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Sir John Fermor (1732) by Andrien Carpentiere
Seven oaks
SIGNED MONUMENTS IN KENTISH CHURCHES
By RUPERT GUNNIS
As far as England and the EngUsh are concerned, the most neglected
of the arts is sculpture. Few Londoners know who are the authors
of the statues they daily pass in the streets, and even fewer people,
when they visit a Cathedral or Church, are interested enough to bother
to discover who was the statuary or carver responsible for the monument,
or tablet, they are looking at.
Guide books and local histories must bear the chief share of blame
for the ignorance and vagueness with which sculptors and statuaries
are so superciliously treated. Murray and other EngUsh travel books
occasionally mention the sculptor when a monument is by a weU-known
nineteenth century artist such as Flaxman, Chantrey, or Westmacott,
and deign sometimes to speak of the larger works of Rysbrack or
RoubiUac ; but more frequently one finds the author referring to an
important monument as " the work of a foreign sculptor " or " by a
foreign hand," while, had he but taken the trouble to use his eyes,
he might well have found that the monument was signed by an EngUsh
sculptor. Two hundred years ago CoUn Campbell, the architect of
Mereworth, said, " The general esteem that travellers have for things
that are foreign is in nothing more conspicuous than with regard to
building, though perhaps," he added, " In most things we equal and
in some things surpass our neighbours." If he had said " sculpture "
instead of " building " his words would have been equally true.
Owing to the untiring work and writing of Mrs. Esdaile, British
sculptors have, at last, begun to emerge from the unmerited gloom and
obscurity which had overshadowed them for so long ; but much yet
remains to be done before English sculpture can take its rightful place
alongside its sister arts.
I have, as far as I know, visited every Parish Church in Kent, and
examined the monuments and tablets they contained. But this list
cannot, of course, attempt to be final. The furious and fatal wave of
restoration which swept over the Churches of Kent, and indeed all
England, during the last century, caused many monuments and tablets
to be torn from the walls, and if they escaped damage or destruction,
they were but too frequently relegated to dark corners, or skied in the
interior of the tower, or near the roof; so that now, without the aid
of a ladder, it is impossible to read the epitaph, let alone look for the
signature of the statuary.
57
SIGNED MONUMENTS IN KENTISH CHURCHES
1£ we ask where signatures are to be found on monuments, it is
difficult to give a precise answer. In the iiineteenth century, the
majority of statuaries signed theh names, in the case of smaU tablets,
in the corner, and when it was a large monument, either on the side,
or at the base.
In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, it is another matter
altogether. Fhst, only some sculptors cut theh names. Scheemakers
and Rysbrack, it is true, signed about 80 per cent, of their work, but
BushneU, Gibbons, and Bird, to mention only three prohfic sculptors
of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, signed less than
a dozen between all three of them, though they must have carved
several hundreds of monuments.
Secondly, in these two centuries, some sculptors had the most
disconcerting trick of signing theh names in unUkely and obscure places,
and I have found sculptors' signatures cut beneath the ledger, or in
the actual decorative carving of the monument itself, so that only a
very careful search would reveal it. Hunting for signatures is excellent
exercise. One needs to be young and active, or to have an athletic
friend. It was only by inducing someone much younger than myself
to lie on his back and peer up beneath the monument of Sir Robert
Bernard at Brampton that I found it possible to discover that the
monument with its noble bust and elaborate setting had been carved
by that rare master, Robert Kidwell.
To those who are interested in our heritage of sculpture, may I say
that all signatures should be noted, for our knowledge of English
statuaries is stiU very far from complete, and every fragment is
important, for it might prove the one bit of tessera which, though it
may not complete the mosaic, may weU enable part of the pattern to
be filled in. I have a card index with the surnames of about 2,000
sculptors, stonemasons, statuaries, carvers, etc., many with httle more
than bare names, sometimes even without initials, and I know well
that each card could weU have many more notes added to it, and also
that there must be a very large number of workers who do not as yet
figure in this index at aU.
With regard to the list of monuments which follows, I have given
brief, and only brief, notes on the lesser-known and more obscure
sculptors. To give full detaUs of theh Uves and works would swell
this article to a gargantuan size. Equally, I have given few or no
detaUs of those sculptors who find a place in the Dictionary of National
Biography, and have merely put the letters " D.N.B." and theh dates.
For the same reason I have not given a complete Ust of all the works
of local statuaries, and have but mentioned their more outstanding
monuments.
I have included in this list but few monuments which were erected
58
SIGNED MONUMENTS IN KENTISH CHURCHES
after 1851. The memorials of the last hundred years are mostly either
unimportant, or the standardized, mechanical products of the stonemason's
yard.
To give a full Ust of the sources consulted is obviously out of place
here. It will doubtless surprise readers to know that there is no
Dictionary of Sculptors, no printed record, no CoUected Lives—nothing
that can be turned to save the D.N.B. and Redgrave's Dictionary of
Artists ; and both give only brief, inadequate and frequently incorrect
accounts of the better-known and more distinguished EngUsh sculptors.
The information given in the short biographies which follow has been
the work of some ten years, slowly and painfully accumulated from
sources both likely and unUkely, the obvious and the obscure. The
books consulted range from the standard works on Enghsh topography
through small local histories of towns and villages, to the two hundred
volumes of The Gentleman's Magazine and its contemporaries, The
London, The Universal, and The European Magazines. Then, later
periodicals, such as The Builder, The Athenaeum, The Art Union, and
the Literary Gazette, have provided information ; invaluable, too, have
been Graves's Ust of exhibitors at the Royal Academy, Free Society of
Artists, etc.
It is, however, the unpubUshed MSS., account books, and ledgers,
which have been of the greatest value. Of these, much the most
important are the muniments of the Masons' Company which I examined
for a week in the vaults of a bank in mid-winter (they are now more
accessible). Outstanding, too, are the MSS. at the Record Office,
British Museum, Soane Museum, R.I.B.A., the Guildhall Library,
Essex County Record Office, and the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Lastly, but of the utmost importance, were two MS. books kindly
unearthed for me by the Librarians of the Royal Academy and the
Society of Arts, and neither of these books, I understand, had ever been
previously consulted. These were respectively the List of Pupils
(with dates of birth) admitted to the R.A. Schools from its foundation
to 1825, and the List of Premiums awarded by the Society of Arts,
with notes on the background and later lives and fortunes of the
youthful artists who received those premiums.
As to the dates given after each name, where I have been unable
to discover the exact years of birth and death, I have given the period
during which the sculptor produced monuments. These dates are
based on signed works which I have noted during visits to over three
thousand Parish Churches in aU parts of England.
Finally, nobody is more aware than I am of the gaps that there are
in my knowledge, and I shaU be more than grateful to any reader who
can supplement the information which is given here.
I am deeply grateful to the various kind friends who have helped
59
SIGNED MONUMENTS IN KENTISH CHURCHES
me with this article, especiaUy to Lord De L'Isle and Dudley, V.C.,
Lady Catherine Ashburnham and Mr. Rennie Hoare of Stourhead, for
permission to quote from theh famUy archives, Mr. Alan Lamboll for
the photographs which he took speciaUy for me, to Mr. James Burr
for the drawing of the Fermor monument, and to Mr. R. H. D'Elboux
for reading through the proofs, and also for the rubbing of Griggs's
signature. Unless otherwise stated the memorial is a waU tablet or
waU monument and the year given after the name is either that of the
date of the death of the person or persons the monument commemorates,
or the date of the erection of the monument, as the latter
can sometimes be discovered beneath the signature of the sculptor.
ADRON, William and Charles of the New Road, London. Ft. 1800-1838.
They were employed on decorative work at Buckingham Palace,
1826-27, and they also produced a number of minor and unimportant
tablets.
Yalding Aretas Akers, 1816.
ADYE, Thomas. Fl. 1730-1752.
He held the post of sculptor to the Society of Dilettanti from 1737
to 1744, and carved busts of various members of that Society. The
Victoria and Albert Museum has recently acquired his bust of the
seventh Earl of Westmorland. All his monuments that I have seen
are important, and fine works, though all are variations of a design
which has, as a central feature, a large portrait medallion of the
deceased, but the surround and setting are in each case different,
and range from the huge monument, 20 ft. high, to Mr. and Mrs.
Mitchell, 1746, at Fowlmere, Cambs., to the far smaller work at
Beckenham,, Kent, to Hugo Raymond, 1737. In the former, the
medallion portrait is held by a life-sized woman, seated on a sarcophagus—
in the latter, the portrait is held and unveiled by two
cherubs.
ANNIS, John, of London. B. 1700. D. 1745,
Son of John Annis of Beckenham, husbandman, he was apprenticed
to William Holland, " Citizen and Mason of London " 1714-1721,
in which latter year he was made free of the Masons' Company, and
opened a yard in Aldersgate Street. He was Warden of the Masons''
Company in 1740.
Bexley John Styleman, 1734.
ASSITER, Thomas, of Maidstone. D. 1826.
For a provincial mason his work is good, and is influenced by that
of John Bacon the younger. Assiter's best monument is that to
Sir John Twisden, Bart (d. 1810) at East Mailing. The figure of a
mourning woman on the monument is well carved and can bear
comparison with contemporary work from a London studio. He
was employed also on decorative work at The Mote, Maidstone,
in 1800.
Seal William Jewell, d. 1778. Erected o. 1810.
Aylesford Elizabeth Bowles, 1814.
Maidstone William Bryant, 1816.
Boughton-Moneheisea Robert Foote, 1818.
ASHTON, Robert the younger, of St. James's, London. PI. 1790-1830.
He was the son of Robert Ashton the elder, who was an assistant and
60
SIGNED MONUMENTS IN KENTISH CHURCHES
partner of William Tyler, R.A. The elder Ashton carved the monument
of Martin Follies (1754) in Westminster Abbey, which had been
designed by Tyler. Both Ashtons carved chimney pieces, the elder
being responsible, in 1788, for some at Chiswick House for the Duke
of Devonshire; these included the one in the drawing room for
which he received £94. His son was employed by Lord Ashbumham
at Dover Street in 1813.
Faversham, Christian Gosselin, 1824. The relief on this monument
is a charming piece of work.
BACON, John the elder, R.A. 1740-1799. D.N.B.
Far and away the finest work in Kent of this sculptor is the monument
to Captain John Harvey at Easi/ry, with its beautiful circular
relief of a naval engagement off Brest. Other works by Bacon are
Eastry John Broadley, 1784.
Newington-next-Folkestone Rev. Ralph Brockman, 1799.
BACON, John the younger, R.A. 1777-1859. D.N.B.
The largest work of the younger Bacon in Kent is the huge monument
to Lord Henniker in Bochester Cathedral. Impressive only in its
size, it is an insipid and uninspiring work, and leaves one with the
impression of a stock piece. Though Bacon on occasions reached
great heights, he could, and did, in. some of his monuments, descend
to a pedestrian level and dull bathos. The only thing which
differentiates this monument from a frequent Bacon design is a
charming little relief of Rochester Castle.
Other works by the younger Bacon are :
Otford Charles Polhill, 1805.
Speldhurst JohnYorks, 1805, with well-carved relief of a shipwreck
off the coast of Brazil.
Speldhurst Martin Yorke, d. 1793, monument 1805.
Bingwould John Monins, 1806.
St. Peter's (Thanet) Anthony Calvert, 1808.
Crayford John Jackson, 1809.
Walmer Sir Henry Harvey, 1810.
Woodnesborough Thomas Godfrey, 1810.
Ash-next-Wrotham Thomas Lambard, 1811.
Canterbury Cathedral George Fraser, 1813.
GiUingham William Boys, 1822.
St. Peter's (Thanet) Captain Richard Burton, 1822.
BACON, J. and MANNING, Samuel.
John Bacon, Junr. and his pupil Samuel Manning (d. 1847), were,
between them, responsible for a large number of monuments and
tablets. Manning was the son and grandson of sculptors, and father
of another. The most important joint work of the two partners is the
monument to Warren Hastings in Westminster Abbey, but the vast
majority of their works are uninspired. Their best work in Kent
is the monument to the Marquis of Ormonde, 1820, at Ulcombe.
Sandwich John Rayner, 1822.
GiUingham Ellen Boys, 1831.
Otford Charles Polhill, 1839.
BAILY, E. H., R.A. 1788-1867. D.N.B.
Kent is fortunate in possessing one of this sculptor's most beautiful
works. Indeed, I would go so far as to say that the figure of Lord
Brome (d. 1835) at Linton (Plate I), is Baily's monumental master-
61
SIGNED MONUMENTS IN KENTISH CHURCHES
piece. It can, in its way, bear comparison with the superb figure of
Guidarello Guidarelli at Ravenna. The youthful figure of Lord
Brome Ues on a couch, his eyes just closed in death. The monument
is simple and untheatrical, and as one looks a t it, one understands
the calm and peace and repose of death. Baily's Lady CornwaUis
in the same Church, also a semi-recumbent, fuU-length figure is not
so successful.
Linton Maria Mann, 1823 ; Lady Jemima Wykeham Martin, 1836 ;
Lieut. C. J . Mann, 1847.
BAX, John, of Deal. Fl. 1820-1840.
Walmer Sir Richard Lee, 1837 ; Henry and Richard Harvey, c. 1830.
BEARD, Thomas. B. 1717. D. 1803.
He served his apprenticeship with William Hoathly and William
Spratt, " Citizens and Masons of London." Beard lived towards
the end of his life at Islington where he is buried. His monuments
are uncommon, indeed I only found one other signed example and
that is at Haverfordwest in South Wales. His Kent monument is
to William Pemble, 1760, at Meopham.
BEDFORD, John, of Oxford Street. Fl. 1825-1850.
A fashionable monumental mason. Curiously enough his three best
works are all of sailors. At Hampton, Middlesex, to Captain Ellice,
1853, the relief of a captain in uniform, telescope in hand ; to
Edward Long, at Seale, Hants, 1840, with a spirited relief of the
wreck of H.M.S. Isis, and at Barnes, Surrey, to the Dawson family,
1843, with a figure of a mourning naval officer.
Brenchley John Buxton, 1828.
Birchington Harriot Cotten, 1837.
BEHNES, William. 1792-1864. D.N.B.
Kent has only two minor works by this sculptor. Besides
monuments, he also carved a large number of busts, and there is
one of the first Earl Camden, based on an original by Wilton, at
Bayham Abbey.
West Wickham Isaac James, 1828.
TunbrMge Wells (Holy Trinity) Maria Thomas, 1833.
BISHOP, Edward, of Tenterden. 1757-1822.
Signs a small unimportant tablet at Goudhurst to William Stringer,
1817.
BLAXLAND, H., of Milton.
Milton-next-Sittingbourne Thomas Woollett, 1802.
Bapchild Sarah Wildash, d. 1788. Monument, 1813.
Rodmersham James Taylor, 1813.
TunstaU Jacob Chambers, 1814.
Newnham Thomas Elvy, 1828.
BLORE, Robert, of Piccadilly. Fl. 1795-1834.
Son of Robert Blore the elder, a statuary who became banlcrupt
in 1818. The younger Blore towards the end of his life joined
forces with his pupil, George Wilcox. His best monuments are to
Elizabeth, Countess of Mexborough, 1821, at Methley, Yorks., and
Mrs. Mackenzie, 1822, at Burwash, Sussex. Blore was also
responsible for a huge, ugly mass of marble at Stoke Edith, Hereford,
to Edward Foley, 1805.
West Wickham Mrs. Gildert, 1817.
Foots Cray Emma Harenc, 1827.
62
SIGNED MONUMENTS IN KENTISH CHURCHES
BREAMER, F. C. Fl. 1790-1820.
In 1793 he exhibited at the Royal Academy " a tablet of flowers in
marble." He was later employed by John Nash, the architect, and
in 1816 carved seven chimney pieces for a house in Langham Place,
which Nash had buUt for himself. Breamer also made two mantlepieces
for the Royal Pavilion at Brighton.
Orpington Sir Richard Clode, 1804.
Bexley Mrs. Oswald Smith, 1809.
BRINE, George, James and John. Fl. 1800-1840.
The workshop of George and his sons, James and John, was in
Somers Town. John later set up for himself, and in 1824 received
the very large sum of £2,265 for marble chimney pieces for houses
in the Quadrant, Regent Street. The only work of the famUy in
Kent is a large, florid marble and stone Gothic altar tomb at
Chilham, to the Dick famUy, 1837.
BRISLEY, William, of Rochester. D. after 1847.
In William Brisley, Kent can be proud of one of its few local sculptors.
I only know two works by him, but the medaUion on the monument
of James Forbes in Rochester Cathedral is a charming and well-carved
composition. From the style of this monument, I should imagine
that Brisley had trained under C. Rossi, R.A. I am most grateful
to Canon S. W. Wheatley, F.S.A., for giving me Brisley's Christian
name, and I shall be equaUy grateful to any reader who can supply
me with his exact dates, or any information about other monuments,
or busts, by him. The only other monument by Brisley I
know is also in Rochester Cathedral, William Burke, 1836.
BROWN, R., of London. Fl. 1817-1850.
A tedious mason, who also produced a few busts. His best work
is a large neo-Hellenic monument at Chipstead, Surrey, to Archibald
Little, 1844.
Sutton Valence William Dodd, 1794. Monument c. 1820 ?
Eastry Lt.-Col. Richard Botteler, 1833.
TunstaU Catherine Law, 1838.
BROWN, WUliam. B. 1799.
He was admitted to the Royal Academy Schools in 1820.
Chislehurst John, 2nd Viscount Sydney, 1845.
BUBB, J. G. B. 1782. D. 1840.
He joined the R.A. Schools in 1801 and gained the Silver Medal in
1805. Though now almost forgotten, Bubb received a great deal
of employment during his life. His chief work is a cenotaph to
William Pitt at the Guildhall, 1813. He was employed by Coade
at his terra cotta works at Lambeth, but soon after 1818, Bubb
and Charles Rossi, R.A., set up a terra cotta manufactory of their
own. During this period of his life, he was employed by Nash on
various works in Regent's Park, including the sculpture at Cumberland
Terrace, and the statues on Chester Terrace.
Another terra cotta work by him was a relief on the facade of the
Royal Italian Opera House. He also carved reUefs on the front of
the Customs House, London, and carried out various works at both
the Royal Exchange and the Harmonic Institution, London. His
last work was in 1839, at Canford, Dorset, for Sir John Guest. He
exhibited at the R.A. 1805-1831 a number of busts and statues.
Tonbridge George Children, 1818.
63
SIGNED MONUMENTS IN KENTISH CHURCHES.
BUTLER, Timothy. B. 1806.
He was admitted to the R.A. School in 1825 on the recommendation
of W. Behnes. In 1827 he gained a SUver Medal, and from 1828
until 1879 he exhibited at the R.A. where his numerous busts
included Charles Kemble, the Hon. Mrs. Norton, and Lord Rollo.
He was also responsible for a monument of Jackson the pugilist,
1850, and for a statue of Cobden at Bradford.
Horsmonden Anne Marriott, 1831.
Goudhurst Edward MiUer, 1846.
CAREW, J. E. 1785-1868. D.N.B.
Sevenoaks Charles, Earl Whitworth, 1825. An ugly monument,
with a bust.
CARPENTIERE, Andrien. 167- ?-1737.
On his arrival in England, Carpentiere angUcized his name to
Andrew Carpenter. He was the assistant of John Van Nost in
Piccadilly, and helped him in his manufactory of lead figures.
Later, Carpenter set up for himself, and was much employed by the
great Duke of Chandos in statuary for the gardens of Canons,
Edgware.
He also carved a bust for Lord Ashburnham, made lead figures for
Lord Bristol, and executed a marble vase at Wimpole, which was
designed by Gibbs. His monuments include one to Lord and Lady
Warrington at Bowden, Cheshire. Vertue says that " he was a
gross, heavy man " and that he was buried at St. George's, Hanover
Square. In his will, Carpenter left everything to his wife Ann.
This included his property at Edgware. His son John was cut off
with a shilling.
Sevenoaks Sir John Fermor, 1732. (PLATE II.)
CHAMBERS, Robert. 1710-1784.
Mendos Da Costa who collected notes on various " litterati " 1747-
1788, says, " Mr. Robert Chambers, a mason, who painted arms,
flowers, fruit, Hebrew and other characters on marbles. A very
curious person. He was a Gloucestershire man, and about 74 when
he died. He painted, or stained, on marble, several roses, exquisitely
well for me, and the blazoned arms of the present Duke of Norfolk,
on a marble slab for His Grace."
He exhibited stained marble tables in 1761 and 1763 at the Society
of Free Artists. On nearly every monument I have found by him
he has cut a short Hebrew sentence or word.
Dover (St. Mary) Peter Eaton, 1769.
Boughton Monehelsea Richard Savage, 1772. (PLATE III.)
CHANTREY, Sir Francis. 1781-1841. D.N.B.
All the monuments in Kent by this distinguished sculptor (save the
three at Orpington) are large, important works, the best-known of
which is his lovely recumbent effigy of Lady Frederica Stanhope
at Chevening, 1823.
Orpington William Gee, 1815; Richard Carew, 1816; Richard
Gee, 1817.
Chislehurst William Selwyn, 1817.
North Cray Lady Ellenborough, 1821.
Chilham James Wildman, 1822.
Erith Lord Eardley, 1826.
64
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PLATE IV
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SIGNED MONUMENTS IN KENTISH CHURCHES
CHEERE, Sir Henry. 1703-1781. D.N.B.
The earliest work I have yet discovered by this sculptor is in Kent,
a charming cartouche tablet at Westbere to Hammond Twyman,
1727.
Faussett, writing in 1757, says that this monument is signed also
by H. Scheemakers. I have looked carefully but cannot find the
signature, though it very possibly was there, as Scheemakers and
Cheere at one time worked together. Brother of the far better
known Peter, Henry Scheemakers produced comparatively little
work, but what monuments he did carve were very fine indeed.
Two of his major works are the monuments at Steeple Ashton,
Oxford, to Sir Francis and Lady Page, c. 1730, and at Mickleton,
Gloucestershire, to Richard Graves (1729), the former life-sized,
reclining figures, and the latter, a charming medallion portrait.
My own favourite is Henry's monument at Wicken Bonant, Essex,
to John Bradbury, 1731, with its delightful relief in a baroque
frame of a youth in classic drapery, with a lovely group of cherub
heads in clouds above him.
CHENU, Pierre Francis. B. 1760.
Student at the R.A. in 1784, he gained the Silver Medal in 1785,
and the Gold Medal in the following year. His work in later life,
however, seems hardly to have fulfilled the promise of his youth,
and though he carved a number of busts and monuments, and
exhibited at the R.A. in 1788-1822, his work, though pleasant, is
undistinguished and lacks inspiration.
His best monuments are Lord Pigot, 1796, at Patshull, Staffordshire,
and Sir James Andrew, 1790, at Barkway, Herts.
Cranbrook Charles Nairn, 1797.
Dover (St. Mary) Henry Rice, 1797.
Ditton Mary Golding, 1809.
Wateringbury Sir Thomas Style, 1813.
CHRISTMAS, John and Matthias. Matthias, 1596-1654. John, d. 1654.
Sons of Gerard Christmas (d. 1639), Statuary and Pageant Master
to the Lord Mayors of London. The two brothers spent part of
their lives in Kent: indeed Matthias was buried at Chatham in
1654, and Thorpe gives his epitaph (Registrum Rqffense, p. 731).
They were craftsmen of outstanding merit, working both in marble
and wood. Their most magnificent monument is that of Archbishop
Abbott at GuUdford, one of the noblest seventeenth century effigies
in England. They were also employed at Deptford, and later at
Chatham, in designing and carving the fantastic, baroque poops
and prows of ships of the Royal Navy.
Rochester (St. Nicholas) Thomas Roche, 1635.
COADE, later Coade and Sealy. F i r m / . 1767-1820.
• In the middle of the eighteenth century Miss Eleanor Coade of
Lyme Regis revived the art of making terra cotta, or more probably
artificial stone, and started the manufactory for it at Lambeth in
1769. The work at once -found popular favour, and from the
workshops issued forth an almost unceasing torrent of monuments,
vases, urns, fonts, statues, screens and reliefs. For the Coade
terra cotta was not expensive, and the owner was enterprising
enough to employ only the best designers, and Flaxman, Rossi,
John Bacon the elder, and Banks, were all employed on models
for the works.
65 8
SIGNED MONUMENTS IN KENTISH CHURCHES
The most important work by this firm in Kent is the monument to
Lady Henniker, 1794, in Rochester Cathedral. This huge monument
was designed by Thomas Banks, R.A. (1735-1805), but save for the
centre sarcophagus, which is in marble, the rest of the monument
is carried out in artificial stone.
Tonbridge Rev. Henry Harpur, 1800.
Speldhurst (in Churchyard) WiUiam Nesbitt, 1807.
Aylesford (in Churchyard) Spong family, 1815.
COBHAM and WRIGHT, of Gravesend.
Wilmington Elizabeth White, d. 1741, but monument later.
COLES, John. PI. 1770-1820.
Son of John Coles of Fleet Street, a statuary who worked in the
middle of the eighteenth century, the younger Coles started in
partnership with his father, but later set up for himself in Portland
Road. His son, Thomas, was also a statuary.
Canterbury Cathedral Maria Le Geyt, 1796.
COOPER, George, of Canterbury. Fl. 1818-1851.
Canterbury (Holy Cross) Robert Deane, 1818.
East Langdon Rev. Thomas De Lannay, 1830.
Cranbrook Mary Davies, 1832.
Chartham John Sutton, 1836.
Westgate Paulin Huggett, 1842.
Canterbury Cathedral Richard Friend, 1846.
Selling John Neame, 1851.
CRAKE, M. Fl. 1796-1837.
Lived in Portland Road, London. From 1815 to 1819 he was
employed at the Royal Pavilion, Brighton, receiving £643 for carved
stonework there. He also received £224 for seven marble chimney
pieces for a house in Langham Place. He was the father of Matthias
John Crake (b, 1805) also a monumental sculptor.
Lynsted Annabella Knatchbull, 1814.
Minster (Ramsgate) Joshua Cooper, 1819.
CRIPPS, T., of Tunbridge Wells.
In Speldhurst Churchyard is an altar tomb signed by Cripps with
a very pretty design of ribbons and husks. The inscription is too
decayed to be legible but the date of the monument is about 1820.
There must be, without doubt, other monuments in churchyards by
this mason, but time and weather have probably destroyed the
maker's signature on them.
CROGGON, William. Fl. 1820-1840.
About 1820 he took over the artificial stone manufactory of Messrs.
Coade of Lambeth, but soon after 1830 sold it to Messrs. Routledge
and Lucas. During the period he owned the works he was
responsible, among other work, for statues, panels, capitals, and
friezes at Buckingham Palace ; the font at Trinity Church, Southwark,
and a large lion on the facade of Northwick House, Gloucestershire.
Unlike Coade, his memorial tablets were not made of terra
cotta but of the more orthodox black and white marble.
Maidstone Ely Crump, 1829.
DENMAN, Thomas. B. 1789.
In 1807 he won the Silver Palette from the Society of Arts for a
model of Antinous, and in the same year became a pupil at the
R.A. School, gaining the Silver Medal in 1813. He was a pupil of
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SIGNED MONUMENTS IN KENTISH CHURCHES
Flaxman, who was also his brother-in-law, and it was doubtless
owing to this relationship, far more than to his own natural talent,
that he gained the large patronage he did. He managed to produce
an incredible number of extremely dull works, the best of which,
such as the one at Speldhurst, are from Flaxman's designs. After
his brother-in-law's death in 1826, Denman was commissioned to
complete the unfinished works in Flaxman's studio. These
included the statue of Lord Hastings for Calcutta, and a monument
with a lovely relief in Heston Church to James Watson. Though
Denman signs both, he cannot really claim the credit for them,
for it is only too obvious, when one looks at his own unaided work,
how much he owed to Flaxman. He became bankrupt in 1847.
West Mailing Benjamin Bates, 1831.
Speldhurst WUliam Raymond, 1836.
Ramsgate Thomas Ganett, 1838.
Goudhurst Richard Packe, 1838.
Rochester Cathedral John Langley, 1838.
Canterbury Cathedral Major John Johnson, 1839.
Wootton Sir John Brydges, 1839 ; Rev. Charles Kinleside, 1841.
Canterbury Cathedral Officers and Men, Thirteenth Light Infantry,
1843.
DRAYSON, Charles.
A Faversham builder and stonemason.
Milsted Osborne Tylden, 1827.
Faversham John Smith, 1829 ; Mary Jacob, 1840.
EASTON, Charles. D. 1786.
In 1728 he was admitted to the Masons' Company by redemption,
both his father, Robert, and his brother, Thomas, being members.
Charles had a distinguished career, becoming Master of the Masons'
Company in 1754, and Mason to the City of London in 1762. His
monuments are rarely signed, and it is only from an entry in an
account book that we know he was paid £50 for the bust and
monument of Richard Watts in Rochester Cathedral.
Chislehurst Sir Edward Betenson, 1733.
EVESHAM, Epiphanius.
Until recently all that was known of this artist was a note by Vertue
which said a plate of brass in memory of Owen in old St. Paul's
Cathedral was " formed and erected by that most exquisite artist,
Mr. Epiphanius Evesham."
I t is to Mrs. Esdaile that we owe the rescue of one of our greatest
native sculptors from the darlcness which had shrouded him for
three hundred years, for she has found out a considerable number
of facts about him and I would refer all those who are interested in
Evesham to Mrs. Esdaile's recently published English Church
Monuments 1510-1840. Evesham's two greatest works in Kent are
the monuments with the lovely figures and reliefs to Sir Thomas and
Lady Hawkins, 1618, at Boughton-under-Blean, and to Lord and
Lady Teynham at Lynsled. Evesham also signs two small tablets.
Hythe John Collyns, 1597.
Mersham Mrs. Margery Collyns, 1595.
FLAXMAN, J., R.A. 1755-1826. D.N.B.
Lydd Anne Russell, 1780.
Canterbury Cathedral Thomas Lawrence, 1783.
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SIGNED MONUMENTS IN KENTISH CHURCHES
Rochester Cathedral Sir Edward Head, 1796.
Throwley Hon. Charles Harris, 1814.
Beckenham Lady Hoare, 1800.
FRIEND, J., of Canterbury. Fl. 1717-1732.
The most outstanding of the eighteenth-century Canterbury
statuaries, and his two signed monuments are surprisingly good.
He appears to have lived for at least fifteen years in Canterbury,
as in 1732 Lord Folkestone paid " Mr. Friend of Canterbury, marble -
mason, for a marble slab for a sideboard for my house at Bifrons
U."1
Therefore, between 1717-1732, Friend must have produced a number
of monuments and tablets, and yet I can find no other signed
examples. It is true that on stylistic grounds, there are works in
Canterbury Cathedral, and in other Churches in Kent, which one
might weU assign to him, but I hesitate to do so, for it is unprofitable,
and indeed rash, when one only has two works to go on, to make
attribution merely because one sees a resemblance in workmanship.
Canterbury (St. Margaret's) Paul Lukin, 1717 ; John Barrett, 1719.
GAFFIN, Edward and Thomas. Fl. 1805-1865.
The Gaffins (there were a father and son) during the first sixty years
of the last century, poured forth from their workshop in Regent
Street a spate of memorials of extraordinary similarity and tameness
of design. Practically no church was safe from them, and their
tablets of white marble with black surrounds, enlivened occasionally
with a chubby cherub, or a heavily draped urn, are scattered thick
over England.
The Gaffins were almost the first mass producers of stock design
for memorials, and as the firm was known to be eminently respectable,
inexpensive and safe, it was patronized by the county families
of England. This, of course, meant that the true sculptor received
fewer commissions for monuments, and the inevitable result was
that individuality in memorials became rarer and scarcer. Doubtless
the impeccable firm of Gaffin flourished, though the sculptor
did not, and so the wall of aisle and chancel became plastered with
tablets of a remarkable sameness.
The Gaffins were not the only offenders. All the "New Road"
masons contributed to the change in taste. It is sad to see the
deterioration, for the early works of Gaffin have frequently charming,
and weU-carved details, but as the nineteenth century advanced,
the work of the Gaffins and their colleagues became duller and duller,
ending in the mid-Victorian era with a black and white tablet,
unrelieved and plain, and exactly Uke the contemporary mourning
card sent out to the relatives of the deceased.
East Sutton Sir Edward Filmer, 1810.
GiUingham J. Strover, 1815.
Tonbridge Peter Le Mesurier, 1834.
Deal Admiral Sir John Harvey, 1837.
Ulcombe Lady Sarah Wandesforde, 1838.
Orpington Anne Hawkins, 1839.
1 I am indebted to the Earl of Radnor for permission to consult his archives
at Longford Castle, where I found this entry.
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SIGNED MONUMENTS IN KENTISH CHURCHES
GOLDEN, John, of Holborn. Fl. 1780-1810.
East Sutton Mrs. Filmer, 1793.
Southfleet John Brodie, 1796.
GREEN, Thomas, of Camberwell. B. 1659. D. c. 1730.
Born of a Lincolnshire family, members of which had been stonecutters
and stonecarvers for several generations, Green was
apprenticed in 1673 to John Fitch and, probably owing to the death
of his master, a few years later, was turned over to William Lund.
He became free in 1681, and in 1694 was assistant to WiUiam
Holland, but by 1697 was settled at Camberwell and working on
his own account.
Though utterly neglected by all books of reference, Green is, without
doubt, one of the most important of the early eighteenth century
sculptors. His works are not rare, and his Lord Justice Holt, 1719,
at Redgrave, SuffoUc, and his Judge John Powell, 1713, in Gloucester
Cathedral, are among the finest judicial effigies of that period in
England.
Green's only signed work in Kent is the vast monument at Wodder -
share to Sir Henry Furnese, Bart., 1712. It is difficult to appreciate
it, for the monument is confined to a small chapel on the north side
of the Church, which was probably built to receive the towering
mass of marble, with its seated female figures, cherubs, and ammonitelike
volutes which rise, tier by tier, to the very ceiling.
I do not say that this is one of Green's most refined works, but one
imagines that Sir Henry, who may have ordered the monument in
his lifetime, or his son, insisted on this impressive, though, to be
honest, ostentatious pile which after all, is perhaps in keeping with
the taste of the wealthy city merchant, Alderman, and recently
created baronet it commemorates.
GRIGGS, Francis. Fl. 1638-1647.
He signed his monuments in so bold a manner that one can be left
in no doubt as to the sculptor. At Biddenden, cut right across the
monument, in lettering as large as the inscription itself, is " Francis
Grigs fecit anno 1645." His most important monuments are of
St. Osyth, Essex, and Framlingham, Suffolk. The monument in
the latter church to Sir Robert Hitcham, 1636, is a magnificent
work, consisting of a great slab of black marble borne on the
shoulders of four kneeling and superbly sculptured angels.
Canterbury (St. Andrew) Giles Masters, 1644.
Biddenden Harbart Randolph, 1645.
TR&NCIS GRIGS F ECIT AWO
i 6 4? £•:
Erom Monument to Harbart Randolph, Biddenden
The signature is 11 in. x 2 in.
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SIGNED MONUMENTS IN KENTISH CHURCHES
HACKER, John, of Canterbury. Fl. 1803.-1830.
Worked in Canterbury until about 1825, when with a son or brother
he seems to have set up a workshop in London, for a monument at
Alsley, Warwickshire, to William Brice, 1826, is signed " J. and
C. Hacker, fecit London and Canterbury."
John Hacker is probably the same as the J. Hacker who exhibited
busts at the Royal Academy in 1829 and 1839.
Chilham Vincent Wood, 1814.
• Canterbury (Holy Gross) William Staines, 1827 ; Robert Staines,
1806.
Canterbury Cathedral Rev. WiUiam Gregory, 1803.
HAMILTON, J.
At Otterden is a tablet to SibyUa Jane Wheeler, 1844, signed
" J. HamUton, Successor to Peter Rouw, Portland Road, London."
Of Rouw details will be found later. Of Mr. Hamilton I know
nothing, nor have I found another work signed by him ; indeed,
like his namesake " Single speech Hamilton," this J. Hamilton must
remain for the moment known by one, and only one, work.
HAYWARD, Richard. 1728-1800.
Born at Bulkington, Warwick, of gentle blood, Hayward was a
friend of Charles Jennens, the patron of Handel, and carried out
various works for him at his seat of Gopsal in Leicestershire,
including reliefs and statues on the Ionic Temple which had recently
been erected to contain the great statute of " Religion" by
Roubiliac. For Jennens' London house Hayward carved a number
of busts and reliefs, and he also exhibited a number of works at the
Society of Artists between 1761 and 1764. One of his most charming
and unusual works is the font at Bulkington. On it is the following
inscription: " This fragment of ancient Numidian marble was
imported from Rome by Richard Hayward and given to this Church
in 1789." Round the font the donor carved a delightful Bartolozzilike
series of reliefs. In the same Church he carved and erected a
monument to his parents. Hayward also carved the statue of
Lord Botetourt, the most popular Governor. Virginia ever had,
though in England, it was said that he was given the appointment
" n o t because Virginia wanted a Governor, but because Lord
Botetourt wanted a place."
Lord Botetourt died in 1770, and the statue which cost £700 was sent
out to Virginia in 1773, and though it had a chequered history,
being damaged more than once, it stUl stands in Williarnsburgh and
is probably the oldest memorial statue in the United States of
America.
Hayward's monuments are almost without exception delicate,
refined and well carved. His best works are the monuments to the
Rev. Steven Clarke, and his wife, a t Theddingworth, Leicestershire ;
Harriet Whitbread, 1769, at Cardington, Beds., with a lovely little
relief of three children, and to his friend Charles Jennens, 1775, at
Nether Whitaker, Warwickshire. There are also a number of works
by him in Westminster Abbey.
In his obituary in The Gentleman's Magazine, the writer says:
" His performance in the line of his profession dispersed throughout
the Kingdom shows him to have been an admirable master of the
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SIGNED MONUMENTS IN KENTISH CHURCHES
old school. He was a kind, inteUigent and warm friend, to many
who wfil long deplore his loss."
I have dwelt at some length on Mr. Hayward. He and his works
are now completely and utterly forgotten ; even Redgrave, that
repository of obscure English artists, gives him but two meagre,
non-committal lines. Hayward deserves a better fate. He was,
really, only an amateur sculptor, and he could, and doubtless did,
pick and choose who he worked for, but what work he did do is
typical of all that was best in the eighteenth century. He was to
sculpture what Lady Diana Beauclerk was to painting.
Nackington Mary Miles, 1781.
HELBY, Joseph.
His monument at Acrise to Mrs. Papillon (1692) is another puzzle.
The marble cartouche tablet is obviously by a first-class hand, and
a London, not a provincial one at that. But who was Mr. Helby ?
I t is said he worked under Wren, but I can find no mention of him
in the Wren Society's index. I know of no other work by him, yet
he has in this monument a curious " trick " of wreathing the skull
at the base of the tablet with ivy leaves. This, one feels, he would
have repeated in other monuments, yet I have never come across it
again in the thousands of tablets I have looked at.
HINCHLIFF, John E. 1779-1868.
Son of John Hinchliff (b. 1734) a monumental sculptor who invented
in 1768 a "new manner of ornamenting chimney pieces with
scagliola inlaid into marble," the younger John and his brother
Edward were admitted into the Masons' Company " by patrimony "
in 1790 and 1799 respectively. Hinchliff was chief assistant to
Flaxman from 1806 until his master's death in 1826. On Flaxman's
decease Hinchliff assisted in the completion of the unfinished works
in the studio, among which was a statue of John Philip Kemble for
Westminster Abbey.
Hinchliff was responsible for a large number of original works,
mostly monuments. He exhibited reliefs and busts at the R.A.,
1814-1847.
In his obituary it was said that " in private life he had long enjoyed
the sincere regard of a large number of friends who found in the
integrity of his nature many of the highest social qualities."
Canterbury Cathedral General Charles Taylor, 1846.
HOLDER, Thomas. Fl. 1816-1826.
At Orpington is an undistinguished tablet to William Dredge, 1820,
with the impressive signature " T. Holder, Sculp. John Mullins
Arch." Holder lived at Emsworth, and his monuments, of which
the best is to John Campbell at Washbourne, Sussex, are frequent
in the neighbourhood of Southampton.
HOPPER, Humphrey. B. 1767. D. after 1842.
Not until he had reached the comparatively late age of thirty-four
(though he had exhibited at the R.A. in 1799) was it that Hopper
attended the R.A. Schools, but he made rapid progress, winning the
SUver Medal in 1802, and the Gold Medal a year later. Hopper's
largest, but most grotesque work, is in St. Paul's, where a huge mass
of marble represents General Andrew Hay (killed at Bayonne, 1814)
in full regimentals, with a sword in his hand, falling into the arms
of a naked soldier. As a period piece the monument may be
71
SIGNED MONUMENTS IN KENTISH CHURCHES
interesting as showing a General's uniform, but the naked soldier,
which is the dominant figure in the composition, seems an historical
improbability. He was capable of better things, as his statues in
the County HaU of Lewes show. Some of his monuments are
excehent, especiaUy his life-sized figure of Lady West, 1828, with a
child in her arms, at HUlingdon, Norfolk.
Ramsgate Sir William Curtis, Bart., 1829.
Famborough Thomas Young, 1829.
Maidstone Sir Noel Hill, 1832.
Elmstead Lady Honywood, 1841.
JOHNSON, H. W. Fl. 1811-1849.
His tablets are dull and obvious and some of his larger works are
almost comic, as, for example, a large relief at Westleigh, Devon,
which shows a life-size figure of a woman lying prone at the foot of
an impossible Noah's Ark weeping willow. His best work is at
Brede, Sussex, to Mrs. Hale (1829) though I must admit to an
affection for a relief by him on a monument at Stepney which shows
a quay with warehouses in the background and a row of merchant
ships with amusing figure-heads tied up alongside.
TunstaU Francis Vesey, 1827.
West Wickham Sir John Farnaby, 1831.
Harrietsham Mrs. Baldwin, 1833.
Sevenoaks Mrs. Randolph, 1836.
Harrietsham WilUam Baldwin, 1839.
JONES, H., of Canterbury. Fl. 1819-1840.
His best monument is at Milton Regis to William Hopson, 1819,
with figures of two cherubs, one of which holds a flaming heart in
his hand ; this is the latest example I know of an imagery which
was popular in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, but which
had died out in the rest of England long before 1800.
Smarden Hannah WooUey, 1819.
Milton Regis WiUiam Hopson, 1819.
Bishopsbourne John McDivitt, 1839.
JOSEPH, Samuel. B. 1791. D. 1850. D.N.B.
The relief on his monument to Agnes Wilberforce (1834) at East
Farleigh is, to me, one of the most touching memorials in Kent.
I t shows the bereaved father seated mourning by his wife's tomb,
his youngest child clasped in his arms, while his other daughter
kneels at his feet and gazes up at him. The relief is, of course, not
a great work in the way Baily's Lord Brome is, but it does have a
strange charm, tenderness and simplicity, and is like one of Mrs.
Ewing's stories cut in marble.
There is a good bust by Joseph of the first Lady De LTsle and
Dudley at Penshurst Place.
Otterden Rev. John Tattershall, 1812; Rev. Granville Wheeler,
d. 1770. Monument c. 1820.
Rochester Cathedral. WiUiam Franklin, 1832,a very fineportrait bust.
KENDRICK, Joseph. B. 1754.
The D.N.B. is hopelessly incorrect in the few fines which it gives
Kendrick in the article on Emma Kendrick the Miniaturist, for it
does not differentiate between the two Kendricks, but treats father
and son as one person, and says that Emma was the daughter of
Josephus, whereas she was his sister.
72
SIGNED MONUMENTS IN KENTISH CHURCHES
Both Emma and Josephus were children of Joseph Kendrick, a
London Statuary who married a Miss Crow of Wateringbury. He
was born in 1754, and after having worked in London for some time,
moved about 1800 to Portsea, and set up business there. He seems,
at this period of his life, to have been influenced by Flaxman, and
his monument to Elizabeth How at Warblington has a charming
circular bas relief almost worthy of Flaxman himself.
Wateringbury Sir Charles Style, Bart., 1774.
Boxley Frances Champneys, 1800.
KENDRICK, Josephus P. B. 1790.
Son of the above, at the age of eighteen he attended the R.A. Schools,
gaining the Silver Medal in 1811, and the Gold Medal in 1813. He
is represented in St. Paul's by a shocking group to Sir William
Myers, 1816, which shows Hercules and Minerva meeting in front
of a tomb which is surmounted by a bust of Myers, and shaking
hands. Another monument in St. Paul's by him commemorates
General Robert Ross, and was erected in 1820. Kendrick exhibited
at the R.A. 1813 to 1829, where his works included a number of
busts and the model of a statue of Sir James Leith for the Barbadoes.
Chevening Charles, 3rd Earl Stanhope, 1816.
Chatham Charles Cunningham, 1822.
KING, CHARLES. Fl. 1780-1825.
A minor statuary whose studio was in Chenies Street, London.
West Mailing B. Hubble, 1780 ; C. Douce, 1799.
Ulcombe Rev. S. Belcher, 1819.
KING, T., of Bath.
The Kings, of Bath, for there were three generations of them, were
the most prolific and popular of the West Country statuaries. The
firm was founded by Mr. Thomas King (1738-1804) and lasted over
a hundred years. Their tablets are to be found in every county and
even in the West Indies, and though they did not attempt or pretend
to produce great works of art, their monuments are simple and pure
in design. They attained a high level, and though perhaps they
were over-fond of reliefs of widows mourning over urns, or beneath
weeping willows, I have not yet come across an ugly or grotesque
tablet by them.
Faversham Edward Jacob, 1788.
New Romney Odiane Coates, 1798.
Saltwood Thomas Tournay, 1810.
LAW, William, of Peckham.
I know of only one monument signed by this artist, and that is at
Birchington to Sarah Cotton, 1775.
LAWRENCE, R. Fl. 1814-1840.
He exhibited at the British Institution in 1815 and 1816.
Broadstairs (Holy Trinity) J. Alexander, 1839.
LANCASHIRE, William, of Bath. 1740-1814.
Luce King, he was a West Country statuary, and was for a time in
partnership with Tyley of Bristol. Lancashire's obituary in The
Gentleman's Magazine refers to him as " an ingenious statuary."
Ringwould Mrs. Ann Jubb, 1777.
LATHAM, Jasper. D. 1693.
He was both a sculptor and a mason-contractor. As the former
he is best known for the monument with his partner Bonne, to
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SIGNED MONUMENTS IN KENTISH CHURCHES
Archbishop Sheldon a t Croydon. As the latter, he did a great deal of
work at St. Paul's under Wren, and was also responsible for budding
St. MUdred, Poultry, 1670-1679. He was Warden of the Masons'
Company in 1689. His son Robert assisted his father in work at
the Royal Exchange, and carried on the business after Jasper's
death, but for some reason or other left England, and in 1713 was
living at Port Mahon, Minorca.
Farnborough Thomas Brome, 1673.
LONGLEY, Thomas, of Canterbury. Fl. 1810-1845.
The best of the Canterbury monumental masons. I am rather
puzzled by a monument by him in Canterbury Cathedral, to Major
Cairns, 1815, as it is signed both by Longley and by Robert and
Mary Rushbrook. I can only imagine that the Rushbrooks were
responsible for the design, but I know of no other works by them,
and I should be grateful to any Canterbury reader who could
enlighten me.
Wootton Edward Brydges, 1809.
Chartham William Gilbee, 1810.
Nackington Lady Sondes, 1818 ; Christopher Miles, 1822.
Canterbury (St. Martin's) William Hougham, 1828.
Sittingbourne Richard Bathurst, 1833.
Newington-by-Folkestone Mrs. Brockman, 1833.
Canterbury (St. George's) Robert Gorden, 1835.
Sheldwich Lord Sondes, 1836.
Bishopsboume Sir William Muleaster, 1837.
Canterbury Cathedral Henry Bennett, 1838.
Acrise Thomas Papillon, 1838.
Burmarsh Edward Coleman, 1839.
Chilham Lady Mantell, 1843.
LOUGH, J. G. 1806-1876. D.N.B.
I would but add to the account of this sculptor in the D.N.B. that
this summer, passing down a street in London, I was surprised to see
fixed to the wall of a large house, one of Lough's bronze reliefs.
I discovered the house was now a Club, and going in, asked the
Hall Porter what he could tell me. " That bronze," he said, " was
in the house when we took it over. The Secretary said it was to be
got rid of, but even the junk dealer wouldn't take it, so I had it
stuck up on the wall outside." Tempora mutantur—for this was
one of Lough's finest reliefs, and he had received £500 for it.
Tonbridge James Alexander, 1848.
Canterbury Cathedral Bishop Broughton, 1853 ; Frederick Mackeson,
1856.
LUPTON, George. Fl. 1806-1828.
Assistant to NoUekens, miserably underpaid by him, and left but
£100 in his Will, Lupton assisted his master in the statue of Pitt
at Cambridge. After NoUekens' death, Lupton set up for himself
as a statuary in the New Road.
Bishopsboume Honble. Mrs. George Montagu, 1821.
Cowden John Lloyd, 1826.
MACDONALD, Lawrence. 1799-1878. D.N.B.
His monument of the Countess of Winchelsea in Eastwell Church
deserves to be better known, for it is the last flickering light of the
Regency. As one looks through the hon grille into the white marble
74
SIGNED MONUMENTS IN KENTISH CHURCHES
chapel beyond, it is almost impossible to realize that the monument
was carved in 1850. Lady Winchelsea, reclining on her day bed,
and reading her poems, belongs to the period of Mme Recamier and
Canova's Mme Buonaparte. She has little to do with the trivialities
and meretricious sculptures of the Great Exhibition which was but
a year distant.
Macdonald receives little credit for this, his finest monument. In
Arthur Mee's King's England it is referred to as having " been
carved by an eminent Italian sculptor." The monument is clearly
signed, and I should hardly have called Macdonald a typicaUy
Italian name.
MALCOTT, John. B. 1777.
Both his grandfather, a pupil of Robert Taylor, and his father,
who was admitted to the Masons' Company in 1765, were statuaries.
None of them produced work of much interest. The third John
Malcott was responsible, besides a number of monuments, for
decorative work on the facades of the Post Office and National
Gallery ; for the former he carved " 147 feet of antique Grecian
leaf and dart highly reUeved " for which he received £103.
St. Mary Cray John Rablus, 1806.
Deal (St. Nicholas) Capt. Kittoe, 1823.
Milton-by-Gravesend Thomas Dalton, 1827.
MANNING, Samuel (Jnr.) 1816-1865.
Those books including the D.N.B. which do mention Manning, get
hopelessly involved between father and son. This is perhaps
understandable as both were called " Samuel." Graves, in his
Exhibitors at the Royal Academy, gives all the works of the father to
the son, which is careless, for in 1847 the younger Manning exhibited
at the R.A. a " marble bust of the late Samuel Manning, Sculptor,
being part of a monument to his memory by order of his widow."
The general confusion is added to by the fact that the elder Manning
had a brother, Charles (1776-1812), and another son called Joshua,
born 1810, both of whom were sculptors. Charles Manning was by
far the finest craftsman of the family, as his noble monument in
St. Paul's of Captain Hardinge shows : though the work is frequently
mistakenly given to Samuel Manning the elder (for a brief note on
the elder Manning see ante " Bacon and Manning " ).
The younger Manning was trained in the studio of John Bacon, Jnr.
He appears to have been an infant prodigy, for at the early age of
fourteen he received the large Silver Medal from the Society of Arts
for the model of a bust. Three years later, in 1833, he received the
Gold Medal for his figure of Prometheus, which was acclaimed by all
the art experts as a magnificent performance, and but the beginning
of a brilliant career. Apparently Manning failed to live up to these
expectations, and the critic S. C. Hall, writing in 1847, said " so fair
a promise of future excellence affords surprise that such a work as
Prometheus should not have been followed by others of equal
merit."
Manning exhibited at the R.A. until 1858, his works consisting of
busts, and a statue of John Wesley.
If I appear to have given larger space to the Mannings than I have
to more important sculptors, my excuse must be that this is, as far
as I know, the first attempt to disentangle and unravel four distinct
75
SIGNED MONUMENTS IN KENTISH CHURCHES
persons whose works have previously been inextricably mixed
together, and indeed frequently attributed to one man.
GiUingham Oetavia Harvey, 1833.
Southborough John WUson, 1835.
MARSH, T. Fl. 1820-1845.
Son of a statuary who in 1768 had a Yard in Newgate.
Milton Regis Robert Hinde, 1839.
Boxley Browne famUy, 1840.
East Wickham Captain WUliam Tucker, 1842.
MARSHALL, Edward. 1578-1675. D.N.B.
His monument at HoUingbourne of Lady Culpeper is the finest
seventeenth-century recumbent effigy in Kent, while the Filmer
monument consists of a large brass, one of the few signed examples
in England.
The monuments are :
Canterbury (St. Mary Magdalen) Henry Saunders, 1637.
HoUingbourne Lady Culpeper, 1638. (PLATE IV.)
East Sutton Sir Edward and Lady Filmer, 1638.
MARSHALL, Joshua. 1629-1678. D.N.B.
Rochester Cathedral Bishop Warner, 1666, a large and important
work.
MARSHALL, T. and G., of Deptford. Fl. 1790-1830.
There was a school of minor statuaries at Deptford in the late
eighteenth and early nineteenth century, and of these Pierce (q.v.)
was the best. The work of the Marshalls is to be found all over the
Home Counties.
Westerham Harriet Countess Winterton, 1831.
Goudhurst Steven Groombridge, 1832.
MARTIN, J., of Tenterden. 1728-1814.
He was a good provincial worker, in a pleasantly typical eighteenthcentury
style, and his tablets of coloured marble have the usual
semi-urns against pyramids with flaming lamps. He must have also
been employed on altar tombs and gravestones in Kent and Sussex,
but I have so far failed to find a signed example of this branch of
his work. During his long life, he managed to have four wives.
Tenterden Rev. Matthew Wallis, 1777.
MILLIGAN, J. Fl. 1817-1852.
He exhibited various busts at the R.A. including one of Mr. H.
Cooper of Canterbury, 1821. I should be grateful if any reader
could tell me if this work is still in existence. He was also
responsible for a bust of Lord Nelson which fetched the surprisingly
large sum of £73 at the sale of the Peel heirlooms in 1900. The
statues of Nelson and WeUington at Portsmouth are by him.
Dartford Rev. John Currey, 1824, with a charming medallion of
the Vicar in his wig.
MOORE, J. F. D. 1809. D.N.B.
Canterbury (St. Mildred) Windfrid Bridger, 1766.
Newington (Hythe) James Brockman, 1767.
MOSS, H., of Canterbury. Fl. 1780-1825.
Littlebourne Elizabeth Denne, 1780.
Bishopsboume John Foote, 1800.
Petham Rev. Henry Thomson, 1805.
Chislet Anne Owen, 1826.
76
SIGNED MONUMENTS IN KENTISH CHURCHES
MULLANE, W. Fl. 1820-1840.
A very ordinary statuary of New Road, London, whose best work
is a tablet to Miss Belcher, 1832, at St. Martin's, Ludgate HU1.
Tonbridge William Kirby, 1826.
Speldhurst John Becker, 1830.
MUNRO, A. 1825-1871. D.N.B.
Chilham Arthur and Edmund Hardy, 1858. A rather charming
group of two little boys.
NELSON, George. Fl. 1830-1869.
He was of the same family as James and John Nelson of Carhsle,
statuaries. As a young man he became the assistant of J. M. Watson
(1804-1847) who was also a native of Cumberland. At Watson's
death, Nelson executed in marble those works of his master which
had only been modelled in clay. These included the great group of
Lords Eldon and Stowell, the statue of Flaxman, and the monument
at Canterbury. Nelson's best known original work was a statue of
Musidora, which was frequently engraved and published in Victorian
Art magazines. He also exhibited busts, etc., at the R.A. (1837-
1869). The model of the monument at Canterbury was exhibited
at the Great Exhibition of 1851.
Canterbury Cathedral Officers, etc., Fiftieth Regiment, 1848,
signed " George Nelson from a sketch by the late M. L. Watson."
NICHOLL, W. G. 1796-1871.
During his long life, Nicholl produced a great number of statues,
monuments, busts, etc. He was responsible for the group of
sculpture on the pediment of St. George's Hall, Liverpool, 1855,
and he also carved statues or sculpture for the Houses of Parliament ;
the Taylorian Institution, Oxford ; and the Fitzwilliam Museum.
His portrait bust on the monument of Archdeacon Law (1827) at
Chatham, is a good piece of work.
NOAKES and PIERCE, of London. Fl. 1800-1825.
Noakes died about 1820, and J. Pierce carried on alone. The tablet
at Northfleet is signed only by him.
Milton Regis William Dyne, 1800.
Northfleet E. K. Morrell, 1825.
NOLLEKENS, Joseph. 1737-1823. D.N.B.
Petham John Thomson, 1799.
PALMER, WUliam. 1673-1738.
One of the most important of early eighteenth-century sculptors,
as his standing figure of the Hon. Margaret Watson, 1713, at Rockingham,
shows. Her life-sized statue, with its sweeping draperies,
is English baroque at its best.
Palmer was the son of WilUam Palmer, a coachman, of St. Giles-in -
the-Fields, and in 1687 was apprenticed to James Hardy, a statuary,
who we know from Le Neve's list, carved the two Stead monuments
in Harrietsham Church. In 1696, Palmer was employed as a
journeyman by Hardy, but soon parted from him, and in the same
year was working for the sculptor, John Nost. This engagement,
too, was of short duration, and Palmer became " Chief Man to Mr.
Chapman, Marble Setter, of Red Lion Square." Chapman andPalmer
carved a number of mantlepieces, including two for Ampthill House,
Bedfordshire, and another for " the staircase hall at Ashbumham
House, Westminster."
77
SIGNED MONUMENTS IN KENTISH CHURCHES
Leeds Sir Roger Meredith, 1712.
Northfleet James Fortrye, 1737.
Faversham Steven Everard, 1738.
PAINE, James. D. 1829.
Son of James Paine, 1725-1789, the architect, the younger Paine
studied in Rome and exhibited various drawings at the R.A. between
1781-1788. His father left him comfortably off and Paine does not
appear to have done much work after 1789. He carved a few
monuments of which the best is one to WiUiam Powell, 1771, at
Bristol. I am uncertain if the monument to Sarah Proby, 1783,
at Chatham, is carved by Paine, or merely designed by him. The
only signature is " J s . Paine Archt. Inv. 1794."
PICKFORD, Joseph. Fl. 1705-1755.
He is chiefly known as a carver of mantlepieces, and was employed
on this work by Thomas, Earl of Leicester (d. 1759 at Holkham),
by Lady Isabella Finch, for her house (designed 1742 by Kent) in
Berkeley Square, and by Henry Pelham, 1745, for his house in
Arlington Street. This last included " a rich marble column chimney
piece for the Great Room," for which Pickford received £125 7s. 5d.
Lord Fitzwalter paying in 1738 Pickford's bill for a chimney piece
for his house in Pall Mall, calls him " the stonemason by Hyde Park
Corner."
Cranbrook Robert Stanley, c. 1740.
Farningham William Hanger, 1765.
PIERCE, Edward, of Deptford. Fl. 1770-1790.
His monuments, which are not uncommon in the Home Counties,
frequently have charming Adam urns and details. The monument
at Farningham is in the churchyard.
Leybourne James Hawley, 1777.
Dover (St. Martin) George Collard, 1782.
Farningham William Hardyman, 1784.
PISTELL, William. Fl. 1814-1845.
Most of his work is of an ordinary character, but at Effingham,
Surrey, there is a large monument to Maria Parratt, 1844, with a
relief of a mother mourning by the deathbed of her daughter which
is nearly worthy of Chantrey.
Pembury Henry Woodgate, 1818.
Penshurst John Hammond, 1819.
PITTS, William. 1790-1840. D.N.B.
Elmsteod Sir John Honywood, Bart., 1822.
REGNART, Charles. Fl. 1780-1825.
Son of Philip Regnart, a sculptor who was born about 1740, and was
employed for a few years by the London sculptor, John Walsh.
In 1766, PhiUp moved to Gloucester, where he found work with the
firm of Ricketts, one of the best of the provincial statuaries and
tomb-makers. It is possible that Charles'received his early training
with Ricketts, but nearly all his life was spent in London, where he
was one of the most popular monumental masons of the time, and
his work can be found all over England.
His finest work is the recumbent figure of George Rush, 1803, at
Farthinghoe, Northants, an old wrinkled man lying on a mattress,
clad in a loose robe, and with slippers on his feet. Most effigies
display the deceased, however old he may have been when he died,
78
SIGNED MONUMENTS IN KENTISH CHURCHES
as if in the prime of life, and this is one of the few which are true to
reality, and show an old, shrivelled, shrunken, aged man.
Hunton Thomas Punnett, 1812.
Ickham Capt. John Wood, 1820.
RENNIE, George. 1802-1860.
He was employed by the Duke of Devonshire on a statue of Mars,
now at Chatsworth, but his most popular work was the " Grecian
Archer " which called forth a chorus of praise when it was exhibited
in 1828 a t Somerset House. A cast of this work is in the Athenaeum
Club. He also carved in 1837 the bas relief of Mercury, Britannia,
etc., on the Bank of England, and he exhibited at the R.A., 1828-
1837.
In 1847 he was appointed Governor of the Falkland Islands, surely
the only sculptor to have held such a post. It was an excellent
appointment, and he was one of the most successful administrators
the Colony has ever had.
His life-sized standing statue of Lord Harris, 1839, is in Throwley
Church.
RICHARDSON, Edward. 1812-1869. D.N.B.
Canterbury Cathedral Officers and men, 16th Lancers, 1846;
Officers and men, 31st Regt, 1848.
ROSSI. J. C. 1762-1839. D.N.B.
I would but add to the account in the D.N.B. that Rossi designed a
Hindu temple at Melchett Park, carved statues of three kings for
the Inner Temple Hall, one of the Prince Regent for Brighton (does
this still exist ?), a statue of St. Anthony for " Vathek " Beckford,
another of Sir Edward Coke for a column in Stoke Poges Park, and a
statue of Shakespeare for Covent Garden Theatre. He also did
reliefs for Buckingham Palace, Stafford County Hall, and the York
Assembly Rooms. Yet this is only part of his output which is
ignored by the writer of the brief article in the D.N.B.
Lydd Robert Cobb, 1807 ; David Denne, 1819.
ROUBILIAC, L. F. 1703-1762. D.N.B.
This great sculptor is represented by only one work in Kent, that at
Tonbridge, to Richard Children, 1753.
ROUW, Henry. Fl. 1790-1820.
The elder brother of Peter Rouw, he seems to have started as a
landscape painter, and later to have become a sculptor, though his
work is not as good as his brother's. His best monuments are at
Bovinger, Essex, and Paddington Parish Church.
Yalding Jane Akers, 1804, with a sympathetic relief of an angel
bearing a chUd heavenwards.
Charing Mrs. Rebecca Wheeler, 1819.
ROUW, Peter. 1771-1862.
He was a link between two totally different epochs, for he exhibited
first at the R.A. in 1787, and his last work was sent to the Great
Exhibition of 1851. He was largely employed on busts, but worked
in a variety of media, wax, bronze, and marble, and also held the
post of " Sculptor-Modeller of Gems and Cameos to H.R.H. The
Prince Regent."
Boxley Rev. George Burvill, 1813.
Otterden GranviUe Charles Wheeler, 1818; Granville Wheeler,
1828 ; Mrs. Tattershall, 1837.
79
SIGNED MONUMENTS IN KENTISH CHURCHES
RYSBRACK, J. M. 1693-1770. D.N.B.
Unlike his contemporary, Roubiliac, there are a number of works
in Kent by Rysbrack, the most imposing of which is the large monument
to Sir WUliam Young, 1751,x at Chartham, though even the
usually accurate Greenwood, in his History of Kent (1838), denies
Rysbrack the credit by saying that " this monument was brought
from Italy."
HoUingbourne John Lord Culpeper, d. 1719, but monument erected
later ; Baldwin Duppa, 1738.
Canterbury Cathedral John Simpson, 1752.
HoUingbourne Baldwin Duppa, the younger, 1764.
SANDERS, J. Fl. 1810-1840.
He was both a builder and a statuary, as the former he was employed
on repairs to St. John's, Westminster, in 1812.
East Sutton Catherine Filmer, 1834.
SCHEEMAKERS, Peter. 1691-1773 1 D.N.B.
The D.N.B. states that Scheemakers died at Antwerp in 1770, but
it is now conclusively proved that he lived two, if not three years
longer.2
I have recently discovered in the Soane Museum his original drawing
for the monument of Sir Christopher Powell.
Betteshanger Admiral Morrice, 1740.
Boughton Monchelsea Sir Christopher Powell, 1742.
Benenden Admiral Sir John Norris, 1750.
SCHEEMAKERS, Thomas. 1740-1808.
Son of the above. He exhibited a large number of reliefs, busts,
etc., at the R.A., and Society of Free Artists. In 1779 he was
employed by Lord Le Despencer to design and build the portico of
the Parsonage House at Mereworth, and he also carved a bust of his
patron. In 1778 Lord Radnor commissioned from him the monument
to the Rev. WUliam Langhorne in FoUcestone Parish Church.
Scheemakers lies buried in St. Pancras Churchyard.
Elmstead Sir John Honywood, Bart., 1781.
Otham WUliam Henley, 1785. (PLATE V.)
Chartham Sir William Fagg, Bart., 1792.
SEARES, Daniel, of Maidstone. 1810-1830.
His yard was in Stone Street.
Sutton-Valence Mrs. Crispe, 1825.
SHOUT, R., of Holborn. Fl. 1790-1830.
With his father Benjamin, Shout is responsible for a large number
of busts and an even greater number of tablets. The former are
good likenesses, and one in the possession of the writer shows careful
modelling.
Milton Regis Nicholas Woollett, 1793.
Godmersham Thomas Knight, 1794 ; Harriet Knatchbull, 1794.
Canterbury (St. Dunstan) William Carter, 1799.
Milton Regis John Hinde, 1806.
Rolvenden Jacob Monypenny, 1822.
SINGLETON, Robert, of Bury. Fl. 1706-1750.
The best of the East Anglian School of Sculptors, his standing figure
1 The model of this monument was Lot 57 at Rysbrack's sale on Jan. 26,
1766.
2 Thieme says he did not die till 1781.
80
PLATE V
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