Mary Thornycroft

Mary Thornycroft (née Francis; 1809 – 1 February 1895) was a British sculptor who sculpted many different busts, fragments and statues. She frequently chose infants and children as her subjects, and was commissioned by Queen Victoria to create a number of statues and portraits of her children and other members of the royal family. Several of these are now in the British Royal Collection.

Biography The daughter of sculptor John Francis and his wife Mary, Thornycroft was born at Thornham in Norfolk. She studied sculpture under her father, and first exhibited a work, a bust of him, at the Royal Academy in London in 1835, aged 21. Her 1839 exhibition piece, The Orphan Flowergirl received good reviews. She was a regular exhibitor at the Royal Academy from 1835 until 1871 and at the British Institution from 1845 to 1864. She worked with her husband on a frequent basis making attribution of individual pieces sometimes difficult. It is known that the couple, along with their son Hamo Thornycroft, worked together during 1875 on The Poets' Fountain at Hyde Park Corner in central London and which was damaged beyond repair in a World War II air raid.

Family The Thornycrofts had six children who grew to adulthood, two sons (Hamo and John Isaac), and four daughters (Alyce, Theresa, Helen and Frances). Hamo Thornycroft became a sculptor while daughters Alyce Thornycroft, Theresa Thornycroft, and Helen Thornycroft became artists. John Isaac Thornycroft became a marine engineer.

Selected artworks The Four Seasons Victoria, Princess Royal, as Summer, c. 1846. Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, as Winter, c. 1846. Prince Alfred as Autumn, c. 1847. Princess Alice as Spring c. 1845.

Other works Left hand and arm of Prince Alfred, at seven months, 1845. Leg and foot of Prince Alfred, at seven months, 1845. Princess Helena, 1848. Left hand and arm of Princess Louise, 1848. Princess Louise, 1850. Bust of Prince Alfred, 1850. Hand of Prince Leopold, at six months, 1853. Hand of Princess Beatrice, 1859. Bust of Princess Alice, 1861. Bust of Alexandra, Princess of Wales, 1863. Bust of Albert, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, 1870. Bust of Maria, Duchess of Edinburgh, 1876.

Full body compositions Princess Louise, as Plenty, 1855. Princess Helena, as Peace, 1856. Prince Arthur, as a hunter, 1859. Princess Beatrice, reclining in the Nautilus Shell, 1858. Prince Leopold, as a fisherman, 1860. Princess Louise of Wales, 1877. Princesses Victoria and Maud of Wales, 1877.