Matthew Noble
British sculptor (1817–1876)
Matthew Noble
Born 23 March 1817 Died 23 June 1876(1876-06-23) (aged 59) Nationality British Known for Sculpture
Matthew Noble (23 March 1817 – 23 June 1876) was a leading British portrait sculptor. Carver of numerous monumental figures and busts including work, memorializing Victorian era royalty and statesmen, displayed in locations such as Westminster Abbey , St Paul's Cathedral and Parliament Square , London.[ 1]
Life
Noble was born in Hackness , near Scarborough , as the son of a stonemason, and served his apprenticeship under his father. He left Yorkshire for London when quite young, there he studied under John Francis (the father of sculptor Mary Thornycroft ). Exhibiting regularly at the Royal Academy from 1845 until his death, Noble became recognised after winning the competition to construct the Wellington Monument in Manchester in 1856.
Noble created a large body of work including portrait busts, statues and monuments. The deaths of two his sons, including Herbert (himself a promising sculptor, who was killed, aged 19, in the Abbots Ripton rail accident ) are said to have contributed to Noble's own early death, aged 58, in June of the same year.[ 2] He is buried in Brompton Cemetery , London, on the west side of the main entrance path from the north, towards the central colonnade.[ 3] His uncompleted works were finished by his assistant Joseph Edwards, who also discarded the studio's plaster models.[ 2]
Selected works
1845-1849
1850-1859
Image
Title / subject
Location and coordinates
Date
Type
Material
Dimensions
Designation
Wikidata
Notes
More images
Robert Peel
Market Street, Tamworth, Staffordshire
1853
Statue on pedestal
Bronze
Grade II
Q26491486
[ 7]
More images
Robert Peel
Concert Hall of St George's Hall, Liverpool
1853
Statue in alcove
Marble
[ 8]
Captain Edmund Moubray Lyons
St Paul's Cathedral , London
After 1855
Curved relief panel
Marble
[ 9]
Archbishop Harcourt
York Minster
1855
Effigy on altar tomb
Marble
77th Regiment of Foot Crimean War memorial
St Paul's Cathedral , London
1856
Plaque
Marble
[ 10]
More images
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester
1856
Statue on pedestal with supporting figures
Bronze and granite
Grade II
Q26561101
[ 11] [ 12] [ 13]
More images
Queen Victoria
The Crescent , Salford
1857
Statue on pedestal
Limestone
Grade II
Q26665923
[ 11] [ 14]
Joseph Brotherton
Peel Park, Salford
1858
Statue on pedestal
Bronze and stone
[ 15]
More images
James George Smith Neill
Wellington Square, Ayr , and Madras , India [ 16]
1859
Statue on pedestal with plaques
Bronze and stone
Category B
Q17838465
[ 17]
1860-1869
Image
Title / subject
Location and coordinates
Date
Type
Material
Dimensions
Designation
Wikidata
Notes
Mountstuart Elphinstone
Crypt of St Paul's Cathedral, London
After 1859
Statue
Stone
[ 18]
More images
Archbishop Musgrave
York Minster
1860
Effigy on altar tomb
More images
Marquess of Anglesey's Column
Llanfairpwllgwyngyll , Anglesey
1860
Statue on column
Brass statue
12 foot statue on 100 ft column
Grade II*
Q17742135
Column architect, Thomas Harrison.[ 11] [ 19] [ 20]
More images
Admiral Edmund Lyons, 1st Baron Lyons
St Paul's Cathedral, London
1862
Statue on pedestal
Marble
[ 21] [ 22]
More images
Sir James Outram, 1st Baronet
Westminster Abbey , London
1863
Bust on pedestal with supporting figures
Marble
[ 23] [ 24]
More images
Robert Bentley Todd
King's College Hospital , London
1863
Statue on pedestal
Marble
Relocated 1913[ 25]
Albert, Prince Consort
The Crescent , Salford
1864
Statue on pedestal
Limestone
Grade II
[ 11] [ 26]
More images
Albert, Prince Consort
Albert Square, Manchester
1862-1865
Statue on pedestal with spired canopy
Marble statue
Grade I
Q50281233
Canopy by Thomas Worthington [ 27] [ 28]
Archibald Montgomerie, 13th Earl of Eglinton
Wellington Square, Ayr
1865
Statue on pedestal
Bronze and stone
Category B
Q17838485
[ 29]
More images
Sir John Franklin
Waterloo Place , London
1866
Statue on pedestal with relief panels
Bronze and granite
Grade II
Q26319141
[ 11] [ 30]
George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 2nd Duke of Sutherland
Cliveden , Buckinghamshire
1866
Statue on pedestal
Bronze and granite
Grade II
[ 31]
More images
George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 2nd Duke of Sutherland
Near Dunrobin Castle railway station , Golspie , Scotland
1866
Statue on pedestal
Bronze and granite
Category B
Q17829346
[ 32] [ 33]
More images
Sir Peter Fairbairn
Woodhouse Square, Leeds
1868
Statue on pedestal
Bronze and granite
Grade II
Q26547184
[ 11] [ 34]
More images
Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston
Market Place, Romsey
1868
Statue on pedestal
Bronze and pink marble
Grade II
Q26525831
[ 11] [ 35]
1870 and later
Image
Title / subject
Location and coordinates
Date
Type
Material
Dimensions
Designation
Wikidata
Notes
More images
Sir James Outram, 1st Baronet
Victoria Embankment Gardens , London
1871
Statue on pedestal
Bronze and granite
Grade II
Q20054478
[ 11] [ 36] [ 37]
Sir James Ramsden
Duke Street, Barrow-in-Furness
1872
Statue on pedestal
Bronze and granite
Grade II
[ 11] [ 38]
Harriet Howard, 2nd Duchess of Sutherland
Dunrobin Castle , Golspie , Scotland
1872
Bust in canopy with spire
Bronze and granite
Category B
[ 39] [ 40]
Queen Victoria
St Thomas' Hospital , London
1873
Seated statue on pedestal
Marble and stone
Q93424107
[ 41] [ 42]
Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby
Miller Park, Preston
1873
Statue on pedestal
Marble and granite
7.3m tall
Grade II
[ 43]
More images
Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby
Parliament Square , London
1874
Statue on pedestal with relief panels
Bronze and granite
Grade II
Q18116483
[ 11] [ 44] [ 45]
More images
George Hamilton Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen
Westminster Abbey , London
1874
Bust
Marble
[ 46]
More images
Sir John Franklin
Westminster Abbey, London
1875
Bust and surround
Marble and alabaster
[ 47]
More images
Oliver Cromwell
Wythenshawe Hall , Manchester
1875
Statue on roughly-hewn pedestal and base
Bronze and granite
Grade II
Q26546639
[ 11] [ 48] [ 49]
Samuel Lister, 1st Baron Masham
Lister Park , Bradford
1875
Statue on pedestal with reliefs
Marble, granite and bronze
Grade II
[ 11] [ 50]
More images
Robert Peel
Parliament Square , London
1876
Statue on pedestal
Bronze and red granite
Grade II
Q19277831
[ 11] [ 51]
Bishop Thomas Carr
St. Thomas Cathedral, Mumbai
Church monuments and memorials
Throughout his career Noble was responsible for creating a number of monuments and memorials for British churches and cathedrals. Examples include
Memorial to Lady Vanden Bempde-Johnstone in the Chancel of the Church of St Peter, Hackness
Carved stone reredos depicting The Last Supper in the Church of All Saints at Eskdaleside cum Ugglebarnby in North Yorkshire.[ 52]
Wall monument to Lady Vanden Bempde-Johnstone in the Church of St. Peter, Hackness , North Yorkshire.[ 53]
Wall tablet memorial to Ann Harland, died 1844, in the Church of All Saints at Brompton, Scarborough .[ 54]
Pink granite tomb monument with bust, now lost, to Thomas Hood , died 1845, in Kensal Green Cemetery , London.[ 55]
A monument to Lord Francis Egerton, 1st Earl of Ellesmere , died 1857, designed by George Gilbert Scott with an effigy by Noble in the Church of St. Mark, Salford.[ 56]
An 1859 memorial to F. J. Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich , designed by George Gilbert Scott and carved by Noble, in the Church of All Saints, Nocton , Lincolnshire.[ 57]
Tomb chest with effigy, in grey and white marble, as a memorial to Thomas de Grey, 2nd Earl de Grey , died 1859, in the Church of Saint John the Baptist at Flitton .[ 58]
A chest monument with marble effigy to John Elphinstone, 13th Lord Elphinstone , died 1860, in the Church of St Peter, Limpsfield , Surrey.[ 59]
Monument, with effigy, to Sir Thomas Fermor-Hesketh, 5th Baronet , died 1872, in the Church of St. Mary the Virgin at Rufford, Lancashire .[ 60]
A monument, with life-size figures, dating from 1872 to William and Mary Heath in the Church of St. Lawrence at Biddulph , Staffordshire.[ 61]
Recumbent effigy of Sir Stephen Glynne (d. 1874) in St Deiniol's Church, Hawarden
Memorial to Rev Henry Venn , 1875, St Paul's Cathedral, London
Marble bust of Lord Hobart, c. 1875, St. Mary's Church, Chennai [ 62]
Chest monument with effigy to Lord Lyveden, died 1876, in the Church of St Andrew, Brigstock , Northamptonshire.[ 63]
Several memorials, dating from 1868 to 1888, in the Church of St Mary and All Saints at Swynnerton , Staffordshire.[ 64]
Other works
David Napier , 1871
Bust of David Napier , 1871, Glasgow Transport Museum[citation needed ]
Statue of William Cotton , 1855, Bank of England[citation needed ]
Busts of Oliver Cromwell ,[ 65] Queen Victoria and Albert, Prince Consort in Manchester Town Hall [ 66] [ 67] [ 68]
Bust of former mayor Thomas Goadsby, 1862, in Manchester Town Hall[ 11] [ 69]
Statues, on high cylindrical pedestals, of Queen Victoria , 1858, and Albert, Prince Consort , 1865, in the foyer of Leeds Town Hall [ 11] [ 70] [ 71]
Marble busts of Edward, Prince of Wales and of Queen Alexandra in Leeds Town Hall [ 72] [ 73]
James McGrigor in the small garden to the Royal Army Medical College , London[citation needed ]
Statues of David Hume , John Hunter and Humphry Davy at the rear of the Royal Academy building, London
Captain William (Bill) Henry Cecil George Pechell (1830–1855) now in Waterloo Street Community Garden, Hove, East Sussex
Bust of Frederick Dawes Danvers completed in 1863
Marble statue of Charles Canning, 1st Earl Canning and a bust of Charlotte Canning, Countess Canning , both 1852, both for the interior of the Victoria Memorial, Kolkata [ 62]
Statue of Richard Bourke, 6th Earl of Mayo , c. 1875, at Mayo College , Ajmer , India[ 62]
Statue of Albert, Prince Consort , Bombay, India, 1869. Located at the Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum , Mumbai
Marble statue of Queen Victoria and marble canopy, Bombay, India, 1872. Currently located in the grounds of the Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum , Mumbai.
Statue of William Duncombe, 2nd Baron Feversham in the monument with canopy, designed by George Gilbert Scott , erected in his memory at Helmsley , North Yorkshire, c. 1867.[ 74]
Marble busts of Oliver Cromwell from 1860 and of Giuseppe Garibaldi from 1867 in the Victoria and Albert Museum [ 65]
References
^ Robinson, Leonard (2007). William Etty: The Life and Art . Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 418. ISBN 978-0-7864-2531-0 .
^ a b University of Glasgow History of Art / HATII (2011). "Matthew Noble" . Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain & Ireland 1851–1951 . Retrieved 2 April 2023 .
^ Benjamin Wheatley, Henry (1891). London, Past and Present: Its History, Associations, and Traditions · Volume 1 . London: John Murray . p. 282.
^ "Marble bust of George Hudson (1800-1871)" . Science Museum Group . Retrieved 2 April 2022 .
^ "Henry Smith (1826-1883)" . Art UK . Retrieved 24 March 2023 .
^ "John Phillips (1800-1874)" . Art UK . Retrieved 24 March 2023 .
^ Historic England . "Statue of Sir Robert Peel, Market Street (1196996)" . National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 18 September 2022 .
^ Richard Pollard & Nikolaus Pevsner (2006). The Buildings of England: Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West . New Haven & London: Yale University Press . p. 296. ISBN 0-300-10910-5 .
^ "Memorial to Captain Edmund Moubray Lyons" . The Courtauld Institute of Art . Retrieved 17 September 2022 .
^ "Crimean War Memorial to the 77th East Middlesex Regiment" . The Courtauld Institute of Art . Retrieved 17 September 2022 .
^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Jo Darke (1991). The Monument Guide to England and Wales . Macdonald Illustrated. ISBN 0-356-17609-6 .
^ Historic England . "Wellington Statue, Piccadilly (1271115)" . National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 18 September 2022 .
^ "Wellington Monument" . The Courtauld Institute of Art . Retrieved 7 December 2022 .
^ Historic England . "Statue of Queen Victoria, The Crescent (1386181)" . National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 18 September 2022 .
^ "Peel Park, Salford" . Parks & Gardens . Retrieved 24 September 2022 .
^ "Statues and memories of empire in post-imperial France and Britain" . Cast in Stone . University of Essex. Retrieved 5 August 2024 .
^ Historic Environment Scotland . "Wellington Square, Monument to James George Smith Neill, CB (Category B Listed Building) (LB21821)" . Retrieved 19 September 2022 .
^ "Monument to Honourable Mountstuart Elphinstone (1779-1859)" . Art UK . Retrieved 19 September 2022 .
^ Cadw . "Anglesey Column (5432)" . National Historic Assets of Wales . Retrieved 18 September 2022 .
^ "Monument to Field Marshall Lord Anglesey" . The Courtauld Institute of Art . Retrieved 7 December 2022 .
^ "Monument to Admiral Lord Edmund Lyons (1790-1858)" . Art UK . Retrieved 19 September 2022 .
^ "Memorial to Edmund, Lord Lyons" . The Courtauld Institute of Art . Retrieved 7 December 2022 .
^ "Sir James Outram" . Westminster Abbey . Retrieved 17 September 2022 .
^ "Monument to James Outram" . The Courtauld Institute of Art . Retrieved 7 December 2022 .
^ "Sir Robert Bentley Todd, Statue, King's College Hospital, Denmark Hill" . Public Monuments and Sculpture Association . Archived from the original on 20 May 2018. Retrieved 7 December 2022 .
^ Historic England . "Statue of Prince Albert, The Crescent (1386180)" . National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 18 September 2022 .
^ Historic England . "Albert Memorial (1197820)" . National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 18 September 2022 .
^ "Prince Albert Memorial" . The Courtauld Institute of Art . Retrieved 7 December 2022 .
^ Historic Environment Scotland . "Wellington Square, Monument to Archibald William, Earl of Eglinton and Wintoun (Category B Listed Building) (LB21822)" . Retrieved 19 September 2022 .
^ Historic England . "Statue of Sir John Franklin (1066145)" . National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 18 September 2022 .
^ Historic England . "Statue of George, Second Duke of Sutherland, Cliveden (1165759)" . National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 18 September 2022 .
^ Historic Environment Scotland . "Dunrobin Castle Monument, 2nd Duke of Sutherland (Category B Listed Building) (LB7051)" . Retrieved 23 September 2022 .
^ Historic Environment Scotland . "Dunrobin Castle (Category A Listed Building) (LB7044)" . Retrieved 23 September 2022 .
^ Historic England . "Statue of Sir Peter Fairbairn (1255605)" . National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 19 September 2022 .
^ Historic England . "Statue of Lord Palmerston, Market Place (1232293)" . National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 19 September 2022 .
^ Historic England . "Statue of Sir James Outram (1237908)" . National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 18 September 2022 .
^ "Monument to Sir James Outram" . The Courtauld Institute of Art . Retrieved 7 December 2022 .
^ Historic England . "Statue of Sir James Ramsden (1210082)" . National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 18 September 2022 .
^ Historic Environment Scotland . "Dunrobin Castle, Duchess Harriet Memorial (Category B Listed Building) (LB7048)" . Retrieved 23 September 2022 .
^ "Harriet Howard, Second Duchess of Sutherland (1806-1868)" . Art UK . Retrieved 23 September 2022 .
^ "Queen Victoria (1819-1901)" . Art UK . Retrieved 22 September 2022 .
^ "Monument to Queen Victoria" . The Courtauld Institute of Art . Retrieved 7 December 2022 .
^ Historic England . "Derby Monument (1218485)" . National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 22 September 2022 .
^ Historic England . "Statue of Edward Stanley, Earl of Derby (1226372)" . National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 17 September 2022 .
^ "Statue of Lord Derby" . The Courtauld Institute of Art . Retrieved 7 December 2022 .
^ "George Gordon, Earl of Aberdeen" . Westminster Abbey . Retrieved 18 September 2022 .
^ "Sir John Franklin" . Westminster Abbey . Retrieved 17 September 2022 .
^ Historic England . "Park statue of Cromwell approximately 100 metres east of Wythenshawe Hall (1255035)" . National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 18 September 2022 .
^ "Statue of Oliver Cromwell" . The Courtauld Institute of Art . Retrieved 7 December 2022 .
^ Historic England . "Lister Memorial, Lister Park (1038944)" . National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 18 September 2022 .
^ Historic England . "Statue of Sir Robert Peel (1265874)" . National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 17 September 2022 .
^ Historic England . "Church of All Saints (1148764)" . National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 12 October 2022 .
^ Historic England . "Church of St Peter (1296564)" . National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 12 October 2022 .
^ Historic England . "Church of All Saints (1316111)" . National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 12 October 2022 .
^ Historic England . "Tomb of Thomas Hood, Harrow Road, W10 (1389172)" . National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 11 October 2022 .
^ Historic England . "Church of St Mark (1227895)" . National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 11 October 2022 .
^ Historic England . "Church of All Saints (1061911)" . National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 12 October 2022 .
^ Historic England . "The De Grey Mausoleum adjoining the Church of St John the Baptist (1113904)" . National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 12 October 2022 .
^ Historic England . "Church of St Peter (1188814)" . National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 11 October 2022 .
^ Historic England . "Church of Saint Mary the Virgin (1361854)" . National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 12 October 2022 .
^ Historic England . "Church of St Lawrence and coffin lids and benches on south side (1189902)" . National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 12 October 2022 .
^ a b c Mary Ann Steggles & Richard Barnes (2011). British Sculpture in India: New Views & Old Memories . Frontier Publishing. ISBN 9781872914411 .
^ Historic England . "Church of St Andrew (1371950)" . National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 12 October 2022 .
^ Historic England . "Church of St Mary and All Saints, Park Drive (1190214)" . National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 12 October 2022 .
^ a b Diane Bilbey with Marjorie Trusted (2002). British Sculpture 1470 to 2000 A Concise Catalogue of the Collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum . V&A Publications. ISBN 1851773959 .
^ "Bust of Oliver Cromwell" . The Courtauld Institute of Art . Retrieved 7 December 2022 .
^ "Bust of Prince Albert" . The Courtauld Institute of Art . Retrieved 7 December 2022 .
^ "Bust of Queen Victoria" . The Courtauld Institute of Art . Retrieved 7 December 2022 .
^ "Bust of Thomas Goadsby" . The Courtauld Institute of Art . Retrieved 7 December 2022 .
^ "Statue of Prince Albert" . The Courtauld Institute of Art . Retrieved 7 December 2022 .
^ "Statue of Queen Victoria" . The Courtauld Institute of Art . Retrieved 7 December 2022 .
^ "Bust of Edward, Prince of Wales" . The Courtauld Institute of Art . Retrieved 7 December 2022 .
^ "Bust of Princess of Wales, later Queen Alexandra" . The Courtauld Institute of Art . Retrieved 7 December 2022 .
^ Historic England . "Memorial to Second Baron Feversham (1315924)" . National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 12 October 2022 .
External links
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