Francis Legatt Chantrey
Encyclopedia
Sir Francis Legatt Chantrey (7 April 1781 – 25 November 1841) was an English
sculptor
of the Georgian era
. He left the Chantrey Bequest or Chantrey Fund for the purchase of works of art for the nation, which was available from 1878 after the death of his widow.
(when it was part of Derbyshire
), where his father, a carpenter, had a small farm.
His father died when he was twelve; and his mother remarried, leaving him without clear career to follow. At fifteen, he was working for a grocer in Sheffield, when, having seen some wood-carving in a shop-window, he requested to be apprenticed as a carver instead, and was placed with a Mr Ramsay, woodcarver and gilder, in Sheffield. His artistic merit was spotted by John Raphael Smith
, a distinguished draughtsman and engraver, who gave him lessons in painting. In 1802 Chantrey paid £50 to buy himself out of his apprenticeship with Ramsay (despite only having 6 more months to serve). He immediately set up a studio as a portrait artist in Sheffield, which allowed him a reasonable income. He collected sufficient funds to move to London
.
Chantry obtained work as an assistant wood-carver, but at the same time devoted himself to portrait-painting, bust-sculpture, and modelling in clay. Asked later in life, as a witness in a court case, whether he had ever worked for any other sculptors, he replied: "No, and what is more, I never had an hour's instruction from any sculptor in my life". He travelled to Dublin, where he fell very ill, and lost all his hair. He then returned to London and exhibited pictures at the Royal Academy
for some years from 1804, but from 1807 onwards devoted himself mainly to sculpture. The sculptor Joseph Nollekens
showed recognition of his merits. In 1807 he married his cousin, Miss Ann Wale, who had some property of her own. His first imaginative work in sculpture was the model of the head of Satan
, which was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1808. He afterwards executed for Greenwich Hospital
four colossal busts of the admirals Duncan, Howe, Vincent
and Nelson; and so rapidly did his reputation spread that the next bust which he executed, that of John Horne Tooke
, procured him commissions to the value of £2,000.
From this period he was almost uninterruptedly engaged in paid work. In 1819 he visited Italy
, and became acquainted with the most distinguished sculptors of Florence
and Rome
. He was chosen an associate (1815) and afterwards a member (1818) of the Royal Academy
, received the degree of M.A. from Cambridge
, and that of D.C.L. from Oxford
, and in 1835 was knighted. He died after an illness of only two hours' duration, having for some years suffered from heart disease, and was buried in a tomb constructed by himself in the church of his native village in Derbyshire (now Sheffield).
Chantrey's works are extremely numerous. The principal are the statues of George Washington
in the State-house at Boston, Massachusetts; of George III
in The Guildhall, London
; of George IV
at Brighton
; of William Pitt the Younger
in Hanover Square, London
; of James Watt
in Westminster Abbey
and in Glasgow (also a bust, plus one of William Murdoch
, at St. Mary's Church, Handsworth
); of William Roscoe
and George Canning
in Liverpool
; of John Dalton
in Manchester Town Hall
; of Lord President Blair and Lord Melville
in Edinburgh, etc. Of his equestrian statues the most famous are those of Sir Thomas Munro
in Calcutta, the Duke of Wellington
in front of the London Exchange
and one of King George IV in Trafalgar Square
. The last of these was originally commissioned, on the express instructions of the king himself, to stand on top of the Marble Arch
, in front of Buckingham Palace
.
He executed several monuments for St Pauls Cathedral: General Hoghton; General Bowes; General Gore; General Skerrett; Colonel Henry Cadogan. He is also responsible for the memorial to Sir James Brisbane
in St James' Church, Sydney.
But the finest of Chantrey's works are his busts, and his delineations of children. The Sleeping Children
which depicts two children asleep in each other's arms, forms a monumental design in Lichfield Cathedral
, has always been lauded for beauty, simplicity and grace. So is also the statue of the girlish Lady Louisa Russell, represented as standing on tiptoe and cradling a dove in her bosom. Both these works appear, in design, to have owed something to Thomas Stothard
; Chantrey knew his own scantiness of ideal invention or composition, and always sought aid from others for such attempts. In busts, he had a ready unconstrained air of life, a prompt vivacity of ordinary expression. He also executed church memorials, of which the Earl of Farnham (1826) in Cavan is a fine example. In Derby Museum
there is an unusual bust of William Strutt
and in Snaith
church there is a notable monument to Viscount Downe
by Chantrey. Allan Cunningham
and Henry Weekes
were his chief assistants, and were indeed the active executants of many works that pass under Chantrey's name. He was a man of warm and genial temperament, and is said to have borne a noticeable though commonplace resemblance to the usual portraits of William Shakespeare
.
By the will dated 31 December 1840, Chantrey (who had no children) left his whole residuary personal estate after the decease or on the second marriage of his widow (less certain specified annuities and bequests) in trust for the president and trustees of the Royal Academy (or in the event of the dissolution of the Royal Academy, to such society as might take its place), the income to be devoted to the encouragement of British fine art in painting and sculpture only, by "the purchase of works of fine art of the highest merit ... that can be obtained." The funds might be allowed to accumulate for not more than five years; works by British or foreign artists, dead or living, might be acquired, so long as such works were entirely executed within the shores of Great Britain, the artists having been in residence there during such execution and completion. The prices to be paid were to be "liberal," and no sympathy for an artist or his family was to influence the selection. or the purchase of works, which were to be acquired solely on the ground of intrinsic merit. No commission or orders might be given: the works must be finished before purchase. Conditions were made as to the exhibition of the works, in the confident expectation that as the intention of the testator was to form and establish a public collection of British Fine Art in Painting and Sculpture, the government or the country would provide a suitable gallery for their display; and an annual sum of £300 and £50 was to be paid to the president of the Royal Academy
and the secretary respectively, for the discharge of their duties in carrying out the provisions of the will.
Lady Chantrey died in 1875, and two years later the fund became available for the purchase of paintings and sculptures. The capital sum available amounted to £105,000 in 3% Consols
, which (since reduced to 2½% in 1903) produces an available annual income varying from £2500 to £2100. Galleries in the Victoria and Albert Museum
at South Kensington were at first adopted as the depository of the works acquired, until in 1898 the Royal Academy arranged with the treasury, on behalf of the government, for the transference of the collection to the National Gallery of British Art, which had been erected by Sir Henry Tate
at Millbank. It was agreed that the "Tate Gallery
" should be its future home, and that no power of selection or elimination is claimed on behalf of the trustees and director of the National Gallery (Treasury Letter, 18054-98, 7 December 1898) in respect of the pictures and sculptures which were then to be handed over and which should, from time to time, be sent to augment the collection. Inasmuch as it was felt that the provision that all works must be complete to be eligible for purchase militated against the most advantageous disposition of the fund in respect of sculpture, in the case of wax models or plaster casts before being converted into marble or bronze, it was sought in the action of Sir F Leighton v. Hughes (tried by Mr Justice North, judgment 7 May 1888, and in the court of appeal, before the master of the rolls, Lord Justice Cotton, and Lord Justice Fry, judgment 4 June 1889—the master of the rolls dissenting) to allow of sculptors being commissioned to complete in bronze or marble a work executed in wax or plaster, such completion being more or less a mechanical process. The attempt, however, was abortive.
A growing discontent with the interpretation put by the Royal Academy upon the terms of the will as shown in the works acquired began to find expression more than usually forcible and lively in the press during the year 1903, and a book in 1904, Administration of the Chantrey Bequest by Dugald Sutherland MacColl
, a government committee initiated reforms.and a debate raised in the House of Lords
by the earl of Lytton led to the appointment of a select committee of the House of Lords, which sat from June to August 1904. The committee consisted of the earls of Carlisle, Lytton, and Crewe, and Lords Windsor, Ribblesdale, Newton, and Killanin, and the witnesses represented the Royal Academy and representative art institutions and art critics. The report (ordered to be printed on 8 August 1904) made certain recommendations with a view to the prevention of certain former errors of administration held to have been sustained, but dismissed other charges against the Academy. In reply thereto a memorandum was issued by the Royal Academy (February 1905, ordered to be printed on 7 August 1905—Paper 166) disagreeing with certain recommendations, but allowing others, either intact or in a modified form.
Up to 1905 inclusive 203 works had been bought—all except two from living painters—at a cost of nearly £68,000. Of these, 175 were in oil-colours, 12 in water-colours, and 16 sculptures (10 in bronze and 6 marble).
Until the 1920s the Bequest was the main source of funding for expanding the collection of what is now Tate Britain
, and it remains active today.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
sculptor
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
of the Georgian era
Georgian era
The Georgian era is a period of British history which takes its name from, and is normally defined as spanning the reigns of, the first four Hanoverian kings of Great Britain : George I, George II, George III and George IV...
. He left the Chantrey Bequest or Chantrey Fund for the purchase of works of art for the nation, which was available from 1878 after the death of his widow.
Life
Francis Leggatt Chantrey was born at Norton near SheffieldSheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
(when it was part of Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
), where his father, a carpenter, had a small farm.
His father died when he was twelve; and his mother remarried, leaving him without clear career to follow. At fifteen, he was working for a grocer in Sheffield, when, having seen some wood-carving in a shop-window, he requested to be apprenticed as a carver instead, and was placed with a Mr Ramsay, woodcarver and gilder, in Sheffield. His artistic merit was spotted by John Raphael Smith
John Raphael Smith
John Raphael Smith was an English painter and mezzotint engraver, son of Thomas Smith of Derby, the landscape painter, and father of John Rubens Smith, a painter who emigrated to the United States.-Biography:...
, a distinguished draughtsman and engraver, who gave him lessons in painting. In 1802 Chantrey paid £50 to buy himself out of his apprenticeship with Ramsay (despite only having 6 more months to serve). He immediately set up a studio as a portrait artist in Sheffield, which allowed him a reasonable income. He collected sufficient funds to move to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Chantry obtained work as an assistant wood-carver, but at the same time devoted himself to portrait-painting, bust-sculpture, and modelling in clay. Asked later in life, as a witness in a court case, whether he had ever worked for any other sculptors, he replied: "No, and what is more, I never had an hour's instruction from any sculptor in my life". He travelled to Dublin, where he fell very ill, and lost all his hair. He then returned to London and exhibited pictures at the Royal Academy
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...
for some years from 1804, but from 1807 onwards devoted himself mainly to sculpture. The sculptor Joseph Nollekens
Joseph Nollekens
Joseph Nollekens was a sculptor from London generally considered to be the finest British sculptor of the late 18th century. He was also a founder member of the Royal Academy in 1768.-Life:...
showed recognition of his merits. In 1807 he married his cousin, Miss Ann Wale, who had some property of her own. His first imaginative work in sculpture was the model of the head of Satan
Satan
Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
, which was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1808. He afterwards executed for Greenwich Hospital
Greenwich Hospital
Greenwich Hospital can refer to:*Greenwich Hospital , USA*Greenwich Hospital , UK...
four colossal busts of the admirals Duncan, Howe, Vincent
John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent
Admiral of the Fleet John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent GCB, PC was an admiral in the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom...
and Nelson; and so rapidly did his reputation spread that the next bust which he executed, that of John Horne Tooke
John Horne Tooke
John Horne Tooke was an English politician and philologist.-Early life and work:He was born in Newport Street, Long Acre, Westminster, the third son of John Horne, a poulterer in Newport Market. As a youth at Eton College, Tooke described his father to friends as a "turkey merchant"...
, procured him commissions to the value of £2,000.
From this period he was almost uninterruptedly engaged in paid work. In 1819 he visited Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, and became acquainted with the most distinguished sculptors of Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
and Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. He was chosen an associate (1815) and afterwards a member (1818) of the Royal Academy
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...
, received the degree of M.A. from Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, and that of D.C.L. from Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
, and in 1835 was knighted. He died after an illness of only two hours' duration, having for some years suffered from heart disease, and was buried in a tomb constructed by himself in the church of his native village in Derbyshire (now Sheffield).
Work
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
in the State-house at Boston, Massachusetts; of George III
George III of the United Kingdom
George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
in The Guildhall, London
Guildhall, London
The Guildhall is a building in the City of London, off Gresham and Basinghall streets, in the wards of Bassishaw and Cheap. It has been used as a town hall for several hundred years, and is still the ceremonial and administrative centre of the City of London and its Corporation...
; of George IV
George IV of the United Kingdom
George IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...
at Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
; of William Pitt the Younger
William Pitt the Younger
William Pitt the Younger was a British politician of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He became the youngest Prime Minister in 1783 at the age of 24 . He left office in 1801, but was Prime Minister again from 1804 until his death in 1806...
in Hanover Square, London
Hanover Square, London
Hanover Square, London, is a square in Mayfair, London W1, England, situated to the south west of Oxford Circus, the major junction where Oxford Street meets Regent Street....
; of James Watt
James Watt
James Watt, FRS, FRSE was a Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer whose improvements to the Newcomen steam engine were fundamental to the changes brought by the Industrial Revolution in both his native Great Britain and the rest of the world.While working as an instrument maker at the...
in Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
and in Glasgow (also a bust, plus one of William Murdoch
William Murdoch
William Murdoch was a Scottish engineer and long-term inventor.Murdoch was employed by the firm of Boulton and Watt and worked for them in Cornwall, as a steam engine erector for ten years, spending most of the rest of his life in Birmingham, England.He was the inventor of the oscillating steam...
, at St. Mary's Church, Handsworth
St. Mary's Church, Handsworth
St. Mary's Church, Handsworth, also known as Handsworth Old Church, is an Anglican church in Handsworth, Birmingham, England. Its ten-acre grounds are contiguous with Handsworth Park and it is just off the Birmingham Outer Circle and south of a cutting housing the site of the former Handsworth...
); of William Roscoe
William Roscoe
William Roscoe , was an English historian and miscellaneous writer.-Life:He was born in Liverpool, where his father, a market gardener, kept a public house called the Bowling Green at Mount Pleasant. Roscoe left school at the age of twelve, having learned all that his schoolmaster could teach...
and George Canning
George Canning
George Canning PC, FRS was a British statesman and politician who served as Foreign Secretary and briefly Prime Minister.-Early life: 1770–1793:...
in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
; of John Dalton
John Dalton
John Dalton FRS was an English chemist, meteorologist and physicist. He is best known for his pioneering work in the development of modern atomic theory, and his research into colour blindness .-Early life:John Dalton was born into a Quaker family at Eaglesfield, near Cockermouth, Cumberland,...
in Manchester Town Hall
Manchester Town Hall
Manchester Town Hall is a Victorian-era, Neo-gothic municipal building in Manchester, England. The building functions as the ceremonial headquarters of Manchester City Council and houses a number of local government departments....
; of Lord President Blair and Lord Melville
Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville
Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville PC and Baron Dunira was a Scottish lawyer and politician. He was the first Secretary of State for War and the last person to be impeached in the United Kingdom....
in Edinburgh, etc. Of his equestrian statues the most famous are those of Sir Thomas Munro
Thomas Munro
Major-general Sir Thomas Munro, 1st Baronet KCB was a Scottish soldier and colonial administrator. He was an East India Company Army officer and statesman.-Lineage:...
in Calcutta, the Duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...
in front of the London Exchange
Royal Exchange (London)
The Royal Exchange in the City of London was founded in 1565 by Sir Thomas Gresham to act as a centre of commerce for the city. The site was provided by the City of London Corporation and the Worshipful Company of Mercers, and is trapezoidal, flanked by the converging streets of Cornhill and...
and one of King George IV in Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square is a public space and tourist attraction in central London, England, United Kingdom. At its centre is Nelson's Column, which is guarded by four lion statues at its base. There are a number of statues and sculptures in the square, with one plinth displaying changing pieces of...
. The last of these was originally commissioned, on the express instructions of the king himself, to stand on top of the Marble Arch
Marble Arch
Marble Arch is a white Carrara marble monument that now stands on a large traffic island at the junction of Oxford Street, Park Lane, and Edgware Road, almost directly opposite Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park in London, England...
, in front of Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace, in London, is the principal residence and office of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
.
He executed several monuments for St Pauls Cathedral: General Hoghton; General Bowes; General Gore; General Skerrett; Colonel Henry Cadogan. He is also responsible for the memorial to Sir James Brisbane
James Brisbane
Captain Sir James Brisbane, CB was a British Royal Navy officer of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Although never engaged in any major actions, Brisbane served under both Lord Howe and Horatio Nelson and performed important work at the Cape of Good Hope, prior to the Battle of...
in St James' Church, Sydney.
But the finest of Chantrey's works are his busts, and his delineations of children. The Sleeping Children
The Sleeping Children
The Sleeping Children is a marble sculpture by Francis Chantrey. The statue depicts Ellen-Jane and Marianne Robinson asleep in each others arms on a bed...
which depicts two children asleep in each other's arms, forms a monumental design in Lichfield Cathedral
Lichfield Cathedral
Lichfield Cathedral is situated in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England. It is the only medieval English cathedral with three spires. The Diocese of Lichfield covers all of Staffordshire, much of Shropshire and part of the Black Country and West Midlands...
, has always been lauded for beauty, simplicity and grace. So is also the statue of the girlish Lady Louisa Russell, represented as standing on tiptoe and cradling a dove in her bosom. Both these works appear, in design, to have owed something to Thomas Stothard
Thomas Stothard
Thomas Stothard was an English painter, illustrator and engraver.-Life and work:Stothard was born in London, the son of a well-to-do innkeeper in Long Acre, London. A delicate child, he was sent at the age of five to a relative in Yorkshire, and attended school at Acomb, and afterwards at...
; Chantrey knew his own scantiness of ideal invention or composition, and always sought aid from others for such attempts. In busts, he had a ready unconstrained air of life, a prompt vivacity of ordinary expression. He also executed church memorials, of which the Earl of Farnham (1826) in Cavan is a fine example. In Derby Museum
Derby Museum and Art Gallery
Derby Museum and Art Gallery was established in 1879, along with Derby Central Library, in a new building designed by Richard Knill Freeman and given to Derby by Michael Thomas Bass. The collection includes a whole gallery displaying the paintings of Joseph Wright of Derby; there is also a large...
there is an unusual bust of William Strutt
William Strutt (inventor)
William Strutt FRS, was a cotton spinner in Belper, England.-Biography:Strutt was the first son of Jedediah Strutt and, after a good education, joined his father's business at the age of fourteen...
and in Snaith
Snaith
Snaith is a town in the East Riding of Yorkshire local government area of England. It is situated approximately west of Goole on the A1041 road at its junction with the A645 road...
church there is a notable monument to Viscount Downe
John Dawnay, 5th Viscount Downe
John Christopher Burton Dawnay, 5th Viscount Downe , styled The Honourable John Dawnay until 1780, was a British Whig politician....
by Chantrey. Allan Cunningham
Allan Cunningham
Allan Cunningham was a Scottish poet and author.He was born at Keir, near Dalswinton, Dumfriesshire, and first worked as a stonemason's apprentice. His father was a neighbour of Robert Burns at Ellisland, and Allan with his brother James visited James Hogg, the "Ettrick shepherd", who became a...
and Henry Weekes
Henry Weekes
Henry Weekes, RA was an English sculptor, best known for his portraiture. He was among the most successful British sculptors of the mid-Victorian period....
were his chief assistants, and were indeed the active executants of many works that pass under Chantrey's name. He was a man of warm and genial temperament, and is said to have borne a noticeable though commonplace resemblance to the usual portraits of William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
.
Chantrey Bequest
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...
and the secretary respectively, for the discharge of their duties in carrying out the provisions of the will.
Lady Chantrey died in 1875, and two years later the fund became available for the purchase of paintings and sculptures. The capital sum available amounted to £105,000 in 3% Consols
Consols
Consol is a form of British government bond , dating originally from the 18th century. The first consols were originally issued in 1751...
, which (since reduced to 2½% in 1903) produces an available annual income varying from £2500 to £2100. Galleries in the Victoria and Albert Museum
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum , set in the Brompton district of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects...
at South Kensington were at first adopted as the depository of the works acquired, until in 1898 the Royal Academy arranged with the treasury, on behalf of the government, for the transference of the collection to the National Gallery of British Art, which had been erected by Sir Henry Tate
Henry Tate
Sir Henry Tate, 1st Baronet was an English sugar merchant and philanthropist, noted for establishing the Tate Gallery, London.-Life and career:...
at Millbank. It was agreed that the "Tate Gallery
Tate Gallery
The Tate is an institution that houses the United Kingdom's national collection of British Art, and International Modern and Contemporary Art...
" should be its future home, and that no power of selection or elimination is claimed on behalf of the trustees and director of the National Gallery (Treasury Letter, 18054-98, 7 December 1898) in respect of the pictures and sculptures which were then to be handed over and which should, from time to time, be sent to augment the collection. Inasmuch as it was felt that the provision that all works must be complete to be eligible for purchase militated against the most advantageous disposition of the fund in respect of sculpture, in the case of wax models or plaster casts before being converted into marble or bronze, it was sought in the action of Sir F Leighton v. Hughes (tried by Mr Justice North, judgment 7 May 1888, and in the court of appeal, before the master of the rolls, Lord Justice Cotton, and Lord Justice Fry, judgment 4 June 1889—the master of the rolls dissenting) to allow of sculptors being commissioned to complete in bronze or marble a work executed in wax or plaster, such completion being more or less a mechanical process. The attempt, however, was abortive.
A growing discontent with the interpretation put by the Royal Academy upon the terms of the will as shown in the works acquired began to find expression more than usually forcible and lively in the press during the year 1903, and a book in 1904, Administration of the Chantrey Bequest by Dugald Sutherland MacColl
Dugald Sutherland MacColl
Dugald Sutherland MacColl was a Scottish watercolour painter, art critic, lecturer and writer. He was keeper of the Tate gallery for five years.- Life :...
, a government committee initiated reforms.and a debate raised in the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
by the earl of Lytton led to the appointment of a select committee of the House of Lords, which sat from June to August 1904. The committee consisted of the earls of Carlisle, Lytton, and Crewe, and Lords Windsor, Ribblesdale, Newton, and Killanin, and the witnesses represented the Royal Academy and representative art institutions and art critics. The report (ordered to be printed on 8 August 1904) made certain recommendations with a view to the prevention of certain former errors of administration held to have been sustained, but dismissed other charges against the Academy. In reply thereto a memorandum was issued by the Royal Academy (February 1905, ordered to be printed on 7 August 1905—Paper 166) disagreeing with certain recommendations, but allowing others, either intact or in a modified form.
Up to 1905 inclusive 203 works had been bought—all except two from living painters—at a cost of nearly £68,000. Of these, 175 were in oil-colours, 12 in water-colours, and 16 sculptures (10 in bronze and 6 marble).
Until the 1920s the Bequest was the main source of funding for expanding the collection of what is now Tate Britain
Tate Britain
Tate Britain is an art gallery situated on Millbank in London, and part of the Tate gallery network in Britain, with Tate Modern, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It is the oldest gallery in the network, opening in 1897. It houses a substantial collection of the works of J. M. W. Turner.-History:It...
, and it remains active today.