Details of Sculptor

Surname

Coffee

Alternative Surname

First Name

William

Initial of Surname

C

Year of Birth/Baptism

1746

Flourished

Year of Death

1840

Biographical Details

A London modeller, he was the father of William John Coffee. He married Catherine Lee on 25 February 1772 at St Martin-in-the-Fields. Coffee appears to have been employed by a manufactory in Chelsea and also had connections with the Derby works, where his son subsequently worked. He is mentioned on a handful of occasions in Joseph Lygo’s correspondence with William Duesbury. In January 1795 J C F Rossi told Lygo that the manufactory for which Coffee worked was ‘intirely standing still’ and that Coffee was now ‘in some gentleman’s service’ (Lygo/Duesbury corr, quoted in Bricknell 1998, 19). In September 1795 Coffee wrote to Duesbury asking for his son to be re-employed at the Derby works, which he had left some months earlier (Jewitt 1876, 2, 98). Coffee also worked as an ornamental plasterer.
In 1829 he applied for financial help from the Artist’s General Benevolent Association. He stated that he had ‘carved several coats of arms and figures about different parts of England’ and listed some of his commissions. They included work at Greenwich College Chapel (1), where Coffee must have been employed by Eleanor Coade. In 1831 he again applied for assistance, pleading that ‘having lost his hearing he is now so feeble that he cannot earn one penny’. From 1830-1840 he received an annual pension from the Royal Academy, which totalled £118 16s over the period. In 1841 a ‘Miss Coffee’ was awarded £10 from the same source.
Literary References: Gunnis 1968, 109; Kelly 1990, 64; Bricknell 1995, 68-9, 77, 85, 89, 92-3; Bricknell 1998, 19
Archival References: RA/GA, 1830-41; AGBI, vol 2, 28, 55, 78, 112, 149,162; vol 3, 33, 53, 83, 112, 143, 187; vol 4, 173, 210 (the latter applications made by his daughter)