Details of Sculptor

Surname

Westmacott

Alternative Surname

First Name

Charles Molloy

Initial of Surname

W

Year of Birth/Baptism

1782

Flourished

Year of Death

1868

Biographical Details

The illegitimate second son of Richard Westmacott I and Susannah Molloy, a widow and landlady of the Bull and Horns Inn at Fulham. He was brought up as Westmacott’s own son, went to St Paul’s School, and trained at the Royal Academy. On the death of his father, Charles’s half-brother, Sir Richard Westmacott, sent him away penniless. He later achieved considerable success and notoriety as the proprietor and editor of a scandalous Tory journal, The Age, and used this position to extort money from public figures keen to avoid adverse publicity. By 1834 he was prosperous enough to own a pretty cottage between Barnes and Richmond, the grounds of which were adorned with sculpture. Westmacott’s artistic background is reflected in some of his publications. British Galleries of Painting and Sculpture (1824) set out to describe all the ‘Palaces, Mansions, and Galleries … in the Kingdom’ and catalogue the works of art they contained. A Descriptive and Critical Catalogue to the Exhibition of the Royal Academy ... with a brief ... Account of the Rise and Progress of the Arts of Painting and Sculpture in England (1823) includes an attack on the Academicians who had wasted £4,000 on a banquet.
Literary References: Gunnis 1968, 421; ODNB (Draudt)
Archival References: GPC printout from Frazer's Mag, vol 9, 1834
Auction Catalogues: Westmacott 1832; Westmacott 1852