Charles Regnart (1759 – 19 November 1844) was an English sculptor, specialising in funerary monuments. His masterpiece is said to be the 17th century-style recumbent figure of George Rush in the parish church in Farthinghoe.[1] The figure shows Rush in old age, lying with his slippers on, clutching a Bible and staring to heaven. Regnart flourished from 1790 until 1830. His style has been described as "pseudo-Classical"[2] and is typified by much folded drapery and an overall pattern of white (usually a draped funerary urn or casket) against a black background.
Life
editHe was born in Bristol, the son of Philip Regnart (1739–1805), a carver and statue maker from Flanders[3] who had worked under Thomas Ricketts of Gloucester, and who claimed descent from the Gothic chief Raginhart who sacked Rome with Alaric.[4]
Regnart married Esther Hunter of Hexham at Little Mary-la-Bonne Church in London, with whom he had one son, Charles, born in 1796. They lived at 12 Cleveland Street, off Cavendish Square in London.[1] Following Esther's death, he married Jane, the family cook. They moved to a new house at Hampstead Road near Euston around 1817. He exhibited several works at the Royal Academy.
He died on 19 November 1844 at St Marys Buildings, St Martin-in-the-Fields, London, and was buried in Hampstead Road Cemetery in London.
Notable monuments
edit- Both Lucy Davidson[5] and William Dunbar both at All Saints Church, Kingston upon Thames
- John Beyton at Carshalton
- George Medley at Buxted
- Jane Rashleigh at Tywardreath (1795)
- William Vachell at Hinxton (1795)
- Thomas Somers Cocks at Eastnor (1796) (grandfather of Thomas Somers-Cocks)
- Henry Davidson (the elder) All Saints Church, Kingston upon Thames (1799)
- Michael Biddulph, Ledbury (1800)
- Elizabeth St Aubyn, Orsett (1801)
- Thomas Astle, Battersea Parish Church (1803)
- Anthony Atcheson, Portsmouth Cathedral (1804)
- Memorial to John André (executed as a British spy in 1780), in the Grosvenor Chapel, London (1804)
- Admiral White at Cookham (1810)
- Lt Henry Sedgewick at Hackney Parish Church (1811)
- Robert Hoy (d.1811) in Higham in Suffolk[6]
- Sir John Kemp, Gissing (1815)
- Jeremiah Tarleton at the Church of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas, Liverpool (destroyed by German bombing in December 1940)
- Hugh James, Carlisle Cathedral (1817)
- David Milligan, Jamaica Cathedral (1818)
- Sir Jonathan Miles, Ealing Parish Church (1821)
- Anne Margaret Brymer (d.1840), Port Antonio, Jamaica (1842)
References
edit- ^ a b "Charles Regnart (1759-1844) - Bob Speel's Website". Retrieved 20 January 2017.
- ^ "REGNART, Charles - Sculptor : Benezit Dictionary of Artists - oi". Oxford University Press. 2011. doi:10.1093/benz/9780199773787.article.b00150037. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ "Sussex Parish Churches - Architects and Artists R". Archived from the original on 10 October 2016. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
- ^ Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660–1851, Rupert Gunnis: Philip Regnart
- ^ "Memorial to Henry Davidson, West India Merchant, by John Ternouth, All Saints, Kingston-upon-Thames". Retrieved 20 January 2017.
- ^ "Suffolk Churches". Retrieved 20 January 2017.