SCULPTURE VICTORIOUS │ Tate Britain, London → 25 May 2015

Sir Francis Chantrey: Queen Victoria, 1838 – 1841. Royal Collection Trust

“Pârfl, bytifl n invntv, ɖ Victorı̣n ira wz a goldn êj fr sculpčr. Têt Britn’z xibišn Sculpčr Victorı̣s seḷbrets sm v ɖ most astonišñ n laviš wrcs pṛdyst in ɖs grândbrêcñ pirı̣d.

Xplorñ ɖ orijinl tecnīcs n mtirı̣lz dveḷpt jrñ ɖs tîm, ɖ xibišn brñz t lît ɖ injňwti n crı̣tiṿti v ɖ Victorı̣n êj. In a pirı̣d v unpaṛleld iṇvešn acrs inḍstriz, Victorı̣n sculpčr profitd fṛm grândbrêcñ ny mtirı̣lz n meʈdz ɖt crietd a ʈrilñ n cutñ-ej invîrnmnt fr Victorı̣n sculptrz.

Alfred Gilbert’s marble bust of Queen Victoria, 1887-89. Photograph: John Hammond/© Army and Navy Club London

Ɖ xibišn includz mni xtrōdnri objcts, fṛm magnifisnt mābl, lîmwŭd n ṣramic sculpčr šôn at ɖ Grt Xibišnz, t xqizit jlri n silvrwrc, n ōnet cāvñ v byti n wundr sč az Monti’z Veild Vestl. Wrcs fṛm ɖ xibišn tuč on ol aspcts v Victorı̣n lîf, xplorñ dmestc poḷtcs, ɖ rīč v ɖ empîr, n ɖ impact v ɖ sạntific n industrı̣l êj.

Rvird wrcs sč az Fredric Lêtn’z An Aʈlīt Reslñ wɖ a Pîʈn n Hîṛm Pârz’z Ɖ Grīc Slev r t b injýd alñsd lsr-nôn ātists sč az Mẹri Wots n Wiłm Renldz-Stīvnz. Az wel az ofrñ an oṗtyṇti t xplor sm v ɖ Victorı̣n ira’z most čerišt n grândbrêcñ wrcs, Sculpčr Victorı̣s pṛvîdz an in-depʈ xpḷrešn v ɖ ātistc n historicl dveḷpmnts v wn v Britn’z most pṛlific iṛz n z a fīst fr ɖ îz.”

George Frampton: Dame Alice Owen, 1897 © Dame Alice Owen’s School

Thomas Longmore and John Hénk: Elephant, 1889 © Thomas Goode & Co. Ltd., London

Hamo Thornycroft: Teucer, 1881 © Tate

Thomas Wilkinson Wallis: Partridges and Ivy, 1871. Louth Museum (Louth, UK)

Harry Bates: Pandora, 1891 © Tate

James Sherwood Westmacott: Baron Saher de Quency, Earl of Winchester, 1854. Palace of Westminster, London

‘A Royal Game’ 1906-11 (bronze, wood and stone) by Sir William Reynolds-Stephens

Edward Onslow Ford’s St George and the Dragon Salt Cellar, 1901, in silver, marble, ivory, and lapis lazuli. Photograph: © National Museums Liverpool, Lady Lever Gallery