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William Pitt, First Earl of Chatham (1708-1778), Statesman and Prime Minister
Sculptor: Wilton, Joseph
Bust. White marble. The sitter is turned to the front, facing and looking a little left. He is bare-headed with his hair curling and lying low on the nape of the neck. He is clean shaven, he has a bare throat, and his shoulders and bust are covered by drapery.
History note: Collection of the Duke of Newcastle at Clumber Park. Sold in the Earl of Lincoln's Sale, Christie's catalogue, 19th October 1937, lot 344.
Given by the Friends of the Fitzwilliam Museum
Method of acquisition: Given (1937) by The Friends of the Fitzwilliam Museum
18th Century
Circa
1745
-
Before
1778
English-born Joseph Wilton trained as a sculptor with Laurent Delvaux at Nivelles in Flanders and from 1744 with Jean-Baptiste Pigalle in Paris. In 1747 he moved to Rome and then c.1750 moved to Florence. He returned to England in 1755 with the architect William Chambers, whose friendship helped him to gain important patrons. He was a talented portraitist. Wilton was one of the Foundation Members of the Royal Academy in 1768, and in 1790 became its third Keeper of collections.
This portrait, in a style inspired by the busts of ancient Greece and Rome, is undated but may have been made in 1766, the year when Pitt became first Earl of Chatham and the Stamp Act (a direct tax on the American colonies) was repealed. This made Pitt popular in the American colonies in the run-up to the American War of Independence (1775–83). A similar bust in terracotta, which may be the model for this, was given to Harvard University (Cambridge, Massachusetts) in 1769 by Benjamin Franklin (1706–90), one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.
William Pitt was a politician of the Whig party who actively encouraged the expansion of British territories overseas in direct competition with France and Spain. Called ‘The Great Commoner’ because of his refusal to accept an aristocratic title until 1766, he is best known as the informal political leader of Britain during the Seven Years' War, a global conflict fought between 1756 and 1763. Victory for Britain altered the balance of power in Europe and ended French dominance over world affairs.
Bust
Height 25 in
Plinth
Height 5 3/4 in
Carving : White marble
Accession number: M.65-1937
Primary reference Number: 30966
External ID: CAM_CCF_M_65_1937
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Applied Arts
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "William Pitt, First Earl of Chatham (1708-1778), Statesman and Prime Minister" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/30966 Accessed: 2024-04-16 21:50:00
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/30966
|title=William Pitt, First Earl of Chatham (1708-1778), Statesman and Prime Minister
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-04-16 21:50:00|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
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https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/api/v1/objects/object-30966
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<img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/aa/aa19/M_65_1937.jpg"
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<figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">William Pitt, First Earl of Chatham (1708-1778), Statesman and Prime Minister</figcaption>
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Accession Number: M.1-1822
Accession Number: C.1-1840
Accession Number: P.285-1947
Accession Number: P.177-1937
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