Manual Ref* SUipIP093 Show 3 images 785
Title*

Bust of Cardinal Wolsey
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)  
Setting In building  Access Public 
Artist/Maker Role Qualifier
Not known     

Commissioned by

  

Design & Constrn period

  

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 Cardinal Wolsey

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
Wolsey  Marble  H 70 cm x W 46 cm x D 26 cms. 

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: Some damage to base

Vandalism
Graffiti Structural damage Surface Damage
Detail:

Overall condition
Good Fair Poor

Risk
No Known Risk At Risk Immediate
Signatures/Marks  
Inscriptions  

Description (physical)

 A fine bust of Cardinal Wolsey commissioned as a companion to Turnerelli's 1813 Bust of Wellington. He is shown wearing an elaborately buttoned mozzetta - the official off-duty garb for high prelates - and beret. The costume and features may have been derived from one of the standard prints of Wolsey, that by John Faber from 1714 but reprinted during the nineteenth century (www.npg.org.uk/live/search/Wolsey accessed 14/1/2008). Neither the name of the artist nor the date of the commission are known. The bust is now set at the top of the stairs on a red marble column which echoes those framing the entrance to the Council Chambers and balances the Duke of Wellington on the left. 

Description (iconographical)

 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:
David Hulks

On Site Inspection

 Date:  15/7/2007

Inspected by:
David Hulks

Sources and References

  

Database

 Date entered:  13/1/2008

Data inputter:
Richard Cocke