James Heffernan (1788 – 21 October 1847) was an 18th/19th century Irish-born sculptor, later based in

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Life

He was born in Derry in 1788, the son of a marble-cutter and sculptor in the employ of the

Frederick Hervey, 4th Earl of Bristol Frederick Augustus Hervey, 4th Earl of Bristol, (1 August 1730 – 8 July 1803), was an 18th-century Anglican prelate. Elected Bishop of Cloyne in 1767 and translated to the see of Derry in 1768, Hervey served as Lord Bishop of Derry until ...

who was

Bishop of Derry The Bishop of Derry is an episcopal title which takes its name after the monastic settlement originally founded at Daire Calgach and later known as Daire Colm Cille, Anglicised as Derry. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, b ...

at that time. When Heffernan's father died in 1799, the Bishop found him a place as an apprentice with an architect, Michael Shanahan of Cork, who had been working on the

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

, and Heffernan returned to Cork with him. Shanahan had a marble yard in Cork and Heffernan was put to work there making fireplaces and gravestones. In 1810 he left Ireland and sailed to England where he went to London. There he attended the

Royal Academy Schools The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its purpo ...

and trained in fine sculpture under Charles Rossi, then under

Francis Chantrey Sir Francis Leggatt Chantrey (7 April 1781 – 25 November 1841) was an English sculptor. He became the leading portrait sculptor in Regency era Britain, producing busts and statues of many notable figures of the time. Chantrey's most notable w ...

. He exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1816 to 1830 and won the Royal Academy's silver medal for Sculpture in both 1815 and 1817 and went on a study tour to

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before returning to work for Chantrey (with Chantrey apparently taking credit for much of his work). Only on Chantrey's death in 1841 did Heffernan start to receive full credit for his work. According to some sources almost all the works attributed to Chantrey in Carrera marble are actually by Heffernan; one observer said: "Heffernan has cut in marble almost every one of Chantrey's busts literally from the first to the last". Heffernan returned to Cork in 1843, but this proved to be a poor choice and died there, of dysentry, on 21 October 1847 as part of the general decline in Ireland in that year.

Works by Heffernan whilst in the studio of Chantrey (usually solely credited to Chantrey)

The sheer volume of work out of Chantrey's workshops make it impossible for all to be from his own hands. Contemporary evidence suggests that Heffernan took most of the work on marble busts from 1820 to 1841. Chantrey would retain "special projects" in which he would take special pride, such as royalty. Under this logic, works attributable to Heffernan would be:A Dictionary of Irish Artists (1913) by Walter Strickland * Dr John Hunter (1820) *

Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy' ...

(1820) at

Abbotsford House Abbotsford is a historic country house in the Scottish Borders, near Galashiels, on the south bank of the River Tweed. Now open to the public, it was built as the residence of historical novelist and poet Sir Walter Scott between 1817 and 1825 ...

* Henry Colebrooke (1820) at the India Office * Viscount Castlereagh (1821) at National Portrait Gallery, London * George Canning (1821) at National Portrait Gallery, London *

William Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication '' Lyrical Ballads'' (1798). Wordsworth's ' ...

(1821) commissioned by Sir George Beaumont *

Charles Hutton Charles Hutton FRS FRSE LLD (14 August 1737 – 27 January 1823) was a British mathematician and surveyor. He was professor of mathematics at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich from 1773 to 1807. He is remembered for his calculation of the ...

(1822) at Newcastle Literary and Philosophical Society *

Lord Castlereagh Robert Stewart, 2nd Marquess of Londonderry, (18 June 1769 – 12 August 1822), usually known as Lord Castlereagh, derived from the courtesy title Viscount Castlereagh ( ) by which he was styled from 1796 to 1821, was an Anglo-Irish politician ...

(1822) at

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history. The original c ...

*Memorial to Dr

Matthew Baillie Matthew Baillie FRS (27 October 1761 – 23 September 1823) was a British physician and pathologist, credited with first identifying transposition of the great vessels (TGV) and situs inversus. Early life and education He was born in the mans ...

(1823) in

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Granville Sharp Granville Sharp (10 November 1735 – 6 July 1813) was one of the first British campaigners for the abolition of the slave trade. He also involved himself in trying to correct other social injustices. Sharp formulated the plan to settle black ...

(1824) at Guildhall, London (destroyed in Blitz) * Rev Cyril Jackson (1824) at Christ Church, Oxford *

Edward Daniel Clarke Edward Daniel Clarke (5 June 17699 March 1822) was an English clergyman, naturalist, mineralogist, and traveller. Life Edward Daniel Clarke was born at Willingdon, Sussex, and educated first at Uckfield School"Anthony Saunders, D.D." in Ma ...

(1824) at

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*Sir

Henry Halford Sir Henry Halford, 1st Baronet, GCH (2 October 1766 – 1844), born Henry Vaughan, was president of the Royal College of Physicians for 24 years. As the royal and society physician, he was physician extraordinary to King George III from 1793 to ...

(1825) at

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* George Canning (1826) in Chatsworth House * Henry Cline (1827) in the

Royal College of Surgeons The Royal College of Surgeons is an ancient college (a form of corporation) established in England to regulate the activity of surgeons. Derivative organisations survive in many present and former members of the Commonwealth. These organisations a ...

* Dean John Ireland (1829) at Bodleian Library Oxford * Lewis Bagot (1829) at Christ Church, Oxford * Sir Thomas William Coke (1829) at

Holkham Holkham is a small village and civil parish in north Norfolk, England, which includes a stately home and estate, Holkham Hall, and a beach, Holkham Gap, at the centre of Holkham National Nature Reserve. Geography The parish has an area of and ...

James Northcote James Northcote (22 October 1746, in Plymouth – 13 July 1831, in London) was a British painter. Life and work Northcote was born in Plymouth, and was apprenticed to his father, Samuel Northcote, a watchmaker. In his spare time, he drew a ...

(1831) at

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* Baron David Hume (1833) in Court of Session in

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(1833) in

* Mary Somerville (1837) at

Royal Society of London The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

*Sir

Jeffrey Wyatville Sir Jeffry Wyatville (3 August 1766 – 18 February 1840) was an English architect and garden designer. Born Jeffry Wyatt into an established dynasty of architects, in 1824 he was allowed by King George IV to change his surname to Wyatville ...

(1837) at

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(1837) commissioned by John Murray *Memorial to William Hazeldine (1840) working with John Carline at St Chad's Church, Shrewsbury *Sir

Stamford Raffles Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles (5 July 1781 – 5 July 1826) was a British statesman who served as the Lieutenant-Governor of the Dutch East Indies between 1811 and 1816, and Lieutenant-Governor of Bencoolen between 1818 and 1824. He is ...

(dnk) at

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*Francis Cunningham (dnk) in

Scottish National Portrait Gallery The Scottish National Portrait Gallery is an art museum on Queen Street, Edinburgh. The gallery holds the national collections of portraits, all of which are of, but not necessarily by, Scots. It also holds the Scottish National Photography Co ...

Works outwith scope of Chantrey

*Monument to Dr McCarthy in South Cork Parish Church (1808) *Bust of J Stark (1818) *

Musidora Jeanne Roques (23 February 1889 – 11 December 1957), known professionally as Musidora, was a French actress, film director, and writer. She is best known for her acting in silent films, and rose to public attention for roles in the Loui ...

(1822) * ino and

Bacchus In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; grc, wikt:Διόνυσος, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstas ...

(1822) *Memorial to William Bennet,

Bishop of Cloyne The Bishop of Cloyne is an episcopal title that takes its name after the small town of Cloyne in County Cork, Republic of Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church, it is a separate title; but, in the Church of Ireland, it has been united with oth ...

(1823) in Cloyne Cathedral *Miss E W Hill (1825) *H P Briggs (1828) *James Morrah (1832) *Girl Caressing a Child (1832) *Memorial to William Forrester in All Saints Church in Leicester (1832) *Bust of James Watt (1834) now in the

*Medallion of Sir

(1842) in National Portrait Gallery of Scotland,

*Memorial to

at his grave in Norton Parish Church near Sheffield (1842)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heffernan, James 1788 births 1847 deaths Artists from Derry (city) 19th-century Irish sculptors Alumni of the Royal Academy Schools