John Thomas
Born 1813
Died 9 April 1862
Active: 1825 - 1861
Country of birth and death: England
Sculptor, architectural carver, architect, painter
Born at Chalford, Gloucestershire. He was apprenticed as a stonemason in 1825. He settled in Birmingham, where his elder brother William practised as an architect. John's work impressed Sir Charles Barry and this led to several commissions, notably managing the production of carving for Barry's Palace of Westminster.
Thomas created architectural carvings for many important building projects around Britain. He also designed church furnishings, garden ornaments, reliefs and worked as an architect. He died at his home, Florentine Villa, 15 Blomfield Road, Paddington of blood poisoning.
Wealth at death: £25,000 0s. 0d.
Probate date: 1862
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.
Monument to John Brooks, Esq., Merchant and Cotton Manufacturer, of Manchester
Proposal for the Wellington Monument, St Paul's Cathedral
A statue, in marble, of Musidora
Nymph and sea-horse
1851
The sire and his enemy
1855 (Presumed)
The dam and her pets
1855
Colossal Bust of H.R.H. the Prince Consort
1860 (Presumed)
John Phillip Esq., RA
1860 (Presumed)
Locations
Address Richmond Villa Park Place London | View on map
1849 (Circa) - 1856 (Circa)
Address 9 Old Church Street London | View on map
1851 (Circa)
Address 32 Alpha Road Regent's Park London | View on map
1858 (Circa) - 1861 (Circa)
Address 24 Union Street Glasgow | View on map
1858 (Circa) - 1859 (Circa)
Exhibitions, Meetings, Awards and other Events
Exhibited at Exhibition of Modern Works of Art, at the Rooms of the Society, New Street (Birmingham Society of Artists), 1860
'Colossal Bust of H.R.H. the Prince Consort'
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.52
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts (Summer Exhibition), 1768-
1842 - 1861
Exhibited 17 times (10 times from 1851), showing between two and four works per year from 1851.
Exhibited at Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations (London), 1851
1851
Exhibited at The Royal Scottish Academy Exhibition, 1826-
1858 - 1859
Exhibited at the annual exhibition 2 times: 1858 (2 works) and 1859 (2 works)
Exhibited at Dublin Exhibition of Arts, Industries and Manufactures (and Loan Museum of Works of Art), 1872
1872
Fine Arts, Sculpture.
p. 81, no. 64: 'Bust of D. Maclise, R.A.'. Loaned by G & W Vokins and offered for sale at 73-10-0. Shown posthumously.
The subject is the Irish painter, Daniel Maclise (1806 - 1870).
Personal and Professional Connections
Assistant was Robert Jackson
1843 - 1851
When John Thomas received the commission to create the statues and ornamental carvings for the new Palace of Westminster, London, he appointed Jackson as his chief assistant
Employed James Mabey
1842 (Circa)
Thomas employed Mabey as the foreman modeller at the Palace of Westminster
Sources
A Biographical Dictionary of Sculptors in Britain, 1660-1851
2009
pp. 1244-49
Official Catalogue of the Dublin Exhibition of Arts, Industries and Manufactures and Loan Museum of Works of Art, 1872
1872
Fine Arts, Sculpture.
p. 81, no. 64: 'Bust of D. Maclise, R.A.'. Loaned by G & W Vokins and offered for sale at 73-10-0.
D. Maclise - Irish painter Daniel Maclise (1806-1870).
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
2004
Timothy Stevens, ‘Thomas, John (1813–1862)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, online edn, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/27225, accessed 16 Aug 2010]
The Builder, Vol. IX, No. 421, 1 March 1851
1 March 1851
p. 138
The Builder, Vol. XV, 19 September 1857
19 September 1857
pp. 538, 539
The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts, The Eighty-Fourth, 1852
1852
p. 67
The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts, The Eighty-Seventh, 1855
1855
p.52
Citing this record
'John Thomas', 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_1245861398, accessed 24 Mar 2023]
