Thomas Brock

Sir Thomas Brock KCB RA (March 1, 1847 – August 22, 1922) was an English sculptor.

Contents

Life

Brock was born in Worcester, attended the School of Design in Worcester and then undertook an apprenticeship in modelling at the Worcester Royal Porcelain Works. In 1866 he became a pupil of the sculptor John Henry Foley. He married in 1869, and had 8 children. After Foley's death in 1874, Brock completed some of his commissions.

He first came to prominence when he was asked to complete the statue of Prince Albert for the Albert Memorial. In 1901 Brock was awarded the colossal equestrian statue of Edward the Black Prince, set up in Leeds City Square, and was also given perhaps his most significant commission, the vast multi-figure Imperial Memorial to Queen Victoria in front of Buckingham Palace. According to legend, at the unveiling in May 1911, George V was so moved by the excellence of the memorial that he called for a sword and knighted Brock on the spot.

His group The Moment of Peril (now in the garden of Leighton House) was followed by The Genius of Poetry, at the Carlsberg Brewery, in Copenhagen, Eve, and other ideal works that mark his development. Other works include busts, such as those of Lord Leighton and Queen Victoria, statues, such as Sir Richard Owen and Henry Philpott, bishop of Worcester, and sepulchral monuments such as Lord Leighton in St Pauls Cathedral, a work of singular significance, refinement and beauty.

Brock was elected an associate of the Royal Academy in 1883 and full member in 1891.

Works

References

  1. ^ The Buildings of England: Worcestershire, Nikolaus Pevsner, 1968 p312
  2. ^ The Buildings of England: Worcestershire, Nikolaus Pevsner, 1968 p207
  3. ^ Kidderminster Since 1800, Ken Tomkinson and George Hall, 1975 p209-210
  4. ^ The Buildings of England: Worcestershire, Nikolaus Pevsner, 1968 p208
  5. ^ Public Monument and Sculpture Association National Recording Project

Further reading

Gallery

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainChisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.