Page 34 - Alan Blakeman Collection catalogue

Daniel Lambert the fattest man in England
Daniel Lambert Inkwells
BBR magazine 163 carried an in-depth article on all the variations of these inkwells. All the Lambert wells would have had a cork giving the impression of his distinctive top hat shown in several engravings. There is in fact a single treacle glazed example with the hat modelled
in full. The pottery wells come in six versions, four of
which are shown here, none of them common.
The two in delightfully toasted salt glaze are very finely modelled and represent a smaller and larger size, almost certainly made by Oldfields pottery. Both are extremely rare.
The slightly smaller and lighter, grey greenish glaze is probably a Chesterfield copy with somewhat less detailing. Very rare.
The treacle glazed version, more crudely modelled, was (as the BBR 163 article showed) remade by cropping a full figure bottle (Frank Burgin collection) depicting Lambert standing. The bottle lacked the pen stand holes in the shoulders of the inkwell. See the Duke of Wellington salt glaze inkwell also in this sale for another example of a pottery re purposing another product to make a new one.
69. DANIEL LAMBERT INKWELL.
2.4ins. Very crudely modelled grey
green type Chesterfield area slip glaze
- familiar on early porters, c. 1830-50. The upper torso of the portly Daniel Lambert
with pronounced cheeks and hands either side of his rotund middle!
Very rare. No real damages but some overall wear and very crudely made. 8.8/10. NR.
£600-800+.
Right. The three page Daniel Lambert feature in BBR 163 magazine.
Daniel lambert ProDigy in nature
Daniel Lambert inkwells are rare. Only
occasionally do they come up for sale and, in
good condition, are always contested fiercely,
not least by BBR’s own Alan Blakeman who has a row of four sat on the shelf behind him in the office. We know he represents Daniel because as the two best modelled examples, likely made at Oldfield judging by the honeyed salt glaze, are impressed to the rear ‘D. LAMBERT’. You’ll rarely see that many together but we can add three more to the tally in this feature. Daniel (1770-1809) was large: in 1805 he became the heaviest person in recorded history weighing in at 50 stone (700 lbs, 320kg). In popular memory he is seen as a figure of fun and spectacle, a sort of fat John Bull, but he was far more than that. He was born in Blue Boar Lane, Leicester, on 13 March 1770. His family were all involved with the kind of country pursuits pictured in pottery sprigs. His father, also named Daniel Lambert, had
been the huntsman to Harry Grey, 4th Earl of Stamford. His uncle was a professional gamekeeper and his grandfather had been
a breeder of champion fighting cocks. Not surprising then that Daniel Jnr grew up with a strong interest in field sports, including otter hunting, fishing, shooting and horse racing. In his late teens he was considered an expert in the breeding of hunting dogs. But he wasn’t always a big guy. In his youth he was a keen swimmer and extremely strong - legend
has it he fought a bear on the
different versions of the ‘D LAMBERT’ impressed probably Oldfields c. 1830’s. Between is a glazed contemporary copy
Above L: Like the unmarked treacle glazed reform flasks theses cruder versions probably date a little later c. 1840-50. They are still rare but more often seen: note the bug eyed simplified face also seen on the Guest and coloured examples. Above R: Frank Burgin’s unusual example with hat top lip and ‘LAMBERT’ impressed to the rear. Probably a period copy-cast, like the Chesterfield example, from the more detailed Oldfield ones.
Above: Thomas Rowlandson (1757-1827) depicted Lambert in 1806 as “the wonderful great Pumpkin of Little Britannia” about to tuck into a hearty meal though he claimed to eat only moderately.
you I would cut out the piece”. The wife of Charles Mathews
who befriended him said “he pitied him; for it was distressing sometimes to hear the coarse observations made by unfeeling people, and the silly unthinking questions asked by many of them about his appetite.” Lambert had the last laugh though: after five months, with up to 400 visitors a day, he returned to Leicester wealthy.
after his death. The sale of his
men continued to catch public attention. A biography appeared
in 1818 and he crops up in later prints, and by name in books
by Dickens and Trollope. A notice in The Era of 1850 that says
the tomb was of “humble appearance” and called for funds to be raised. William Ball (1795-1852) an iron puddler at Coalbrookdale Horsehay who weighed a mere 32 stone and who exhibited himself as ‘John Bull’ is the likely candidate for an appropriately cast iron inkwell featuring a fat man eating but are often marketed as Lambert. The famous midget Tom Thumb visited his grave
in 1846 and a Mr. Mansfield, of Debden, Essex “Another Daniel Lambert!” weighing 469lbs exhibited himself at 6, Leicester Square in 1844 but none reached the fame of the ‘Leicester Apollo’.
He continued to make short fund raising tours between 1806 and 1809 dying suddenly on one whilst at Stamford where he is buried. It proved impossible to ship his body home. A window had to be removed to get it into a 112 square foot coffin on wheels. Even then it took 20 men to get it to the grave, specially selected on slopping ground by St Martin’s Church to help facilitate burial. The gravestone has the following inscription ‘In Remembrance of that Prodigy in Nature DANIEL LAMBERT. A Native of Leicester: who was possessed of an exalted and convivial Mind and in personal Greatness had no Competitor. He measured three Feet one Inch round the Leg, nine Feet four Inches round the Body and weighed Fifty two Stone eleven pounds! He departed this Life on the 21st of June 1809 aged 39 years. As a Testimony of Respect this Stone is erected by his Friends in Leicester.’
Readers might want some price indications of these inks. Early Oldfield examples expect to pay £1000-1200+ now, the later cruder examples £60-200 depending on condition and interest (impressed retailer Guest is highly unusual, but damaged)
The pottery wells come in four versions. Two in salt glaze are quite finely modelled with the slightly smaller Chesterfield a copy of the smaller; the treacle or other glazes are cruder and smaller. The treacle ones are a little easier to find but only single examples from the same mould are known in colours. One has a green coat, yellow waistcoat and flesh colours with
black details. It is damaged but appears to be
Above L to R: Cast iron inkwell of William Ball (1795- 1852) an iron puddler at Coalbrookdale. There are modern copies so look carefully. Daniel appears in prints, Staffordshire figures and a teapot.
Left: Portrait of Daniel Lambert, about 1809 (Welcome Collection).
Above: & L On the left and right two
by Guy Burch
Left: Daniel’s grave in Stamford where he died. In 1850 it was said to be of “humble appearance” and calling for a better one. Pubs had been renamed after Lambert including at Leicester and Stamford where souvenirs such as this mug - above (Frank Burgin Collection) might have been sold.
The inkwells do not date from his lifetime but the reform era, roughly 1830-1850, so although his name became common coinage for a large man why does he feature on a writing tool? A possible explanation is the publication by the English Annual in 1838 of a series of poems, purportedly written by Lambert and found amongst his papers at the Waggon and Horses clothing was reported in 1843. Big
street in Leicester! He spotted a group
of Savoyards (travelling players) with a
dancing bear and dogs surrounded by onlookers. A dog barked at the bear and was attacked by it and Lambert weighed in to save it, punching it to the ground.
Curiously despite the rural sport and animal background he served as apprentice at an engraving and die casting works in BCiormainfagchtaomry. iHn ewwhatsisplnaocwedUunniodnerSBtrenejtamainkPinagtr“iBckruomf mTaaygloerm&
toys”, such as buttons, buckles, snuff boxes and jewellery boxes. The firm was established by John Taylor (1711–1775) who made a fortune selling silver-plated articles using the plating process devised by Thomas Boulsover. We’ll come back to Birmingham later but around 1788 Lambert was made unemployed and returned to Leicester where he succeeded his father as Keeper of Leicester’s gaol. His weight began to increase.
His sedentary lifestyle was beginning to make itself apparent in his girth even though he claimed (probably not altogether truthfully since a medical condition has been ruled out) that he ate moderately and abstained from drinking. Certainly prints showing tucking into his food. His sporting youth and regular swimming served him well however and being fit often
inscribed ‘1851’ on the base. Another buff coloured takes us back to Daniels Birmingham connection having ‘J. GUEST / STEEL HOUSE LANE / BIRMINGHAM’ impressed to the rear.
His clothes personal effects are split between the Newarke Houses Museum in Leicester and Stamford Museum. Many public houses and inns were renamed after Daniel Lambert, particularly in Leicester and Stamford and prints continued
to be published. As they say in obituaries “he was unmarried” and had no children.
piece (likely from Chesterfield) of the one to the left.
Daniel lambert ProDigy in nature
Above: Two versions apparently from the same
mould as the treacle examples? The buff one is impressed for Birmingham stationer ‘James Guest’. The coloured one has base damage but seems to be inscribed ‘18[5]1’(?).
counters problems with obesity. In 1793 weighing 32 stone he visited Woolwich and, finding the tide against returning by boat,
he walked with apparent ease back into town. It was said he was able to stand on one leg and kick the other to a height of 7 feet.
By 1801 Lambert’s weight had increased to about 40 stone and he gave up hunting on horseback. In 1805 the gaol was closed and he was out of work. The town granted him a small pension but his size prevented him from finding normal work and he became something of a recluse, irritated by gawping visitors. On one occasion a visitor tried to get a look at him by asking to discuss cock fighting, Daniel’s response was to call through the window “I’m a shy cock” and send him off with a flea in his ear.
Above: Daniel Lambert with politician Charles James Fox by C. Williams, 1806 - notice his hat on the table.
1806 he travelled in a specially constructed coach from Leicester to a rented home at 53 Piccadilly in London and placed adverts
in the papers announcing his arrival. For five hours each day, he welcomed visitors there, charging each a shilling (about £4.08 as of 2019) entrance. This kind of spectacle was not uncommon and he inspired imitators. A baby aged 4 Months weighing 39 pounds, “Master Wybrants, Mr. Lambert in miniature” was put on show
Now bigger than ever but refusing all attempts to weigh him some friends devised a cunning plan. They cajoled him to go on a trip
in a carriage and had it stop on a weigh station. Jumping out
they ascertained how much carriage plus Lambert weighed and subtracting the carriage proved he was 50 stone. This meant he had thus overtaken Edward Bright, the 616-pound ‘Fat Man of Maldon’ as the heaviest authenticated person in recorded
He took no nonsense from the disrespectful either, showing the door to a man who refused to take his hat off and deploying witty rejoinders to the rude. Incidentally note his hat pictured in prints: the cork or a lid would have completed his appearance. He filled a sofa made for three or four but had a smawll head, another feature of the inkwells. An impertinent spectator
history.
Above: Master Wybrants Mr Lambert in miniature.
Above: ‘Of Surprising Corpulency.’an engraving by R. Cooper published in 1821 12 years after Lambert’s death. The ubiquity of Lamberts’ name will have driven demand for souvenirs modelled after them including this bottle, above right, in Frank Burgin’s collections - note how a cork mimics his hat (modelled-in on Frank’s inkwell on opposite page).
As his waistline spread (six men of normal size could fit together inside his waistcoat) his fame did too. Despite
his sensitivity he reluctantly accepted that his only option to avoid poverty was to put himself on show. He decided to manage this himself and turned down offer from impresarios. A wise choice since he retained all the money. In April
by his mother close by to cash in on Daniel’s fame and Monarch, the largest horse in the world was at Piccadilly’s Three Kings
Inn. Lambert himself had gone to see when a lad ‘Count’ Józef Boruwłaski (1739-1837), a 3-foot-3-inch dwarf in Birmingham and in London went to revisit with him, then in his seventies to huge public interest. Visitors to Daniel were surprised to find, not a country yokel but a taciturn, intelligent and well-mannered gent who discussed sporting pursuits.
claimed that since his entrance fee was paying for Lambert’s clothing, he had the right to know about it; Lambert replied “Sir, if I knew what part of my next coat your shilling would pay for, I can assure