Thomas Carter (1702–1756) was an 18th century British sculptor. His nephew, also Thomas Carter (d.1795), was a sculptor who worked with him and it is hard to separate some sections of their work. They specialised in ornate marble fireplaces for English country mansions.
Life
His was born in London in 1702. He had a stone yard in
Shepherd Market
Shepherd Market is a small business-lined precinct featuring two small squares, one with a northern recess in Mayfair, in the West End of London, built up between 1735 and 1746 by Edward Shepherd on the open ground then used for the annual fair ...
in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. He mainly made chimneypieces but also did some statuary. Around 1729 he received a loan of £100 from
Charles Jervas
Charles Jervas (also Jarvis and Jervis; c. 1675 – 2 November 1739) was an Irish portrait painter, translator, and art collector of the early 18th century.
Early life
Born in Shinrone, County Offaly, Ireland around 1675, the son of John J ...
who had met him through a business connection. This permitted him to get an assistant and buy some better quality marbles. Through this action he employed
Roubiliac, but the latter quickly found his own clients and left the business. Carter later moved to premises in the Parish of St George's near
Hanover Square, Westminster
Hanover Square is a green square in Mayfair, Westminster, south west of Oxford Circus where Oxford Street meets Regent Street. Six streets converge on the square which include Harewood Place with links to Oxford Street, Princes Street, Hanover S ...
.
Apprentices in his yard included
John Deare and
Peter Matthias Van Gelder.
He died in 1795 and
John Cheere was executor of his will.
He was married to Mary and had two daughters: Elizabeth and Ann. The latter was wife of Thomas Carter the Younger (her first cousin).
Works
*Tomb of Sir
Henry Every
Henry Every, also known as Henry Avery (20 August 1659after 1696), sometimes erroneously given as Jack Avery or John Avery, was an English pirate who operated in the Atlantic and Indian oceans in the mid-1690s. He probably used several aliases ...
at
Newton Solney
Newton Solney is a small village and civil parish in South Derbyshire, England, located about two miles (3 km) from the East Staffordshire border, near to Burton upon Trent. The population of the civil parish as of the 2011 census was 659. I ...
(c.1712)
*Mausoleum to
Speaker Conolly (1730) in
Celbridge
Celbridge (; ) is a town and townland on the River Liffey in County Kildare, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is west of Dublin. Both a local centre and a commuter town within the Greater Dublin Area, it is located at the intersection of the ...
in Ireland (contains two recumbent figures inside)
*Tomb of Mary Carew at
Antony, Cornwall
Antony ( kw, Trevanta) is a coastal civil parishes in England, civil parish and a village in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom.
The village is situated on the Rame Peninsula about three miles west of Torpoint and has a shop, a pub and a garage. ...
(1731)
*Tomb of Lord and Lady Cecil Wray at
Branston, Lincolnshire
Branston is a large village in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, south-east of Lincoln on the B1188 road to Sleaford. It is the principal settlement in the civil parish of Branston and Mere, population 4,019 (in the 20 ...
(1736)
*Tomb of Col Thomas Moore at
Great Bookham
Great Bookham is a village in Surrey, England, one of six semi-urban spring line settlements between the towns of Leatherhead and Guildford. With the narrow strip parish of Little Bookham, it forms part of the Saxon settlement of ''Bocham'' ("the ...
(1740)
*Chimneypieces for
Rousham Park (1737) for General Dormer-Cottrell
*Chimneypieces for
Longford Castle
Longford Castle stands on the banks of the River Avon south of Salisbury, Wiltshire, England. It is the seat of the Earl of Radnor, and an example of the Elizabethan prodigy house.
History
In 1573 Thomas Gorges acquired the manor (at the t ...
(1739)
*Chimneypieces at
Holkham
Holkham is a small village and civil parish in north Norfolk, England, which includes a stately home and estate, Holkham Hall, and a beach, Holkham Gap, at the centre of Holkham National Nature Reserve.
Geography
The parish has an area of and ...
Hall in
Norfolk
Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
(1740)
*Chimneypieces for the house of Mr
James West James or Jim West may refer to:
People
* James West (Australian journalist) (born 1982), Australian journalist and author
* James West (antiquary) (1703–1772), English politician and antiquary; president of the Royal Society
* James E. West (po ...
at
Lincoln's Inn Fields
Lincoln's Inn Fields is the largest public square in London. It was laid out in the 1630s under the initiative of the speculative builder and contractor William Newton, "the first in a long series of entrepreneurs who took a hand in develo ...
(1745)
*Memorial to Carew Hervy Mildmay in
Sherborne Abbey
Sherborne Abbey, otherwise the Abbey Church of St. Mary the Virgin, is a Church of England church in Sherborne in the English county of Dorset. It has been a Saxon cathedral (705–1075), a Benedictine abbey church (998–1539), and since 1539, ...
(1746)
*Chimneypieces for
Welbeck Abbey
Welbeck Abbey in the Dukeries in North Nottinghamshire was the site of a monastery belonging to the Premonstratensian order in England and after the Dissolution of the Monasteries, a country house residence of the Dukes of Portland. It is one ...
(1746)
*Chimneypieces for
Moulsham Moulsham is a suburb of Chelmsford, Essex, England. It is located to the south of the city centre and has two distinct areas: Old Moulsham and Moulsham Lodge.
History
Moulsham is located on the south side of the River Chelmer. Moulsham Street foll ...
Park in
Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
(1746)
*Chimneypieces at
Oakover Hall (1747)
*Multiple chimneypieces at
Uppark
Uppark is a 17th-century house in South Harting, West Sussex, England. It is a Grade I listed building and a National Trust property.
History
The house, set high on the South Downs, was built for Ford Grey (1655—1701), the first Earl of ...
in
Sussex
Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...
for Sir
Matthew Fetherstonhaugh
*Chimneypieces for
Milton Hall
Milton Hall near Peterborough, is the largest private house in Cambridgeshire, England.This Milton Hall should not be confused with the other Milton Hall just to the north of Cambridge in the village of Milton. The Milton Hall near Cambridge is ...
(1750) executing the designs of
Sir William Chambers
__NOTOC__
Sir William Chambers (23 February 1723 – 10 March 1796) was a Swedish-Scottish architect, based in London. Among his best-known works are Somerset House, and the pagoda at Kew. Chambers was a founder member of the Royal Academy.
Biog ...
*Multiple chimneypieces for
Blair Castle
Blair Castle (in Scottish Gaelic: Caisteil Bhlàir) stands in its grounds near the village of Blair Atholl in Perthshire in Scotland. It is the ancestral home of the Clan Murray, and was historically the seat of their chief, the Duke of Atholl, ...
(1748-1756)
*Chimneypieces at
Belhus, Essex
Belhus is a golf course, country park, former stately home and manor in the parish of Aveley in Essex, England. The historic manor was known in ancient times variously as "Bellhouse, Belhouse (as commemorated by today's "Belhouse Avenue" in t ...
(1752)
*Two figures for Blair Castle
*Chimneypieces for Charles Townsend,
Lord Townsend's London house (1756)
Thomas Carter the Younger
Nephew and son-in-law of Thomas Younger the Elder, he was probably apprenticed to him. On the Elder'd death in 1756 he bequeathed his stock to Benjamin Carter, his brother, who also specialised in chimneypieces. But Thomas the Younger appears to have gone into business with Benjamin and together they opened a new yard at
Piccadilly
Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road that connects central London to Hammersmith, Earl's Court, ...
. They had a considerable workforce and persons who worked there included
John Eckstein
Johann or John Eckstein (1735-1817), was a German-born sculptor, engraver and painter who worked briefly in London before establishing himself in his homeland and then in United States, America. He is not to be confused with his son, also known ...
. They continued to specialise in chimneypieces.
Carter the Younger appears to have been the craftsman who worked with
Robert Adam
Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him. With his o ...
creating the world-famous
Adam fireplaces. His commissions were largely from the British aristocracy and rose as high as working for
the Prince Regent
George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...
.
He died in
Knightsbridge
Knightsbridge is a residential and retail district in central London, south of Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park. It is identified in the London Plan as one of two international retail centres in London, alongside the West End of London, West End.
...
on 5 January 1795.
Works
*Chimneypieces for
Saltram House
Saltram House is a grade I listed George II era mansion house located in the parish of Plympton, near Plymouth in Devon, England. It was deemed by the architectural critic Pevsner to be "the most impressive country house in Devon". The ho ...
(1760)
*Chimneypieces for
Shardeloes
Shardeloes is a large 18th-century country house located one mile west of Amersham in Buckinghamshire, England (). A previous manor house on the site was demolished and the present building constructed between 1758 and 1766 for William Drake, ...
(1761)
*"Marbles" for the Gallery at
Strawberry Hill House
Strawberry Hill House—often called simply Strawberry Hill—is a Gothic Revival architecture, Gothic Revival villa that was built in Twickenham, London, by Horace Walpole (1717–1797) from 1749 onward. It is a typical example of the "#Strawb ...
(1763) for
Horace Walpole
Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whigs (British political party), Whig politician.
He had Strawb ...
*Chimneypieces at
Bowood House
Bowood is a Grade I listed Georgian country house in Wiltshire, England, that has been owned for more than 250 years by the Fitzmaurice family. The house, with interiors by Robert Adam, stands in extensive grounds which include a garden designe ...
to the designs of both
Robert Adam
Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him. With his o ...
and James Stuart (1763 to 1774)
*Chimneypieces for the house of Sir
Richard Lyttleton's house in
Piccadilly
Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road that connects central London to Hammersmith, Earl's Court, ...
(1764)
*Chimneypieces for
Croome Court
Croome Court is a mid-18th-century Neo-Palladian mansion surrounded by extensive landscaped parkland at Croome D'Abitot, near Upton-upon-Severn in south Worcestershire, England. The mansion and park were designed by Lancelot "Capability" Brown for ...
(1765)
*Chimneypieces for
Mersham
Mersham is a mostly agricultural large village and civil parish near Ashford in Kent, England. The population of the civil parish includes the area of Cheesman's Green now known as Finberry.
History
In the mid 19th century, John Marius Wilson' ...
Hall in
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
(1766 to 1768) for
Sir Edward Knatchbull, 7th Baronet
Sir Edward Knatchbull, 7th Baronet (12 December 1704 – 21 November 1789) was an Irish politician.
He was the third son of Sir Edward Knatchbull, 4th Baronet and Alice Wyndham, daughter of Colonel John Wyndham. In 1763, he succeeded his nephew ...
*Chimneypieces for
Lansdowne House
Lansdowne House now 9 Fitzmaurice Place is the remaining part of a building to the south of Berkeley Square in central London, England, not to be confused with 57 Berkeley Square – opposite – a much later quadrilateral building which take ...
at
Berkeley Square
Berkeley Square is a garden square in the West End of London. It is one of the best known of the many squares in London, located in Mayfair in the City of Westminster. It was laid out in the mid 18th century by the architect William Kent ...
(1768) to the designs of
Robert Adam
Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him. With his o ...
*Multiple chimneypieces for
Milton Abbey
Milton Abbey school is an independent school for day and boarding pupils in the village of Milton Abbas, near Blandford Forum in Dorset, in South West England. It has 224 pupils , in five houses: Athelstan, Damer, Hambro, Hodgkinson and Tregonw ...
(1774 to 1776)
*Memorial to
Chaloner Chute
Chaloner Chute I (died 14 April 1659) of The Vyne, Sherborne St John, Hampshire, was an English lawyer, Member of Parliament and Speaker of the House of Commons during the Commonwealth.
Origins
Chute was the son of Charles Chute of the Middle ...
at The Vyne in Hampshire (1775-1780) commissioned by Sir John Chute
*Chimneypieces for the Museum at
Busbridge
Busbridge is a village and civil parish in the borough of Waverley in Surrey, England that adjoins the town of Godalming. It forms part of the Waverley ward of '' Bramley, Busbridge and Hascombe''. It was until the Tudor period often recorded ...
(1777) commissioned by
Henry Holland and paid for by
Sir Thomas Marker
*Chimneypieces for
General Richard Smith MP of Chilton Lodge in
Hungerford
Hungerford is a historic market town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, west of Newbury, east of Marlborough, northeast of Salisbury and 60 miles (97 km) west of London. The Kennet and Avon Canal passes through the town alongside the ...
(1777)
*Chimneypieces for the house of
Nicholas Henny in St James Street, London (1777)
*Chimneypieces for
Lord Delavel on
Hanover Square, London
Hanover Square is a green square in Mayfair, Westminster, south west of Oxford Circus where Oxford Street meets Regent Street. Six streets converge on the square which include Harewood Place with links to Oxford Street, Princes Street, Hanover S ...
(1782) to the designs of
Sir John Soane
Sir John Soane (; né Soan; 10 September 1753 – 20 January 1837) was an English architect who specialised in the Neo-Classical style. The son of a bricklayer, he rose to the top of his profession, becoming professor of architecture at the R ...
*Royal Commission for chimneypieces at
Carlton House
Carlton House was a mansion in Westminster, best known as the town residence of King George IV. It faced the south side of Pall Mall, and its gardens abutted St James's Park in the St James's district of London. The location of the house, no ...
(1785) for
the Prince Regent
George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...
*Ornamentation in dining-room of
Holkham Hall
Holkham Hall ( or ) is an 18th-century English country house, country house near the village of Holkham, Norfolk, England, constructed in the Neo-Palladian style for the Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester (fifth creation), 1st Earl of Leicester ...
(1777)
*Chimneypieces for the offices of Ransome, Morland and Hammersley of
Pall Mall (1791) to the designs of
Sir John Soane
Sir John Soane (; né Soan; 10 September 1753 – 20 January 1837) was an English architect who specialised in the Neo-Classical style. The son of a bricklayer, he rose to the top of his profession, becoming professor of architecture at the R ...
*Chimneypieces for
Woburn Abbey
Woburn Abbey (), occupying the east of the village of Woburn, Bedfordshire, England, is a country house, the family seat of the Duke of Bedford. Although it is still a family home to the current duke, it is open on specified days to visitors, a ...
(1791) for the
Duke of Bedford
Duke of Bedford (named after Bedford, England) is a title that has been created six times (for five distinct people) in the Peerage of England. The first and second creations came in 1414 and 1433 respectively, in favour of Henry IV's third so ...
Survival
Most of the Carters' work still survive in-situ. Some examples of their work such as the "
Aesop's Fables
Aesop's Fables, or the Aesopica, is a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a slave and storyteller believed to have lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 564 BCE. Of diverse origins, the stories associated with his name have descended to ...
" Fireplace of 1755, have sold for sums over £60,000.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Thomas
1702 births
1756 deaths
People from London
English sculptors