Manual Ref* SUipIP094 Show 5 images 747
Title*

Bust of the Duke of Wellington (as Field Marshall)
County Suffolk   District Council Ipswich Borough Council 
Civil Parish or equivalent Ipswich  Town/Village* Ipswich - Town Centre 
Road Cornhill 
Precise Location First floor of Town Hall 
OS Grid Ref TM165447  Postcode IP1 
Previous location(s) Not known 
Setting In building  Access Public 
Artist/Maker Role Qualifier
P. Turnerelli  Sculptor(s)   

Commissioned by

 Not known 

Design & Constrn period

 1813 

Date of installing

  

Exact date of unveiling

  

Category
Abstract Animal Architectural
Commercial Commemorative Composite
Free Functional Funerary
Heraldic Military Natural
Non-Commemorative Performance Portable
Religious Roadside, Wayside Sculptural
Temporary, Mobile Other  

Object Type
Building Clock Tower Architectural
Coat of Arms Cross Fountain
Landscape Marker Medallion
Mural Panel Readymade
Relief Shaft Sculpture
Statue Street Furniture War Memorial
Other Object Sub Type: Bust of Duke of Wellington

Subject Type
Allegorical Mythological Pictorial
Figurative Non-figurative Portrait
Still-life Symbolic Other

Subject Sub Type
Bust Equestrian Full-length
Group Head Reclining
Seated Standing Torso
Part Material Dimension
Bust  Marble  H 70 cm x W 46 cm x D 26 

Work is
Extant Not Sited Lost

Owner/Custodian

 Ipswich Town Council 

Listing status
Grade I Grade II* Grade II Don't Know Not Listed

Surface Condition
Corrosion, Deterioration Accretions
Bird Guano Abrasions, cracks, splits
Biological growth Spalling, crumbling
Metallic staining Previous treatments
Other  
Detail:

Structural Condition
Armature exposed Broken or missing parts
Replaced parts Loose elements
Cracks, splits, breaks, holes Spalling, crumbling
Water collection Other
Detail:

Vandalism
Graffiti Structural damage Surface Damage
Detail:

Overall condition
Good Fair Poor

Risk
No Known Risk At Risk Immediate
Signatures/Marks P. Turnerelli Fecit 1813 
Inscriptions  

Description (physical)

 An idealised portrait showing Wellington (1769 – 1852) as a classically inspired hero made in celebration of his success in the Peninsular War. It is set at the top of the stairs on a red marble column which echoes those framing the entrance to the Council Chambers and appears to have been balanced by a bust of Cardinal Wolsey on the right. Turnerelli’s best known bust of the Duke of Wellington was commissioned for the India Office by late 1815, when he received payment of £157.10s. A comparison suggests that by the time of the later bust the Duke demanded that he be shown in less idealised form and with different insignia. There are replicas of the India Office bust at the Guildhall, Goodwood dated 1817 and in the Victoria Hall, Calcutta.  

Description (iconographical)

 Wellington was proud of his honours and in late life wore the insignia of the Order of the Garter over his dressing gown. Here he is shown with the highest Spanish honour, the Order of the Golden Fleece, which he had been awarded in 1812 - the only Briton with such an award. Nothing is known about the commission to Turnerelli, the distinguished Irish sculptor. The old Ipswich Town Hall was given a new Palladian façade by Benjamin Catt in 1818, while the rest of the building was preserved until 1867 when it was completely demolished and replaced by Bellamy and Hardy’s new building. Neither the bust of Wellington nor that of Wolsey are mentioned in the very full description of the new Town Hall in the Suffolk Chronicle 01/02/1868. This suggests that they were added later. 

Photographs

 Date taken:  15/7/2007
Date logged: 

Photographed by:
Sarah Cocke

On Site Inspection

 Date:  15/7/2007

Inspected by:
Richard Cocke

Sources and References

 Email from Steve Herold Cancelier of the confrérie of the Society of the Golden Fleece identifying the Golden Fleece and the sitter 15/07/07;www.thepeerage.com/p10256.htm (accessed 15/07/07) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Wellesley,_1st_Duke_of_Wellington#International_honours_and_titles (accessed 15/07/07)  

Database

 Date entered:  18/12/2007

Data inputter:
Richard Cocke