Grief

Grief

William Goscombe John, 1860-1952

c. 1890

Marble

"Part of a memorial in marble" — The Studio (1899), p. 116

The monument was commissioned in about 1890 by the family of the late W.R.H. Powell, Radical Member of Parliament for West Carmarthenshire [1880-1889], in memory of the man who had dedicated his life [1819-1889] to improving the lot of the poor in west Wales.

The Powell family were friendly with the Cardiff based Marquis of Bute who employed Goscombe John’s father and that link resulted in Goscombe John being commissioned to do the work. At the time John was apprenticed to Rodin in Paris. A short report in the Western Mail newspaper on 29 September 1891 describes the unveiling of the monument on the Powell family vault in the Parish Church of St Brynach in the village of Llanboidy, Carmarthenshire, Wales where it where it can still be seen.

Click on image to enlarge it

  • Image and article in 1891 Western Mail
  • Compare John's bronze Sullivan Memorial, London

    • Scanned image George P. Landow

    Text by Denley Owen

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