Parian bust of the engineer William Dargan

A characterful, small Parian bust of the Irish engineer, William Dargan (1799 –1867) dressed in a Roman-style toga. 

Dargan is best known for his design and construction of the Irish railway system. 

The bust is a copy of a marble version by John Edward Jones, reduced by Cheverton, c 1853 -1865. J E Jones was also an Irish Engineer and a Sculptor who died in 1862. According to “A Dictionary of Irish Artists” by Walter G. Strickland (1913)¹, the original marble, now in the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin, was given to Dargan by Queen Victoria. She also presented him with an 1854 bust of herself, again by Jones.

The Parian version was exhibited in the Dublin great industrial exhibition in 1853².

The attributions to Jones and Cheverton are inscribed on the back of the bust. There is no manufacturer's mark.

Height: 22cm (8¾“)

Condition: This bust is in excellent condition.

¹ http://www.libraryireland.com/irishartists/john-edward-jones.php

² Official catalogue of the great industrial exhibition: (in connection with the Royal Dublin Society), 1853 : https://archive.org/stream/officialcatalogu00exhi/officialcatalogu00exhi_djvu.txt