A Marble Bust on Pedestal of Richard Cobden by Neville Northey Burnard 1865

A fine and important Marble Bust on Pedestal of Richard Cobden by Neville Northey Burnard, 1865, Exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy in 1866 and Presented to the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce

This white marble bust is very finely carved and set on a turned socle and square section pedestal. The Bust is in very good original condition, however the pedestal requires work.

Provenance
Commissioned by a group of subscribers to commemorate the late Richard Cobden in the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, Melbourne Place, in 1865.

Exhibition History
Exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy, 1867.

Of Carrara marble, this fine bust depicts the MP and free trade activist Richard Cobden wearing a cravat, double breasted waistcoat and suit coat. The trademark whiskers and wispy hair are beautifully recreated in marble. The bust stands on a finely turned socle and is signed and dated on the reverse. The piece also retains its original pedestal, lettered with the name of the sitter and his dates of birth and death. The pedestal has beautifully executed guilloche carving to the top and a selection of fine mouldings to the base.

This bust was made from casts taken by the artist from the sitter’s body, as implied by a newspaper report of 1865 in the Sun newspaper (London) on the 29th of April that year. The report stated:

‘BUST OF COBDEN—A very excellent bust of the late Richard Cobden is in course of execution by Mr Burnard, the well-known Cornish sculptor, whose busts of Ebenezer Elliott, Thackeray, and others have been so much admired, the model having been already completed. The sculptor has had every facility for taking the necessary casts from the head of the illustrious free-trader, and the likeness is very faithful. The bust will, doubtless, be most welcome to a large number of Cobden’s admirers.’

Further information as to the piece’s history is revealed in a fascinating report in the Caledonian Mercury, dated the 16th of November 1866.

PRESENTATION OF A BUST OF COBDEN TO THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

On the invitation of the chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, a conversazione was held last evening in the Museum of Science and Art, the lecture hall of which was brought into use for the first time. An interesting part of the proceedings was the presentation of a bust of the late Richard Cobden to the Chamber. The presentation was made by Mr T. J. Boyd on behalf of the subscribers. The bust is the work of Mr Burnard, of London, a fine work of art, and an excellent likeness. The chairman suitably acknowledged the presentation. May we express a hope that the bust may be allowed to remain in the museum for a few days before its removal to the hall of the Chamber in Melbourne Place.’

Having become the property of the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, the bust was then exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy in 1867. A report in The Kentish Chronicle, 23rd of February 1867, records that amongst the exhibits at the 41st exhibition of the Academy that year was:

‘Mr Burnard’s excellent bust of Cobden, belonging to the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce’.

Reproduced here is a photograph of Cobden taken around the end of his life, illustrating just how good a likeness the present bust provides to the viewer.

Richard Cobden MP (1804–1865)

Born in West Sussex, Cobden spent much of his life as MP for constituencies in the north of England, at Stockport, West Riding and finally Rochdale.

He was a pioneering free trader and free thinker, opposing the Peel government’s corn laws and other protectionist mechanisms and earning the respect of liberal economists as a result. He was clearly a popular man and several busts of him were made as a result, the present example being particularly fine and, as we have seen, widely praised in the press at the time.

Neville Northey Burnard (1818–1878)

Born in Cornwall as the son of a stonemason, working with tools and stone carving were clearly in his blood. His first known work is a relief of John Wesley executed for the Wesleyan chapel next door to his childhood home when he was only 16. His talent was spotted by the MP Sir Charles Lemon who took him to London in the 1830s where he was able to study with Francis Chantrey, the leading sculptor of the period, and he exhibited at the Royal Academy in London many times between 1848 and 1873. Burnard completed many public commissions and was introduced to the Queen but, sadly, his life took a tragic turn after the premature death of his daughter. He became alcoholic, leading to the end of his marriage, the loss of his clients and his career. He became homeless and eventually returned to Cornwall as a tramp, constantly on the move from place to place. He died in a workhouse and was buried in a pauper’s grave. A very unfitting end for such an extraordinarily talented artist. In 1954 his previously unmarked grave was given a fitting headstone by virtue of the support of the Old Cornwall Society of Cambourne.

Many of Burnard’s public commissions were for Devon and Cornwall and works by him may still be seen in such places as the Plymouth Library (a bust of Thackeray), Truro Town Hall and Lander’s Monument, also in Truro. There is also a bust by the artist in the Natural History Museum in London.

Overall Height 75 inches Width 21 inches
Column 14 ¼ sq inches