Wax and wood
Tate Collection
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<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/james-havard-thomas-546" aria-label="More by James Havard Thomas" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">James Havard Thomas</a>
Thyrsis
Presented by the Art Fund, Lord Duveen and Vernon Wethered 1926
actions: postures and motions
adults
agriculture and fishing
Arnold, Matthew, ‘Thyrsis’
birth to death
birth to death
classical myths: gods and heroes
fine arts and music
herdsman / herdswoman
herdsman / herdswoman, shepherd / shepherdess
instrument, pipe
leisure and pastimes
literature (not Shakespeare)
literature and fiction
male
man
memorial
music
music and entertainment
nudes
objects
people
religion and belief
society
standing
symbols and personifications
Thyrsis
work and occupations
youth - pipe
<p>Havard Thomas trained in Paris and then in 1889 moved to Italy, where he lived for seventeen years. In 1905 he sent a male nude 'Lycidas' to the Royal Academy, where its rejection caused a scandal. This is nearby in Room 11. In 1912 Havard Thomas returned to the theme with 'Thyrsis'. The title comes from the poem of 1866 by Matthew Arnold of that name, and Arnold's poem had itself been based on Milton's 'Lycidas' (1637). Thyrsis was an ancient Greek shepherd. Arnold chose to commemorate a friend from Oxford in this pastoral character. The shepherd's pipe was for Arnold a symbol of his own youth, and Havard Thomas's figure itself commemorates Italy and classical art. This bronze was cast in 1948, from the original in wax.</p><p><em>Gallery label, August 2004</em></p>
sculpture wax wood
Thyrsis
object: 1683 × 702 mm
Presented by the <a href="/search?gid=999999968" data-gtm-name="tombstone_link_bequest" data-gtm-destination="list-page--search-results">Art Fund</a>, Lord Duveen and Vernon Wethered 1926
<p>Havard Thomas trained in Paris and then in 1889 moved to Italy, where he lived for seventeen years. In 1905 he sent a male nude 'Lycidas' to the Royal Academy, where its rejection caused a scandal. This is nearby in Room 11. In 1912 Havard Thomas returned to the theme with 'Thyrsis'. The title comes from the poem of 1866 by Matthew Arnold of that name, and Arnold's poem had itself been based on Milton's 'Lycidas' (1637). Thyrsis was an ancient Greek shepherd. Arnold chose to commemorate a friend from Oxford in this pastoral character. The shepherd's pipe was for Arnold a symbol of his own youth, and Havard Thomas's figure itself commemorates Italy and <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/c/classicism" title="Glossary definition for 'Classicism'"><span>classical</span></a> art. This <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> was <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/c/cast" title="Glossary definition for 'Cast'"><span>cast</span></a> in 1948, from the original in wax.</p>
Display caption
2004-08-18T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
<p><b>N04202</b> THYRSIS 1912
<br/>
<br/>Inscr. ‘J Havard Thomas [indistinctly] MCMXII’ on top of base.
<br/>Wood and black wax, 66 1/4×27 5/8×15 5/8 (168·25×70·5×39·75), including base, 22 3/8×15 5/8×1 1/2 (57×39·75×4).
<br/>Presented by the National Art-Collections Fund with the aid of subscriptions from Lord Duveen and Vernon Wethered 1926.
<br/><i>Coll:</i> Purchased by the N.A.C.F. from the artist's widow 1926.
<br/><i>Exh:</i> R.A., 1912 (1990); Leicester Galleries, April–May 1922 (56).</p>
<p>There are three <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> casts in addition to <a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/thomas-thyrsis-n05958" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N05958</span></a> below: one at Johannesburg Art Gallery, another at Manchester City Art Gallery, and a third at the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. The Johannesburg version is signed and dated ‘J. Havard Thomas sculp. MCMXIII’ and was presented to the Gallery by Sir Max Michaelis. The Manchester version was exhibited at the R.A., 1914 (2185), is signed and dated ‘J. Havard Thomas, Sc. MCMXIV’, and was purchased by Manchester direct from the artist. The Melbourne version is similarly signed and dated - ‘I. Havard Thomas, MCMXIV’ - and was commissioned from the artist by the Trustees of the Felton Bequest, following the exhibition of the wax at the 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> in 1912.</p>
<p>The arms were detached when <span>N05958</span> was <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/c/cast" title="Glossary definition for 'Cast'"><span>cast</span></a> in 1948.</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, II
<br/></p>

Catalogue entry
2004-10-05T00:00:00
catalogue-entry
CATALOGUE_ENTRY
actions: postures and motions adults agriculture and fishing Arnold, Matthew, ‘Thyrsis’ birth to death birth to death classical myths: gods and heroes fine arts and music herdsman / herdswoman herdsman / herdswoman, shepherd / shepherdess instrument, pipe leisure and pastimes literature and fiction literature (not Shakespeare) male man memorial music music and entertainment nudes objects people religion and belief society standing symbols and personifications Thyrsis work and occupations youth - pipe