Two painted polychrome decorated plaster figures of George III, circa...

the taller with a wooden cane by Francis Hardenburg (fl. 1783-1832), the base impressed 'Publisd May 8, 1820 / By F Hardenberg, 19 Mount St, London'; the other statuette after Lucius Gahagan (1773-1855), the base indistinctly marked, lacking a cane

31cm. high; 30¼in.
29cm. high; 11¼in.

(2)

Condition Report:
Wear, losses and ingrained dirt to surface consistent with age and the material employed in production. Some chips. The smaller figure originally with some chips, now lost.

Catalogue Note:
Hardenberg's figure of George III was produced in the May of 1820, to commemorate the King shortly after his death. It shows a younger George III, as he would have appeared in the early years of the 19th century. For another cast of the same in the National Portrait Gallery (NPG 4383), see David Saywell; Jacob Simon, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p.241.

For the smaller figure see an example signed L. Gahagan, sold, ‘Simon Sainsbury, The Collection of an English Arcadia’, Christie's, London, 18 June 2008, lot 146. There is an extant trade card of Gahagan's in the British Museum, (Banks Collection D,2.1324), advertising 'Sculpture. The Nobility and Gentry are most respectfully informed, that the only Bust to which His Imperial Majesty, the Emperor of all the Russias, ever condescended to sit, is on View at the Sculptor's Study, 12, Cleveland Street... L. Gahagan will attend from Twelve... May 15, 1815.'

Provenance:
Possibly Henry William Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey (1768-1854).