A Greek Boxer Waiting His Turn - YCBA Collections Search

Joseph Gott, 1786–1860, British, active in Italy, A Greek Boxer Waiting His Turn, ca. 1838

Creator:: Joseph Gott, 1786–1860
Title:: A Greek Boxer Waiting His Turn
Former Title(s):: Marble statue of a Greek boxer waiting his turn [1840, Royal Academy of Arts, London, exhibition catalogue]
Date:: ca. 1838
Medium:: Marble
Dimensions:: Overall: 20 1/2 x 16 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches (52.1 x 41.9 x 24.1 cm)
Inscription(s)/Marks/Lettering:: Signed by chisel on base below the boxer's buttock, proper left: "J. GOTT. F."
Credit Line:: Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Fund
Copyright Status:: Public Domain
Accession Number:: B1980.34
Classification:: Sculptures
Collection:: Paintings and Sculpture
Subject Terms:: boxer | figure study | genre subject | Greek | man | Neoclassical | nude | portrait | sports
Access:: Not on view
Note: To make an appointment to see this work, please contact the Paintings and Sculpture department at ycba.paintings@yale.edu. Please visit the Paintings and Sculpture collections page on our website for more details.
Link:: https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:1486
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Joseph Gott trained with the British sculptor John Flaxman in London. In 1822, Sir Thomas Lawrence, president of the Royal Academy, paid for Gott to visit Italy, where he would settle, never returning to Britain. Spending most of his working career in Rome, Gott sold many works to English patrons, regularly sent work to London for the Royal Academy exhibitions, and soon built an international reputation. This marble, or a version of it, was shown in London in 1840. The subject reflects a popular interest in ancient sculpture showing figures engaged in athletic or sporting activities.

Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2016

This sculpture reflects the renewed interest in ancient Greek and Roman sports and athleticism that accompanied the rise of neoclassicism. Shown at the Royal Academy in 1840, this marble version was developed from a terracotta statuette Gott had modeled in 1828. He was based in Rome for much of his life and engaged an Italian craftsman to complete the marble copy.

Gallery label for Connections (Yale Center for British Art, 2011-05-26 - 2011-09-11)

Connections (Yale Center for British Art, 2011-05-26 - 2011-09-11) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

Taste & Beauty in Three Dimensions: Paul Mellon and British Sculpture (Yale Center for British Art, 2002-10-23 - 2004-02-15) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

Noble Simplicity and Silent Greatness - Neoclassical Art from 1700 - 1900 (Yale University Art Gallery, 1991-04-26 - 1991-09-29) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

Acquisitions : The First Decade 1977-1986, Yale Center for British Art , Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 1986, p. 21, no. 62, N590.2 A7 OVERSIZE (YCBA) [YCBA]

Christie's Auction Catalogue : 500 years, decorative arts, Europe : including Oriental carpets . Aoeil 18-19 2012, Christie, Manson & Woods, New York, April 18 - 19, 2012, , lot 363, Not Available at Yale [OCLC]

Robert Colls, This sporting life : sport and liberty in England, 1760-1960, Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K., 2020, p. 370, GV706.35 .C65 2020 (LC) YCBA [ORBIS]

Terry Friedman, Joseph Grott, 1786-1860, Sculptor, catalogue by Terry Friedman and Timothy Stevens of an exhibition at Leeds, Stable Court Exhibition Galleries, Temple Newsam House, 23 August - 14 October and Liverpool, Walker Art Gallery, 3 November - 3 December , Stable Court Exhibition Galleries, Leeds, 1972, p. 21, no. 8, 9, pl. 11, 12, NJ18 G647 F75 (YCBA) [YCBA]

Front Matter, Burlington Magazine, vol. 142, May 2000, p. ii, N1 B87 OVERSIZE (YCBA) [YCBA]

Duncan Robinson, Acquisitions : The First Decade 1977 - 1986, , Burlington Magazine, vol. 128, October 1986, p. 21, no. 62, N1 B87 128:3 OVERSIZE (YCBA) [YCBA]

Ingrid Roscoe, A biographical dictionary of sculptors in Britain, 1660-1851, Yale University Press, New Haven, CT, 2009, p. 545, NB496 B56 2009 (YCBA) (Wall Shelf 3) Yale electronic resource also available online: Orbis [YCBA]

Royal Academy of Arts, Exhibition Catalogue. 1840. 72nd, Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts, no. 72, London, 1840, p. 51, N5054 A53 vol.4 (YCBA) [YCBA]

Taste & beauty in three dimensions : Paul Mellon and British sculpture, , Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, Conn., 2002, p. [3], no. 6, V 1426 (YCBA) [YCBA]

Angus Trumble, The Marble Bust, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, 2004, no. 19, V 1304 (YCBA) [YCBA]

Walker Art Gallery, Joseph Grott, 1786-1860: Sculptor, Liverpool, 1972, p. 21, Not Available at Yale [ORBIS]

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