Details of Sculptor

Surname

Gahagan

Alternative Surname

First Name

C

Initial of Surname

G

Year of Birth/Baptism

Flourished

1824-44

Year of Death

Biographical Details

In 1828 he was employed as an assistant by John Flaxman RA, who paid him 3 guineas a week. He exhibited at the Society of British Artists in 1824 and 1828, and at the Royal Academy between 1831 and 1836, from a number of London addresses. His submission to the Westminster Hall Exhibition of 1844 drew a derisory comment from the art critic of the Literary Gazette: ‘If the union conferred as little benefit upon the kingdoms as this gentleman upon the arts, the dissolution were most devoutly to be wished’ (Lit Gaz, 1844, 483).
He can perhaps be identified with Charles Gahagan II (b c1801), a marble carver who was the grandson of Lawrence Gahagan and the son of Charles Gahagan I (b c1765) who was apprenticed to Charles Schofield, a liveryman of the Painters’ Company. Charles Gahagan II was still alive in 1871 when he was listed in the census returns with his wife Mary Ann and three children.
Literary References: Gunnis 1968, 160
Archival References: City of London Apprenticeships 1442-1858; Flaxman Papers BM, Ad MS 39784, AA, fol 22