James Tassie - Scotland's Forgotten Sculptor

In the 1770s there were two very talented young sculptors working for Josiah Wedgwood, designing and making wax models of classical friezes, portrait medallions and cameos.

The younger man, John Flaxman, went on to follow a distinguished conventional career producing statues and busts; by the time of his death in 1826 he was described as “the greatest of modern sculptors”.

The older man, James Tassie, followed a more commercial path, which began with the invention of a low-melting glass paste which could be cast in moulds. The original objective was to produce copies of what were then called “antique gems”, more accurately cameos and intaglios from ancient Greece and Rome which were the subject of a fashionable collecting mania at the time. However the paste could also be used to produce attractive portrait medallions in white glass from carved wax originals, and Tassie hit on the idea of producing a catalogue of “Modern Personages”, in effect the celebrities of the day. These medallions in shallow relief were modelled directly from life and were much more durable than the wax originals from which they were cast. Customers would choose from 423 portraits, ranging from the Tsar of Russia, through Robert Adam, Sir Joseph Banks, Captain Cook, Edmund Burke, David Garrick, Admiral Hood, the Astronomer Royal and David Hume to the Duke of Wellington.

Despite his commercial success at the time Tassie received little academic recognition as an artist; the 1951 Dictionary of British Sculptors, for instance, makes no mention of him but devotes 5 pages to Flaxman.

We presently have a small exhibition of Tassie’s work.

Adam Duncan, Viscount Duncan(1731-1804)

Adam Duncan, Admiral, second son of Alexander Duncan of Lundie in Perthshire, entered the navy in 1746 under the care of his maternal uncle, Captain Robert Haldane. In 1749 he was appointed to the Centurion, then commissioned for service in the Mediterranean by the Hon. Augustus Keppel. He returned to England in 1763 and had no further employment for many years.

During this time he lived at Dundee, and married on 6 June 1777 Henrietta, daughter of Robert Dundas of Arniston, lord president of the court of session. In January 1779 he sat as a member of the court-martial on Keppel, in which he interfered. The admiralty was therefore desirous that he should not sit on the court-martial of Sir Hugh Palliser in April and the day before the assembling of the court, sent down orders for his ship the Monarch to go to St. Helens. Her crew, however, refused to weigh the anchor until they were paid their advance. The Monarch was still in Portsmouth harbour when the signal for the court-martial was made, so that, sorely against the wishes of the admiralty, Duncan sat on this court-martial.

In March 1782 when Keppel became first lord of the admiralty, Duncan was then appointed to the Blenheim of 90 guns, and commanded her under Howe at the relief of Gibraltar in October and the encounter with the allied fleet off Cape Spartel. He succeeded Sir John Jervis in command of the Foudroyant, and after the peace commanded the Edgar as guardship at Portsmouth for three years. He attained flag rank on 24 September 1787, became vice-admiral 1 February 1793, and admiral 1 June 1795. In February 1795 he was appointed commander-in-chief in the North Sea, and hoisted his flag on board the Venerable.

The initial two years of Duncan’s command entailed enforcing a rigid blockade of the enemy’s coast. It became apparent in spring 1797 that the Dutch fleet in the Texel was getting ready for sea. With thirty thousand troops for the invasion of Ireland, they were put to sea in early October, due to a persistent westerly wind. Duncan, with the main body of the fleet, was keeping up the pretence of the blockade, together with the Adamant and, from this point, Duncan sighted the Dutch fleet in the morning of the 11 October, about seven miles from the shore and nearly half way between the villages of Egmont and Camperdown. The Dutch preserved a bold front but, with the on shore wind, the attack had to be made promptly to avoid the shoal water, where it would not be possible to attack. Duncan made the signal to pass through the enemy’ s line – a bold departure in two groups and irregular order of sailing- that was crowned with complete success.

The news of the victory was received in England with the warmest enthusiasm. It was the first certain sign that the mutinies of the summer had not destroyed the power and the prestige of the British navy. Duncan was at once raised to the peerage as Baron Duncan of Lundie and Viscount Duncan of Camperdown, and there was a strong feeling that the reward was inadequate.

Till 1801 Duncan continued in command of the North Sea fleet, but without any further opportunity of distinction. Three years later, 4 August 1804 he died quite suddenly at the inn at Cornhill, a village on the border where he had stopped for the night on his journey to Edinburgh.

Duncan was of size and strength almost gigantic. He was described as 6ft 4in in height, and of corresponding breadth. As a young lieutenant, walking through the streets of Chatham, his grand figure and handsome face attracted crowds of admirers, and to the last he is spoken of as singularly handsome.

Portrait of Mrs E Thorold by Peter Rouw

When you dismantle a wax portrait miniature from its frame for cleaning the thing you most hope to find is the original paper label identifying the sitter, which in many cases has been carelessly discarded.

In a recent example we were doubly fortunate: not only was the label intact it formed the rear portion of a hermetically sealed capsule, the front portion of which was the convex glass and to which it was bonded by the Georgian equivalent of Sellotape, called goldbeater’s skin. (This is a proteinaceous membrane of animal origin, soaked in gum Arabic to render it flexible and adhesive).

The label reads as follows:
“Portrait of Mrs E. Thorold. Peter Rouw, sculptor and modeller of gems and cameos for His Royal Highness, Prince of Wales. Upper Titchfield Street, Fitzroy Square, London 1810.”

This is one of Rouw’s finest portraits, with superb detailing of Mrs Thorold’s dress, necklace and informally arranged hair.