Henry Webber

Henry Webber (1754–1826) was an English sculptor and modeller.

For the Dean of Exeter, see Henry Webber (priest).

Portland Vase by Josiah Wedgwood & Sons Ltd, circa 1790, in the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio, USA

The son of a Swiss sculptor who moved to England, he was awarded in 1776 the Royal Academy Gold Medal.[1] In 1778, Webber was chosen by the Oxford Paving Commission to carry out the sculptures and sphinxes for the balustrade of John Gwynn's Magdalen Bridge. Unfortunately, in 1782 the Commission eventually abandoned this idea, paying a compensation payment and permitting him to keep any sculpture already made.[2]

This same year, after being recommended by Sir William Chambers and Sir Joshua Reynolds, Webber started working for Josiah Wedgwood's at Etruria, where he became chief sculptor in 1785, position he held until 1806.[3]

Webber is also the author of the monument to David Garrick in the Poet's Corner in the Westminster Abbey,[4] modelled many of the figures for Wedgwood's Portland Vase[5] and designed several portrait medallions, including the Sydney Cove medallion.[6]

References
  1. Gunnis, Rupert (1951), Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660–1851, pp.417-18.
  2. Jaine, T.W.M. (1971) The building of Magdalen Bridge, 1772-1790, Oxoniensia Archived 2010-03-24 at the Wayback Machine xxxvi, p.69.
  3. "Henry Webber (1754–1826)". The Wedgwood Museum. Retrieved 11 January 2010.
  4. "DAVID GARRICK". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 11 January 2010.
  5. "The Portland Vase and the Borghese Vase". National Museums Liverpool. Archived from the original on 15 October 2009. Retrieved 11 January 2010.
  6. "Henry Webber (1754–1826)". The Wedgwood Museum. Retrieved 11 January 2010.
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