Thomas Earle
Born 1810 (Circa)
Died 28 April 1876
Active: 1834 - 1873
Country of birth and death: England
Sculptor, medallist
Born in Hull, Yorkshire into an extended family of sculptors and masons. Of these, Thomas was the most successful and the only one to establish a career in London.
He was initially apprenticed to his father, George Earle Senior (1748-1827) who was stonemason, architect and speculative builder. Thomas also studied at the local Mechanics' Institute.
He left Hull c.1830-1 and worked as a designer and modeller for Francis Chantrey until c.1842. From December 1832 Thomas studied at the Royal Academy Schools on the recommendation of Chantrey.
By 1851 he had set up his own studio and established a successful practice, chiefly as a maker of portrait busts. For example the Leathersellers' Company commissioned a marble bust of Richard Thornton (1776-1865), the millionaire merchant and marine insurance broker. However Earle also completed a number of statues and monuments as well as ideal works. He died suddenly in 1876 and was buried in Hull.
Wealth at death: £5,000 0s. 0d.
£6,000 resworn probate January 1878
Probate date: 1 June 1876
Works
Dates are usually the year a work was exhibited so may differ from date of production.
New entries have been made each time a work was exhibited. Click here for more information.
Titania Asleep, Watched by a Fairy
Ophelia
1851
Pastorella
1851
Nature's mirror
1851
Hyacinthus
1855 (Presumed)
Locations
Address 28 King Street St. James's London England | View on map
1851 (Circa) - 1852 (Circa)
Address 1 Vincent Street Ovington Square London England | View on map
1851 - 1876
Exhibitions, Meetings, Awards and other Events
Exhibited at The International Exhibition, London, 1862
Multiple works
Exhibited at Annual Exhibition of the Academy of Arts (Leeds), 1853
'Nature's Mirror'
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts, The Eighty-Fourth, 1852
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts, The Eighty-Seventh, 1855
p.51
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts (Summer Exhibition), 1768-
1834 - 1873
Exhibited 33 times (16 times from 1851), an average of 2 works per year, many portrait busts but also statues and ideal works.
Exhibited at Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations (London), 1851
1851
Exhibited at Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations (London), 1851
1851
Institutional and Business Connections
Member of Institute of British Sculptors
1856 (Circa) - 1860 (Circa)
Personal and Professional Connections
Assistant to Francis Legatt Chantrey
1831 (Circa) - 1842 (Circa)
Earle also studied at the Royal Academy Schools on the recommendation of Chantrey from about 1832
Descriptions of Practice
Listed under Sculptors Post Office London Directory, 1860 Post Office/Kelly London Directories
p. 1803
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1851
'Sculptor'
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1871
'Sculptor'
Sources
A Biographical Dictionary of Sculptors in Britain, 1660-1851
2009
pp. 395-402 (entry for Earle family)
Catalogue of the Annual Exhibition of the Academy of Arts, 8 Bond Street, Leeds, 1853
1853 (Presumed)
Cat. No. 527, 528, 548, 551, pp. 23, 24, 27
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1851
2005
Class: HO107; Piece: 1474; Folio: 187; Page: 35; GSU roll: 87797
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1871
2004
RG10 piece 88 folio 20 page 31
England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966
2010
Name: Thomas Earle
Probate Date: 1 Jun 1876
Death Date: 28 Apr 1876
Death Place: Middlesex, England
Registry: Principal Registry
International exhibition 1862, official catalogue, fine art department
1862
List of Members: Institute of British Sculptors (or Sculptor's Institute)
2008 (Circa)
Post Office London Directory, 1860 Post Office/Kelly London Directories
1860
p. 1803
Rules of the Institute of Sculptors
1861
p. iv (confirm his membership had ceased by 1861)
The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts, The Eighty-Fifth, 1853
1853
p.51
The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts, The Eighty-Fourth, 1852
1852
The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts, The Eighty-Seventh, 1855
1855
p.51
Citing this record
'Thomas Earle', 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=msib5_1217513726, accessed 25 Sep 2023]
