Details of Sculptor

Surname

Leifchild

Alternative Surname

First Name

Henry Stormonth

Initial of Surname

L

Year of Birth/Baptism

1823

Flourished

Year of Death

1884

Biographical Details

Born in Moorgate, London, he was the fourth son of William Gerard Leifchild of Moorgate and The Elms, Wanstead, Essex. He studied in the sculpture galleries of the British Museum and at the Royal Academy Schools, which he joined in 1844 on the recommendation of F S Cary. In 1848 he went to Rome, where he for three years he fell ‘under the influence of Thorwaldsen, Gibson, and the classical school’ (Sparkes 1891, 322).
Leifchild exhibited at the RA between 1844 and 1882, showing ideal works and portrait busts. In 1851 he sent a figure of Rizpah watching over the dead bodies of her sons to the Great Exhibition, where ‘it attracted notice and then the young sculptor was recognised as a man destined to make his mark’ (Sparkes, op cit, 322) (6). He was unsuccessful in the competition for the memorial to the Great Exhibition (8), but his model won the competition for the Guards’ memorial in front of Chelsea Hospital (32). He also designed the gothic Robertson mausolem, which stood near the entrance gates of Warreston Cemetery in Edinburgh, and executed the incised panels depicting The Lord’s Prayer which ornament the exterior and the effigy of Mrs Robertson which lies within (2). The monument was heavily vandalised in 1979, and later destroyed.
Leifchild lived throughout most of his life in Stanhope Street, Regents Park, London, and died at 15 Kirkstall Road, Streatham, on 11 November 1884. He is buried at West Norwood Cemetery under a monument that he carved himself (4). After his death his widow presented the models of his more important works, including a group of Athene repressing the fury of Achilles, a figure of Lot’s wife and a design for a memorial to Lord Byron, to Nottingham Museum (13, 14, 17). All except Jacob and the Angel (45) were destroyed before 1929.
Literary References: Sparkes 1891, 322-4; Gunnis 1968, 238; Read 1982, 34, 187-8; ODNB (Cust rev Whitehead); Macdonald 1935, 375-84 (additional information Malcolm A Cooper)
Archival References: RA admissions