John O'Shea
Born 1822 (Circa)
Active: 1853 - 1864
Country of birth and death: Ireland
Stone carver, wood carver, sculptor
PLEASE NOTE: THIS BIOGRAPHY IS BEING REVISED.
Baptised in Ballyhooly, County Cork. He was the son of Daniel O'Shea and Eliza Spellane, and the older brother of the carver James O'Shea. Between 1840 and 1852, the architect Sir Thomas Deane made a number of designs for buildings in Ballyhooly and Castletownroche for the earl of Listowell. It is likely that the O'Shea brothers started working for Deane in this period, and the architect may have sponsored their studies at the Cork School of Design.
In 1853 the architects, Thomas Newenham Deane and Benjamin Woodward employed the firm to work on the Museum at Trinity College, Dublin.
Five years later Benjamin Woodward brought the O'Sheas and Whelan over from Ireland to work on the Museum of Natural History in Oxford. Between 1858-61 they executed a series of elaborate carvings of animals and plant forms based on live specimens provided by the University's Botanic Garden. Funds for the carving and decoration of the museum came from donations, and some of the original plans had to be modified because insufficient subscriptions were raised. James O'Shea was responsible for most of the carving on the exterior of the Museum, and finished work in June 1861. John O'Shea and Edward Whelan focused on the capitals, corbels and piers in the Lower Court of the Museum. John O'Shea was paid off on 12 May 1860, and Whelan completed his contribution in October 1861. In 1879 James O'Shea was brought back to Oxford to carve the capitals on the inner porch.
Between 1859-64 the O'Sheas and Whelan collaborated with the sculptor Thomas Woolner (who had created two statues for the Natural History Museum in Oxford and some exterior carvings) on the Manchester Assize Courts under the architect, Alfred Waterhouse. In 1861 the O'Sheas were employed by Deane and Woodward at the Kildare Street Club in Dublin.
This entry contains information from Frederick O'Dwyer, 'O'Shea Brothers, Sculptors' in P. Murphy (ed.), 'Art, Architecture of Ireland, Volume III Sculpture 1600-2000', Royal Irish Academy /Yale University Press, 2014, pp. 282-4, and 'The architecture of Deane and Woodward', Cork, 1997, and Andrew Tierney's articles published on the 'Making Victorian Dublin' website see https://makingvictoriandublin.com/sculpture/o-shea-brothers/ and https://makingvictoriandublin.com/sculpture/the-museum-building/ (both accessed 20 September 2022), and also from Blair J. Gilbert 'Puncturing an Oxford Myth: the Truth about the ‘Infamous’ O’Sheas and the Oxford University Museum', Oxoniensia, Vol 74, 2009, (c) Oxfordshire Architectural and Historical Society https://www.oxoniensia.org/volumes/2009/gilbert.pdf (accessed 20 September 2022).
Locations
Address 34 Bridport Street St Ebbe's Oxford England | View on map
1861 (Circa)
Worked at Oxford Museum of Natural History Oxford England | View on map
1858 - 1860
Executed a series of elaborate carvings of animals and plant forms for the interior and exterior of the building. The work was ended due to a lack of funds.
Personal and Professional Connections
Aunt/uncle of Edward Whelan
Partner of James O'Shea
They worked together on a number of commissions, including the Museum Building at Trinity College, Dublin and the Museum of Natural History in Oxford.
Partner to Edward Whelan
They worked together on a number of commissions, including the Museum Building at Trinity College, Dublin and the Museum of Natural History in Oxford.
Sister/sibling of James O'Shea
Descriptions of Practice
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1861
'Wood & Stone Sculptor'
Sources
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1861
2005
RG09 piece 895 folio 59 page 7
Oxford Natural History Museum: the stonework of the Museum
2008
Victorian Sculpture
1982
pp. 235-7
Citing this record
'John O'Shea', 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_1295117138, accessed 22 Sep 2023]
