Details of Sculptor

Surname

Gilbert

Alternative Surname

First Name

John

Initial of Surname

G

Year of Birth/Baptism

Flourished

1732-67

Year of Death

Biographical Details

The son of William Gilbert of Shadwell, Middx, he was apprenticed to John Sutton, citizen and joiner, for 7 years on 4 January 1732, becoming free of the Joiners’ Company on 6 February 1738. He executed a great deal of carving for the Mansion House (1). On 6 July 1749 he submitted his first estimate of £1,844 16s against James Gayfer’s estimate of £1,900, for carved decoration on the principal floor. These both exceeded the architect George Dance’s estimate and so were dismissed. Fresh proposals were submitted by Gilbert, Thomas Darby, Henry Branson and John Preston on 19 July 1749 and Gilbert secured the contract with his estimate of £1,665. The contracts for the decoration of the second and third storeys were also awarded to Gilbert, on 19 June 1751, priced at £1,500. He undertook to finish the work by the following summer, with a penalty of £300 for late completion. Work was virtually complete by the autumn of 1752 and the final account was settled in October 1754. Examples of his work include the fine carved profile heads with festoons, acanthus foliage and drops in the passage room.
He may be identified with ‘John Gilbert, carver’ who, in 1756, received payments of £67 3s and £86 1s for work at East India House, Leadenhall Street, London and with 'J Gilbert’ who carried out carving at Croome Court in 1767 (2, 3). A John Gilbert is described by Dossie in 1764 as a ‘carver and gilder, of Mount street’, the year he won a premium from the Society of Arts (4). He was also listed in Mortimer’s Universal Director of 1763 (p 11).
Literary References: Dossie 1782, 438; Archer 1965, 405; Jeffrey 1993, 113-5, 140, 301 (repr 103)