User:Storye book/editing/Sandbox 77

Magna Carta Maquettes
Three of the maquettes in the Beaney
Artist	J. Thomas; J.E. Thomas; P. MacDowell; Henry Timbrell; J.S. Westmacott; T. Thornycroft; F. Thrupp; A.H. Ritchie; W.F. Woodington
Year	1848–1851
Medium	Painted plaster on metal armature
Movement	Romanticism
Subject	Lords who signed Magna Carta
Dimensions	1.83 m (6 ft)
Condition	6 are in good condition; 9 are in poor condition
Location	Westgate, Canterbury, the Beaney; Trowbridge Museum, Canterbury and Trowbridge
Owner	Canterbury Museums Services
Accession	1906, from Elkington & Co., Birmingham

External links

Media related to Magna Carta barons and bishops (maquettes) at Wikimedia Commons

• Google books

The Magna Carta barons and bishops (maquettes) are 18 six-foot, painted, plaster-cast maquettes for the sixteen bronze (or possibly copper) barons and two bishops which today stand in the Lords Chamber at Westminster Palace, London, England, cast in 1847−1851. These were made by various named sculptors, and represent the men who signed Magna Carta in 1215 AD. Each of the sixteen barons and two bishops was originally named at the base. They all have an internal metal armature for support.

From 1860 to 1906 they were on display at the electrotypers Elkington & Co at Newall Street in Birmingham. Elkington donated 15 of them To Canterbury in 1906. (source). The missing three are: Henri de Loundres by John Evan Thomas (who also carved the Earl of Pembroke); William D'Albany by William Woodington, and Hubert de Burgh, Earl of Kent, also by Woodington. (Source: information from Leeds Museum Services).

In 1908 three of the maquettes were displayed in the Westgate museum (Canterbury), and two remained on show at the Westgate between 2013 and 2021. The rest were put into storage in the ground floor room of the north tower of the Westgate, Canterbury, in 1987, along with several other museum exhibits, where they were forgotten until they were rediscovered by museum staff in May 2008, when the building was flooded. The City of Canterbury museums department was said to have been attempting to remove them to safety for restoration, but was inhibited by logistics and funding. (source)

As of September 2021, 9 of the maquettes remain, in damaged condition, in the Westgate basement. As of 2021, three of the maquettes (Stephen Langton, Sieur/Saer de Quincy and Robert Fitzwalter) have been restored and are displayed in The Beaney, Canterbury. The maquette of Henry de Bohun was lent to Trowbridge by Canterbury Museums Service in 2021 (source).

The nine sculptors of the maquettes are:

• John Thomas (Stephen Langton, as of 2013 in Canterbury Heritage Museum and as of 2021 in The Beaney)
• Patrick MacDowell
• Henry Timbrell
• James Sherwood Westmacott (Sieur/Saer de Quincy; Geoffrey de Mandeville.source)
• J. Thorneycroft or possibly Thomas Thornycroft
• Frederick Thrupp (Thomas Robert Fitzwalter)
• Alexander Handyside Ritchie
• William Frederick Woodington (William d'Albany, Hubert of Burgh, and possibly Eustace de Vesci)
• John Evan Thomas (Henri de Loundres and Earl of Pembroke)

Note: As of 2021, the identity of all the maquettes has not been confirmed. The following links may be helpful: UK Parliamentary collection (search), and Art UK.

Museum exhibits

These are 17 six-foot, painted, plaster-cast maquettes for the sixteen bronze barons and two bishops which today stand in the Lords Chamber at Westminster Palace, cast in 1847−1851. These were made by various named sculptors, and represent the men who signed Magna Carta. Each of the fifteen barons and two bishops is named at the base. In 1908 three of the maquettes were displayed in the museum, and two remained on show at the Westgate in 2013. The rest were put into storage in the ground floor room of the north tower in 1987, along with several other museum exhibits, where they were forgotten until they were rediscovered by museum staff in May 2008, when the building was flooded. The City of Canterbury museums department was said to have been attempting to remove them to safety for restoration, but was inhibited by logistics and funding. As of May 2011, ten of the maquettes in the basement had been photographed; the fate of the remaining five was unknown.

The sculptors of the maquettes are as follows: John Thomas who made the maquette of Stephen Langton, as of 2013 in Canterbury Heritage Museum and as of 2021 in The Beaney; Patrick MacDowell; Henry Timbrell; James Sherwood Westmacott; J. Thorneycroft (possibly Thomas Thornycroft); Frederick Thrupp; Alexander Handyside Ritchie; and William Frederick Woodington. As of 2021, three of the maquettes (Stephen Langton, Thomas Robert Fitzwalter by Frederick Thrupp and Sieur de Quincy by James Westmacott) have been restored and are displayed in The Beaney, Canterbury.

• 
  Civil War armour
• 
  19th century maquette of Knight Templar St Maur who signed Magna Carta
• 
  Stephen Langton by John Thomas

1908 tinted postcard of the museum. One of these three 6-foot (1.8 m) 19th- century figures is now lying damaged in the base of the north tower with the remaining 14 maquettes for the Lords Chamber bronzes