Lot Essay
THE JACOBITE VOL V, NO.3 MARCH, 1904
The Organ of the Legitimist Jacobite League of Great Britain
and Ireland
The Last Relic of Bonnie Prince Charlie
By D.P. Menzies, F.S.A. Scot., of Menzieston
Prince Charles Edward died at Rome (on the 31st January, 1788), where prostrated by paralysis after an illness of three weeks, he ended his historical and romantic career. He was buried with the royal honours due to him as the rightful King of Great Britain, in his brother's church at Frascati. His body, however, was afterwards removed to St. Peter's at Rome, where a most imposing monument was erected over his remains. It stands against the wall between two of the beautiful Serpentine marble pillars, and is constructed of white marble, on the upper portion of which are three busts in high relief, sculptured out of the marble. These are in a line and represent King James the Third and his two sons, Prince Charles and the Duke of York.
The portrait busts and figures of this stately monument are from the chisel of the great Canova, the one sculptor of modern times who has equalled the Greeks. It is said that the cost of erecting this beautiful memorial was borne by the kindred house of Hanover.
At the time of Prince Charles' death there was in Rome a family of modellers named Lucheese, who, among other art work, took casts from the human face and other parts of the body, for the use of sculptors and other artists. On the death of the Prince, his brother and friends caused a cast to be taken of the face of the dead Prince (that it might be of service to the sculptor of the Stuart monument in the Vatican.)
On Canova being commissioned to execute the memorial, the cast was put at his disposal and was used by him in producing the sculptured portrait which graces one of the most beautiful memorials in Europe of Bonnie Prince Charlie.
Bernadine Lucheese, one of the Roman modellers, came to Scotland about 1839 and ultimately settled in Glasgow, where we find him in business in 1847 under the style of Bernadine Lucheese, Statuary Moulder, Figure Maker and Stucco Manufacturer, 88 Mitchell Street. House, 10,
Melville Lane, Glasgow. With him he brought the last relic of the Bonnie Prince - the mask taken from his face after death - for which Lucheese seems to have had a superstitious veneration, for, in all his wanderings and removals, he carried it with him. In 1853 he removed to 93, Mitchell Street, from which he shifted the next year to 97, moving again in 1853 to No.101, where he remained ten years. At this time his house was at 70, Robertson Street, and getting into financial difficulties, against which he had long been struggling, he became bankrupt in 1863.
Mossman, the Glasgow sculptor, was commissioned to execute a statue of Prince Charlie, by A.B. Stewart (of the firm of Stewart & McDonald) for his art collection. Mossman got the loan of the cast taken from the face of the dead Prince from Lucheese, and from it he succeeded in making a true likeness. The cast taken from Mossman's clay model was done by Regalli, a modeller who did work for Mossman. Lucheese, and the sculptors generally, to whom he was well known, knew all about the history of the Prince Charlie mask, which was returned to Lucheese on Mossman completing the statue. On Lucheese becoming bankrupt, all his effects were sold by public auction, and a portion of the models, figures, etc., were bought by Messrs. Kay & Reid.
Among a heap of all sorts was, unknown to them, the mask of the Prince, and it remained with them for years, till they also failed and were sold up. Regalli knew where the mask was, and it so happened that among the lot of broken figures and rubbish which was to be thrown out as unsaleable was the Prince's mask. This was pointed out by Regalli to a Glasgow sculptor, who at once secured it and brought it home to his studio. The sculptor had a commission from the late Andrew Stewart (of the firm of A.& J. Stewart & Menzies, of Glasgow), to make a white marble bust of Prince Charlie, and for the third time was used the cast taken from the face of the dead Prince. This last was exhibited at the Royal Institute of Fine Arts at Glasgow in 1889.
When I first discovered the mask of Prince Charlie in 1888 it was hanging on the wall of the sculptor's studio among a confused mass of models, sketch bits, prints,. etc., all covered with dust. In glancing through the mixed and heterogeneous array my eye was struck at once by the face of the Prince looking out from the mass of dusty objects. I said to the sculptor "What is this you have here?" "That," replied he, "is the mask of Prince Charlie." I had it taken down, and on cleaning the dust off it I was much surprised to find a considerable number of the hairs from the Prince's eyebrows and face sticking to the cast, giving it a strikingly lifelike appearance as if in sleep, the dull discoloured stucco enhancing the effect.
Some time after the sculptor had finished his bust of Prince Charles, I was in his studio, and on studying the features of the Prince found that the whole surface of the mask had been covered with oil paint and the hairs of the eyebrows cut off. On being asked why he had done this, the sculptor replied that it was to get the "top-lights" on the mask as nearly as possible as they would show on the marble. I told him it was a pity he had touched it, and he thereupon gave me the mask, and after great trouble and search I traced out its wanderings. The few remaining hairs I have preserved. (1)
After a great deal of trouble, the cast from Prince Charlie's face has been reproduced in copper bronze by electro deposit by Messrs. Smith & Rait, of Buchanan Street, Glasgow. (2)
A painted bronze cast taken from the mask see reference (2) is on loan fro the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh from Duddingston Preservation Society, see Rosalind K. Marshall - Bonnie Prince Charlie - illus p205 pl.no 198. It is interesting to note that the bronze cast bears the same evidence of damage to the neck as is visible on this mask.
The Organ of the Legitimist Jacobite League of Great Britain
and Ireland
The Last Relic of Bonnie Prince Charlie
By D.P. Menzies, F.S.A. Scot., of Menzieston
Prince Charles Edward died at Rome (on the 31st January, 1788), where prostrated by paralysis after an illness of three weeks, he ended his historical and romantic career. He was buried with the royal honours due to him as the rightful King of Great Britain, in his brother's church at Frascati. His body, however, was afterwards removed to St. Peter's at Rome, where a most imposing monument was erected over his remains. It stands against the wall between two of the beautiful Serpentine marble pillars, and is constructed of white marble, on the upper portion of which are three busts in high relief, sculptured out of the marble. These are in a line and represent King James the Third and his two sons, Prince Charles and the Duke of York.
The portrait busts and figures of this stately monument are from the chisel of the great Canova, the one sculptor of modern times who has equalled the Greeks. It is said that the cost of erecting this beautiful memorial was borne by the kindred house of Hanover.
At the time of Prince Charles' death there was in Rome a family of modellers named Lucheese, who, among other art work, took casts from the human face and other parts of the body, for the use of sculptors and other artists. On the death of the Prince, his brother and friends caused a cast to be taken of the face of the dead Prince (that it might be of service to the sculptor of the Stuart monument in the Vatican.)
On Canova being commissioned to execute the memorial, the cast was put at his disposal and was used by him in producing the sculptured portrait which graces one of the most beautiful memorials in Europe of Bonnie Prince Charlie.
Bernadine Lucheese, one of the Roman modellers, came to Scotland about 1839 and ultimately settled in Glasgow, where we find him in business in 1847 under the style of Bernadine Lucheese, Statuary Moulder, Figure Maker and Stucco Manufacturer, 88 Mitchell Street. House, 10,
Melville Lane, Glasgow. With him he brought the last relic of the Bonnie Prince - the mask taken from his face after death - for which Lucheese seems to have had a superstitious veneration, for, in all his wanderings and removals, he carried it with him. In 1853 he removed to 93, Mitchell Street, from which he shifted the next year to 97, moving again in 1853 to No.101, where he remained ten years. At this time his house was at 70, Robertson Street, and getting into financial difficulties, against which he had long been struggling, he became bankrupt in 1863.
Mossman, the Glasgow sculptor, was commissioned to execute a statue of Prince Charlie, by A.B. Stewart (of the firm of Stewart & McDonald) for his art collection. Mossman got the loan of the cast taken from the face of the dead Prince from Lucheese, and from it he succeeded in making a true likeness. The cast taken from Mossman's clay model was done by Regalli, a modeller who did work for Mossman. Lucheese, and the sculptors generally, to whom he was well known, knew all about the history of the Prince Charlie mask, which was returned to Lucheese on Mossman completing the statue. On Lucheese becoming bankrupt, all his effects were sold by public auction, and a portion of the models, figures, etc., were bought by Messrs. Kay & Reid.
Among a heap of all sorts was, unknown to them, the mask of the Prince, and it remained with them for years, till they also failed and were sold up. Regalli knew where the mask was, and it so happened that among the lot of broken figures and rubbish which was to be thrown out as unsaleable was the Prince's mask. This was pointed out by Regalli to a Glasgow sculptor, who at once secured it and brought it home to his studio. The sculptor had a commission from the late Andrew Stewart (of the firm of A.& J. Stewart & Menzies, of Glasgow), to make a white marble bust of Prince Charlie, and for the third time was used the cast taken from the face of the dead Prince. This last was exhibited at the Royal Institute of Fine Arts at Glasgow in 1889.
When I first discovered the mask of Prince Charlie in 1888 it was hanging on the wall of the sculptor's studio among a confused mass of models, sketch bits, prints,. etc., all covered with dust. In glancing through the mixed and heterogeneous array my eye was struck at once by the face of the Prince looking out from the mass of dusty objects. I said to the sculptor "What is this you have here?" "That," replied he, "is the mask of Prince Charlie." I had it taken down, and on cleaning the dust off it I was much surprised to find a considerable number of the hairs from the Prince's eyebrows and face sticking to the cast, giving it a strikingly lifelike appearance as if in sleep, the dull discoloured stucco enhancing the effect.
Some time after the sculptor had finished his bust of Prince Charles, I was in his studio, and on studying the features of the Prince found that the whole surface of the mask had been covered with oil paint and the hairs of the eyebrows cut off. On being asked why he had done this, the sculptor replied that it was to get the "top-lights" on the mask as nearly as possible as they would show on the marble. I told him it was a pity he had touched it, and he thereupon gave me the mask, and after great trouble and search I traced out its wanderings. The few remaining hairs I have preserved. (1)
After a great deal of trouble, the cast from Prince Charlie's face has been reproduced in copper bronze by electro deposit by Messrs. Smith & Rait, of Buchanan Street, Glasgow. (2)
A painted bronze cast taken from the mask see reference (2) is on loan fro the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh from Duddingston Preservation Society, see Rosalind K. Marshall - Bonnie Prince Charlie - illus p205 pl.no 198. It is interesting to note that the bronze cast bears the same evidence of damage to the neck as is visible on this mask.