Richard Cockle Lucas, British, 1800-1883, three wa…

Lot description

Richard Cockle Lucas, British, 1800-1883, three wax portrait reliefs, comprising: a portrait relief of The Earl of Enniskillen, dated 1850, depicted with large sideburns, on an oval brown wax ground inscribed The Earl of Enniskillen 1850 and indistinctly inscribed R C Lucas, in glazed oak frame, portrait - 15cm high, frame - 32.6 x 27.5cm; a portrait relief of Archbishop Sumner, dated 1852, on an oval brown wax ground inscribed The Rt Revd Dr Sumner Lord Bishop of Winton 1852 and signed R C Lucas, in an associated glazed maple frame with velvet mount, portrait - 17cm high, frame - 39 x 33cm; and a portrait relief of a gentleman, on an oval brown wax ground indistinctly signed R C Lucas, later mounted in a green velvet-lined glazed oak frame, portrait - 16.5cm, frame - 33 x 27.8cm (3) Provenance: Archbishop Sumner - Bonhams, Oxford, 16 November 2011, lot 463. Portrait of a gentleman, sold as part of a lot, one plaster portrait and one resin portrait - Roseberys, The Property of the Late Reverend John Watson, 7 December 2023, lot 309. Note: Richard Cockle Lucas (1800-1883) is predominately known as a sculptor in wax and ivory, but he also worked in glass, marble and bronze, as well as being a painter. He began his career as a sculptor as an apprentice to his uncle, who worked as a cutler in Winchester, carving knife handles. He joined the Royal Academy Schools in 1828 and studied under Richard Westmacott. He exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1829 and 1859 and showed ivory carvings and imitation bronzes at the Great Exhibition in 1851. William Willoughby Cole, 3rd Earl of Enniskillen (1807-1886), was a British Paleontologist and Conservative Member of Parliament for Fermanagh between 1831 and, when he succeeded his father to become the third Earl of Enniskillen in 1840, entering the House of Lords as Baron Grinstead. He also served as the first Imperial Grand Master of the Orange Order from 1866 until his death. A wax portrait of Charles Richard Sumner is recorded as an extant work in wax by Richard Cockle Lucas (Sumner, Charles Richard, Bishop of Winchester 1852, C.97). Pyke, E. J., A Biographical Dictionary of Wax Modellers, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1973, p.83.