Statue of Mercury, Kenwood House

John Cheere was a leading 18th-century sculptor. His most original contribution to the art form was in the production of plaster statuettes and busts for interior decoration. This full-size figure of Mercury is one of a series of ten plaster casts after celebrated antique statues supplied to the Gallery at Croome Court, Worcestershire, as part of a scheme designed by Robert Adam. The original Roman marble statue is in the collection of the Uffizi, Florence.

A number of bronze casts of the original statue were made in the 16th and 17th centuries. It is therefore unclear whether the versions in plaster made in the 18th century, including this one by John Cheere, were copied from the original marble statue or from one of the bronzes casts. Casts after antique statues appear frequently in Robert Adam’s interior schemes, including at Kenwood.

Overlooking London’s Hampstead Heath since the early 17th century, Kenwood House was transformed in the 18th century into a grand neoclassical villa. Now restored to its Georgian splendour, Kenwood is home to a world-famous art collection.