Details of Sculptor

Surname

Sherwood

Alternative Surname

First Name

James, of Derby

Initial of Surname

S

Year of Birth/Baptism

c1779 -

Flourished

Year of Death

Biographical Details

The son of Samuel and Jane Sherwood of Derby, he worked as a sculptor, spar manufacturer and marble mason in Derby and Buxton from 1800 to 1824 and from King Street, Derby, in 1822. In 1801 he married Elizabeth Smedley at St Alkmund, Derby. His second wife was named Catherine. Sherwood was noticed in the Derby Mercury, 1810-12, for a series of vases including a commemorative work for Lord Nelson, and another, decorated with cavalry scenes, ‘which in beauty and novelty of design surpasses anything of the kind ever attempted’ (7, 6). Another, by the ‘ingenious Mr Sherwood’, and ‘more superb than either of the former’, featured a Triumph of Venus and was ‘a most beautiful scene of festive mirth’ (8). It is clear from its description that it was intricately carved and richly decorated. He was reponsible for a number of monuments. The best, according to Gunnis, was the ‘delightful’ memorial to Thomas Swanwick, a schoolmaster for 30 years (3). It was erected by his former pupils and has a relief of a master teaching a small boy seated on a pile of books, above which are terrestrial and celestial globes.
Literary References: Pigot’s Directory, 1822; Gunnis 1968, 350
Archival References: GPC; IGI