Henry Peter Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux (1778-1868) Lord Chancellor

John Adams-Acton (1833 - 1910)

Bronze bust

1867

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  • About the work
    Location
    Country: UK
    City: London
    Place: Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, Middlesex Guildhall

    This bronze bust of the former Lord Chancellor shows Brougham at the age of 89, wrapped in a Scottish plaid. Marble versions of the bust were exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1867 and 1872, while this bronze version was shown there in 1868. When the marble version was first exhibited in 1867, a reviewer of the Academy exhibition, writing for the ‘Art Journal’, commented:

    ‘J. Adams, who commonly gains nice modulation in flesh surface, has certainly tortured unmercifully the not over handsome features of Lord Brougham.’

    The National Portrait Gallery in London has a both a marble version and a plaster copy.

  • About the artist
    John Adams-Acton was born in Middlesex, the son of artist William Adams. He added Acton to his surname to avoid confusion with other artists named John Adams. He trained under Timothy Butler and Matthew Noble. In 1853, he entered the Royal Academy Schools, winning the Academy’s travelling studentship in 1858 and relocating to Rome. Acton remained in Rome until 1865 and there met John Gibson. In 1875 he married Marion Hamilton, a novelist who wrote under the name Jeanie Hering. After spending eight months in India, the couple settled in London. They had five children and lived on Marylebone Road from 1880, before building a house and studio in St John’s Wood. Acton died at the age of 79, at the family’s holiday home on the Isle of Arran.
  • Explore
    People
    Henry Peter, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux Brougham (1778 - 1868)
    Places
    Subjects
    male portrait, Scottish, man, Scottish national costume, lawyer, law reformer, abolitionism, Baron, Member of Parliament, Lord Chancellor
    Materials & Techniques
    bronze, bust (as object name), Bronze bust
  • Details
    Artist
    John Adams-Acton (1833 - 1910)
    Title
    Henry Peter Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux (1778-1868) Lord Chancellor
    Date
    1867
    Medium
    Bronze bust
    Dimensions
    height: 59.00 cm, width: 48.00 cm
    Acquisition
    Presented by Sidney Littler, July 1952
    Inscription
    on 'book-cover' base front: BROUGHAM
    Provenance
    Collection of Sidney Littler; by whom presented to the Ministry of Works in 1952
    GAC number
    1840