The following statement may perhaps give to PLECTRUM the information he
requires.
Dining one day alone with Chantrey, in Jan. 1833, our conversation
accidentally turned upon some of his monuments, and amongst other things
he told me the circumstances connected with the monument at Lichfield to
the two children of Mrs. Robinson. As I was leaving Chantrey, I asked
him if I might write down what he had told me; his reply was,
"Certainly; indeed I rather wish you would." Before I went to bed I
wrote down what I now send you; I afterwards showed it to Chantrey, who
acknowledged it to be correct. It was hastily written, but I send it as
I wrote it at the time, without alteration.
Nicholson, the drawing master, taught Mrs. Robinson and her two
children. Not long after the death of Mr. Robinson, the eldest child was
burnt to death; and a very short time afterwards the other child
sickened and died. Nicholson called on Chantrey and desired him to take
a cast of the child's face, as the mother wished to have some monument
of it. Chantrey immediately repaired to the house, made his cast, and
had a most affecting interview with the unhappy mother. She was desirous
of having a monument to be placed in Lichfield Cathedral, and wished to
know whether the cast just taken would enable Chantrey to make a
tolerable resemblance of her lost treasure. After reminding her how
uncertain all works of art were in that respect, he assured her he hoped
to be able to accomplish her wishes. She then conversed with him upon
the subject of the monument, of her distressed feelings at the
accumulated losses of her husband and her two children, in so short a
space of time; expatiated upon their characters, and her great
affection; and dwelt much upon her feelings when, before she retired to
bed, she had usually contemplated them when she hung over them locked in
each other's arms asleep. While she dwelt upon these recollections, it
occurred to Chantrey that the representation of this scene would be the
most appropriate monument; and as soon as he arrived at home he made a
small model of the two children, nearly as they were afterwards
executed, and as they were universally admired. As Mrs. Robinson wished
to see a drawing of the design, Chantrey called upon Stothard, and
employed him to make the requisite drawing from the small model: this
was done; and from this circumstance originated the story, from those
envious of Chantrey's rising fame, that he was indebted to Stothard for
all the merit of the original design.