Joseph Gott (1785 - 1860) was a 19th century British sculptor. His terracotta groups and animal and children pieces were very popular in the 1830s.
He was born at Calverley near Leeds in 1785 the son of industrialist Benjamin Gott, a woollen manufacturer in Leeds and Mayor of Leeds from 1799. Joseph was baptised on 11 December 1785 in London. Unlike his brothers he did not join the family business of Gott & Sons. He was apprenticed to the eminent sculptor John Flaxman in London from 1798 to 1802. He joined the Royal Academy Schools in 1805. He received patronage from his rich cousin Benjamin Gott and also George Banks a wealthy Yorkshireman.[1]
In 1822 Sir Thomas Lawrence gave him a letter of introduction to Antonio Canova in Rome. He did not take this trip immediately and only in 1824 did his father agree to underwrite the cost of his travel and accommodation in Rome. Thereafter he spent most of his remaining life in Rome. His most successful period ended abruptly in 1838 when the cholera epidemic brought an abrupt end to the usually steady stream of British tourists going to Italy on the grand tour. Not only this, the epidemic killed his children, and his wife's memory was destroyed by the disease. Gott ceased working in 1845 and went into a long depression.[2]
In his early years in Rome he spent some time with young Joseph Severn. From 1828 until death Gott lived in a large apartment at 155 Via Babuino in Rome (this building still exists).[2]
His most unusual work is the tomb of Col Edward Cheney which depicts him on his dying horse at Waterloo.[3]
He died in Rome on 8 January 1860. He is buried in the Protestant Cemetery, Rome often said to be one of the most beautiful cemeteries in the world. It is noted that he sculpted many of the monuments therein. Here he shares company such as Keats and Shelley.[4]
His first wife, Lydia, died in 1838 or soon after. He lost two daughters in the cholera epidemic of 1838. In 1841 in Livorno, Joseph married Anna Drew, daughter of William Drew of Mangotsfield.