OBITUARY OF WILLIAM PITTS
Celebrated sculptor who designed work for Rundell & Bridge and Storr & Mortimer.
Mr. William Pitts
April 16. At Pimlico, aged 50, Mr. William Pitts, an eminent sculptor and amiable man
Mr. Pitts was born in 1790, and like many of the early Italian sculptors commenced his career as a chaser in silver, being apprenticed to his father. He obtained the gold Isis medal from the Society of Arts in 1812, for modelling two warriors. His earliest work of celebrity was a great portion of the Wellington Shield, designed by Stothard, for Messrs. Green and Word, and he afterwards chased the Shield of Achilles, designed by Flaxman, under whose direction it was executed. This magnificent work of art was produced for Messrs. Rundell and Bridge, and elicited the highest admiration, he also modelled La Sæur's Statue of King Charles the First, which was executed in silver for Lord Arden.
Mr. Pitts married at the early age of nineteen, and was obliged to apply himself sedulously to his profession. He produced, in rapid succession, the following works, selected with the most refined taste and displaying in their conception no ordinary genius: the Deluge, a sketch, in 1823; the Creation of Eve; Samson killing the Lion; Herod's Cruelty; the Pleiades, a most beautiful group; Cupid under the Mantle of Night; Pandora brought to Epimetheus; and Puck, from the Midsummer Night's Dream.
In subjects of pure classical taste, he stood unrivalled, and his talents were highly appreciated by the late celebrated Flaxman, by Sir Richard Westmacott, R.A. and by Sir Francis Chantrey, R. A.
In 1829 he executed two bas-reliefs, each eight feet in length, for Mr. Simmons of the Regent's Park : the Rape of Proserpine; and the Nuptials of Pirithous and Hippodamia, with the outrage of the Centaurs; these have been engraved in outline, and ure described in "The English School of Art."
Mr. Pitts had previously modelled the Shield of Æueas, three feet six inches in diameter, from the splendid description of Virgil; and some of the compartments, executed in silver, have recently been exhibited at the Royal Academy. The completion of this work, valued at 2,000l. has been interrupted by his sudden death.
In 1830 he designed and executed all the bas-reliefs in the bow room and drawing rooms of Buckingham Palace. In the first is represented Eloquence attended by Pleasure and Harmony ; in the north room, the Origin and Progress of Pleasure, in twelve compartments ; and in the south room are illustrations of the lives of the poets, Shakespeare, Spenser, and Milton. He also submitted to Mr. Nash four designs of sculpture for the throne room, their subjects from classical history.
A very bold piece of sculpture was executed by him for the pediment of St. Martin's vestry room, of St. Martin dividing his cloak with the beggar.
The Shield of Hercules from Hesiod he modelled in 1834, and was employed in making drawings of the several compartments for the purpose of being laid before the Emperor of Russia. A bas-relief of a succession of the Sovereigns of England from William the Conqueror to William the Fourth, with their several attributes, was exhibited in 1837. In 1839 he sent in a design for the Nelson Memorial to the committee, founded upon the description of Fame in the fourth book of the Æneid : –
"Fame, the great ill, from small beginnings grows–
Swift from the first; and every moment brings New vigour to her nights, new pinions to her
wings. Soon grows the pigmy to gigantic size; Her feet on earth, her forehead in the skies."
A second design for the same purpose, represented a colossal figure of Nelson on a lofty pedestal, in which the sculptor aimed at the attainment of grandeur and simplicity.
He was at the same time employed upon five large compartments in has relief, for the front of the Literary Institution of Leicester; the subjects of which were the Muses between the British and Greek poets, and emblems of the four quarters of the globe.
In lsleworth House, the seat of the late Rev. Sir W. A. Cooper, Bart, are three bas-reliefs by Mr. Pitts. Three others, the Triumph of Innocence, Flora with the Seasons, and Pledges of Virtue, are in the house of George Harrison, esq. Carlton Gardens. He modelled several busts; among which were those of Capt. FitzHerbert of Swinnerton, and Sir W. Home.
Mr. Pitts designed with great facility; and in drawing, as well as modelling, used equally the right and the left hand, and even both at the same time. He projected a series of illustrations of Virgil, and completed the drawings in outline, but two numbers of the work only were published. A series of illustrations of Ossian he also commenced, and two large plates were engraved in mezzotint, but it is believed were not published. He made drawings in illustration of Horace, and for two of the tragedies of Euripides, Bacuhce and Ion. As a proof of the extent and variety of his talents, it may be mentioned that he painted two pictures on subjects of sacred history, now in the possession of his family:–David and Saul, and the Return of the Prodigal Son.
At a late period Mr. Pitts executed many works for goldsmiths, his designs not only being highly estimated, but a method which he had acquired of raising the silver, procured a decided preference for his workmanship. He designed and executed the cup which was presented to Mr. Charles Kemble on his retiring from the stage; and a large enriched candelabrum for the Speaker of the House of Commons, in 1837. He also designed four candelabra of rich workmanship for her Majesty Queen Adelaide, and executed them for Messrs. Storr and Mortimer in 1838. He had previously modelled a dinner service for King William the Fourth, which was produced in china by Messrs. Davenport. He executed in silver several epergnes from a very tasteful design, representing a group of boys bearing a basket; a large salver, of a Louis Quatorze pattern, and a round waiter, of an Elizabethan pattern, were also repeated by him.
In 1826 Mr. Pitts designed a shield in relief, representing Achilles casting lots for a chariot race, and subsequently another, bearing on its surface the siege of Badajos, with the Duke of Richmond leading the troops. One of his last designs that was executed was an enriched cup, knife, fork, and spoon for her Majesty Queen Victoria, for presentation at christenings. His drawings were very numerous in this branch of art, and comprised almost every description of ornamental plate. Shortly before the death of King George the Fourth, he designed and partly modelled a Brunswick Shield, representing the King environed by groups indicative of the historical events in the several reigns of the House of Hanover.
A most beautiful design for a masonic tribute to his Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex, four feet high, is engraved and described in the Freemasons' Quarterly Review for June 1838. Designs were made by Mr. Pitts for candelabra presented to the Duke of Buckingham by the Agricultural Society, to Sheriff Solomons, to Alderman Wilson after his mayoralty, and to Stephenson the celebrated engineer; his last drawing was a small elegant tazza for presentation to Macready the tragedian.
The monuments of the late Lord and Lady Boston, and of the nephew of the present Lord Boston, of David Ricardo, Esq. and a cenotaph to Mr. Ricardo's grandson, in Gatcombe Park, were by Mr. Pitts; also the monuments of Dr. Young at Eton, Miss Wainwright at Sandgate, and of the wife of the Governor of Van Dieman's Land.
The small but beautiful bas-relief of the Triumph of Ceres now exhibiting at the Royal Academy, was modelled by Mr. Pitts in 1829, and, as an emblem of agricultural prosperity, was probably intended for the centre of a salver for the Agricultural Society.
A rash engagement relative to a laborious and expensive work, which Mr. Pitts had entered into, is supposed to have preyed upon his mind and to have created that depression under the influence of which he committed the fatal act of terminating his life by poison. Although his works were numerous and important, and included many that are not enumerated in the preceding list, it is certain they produced little profit. Mr. Pitts suffered much from illness, and has left a widow and five children, who, it is much to be feared, are totally unprovided for.
Source: The Gentleman's Magazine - 1840
Trev.