£480
William Blake - After James De Ville (1777-1846), a black-painted plaster phrenology head, William Blake (1757-1827), inscribed to verso: 'A66 /PUBd AUG 1 1823 J. DEVILLE, 67 Strand London', the parietal with traces of bronzing, circular plinth base, 29cm high
James Deville (1777-1846) was a sculptor and phrenologist employed as an assistant to Joseph Nollekens. Phrenology was popular in the early 19th century following the publications of both Lavater and Spurzheim, and Blake himself was an advocate of this new 'science', in which the shape and contours of the skull are examined to indicate mental capacity and character. Fifty-six years old at the time the mould was taken in 1823, Blake was considered a perfect representation of "imaginative faculty". Very few original copies of Deville's Blake life mask exist, with examples in the National Portrait Gallery, London and the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
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