Beschreibung:

HENRY WEEKES R.A (1807-1877), A MARBLE PORTRAIT BUST OF A CHILD
DATED 1832
Signed H Weekes Sc. 1832
45cm high including socle
Literature:
A. Graves, The Royal Academy Exhibitors, vol. VIII, London, 1906, p. 193;
I. Roscoe, E. Hardy and M.G. Sullivan, A Biographical Dictionary of Sculptors in Britain 1660-1851, New Haven and London, 2009, p. 1343
Weekes was raised in Canterbury as the son of a banker's clerk, but his was artistic inclinations were quickly recognized and he was sent to study at the Royal Academy. His talent was widely recognised and he became the lead modeler in the studio of Sir Francis Chantrey, and a personal favourite of the English sculptor. Chantrey went so far as to request Weekes complete his unfinished works after his death and bequeathed him £1,000 to start his own studio. His popularity grew - notably through grand achievements such as sculpting a bust for the newly throned Queen Victoria and exhibiting at the Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace in 1851.