Details of Sculptor

Surname

Arminger

Alternative Surname

First Name

William

Initial of Surname

A

Year of Birth/Baptism

1752

Flourished

Year of Death

1793

Biographical Details

Born on 22 November 1752, Arminger was apprenticed to Thomas Rawlins of Norwich in 1766 for a fee of £20. He joined the Royal Academy Schools on 21 March 1774. J T Smith describes Arminger as ‘a raw-boned man, full six feet in height’ and relates that he came to Joseph Nollekens one day saying that he was a ‘cutter of funeral inscriptions come from the City of Norwich, and would be glad of a job.’ Nollekens took him into his employment and allowed him to cut the inscription for the monument to the writer, Oliver Goldsmith, to be erected in Westminster Abbey. Arminger carried this out so well (from a shed in the yard) that Nollekens gave him regular work, and he afterwards cut many of his employer’s best busts (Smith 1828, 1, 57-8, 116).
He died in 1793 and was buried in Paddington. Smith relates that he made ‘what is called a very pretty fortune’ (ibid 57). The sale catalogue of his works held by Greenwood on 6 March 1794 suggests a man of discernment, since it includes a selection of ‘choice’ French, Italian and English prints, a small ‘but valuable’ library of books (including subscription volumes) and some drawings. Several of the lots were purchased by Nollekens. A number of reliefs of ideal subjects were included in the sale.
Literary References: Hutchison 1960-62, 140; Gunnis 1968, 19
Archival References: TNA IR56/10 (inf: Jon Bayliss)
Auction Catalogues: Arminger 1794