Details of Sculptor

Surname

Sharp

Alternative Surname

First Name

Thomas

Initial of Surname

S

Year of Birth/Baptism

1805

Flourished

Year of Death

1882

Biographical Details

Sharp first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1830, giving his address as 31 Tichbourn Street, London, and Paris. He entered the Royal Academy Schools at the advanced age of 26 in 1831, on the recommendation of Sir Francis Chantrey. That year he showed Boy and lizard, which depicts the child recovering from his surprise at the sight of the creature, mistaken for a serpent. The figure was praised in the Library of Fine Arts as ‘well conceived, and its modelling good throughout’, but the writer felt that the overall effect was ruined by the material: ‘it was probably in utter unconsciousness of his own power’ that the sculptor ‘had chosen a piece of marble so veiny and imperfect as to offend the eye; thus, while we see all around abominations in the purest white marble, here is a work that would have done credit to almost any artist carved in the most objectionable material, and consequently scarcely noticed’ (4).
Sharp won a medal from the Academy in 1835 (46), and continued to exhibit there until late in life. His practice appears to have been chiefly in busts, though he was responsible for some ideal works and for a statue of Lord Palmerston (12). His workshop was located at 22 Dean Street, Soho in 1832 and he then moved house half a dozen times, ending up at 101 Edgware Road in 1869.
Sharp was also a designer for silverware. In 1836 he exhibited ‘A Bacchanalian subject, embossed in sheet silver’ with the Society of British Artists (Johnson 1975, 417). A ‘Shakespeare’ cup was exhibited at the RA in 1842. His ‘justice cup’ had a bas-relief of ‘Justice protecting the Innocent, and driving from the earth Violence, Fraud, and Discord’ (AJ Cat 1851, 60). This was shown at the Great Exhibition with a chimneypiece to his design for Messrs Rine. It was carved of statuary marble and had cast metal ornaments, including the ‘initials of the Queen and Prince Albert, formed with the stems of the rose, shamrock and thistle, which entwine them’ (AJ Cat 1851, 81). The carver is not identified. He assisted John Bell with the Guards Memorial and the Wellington Monument, and continued to exhibit in his own right until 1869.
Literary References: Graves 1875, 485; Graves VII, 1905-6, 88-89; Gunnis 1968, 348-9; Pyke 1973, 135; Johnson 1975, 417-8; Barnes 1999, 61
Archival References: RA admissions