James Loft
Born 1800 (Circa)
Died 1889
Active: 1825 - 1867
Country of birth and death: England
Sculptor, plaster figure maker
Born in Binbrook, Louth, Lincolnshire. He was a pupil of Francis Chantrey and attended the Royal Academy Schools. Known works by Loft include statues, busts, funerary monuments and reliefs. (See Roscoe, 2009, for a detailed list).
In 1853 he gave evidence before the National Gallery parliamentary commission in which he mentioned his business as a maker of plaster cast figures. His business continued one started by Sarti and was originally in Dean Street. (Loft used this address when he exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1841.) Sarti was considered the leading plaster caster of his day and in 1838 created a set of casts of the Parthenon sculptures for the British Museum at a cost of 350 guineas.
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.
Locations
Address 29 Clipstone Street Fitzroy Square London England | View on map
1852 (Circa) - 1881 (Circa)
Exhibitions, Meetings, Awards and other Events
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.55
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts (Summer Exhibition), 1768-
1825 - 1867
Exhibited 9 times from 1851 onwards (8 more times prior to this), usually showed 1 work.
Descriptions of Practice
Listed under Sculptors Post Office London Directory, 1851 Post Office/Kelly London Directories
p. 1365 and 'Plaster Figure Makers' p. 1319
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1851
'Sculptor'
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1861
'Sculptor'
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1881
'Artist Sculptor'
Sources
A Biographical Dictionary of Sculptors in Britain, 1660-1851
2009
pp. 747-8
Acquisition and supply of casts of the Parthenon Sculptures by the British Museum, 1835-1939
1990
p. 104
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1851
2005
Class: HO107; Piece: 1486; Folio: 132; Page: 33; GSU roll: 87811-87812
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1861
2005
Class: RG9; Piece: 69; Folio: 39; Page: 74; GSU roll: 542567
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1881
2004
Class: RG11; Piece: 136; Folio: 70; Page: 42; GSU roll: 1341030
Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851
1968
p. 242
Post Office London Directory, 1851 Post Office/Kelly London Directories
1851
p. 1319 and p. 1365
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.55
Citing this record
'James Loft', 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=msib7_1218131181, accessed 26 Sep 2023]
