Letter from Timothy Butler to Thomas Woolner concerning his commission for Sydney's Captain Cook statue, 13 September 1876

MLMSS 10214

fonds

13 September 1876

9587059

0.01 metres of textual material (1 folder) - 17.7 x 11.3 cm

Thomas Woolner (1825-1892), sculptor and poet, was a founding member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. In 1852 he arrived in Melbourne intent on trying his luck on the Victorian goldfields. He found little gold and after six months returned to Melbourne where he began modelling medallions in clay of well-known citizens which he cast in bronze. He also spent six months in Sydney where many leading citizens commissioned portrait medallions from him. During this time he met Sir Henry Parkes and they remained friends, corresponding with each other for many years. Among Australians whose likenesses he modelled were Phillip Parker King, William Charles Wentworth, Sir Charles Nicholson, Sir Charles Fitzroy, Sir Redmond Barry and James Macarthur. Woolner returned to England in 1854 to have a successful career creating statues of famous men as well as memorials, tomb sculptures and narrative reliefs. He became a member of the Royal Academy in 1875. A year later, through the influence of Sir Henry Parkes, he was commissioned to execute a gigantic bronze statue of Captain Cook for Sydney’s Hyde Park. The commission was the subject of acrimonious correspondence between Woolner and the NSW Agent-General William Forster who favoured another sculptor. The statue was displayed in London before being shipped to Sydney where it was unveiled on 25 February 1879, one hundred years after Cook's death. A public holiday was declared for the unveiling of Woolner’s statue of Captain Cook and an estimated 40,000 people attended the ceremony which was preceded by a grand parade through the city. According to the Sydney Morning Herald “there had never been a gathering so numerous in Sydney nor a more magnificent spectacle.”

Timothy Butler (1806-1885) was a popular portrait-sculptor who exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1828 and 1879.

Reference:
Library correspondence file

Purchased by Douglas Stewart from an English manuscripts dealer earlier in 2017

An autograph letter signed, sent from Duncrub Castle, Perthshire, congratulating Woolner on securing the commission for the statue of Captain Cook for Sydney’s Hyde Park (4 pages), with original franked envelope addressed to Thomas Woolner, Esq., R.A, 29 Welbeck Street, Cavendish Square, London.

Out of copyright: Author died more than 70 years ago
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales