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Cast of a bust of the architect Sir Christopher Wren (1632–1723) by Edward Pierce
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Cast of a bust of the architect Sir Christopher Wren (1632–1723) by Edward Pierce
Plaster cast
Museum number: SDR12
Not on display
Curatorial note
This bust is cast after the original marble bust of Wren by the sculptor Edward Pierce (c.1630–1695), which is in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (Ashmolean WA1916.74, NBP559).
Pierce was one of Wren's most significant contractors, working with him on St Paul's and a number of churches in the City of London as a mason and sculptor, engaged for the expertise he brought in stone dressing and ornamentation and visiting Wren's office regularly, although he was never formally an employee.
Pierce's bust of Wren was his most famous work.
Pierce was one of Wren's most significant contractors, working with him on St Paul's and a number of churches in the City of London as a mason and sculptor, engaged for the expertise he brought in stone dressing and ornamentation and visiting Wren's office regularly, although he was never formally an employee.
Pierce's bust of Wren was his most famous work.
Provenance
SM Archives 6/23/4: 8 March 1832 Paid P Sarti for a Plaster Bust of Sir C. Wren £1.10.0.
Literature
For background on the Sarti family of cast-makers/modellers in London see T. Clifford 'The plaster shops of the Rococo and Neoclassical period in Britain' in Journal of the History of Collections, 4 no.1 (1992) pp.39-65. For the Sarti family see p.62-63 but no P. Sarti is mentioned.
Associated items
P439, same subject
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