Charles James Smith Snr
Born 21 May 1848 (Circa)
Died 13 September 1918
Active: 1881 - 1918
Country of birth and death: England
Moulder, figure maker, sculptor
Born in Finsbury, Islington, London. He was the son of James Smith (born c.1815 in Detling, Kent), a modeller, figure maker and stonemason. Charles James Senior worked initially as a modeller and figure maker for sculptors and his clients included the Thornycroft family. In 1898 he established the firm on a sounder footing in Kentish Town, a development that may have been facilitated by his two sons, Charles James Junior (born c.1873) and George Henry (born c.1880) being of an age where they could actively contribute.
Between c.1900-12 the firm expanded into the sale of scholastic casts. Their stock was predominantly casts of architectural sculpture but also included some statues and statuettes. In 1918 Charles James Senior died and the business continued until the deaths of George Henry in 1948 and Charles James Junior in 1951. For most of this time, the sons worked for sculptors as plaster moulders because the sale of scholastic casts ceased to be profitable in the mid-1920s.
There is a detailed account of the Smith family business by Peter Malone entitled 'How the Smiths made a living' in Rune Frederiksen and Eckart Marchand, 'Plaster Casts: Making, Collecting and Displaying from Classical Antiquity to the Present', De Gruyter, Berlin and New York, 2010, pp. 163-77.
Wealth at death: £1,417 10s. 0d.
Probate date: 23 October 1918
Locations
Address 21 Albion Street Finsbury London | View on map
1851 (Circa)
Address 21 Freeling Street Finsbury London | View on map
1861 (Circa)
Address 11 Wybert Street St Pancras London | View on map
1881 (Circa)
Address 72 Little Albany Street St Pancras London | View on map
1891 (Circa)
Address 15 Kentish Town London | View on map
1900 (Circa) - 1911 (Circa)
Conducted a business at 1 Southcote Road Tufnell Park London | View on map
1913 (Circa) - 1918
Personal and Professional Connections
Mother/father/parent of Charles James Smith Jnr
Mother/father/parent of George Henry Smith
Worked with (Arthur) Eric Rowton Gill
1910 (Circa) - 1922 (Circa)
Gill employed Charles Smith to cast a number of works including 'Mother and Child', 1910 and various versions of 'Madonna and Child'
Descriptions of Practice
Listed under Sculptors Post Office London Directory, 1900 Post Office/Kelly London Directories
p. 2731
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901
'Sculptor's moulder' and an employer working at home
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1891
'Moulder' and employed
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911
'Sculptor's moulder' and an employer working at home
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1881
'Moulder and figure maker'
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1861
'Errand Boy' and his father James (born c.1815 in Detling, Kent) 'Stone Mason'
Sources
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1851
2005
Class: HO107; Piece: 1500; Folio: 212; Page: 13; GSU roll: 87833-87834, father's occupation given as 'Modiller' (sic)
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1861
2005
Class: RG9; Piece: 130; Folio: 108; Page: 31; GSU roll: 542578
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1881
2004
Class: RG11; Piece: 180; Folio: 73; Page: 49; GSU roll: 1341039
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1891
2004
RG12 piece 117 folio 67 page 40
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901
2005
RG13 piece 147 folio 11 page 13
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911
2011
RG14PN672 RD9 SD1 ED21 SN68
England & Wales, Death Index: 1916-2007
2007
Name: Charles J Smith
Birth Date: abt 1848
Date of Registration: Jul-Aug-Sep 1918
Age at Death: 70
Registration district: Islington
Inferred County: Greater London
Volume: 1b
Page: 176
England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index, 1837-1915
2006
Name: Charles James Smith
Date of Registration: Apr-May-Jun 1848
Registration district: Clerkenwell
Inferred County: Middlesex
Volume: 3
Page: 131
England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966
2010
Name: Charles James Smith
Probate Date: 23 Oct 1918
Death Date: 13 Sep 1918
Death Place: Middlesex, England
Registry: London
Eric Gill
1998
pp. 14, 65, 79-80, 88, 105, 128
London, England, Baptisms, Marriages, Burials 1538-1812
2010
Name: Charles James Smith
Record Type: Baptism
Estimated Birth Date: abt 1848
Baptism Date: 9 Sep 1848
Father's Name: James Smith
Mother's Name: Frances Smith
Parish or Poor Law Union: St Pancras
Borough: Camden
Register Type: Parish Registers, father's occupation given as 'Figure Maker'
Post Office London Directory, 1900 Post Office/Kelly London Directories
1900
p. 2731
Citing this record
'Charles James Smith Snr', Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851-1951, University of Glasgow History of Art and HATII, online database 2011 [http://sculpture.gla.ac.uk/view/person.php?id=ann_1272672259, accessed 10 Jun 2023]
