John Francis (3 September 1780 – 30 August 1861) was an English sculptor.

Life

Grave of John Francis in Highgate Cemetery

Francis was born in

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

, and was intended to go into farming. He settled in London, where he became a pupil of Samuel Joseph and

Francis Leggatt Chantrey Sir Francis Leggatt Chantrey (7 April 1781 – 25 November 1841) was an English sculptor. He became the leading portrait sculptor in Regency era Britain, producing busts and statues of many notable figures of the time. Chantrey's most notable w ...

.''Mapping the Profession'' page.
/ref> He first exhibited at the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

in 1820 a bust of

Thomas William Coke Thomas William Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester (6 May 175430 June 1842), known as Coke of Norfolk or Coke of Holkham, was a British politician and agricultural reformer. Born to Wenman Coke, Member of Parliament (MP) for Derby, and his wife Elizab ...

, and another of Captain Sir William Bolton, R.N. At this period his residence was at Thornham, Norfolk. In 1822, when he sent to the Academy a bust of

Horatia Nelson Horatia Nelson, christened as Horatia Nelson Thompson (29 January 1801 – 6 March 1881), was the illegitimate daughter of Emma, Lady Hamilton, and Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson. Life Early years Born in a house rented by Sir Willi ...

, he was living at 2 New Norfolk Street,

Park Lane Park Lane is a dual carriageway road in the City of Westminster in Central London. It is part of the London Inner Ring Road and runs from Hyde Park Corner in the south to Marble Arch in the north. It separates Hyde Park to the west from May ...

. In 1844 he executed by command of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

a marble bust of

Albert, Prince Consort Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Franz August Karl Albert Emanuel; 26 August 1819 – 14 December 1861) was the consort of Queen Victoria from their marriage on 10 February 1840 until his death in 1861. Albert was born in the Saxon duch ...

; this followed a commission a few years earlier for a bust of the Queen, which went to the hall of the

Reform Club The Reform Club is a private members' club on the south side of Pall Mall in central London, England. As with all of London's original gentlemen's clubs, it comprised an all-male membership for decades, but it was one of the first all-male cl ...

. About this period Francis moved to 56 Albany Street, Regent's Park. He taught his daughter

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

, who married his pupil

Thomas Thornycroft Thomas Thornycroft (19 May 1815 – 30 August 1885) was an English sculptor and engineer. Biography Thornycroft was born at Great Tidnock, near Gawsworth, Cheshire, the eldest son of John Thornycroft, a farmer. He was educated at Congleton Gr ...

. Other pupils included

Joseph Durham Joseph Durham (1814 – 27 October 1877) was an English sculptor. Life Durham was born in London in 1814. Around 1827 he was apprenticed o John Francis. He later worked in the studio of E. H. Baily for three years, and exhibited his ...

and

Matthew Noble Matthew Noble (23 March 1817 – 23 June 1876) was a leading British portrait sculptor. Carver of numerous monumental figures and busts including work memorializing Victorian era royalty and statesmen displayed in locations such as Westminster Ab ...

. Francis died at his home in Albany Street, aged 80 and is buried on the western side of

Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in north London, England. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East Cemeteries. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for some of the people buried there as ...

(plot no.3058).

Works

Among his other works were: * Bust of Arthur Wellesley, the

Duke of wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister of ...

Apsley House Apsley House is the London townhouse of the Dukes of Wellington. It stands alone at Hyde Park Corner, on the south-east corner of Hyde Park, facing south towards the busy traffic roundabout in the centre of which stands the Wellington Arch. It i ...

(1818) * Bust of Lord Holland at

Holland House Holland House, originally known as Cope Castle, was an early Jacobean country house in Kensington, London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

(1829) * Statue of the

Duke of Sutherland Duke of Sutherland is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom which was created by William IV in 1833 for George Leveson-Gower, 2nd Marquess of Stafford. A series of marriages to heiresses by members of the Leveson-Gower family made th ...

Dornoch Cathedral Dornoch Cathedral is a former Roman Catholic cathedral and is currently a Church of Scotland parish church serving the small Sutherland town of Dornoch, in the Scottish Highlands. As a congregation of the Church of Scotland, which is Presbyterian ...

(1843) * posthumous bust of Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1844); * busts of the Duke and Duchess of Norfolk (1844); * bust in bronze of the Duke of Sussex (1847); * marble bust of

Lord John Russell John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, (18 August 1792 – 28 May 1878), known by his courtesy title Lord John Russell before 1861, was a British Whig and Liberal statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1852 and ag ...

, which went to the National Portrait Gallery (1848); * a bronze medal of Eos, a favourite greyhound of Prince Albert (1848); * marble bust of the Hon. Edward Petre (1848); * four busts, in marble, of various members of the Eaton family (1851); * posthumous bust of the Earl of Carlisle (1852); * bust of the Duke of Wellington, which went to the National Portrait Gallery (1852); * posthumous bust of the Hon. and Rev. James Norton (1854); * bust of Vice-admiral Sir Charles Napier (1855); * cabinet bust of the Right Hon. Earl of Aberdeen (1856).

References

Notes

External links

* *
Works by John Francis
at the

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. It was arguably the first national public gallery dedicated to portraits in the world when it ...

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Francis, John 1780 births 1861 deaths English sculptors English male sculptors Burials at Highgate Cemetery