Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Joseph, Samuel
JOSEPH, SAMUEL (d. 1850), sculptor, is said to have been son of the treasurer of St. John's College, Cambridge, although the college registers give no authority for the statement. He was cousin to George Francis Joseph [q. v.] He was a pupil of Peter Rouw [q. v.], and a student of the Royal Academy, where in 1815 he obtained a gold medal for a group of ‘Eve supplicating Forgiveness.’ He soon obtained practice in London as a sculptor of busts and medallion portraits, and was a frequent exhibitor at the Royal Academy, commencing in 1811, when he sent two busts, one being of the son of his master, Rouw. In 1823 he removed to Edinburgh, where he settled for five years, and obtained plenty of practice. Here his work was much esteemed, and he was elected a fellow of the Royal Scottish Academy. At the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh there are busts by him of Lord Brougham, Sir David Wilkie, the Rev. Archibald Alison, and Henry Mackenzie. In 1826 he returned to London, but did not subsequently meet with the success which he contemplated. There was good style and workmanship in his busts. In 1830 he executed by command a bust of George IV. Joseph is best known by his statue of Sir David Wilkie in the National Gallery, presented by a committee of gentlemen in 1844, and by his well-known statue of William Wilberforce in Westminster Abbey, a very popular work, which has, however, excited some adverse criticism. Joseph exhibited at the Royal Academy for the last time in 1846. He died in London in 1850.
[Redgrave's Dict. of Artists; Men of the Reign; Catalogues of the Royal Academy and the National Gallery of Scotland.]