Charles Cumberworth (English/French, 1811-1852) A Bronze Model of Paul et Virginie

Cast by Susse Frères, bronze with light brown patina, signed "C. CUMBERWORTH" to the terrace edge, with foundry mark to the axe blade.

13 1/2 x 12 1/4 x 6 1/2 in.

Charles Cumberworth was a sculptor active in France from 1825-1852. He entered the School of Fine Arts in 1829. From 1833-1848, he exhibited at the Paris Salon. Well-known bronze statues by the artist include the statue of Marie Amelie, Queen of the French, the statue of the Duke of Montpensier, and a bronze bust of Paul Féval. He also completed some marble statues including La Modestie and La Generosite (1837), and the group in plaster of this Lot's subject Paul et Virginie (1844). Charles Cumberworth worked with the Maison Susse foundry from its foundation in France. He is said to have been the first artist to be commissioned by the foundry on 27 June 1837 (or 1827 the source is unclear). The artist worked with Susse foundry to cast Paul et Virginie in four listed sizes 50cm, 35cm, 30cm, and 25cm. Copeland and Garrett reproduced 'Paul and Virginia' in Parian ware. Companion statuettes of the two figures were issued by Copeland after 1851 as well as 'The Indian Fruit Girl' and 'The Nubian Water-Bearer.' A bronze version of the latter is one of three works by Cumberworth in the collection of the Louvre, Paris.

Charles' grandfather was baptized in Great or Little Hale parish in Lincolnshire on 27 May 1740. He married Elizabeth Fountain and they had a son, Thomas, who was born or christened on 30 May 1776. Thomas was held as a prisoner of war in Verdun, France, after the breakdown of the Treaty of Amiens in 1803. The records suggest he was there in a teaching capacity. Thomas married Henriette Victoria Blo on 11 November 1809. Charles was their second child (they had three sons and one daughter).

According to an entry by William Curtis in the Louvre database Cross-Channel: British Art in French Public Collections: "Cumberworth was brought to Paris as an infant, he studied sculpture under Jean-Jacques Pradier (1792-1852) from about 1825. Four years later, after entering the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in 1829, he began exhibiting at the Salon and continued to do so until 1848. He won the Prix de Rome in 1842 but was disqualified when it was discovered that he was not a Frenchman." In 1846 Cumberworth submitted 'Paul and Virginia' to the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, however the sculpture was not admitted because it arrived after the submission date. The work was shown in the Exhibition of Industrial Art in Manchester in 1846, the Birmingham Exhibition of 1849 and at the Great Exhibition in 1851.

Literature:
Mapping of Sculpture: The Practice and Profession in Britain & Ireland 1851-1951.
Kjellberg, Pierre. Bronzes of the 19th Century, Dictionary of Sculptors (Atglen: Schiffer Publishing, Ltd. 1994. Pages 230-231.

Good estate condition; areas of rubbing to the patina; small area of thin casting to the posterior mound.