Sir Richard Wallace for the Château de Bagatelle, Paris

A connoisseur, collector, and one of the most generous philanthropists of the nineteenth century, Sir Richard Wallace was the last resident of the Château de Bagatelle in Paris. The Château has been undergoing an ambitious restoration since 2021 under the care of the Fondation Mansart and I am delighted to have been commissioned to sculpt a monument of Wallace to be installed there. The maquette was presented to the public in June 2024, and I look forward to beginning work on the full-size monument.

My maquette depicts a standing figure of Wallace in his early 50s, standing confident and affable, as if he had just turned to greet you - a welcome visitor. He is atop an eight-sided plinth which, if included in the final monument, will be carved in fine-grained white or beige limestone, and the figure will be cast in bronze. The plinth’s major shape was inspired by the iconic fountains that Wallace commissioned from sculptor Charles-Auguste Lebourg. The four sunken relief sculptures will be accompanied by the inscription “Sir Richard Wallace 1818-1890” on one side, with other sides featuring text such as Wallace's motto, "Esperance," meaning "hope," and the names of major donors.

Each of the four relief sculptures on the side panels carries symbolic meaning that reflects significant aspects of Sir Richard Wallace's life:

• The Triton and Sea Creature is a direct visual echo of the Wallace Fountains, representing Wallace’s empathetic philanthropy, so famed in Paris that the press advised letters appealing for help need only be sent to him ‘à Paris’.

• The Ostrich with a Horseshoe was chosen by Wallace for his coat of arms after Queen Victoria made him a baronet. I’ve included it in recognition of his charitable work on both sides of the Channel.

• You can actually see the statuette that inspired my Ostrich, and another that inspired my next relief of a Cupid on a Dolphin, in the Wallace Collection in London, which is one of the greatest collections ever transferred into public ownership. The Cupid on a Dolphin was Wallace’s last recorded purchase on behalf of the 4th Marquess of Hertford before he left Paris in the wake of the 1848 revolution. It speaks to Wallace’s renown as a connoisseur and collector, as well as his relationship with the 4th Marquess, who may have been his father.

• You’ll see numerous peacocks wandering around outside the Château de Bagatelle. In Western art, peacocks represent beauty, rebirth, and wealth, and in a Christian context, the promise of eternal life. It’s a nod to Wallace’s home in the Château de Bagatelle, as well as his faith.