Identifier: livesofbritishsc00chan (find matches)
Title: The lives of the British sculptors, and those who have worked in England from the earliest days to Sir Francis Chantrey
Year: 1911 (1910s)
Authors: Chancellor, E. Beresford (Edwin Beresford), 1868-1937
Subjects: Sculptors -- Great Britain Artists
Publisher: London : Chapman & Hall
Contributing Library: University of California Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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g to these shores a story—perhaps legendary, but still a story—is connected. According to this anecdote, an Englishman strolling about in a French town, presumably Lyons, was attracted by some clay models exhibiting more than usual promise, and having made a note of their producers name, passed on his way. Some years later, a friend in England asked this very traveller for his advice as to the best man to undertake a piece of sculpture which he wished executed, and . . . but, as has been well said, when you know the end of a story, the story is told, and you wil, of course, realise that Roubiliac was the sculptor sent for to execute the work. The tale has a ring of familiarity about it, besides being somewhat vague and inconclusive, which leaves one rather sceptical. Nor does it much matter under what conditions Roubiliac came to England ; the important point is that he did come, and for a time met with such little success that he was employed as a journeyman in the yard of Thomas
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LOUIS FRANCIS ROUBILIAC ROUBILIAC 113 Carter,* of Knightsbridge, the turner-out of nowunconsidered monuments; while he is also said to havespent some time, in a like manner, with Cheere,f whosestatuary yard in Piccadilly was at that time a well-knowncentre of sculptural activity. Although there does notseem much doubt that Roubiliacs native talent would,sooner or later, have distinguished him from amongthe sculptors who were then at work in this country—Rysbrack and Scheemakers among them—it is said thathe owed his first step towards success to Sir EdwardWalpole, under the following circumstances. Theanecdote used to be told by Sir Joshua Reynolds, whowas intimately acquainted with Roubiliac, and is thusrelated by Northcote, so that there is perhaps moretruth in it than in many such stories: Very soon after he arrived in England, and wasthen working as journeyman to Carter, a maker of monu-ments, having spent an evening at Vauxhall, on hisreturn he picked up a pocket-book, which h

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