PIT
PLA
On his way he was arrested in Paris as a spy and confined many weeks in prison. He was bringing with him some fine en- graved gems as specimens of his power, and was compelled to part with them for his support. He alleged that his detention arose from an intrigue to get possession of his gems. He owed his release to his English friends. On his arrival in London he obtained an introduction to the Prince Regent, whose portrait he produced as a cameo on a fine gem. He soon after re- ceived commissions for the Royal Mint, and was employed as an assistant on the new silver coinage. On a vacancy in 1817 he was appointed the chief engraver, with a salary of 500/. He engraved the dies, using, it is said, the wheel of the gem en- graver for the coins of the end of George Ill.'g and the early part of George IV.'s reign ; and about the same time produced three fine heads of the King, cut m jasper. In 1820 he engraved the Coronation Medal, and in the following year a medal in com- memoration of the King's visit to Ireland. He had refused to use the portraits of this sovereign by Sir Thomas Lawrence and Sir Francis Chantrey as his models, and his continued refusal, contrary to the King's wishes, to use Chantrey 3 * bust as his model for the new coinage was, it is said, the chief cause of the discontinuance of his services by the Mint, and of an arrangement by which he was retained as medallist with a reduced salary of 350/.
This was the cause of much irritation. He felt his position a false one and ex- pressed his discontent. He was then employed upon a Waterloo Medal, and commenced one on a large scale, but its completion was delayed from time to time and the public were dissatisfied. He was at the same time engaged upon some private medals. On the accession of Queen Victoria he produced the Coronation Medal. It did not, however, please. In 1849 he completed his Waterloo Medal, which he deemed his chef-cPoeuvre. It was no less than five inches in diameter, and contained altogether 60 figures ; but he confessed his inability to harden it, and no one else ven- tured upon the responsibility, so the toil of so many years was of no further use than to strike a proof impression on soft metal. His original appointment in the Mint was the subject of much censure, and his con- duct in a difficult position left him open to animadversion; but his abilities as an artist, if not exactly suited to his office, cannot be questioned. He executed some marble busts of a colossal size. He died at Englefield Green, near Windsor, Sep- tember 16, 1855, aged 73.
PITTS, William, sculptor. Born 1790. His father, to whom he was apprenticed, was a chaser in silver. He gained a Society
of Arts Medal in 1812, and distinguished himself by modelling part of Stothard's 'Wellington Shield," and afterwards by chasing Flaxman's 'Shield of Achilles.' He also modelled in silver, with great ability, Le Soeur's statue of Cnarles I. He married at 19, and then, impelled by his genius and his necessities, he set vigorously to work and produced in rapid succession, first exhibiting at the Academy in 1823, ' The Deluge/ a sketch ; * The Creation of Eve,' ' Samson Killing the Lion,' ' Herod's Cruelty,' * Cupid under the Mantle of Night/ ' Pandora brought to Epimetheus/ and 'Puck.' In these varied yet truly classic subjects he greatly excelled, and they were admired and appreciated. They brought him also plenty of employment. He made many models of silversmith's work. He executed a large proportion of the bas-reliefs for Buckingham Palace and sculpture for other buildings, besides several monuments.
Among his later works were 'The Shield of Eneas/ exhibited in 1828 ; ' The Pleiades adorning the Night/ 1833 ; ' The Shield of Hercules/ 1834; a bas-relief of the Sovereigns of England from the Con- quest to William IV., with their several attributes, 1837 ; and a ' Design for the Nelson Memorial/ 1839. He also drew with great facility, and projected a series of outline illustrations of Virgil, two num- bers of which were published; a series from Ossian, of which he completed two large plates in mezzo-tint, which are un- published, and he made many drawings to illustrate Horace and Euripides. In the midst of such active labours a rash en- gagement, relative to an elaborate and expensive work, is supposed to have preyed upon his mind, and in a fit of depression, from which he suffered much, ne took poison and terminated his existence, April 16, 1840. His numerous works had pro- duced him little profit He had been sub- ject to ill-health, and he left a widow and four children without provision.
PIXELL, Miss Maria, landscape paint- er. She was probably a pupil of S. Gilpin. She practised both in oil ana water-colours, painting views and compositions. From 1796 to 1811 her works occasionally found a place in the Academy exhibitions, and were extravagantly praised by the press in her day.
♦ PLACE, Francis, amateur. Was born in Yorkshire. He was descended from a Durham family, and was articled to a soli- citor in London, where he continued till the breaking out of the Plague in 1665, when he left the metropolis, and found an excuse to abandon a profession he disliked. He then amused himself with art. He had some assistance in etching from Hollar, and he painted, etched, tried the new art
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