Edward Daniel Clarke, LL.B. (1769-1822), Professor of Mineralogy, 1808-1822 |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-03-29 10:32:12|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

API call for this record

To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:

https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/api/v1/objects/object-30927

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