Bronze
Tate Collection
Works with images
General Collection
Chantrey Bequest
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/william-robert-colton-933" aria-label="More by William Robert Colton" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">William Robert Colton</a>
Girdle
Presented by the Trustees of the Chantrey Bequest 1899
actions: postures and motions
actions: processes and functions
adults
clothing and personal items
dressing / undressing
female
kneeling
nudes
objects
people
ribbon
woman
<p>Colton trained under William Silver Frith, the pupil and successor of Dalou at Lambeth School of Art. He was heavily indebted to the French style of sculpture, and female nudes, lovers and children dominated his output.'The Girdle' was bought for the nation when it was first shown at the Royal Academy in 1898, and it became Colton's most well known work. The subject of a woman tying a ribbon around her torso is a tenous one, and is instead an opportunity for Colton to celebrate the sensuous grace of the nude.</p><p><em>Gallery label, August 2004</em></p>
sculpture bronze
The Girdle
object: 1289 × 940 × 737 mm, 275 kg
Presented by the Trustees of the <a href="/search?gid=999999977" data-gtm-name="tombstone_link_bequest" data-gtm-destination="list-page--search-results">Chantrey Bequest</a> 1899
<p>Colton trained under William Silver Frith, the pupil and successor of Dalou at Lambeth School of Art. He was heavily indebted to the French style of <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/s/sculpture" title="Glossary definition for 'Sculpture'"><span>sculpture</span></a>, and female nudes, lovers and children dominated his output.<br/>'The Girdle' was bought for the nation when it was first shown at the Royal Academy in 1898, and it became Colton's most well known work. The subject of a woman tying a ribbon around her torso is a tenous one, and is instead an opportunity for Colton to celebrate the sensuous grace of the nude.</p>
Display caption
2004-08-18T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
<p><b>N01766</b> THE GIRDLE 1898
<br/> 
<br/>Inscr. ‘W. R. Colton 1898’ on top of base, at back on right side.
<br/>Bronze, 50 3/4×37×29 (129×94×74).
<br/>Chantrey Purchase from the artist 1899.
<br/><i>Exh:</i> R.A., 1899 (2056).
<br/><i>Lit:</i> M. H. Spielmann, <i>British Sculpture and Sculptors of To-day</i>, 1901, p.144, plaster model repr. p.145; W. T. Whitley, ‘W. Robert Colton, A.R.A.’ in <i>Art Journal</i>, 1911, p.177, repr. p.182; Herbert Maryon, <i>Modern Sculpture</i>, 1933, p.95.
<br/><i>Repr:</i> <i>Royal Academy Pictures</i>, 1898, p.114 (the plaster model).</p>
<p>On the evidence of a <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/photograph" title="Glossary definition for 'Photograph'"><span>photograph</span></a> published in <i>Royal <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/a/academy" title="Glossary definition for 'Academy'"><span>Academy</span></a> Pictures</i>, 1898, this work appears to have been first exhibited at the R.A., 1898 (1963), as a <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/plaster-of-paris" title="Glossary definition for 'Plaster of Paris'"><span>plaster</span></a> model, although the <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/m/medium" title="Glossary definition for 'Medium'"><span>medium</span></a> is not described either in the catalogue or in the illustrated supplement. A <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/m/metal" title="Glossary definition for 'Metal'"><span>bronze</span></a> statuette was in the R.A., 1903 (1808).</p>
<p>The <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/s/sculpture" title="Glossary definition for 'Sculpture'"><span>sculptor</span></a>'s daughter, Mrs Kerr, wrote (9 December 1956) that this was a composite work, several models having been used. She owned a marble version, slightly smaller than life-size (43 in. high), which was at the Beaux Arts Gallery in 1929.</p>
<p><b>Published in:</b>
<br/>Mary Chamot, Dennis Farr and Martin Butlin, <i>The Modern British Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture</i>, London 1964, I
<br/></p>

Catalogue entry
2004-09-23T00:00:00
catalogue-entry
CATALOGUE_ENTRY
actions: postures and motions actions: processes and functions adults clothing and personal items dressing / undressing female kneeling nudes objects people ribbon woman