Details of Sculptor

Surname

Bacon

Alternative Surname

First Name

Thomas

Initial of Surname

B

Year of Birth/Baptism

1771

Flourished

Year of Death

Biographical Details

The eldest son of John Bacon RA and Elizabeth, née Wade, he was born in Wardour Street, London, on 21 March 1771. He worked in his father’s studio and exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1793 and 1795. These early works were all from scripture, perhaps influenced by the strict religious upbringing imposed by his father (1-3).
During the 1790s Thomas and his brother, John Bacon II, appear gradually to have taken over the family workshop: Robert Cecil, a family friend who prepared the obituary for John Bacon RA, wrote that the two sons had for ‘many years conducted the executive part of the business’ (GM 1799, vol 69, pt 2, 810). They completed several works left unfinished at their father’s death, including the monument to Samuel Whitbread, which was exhibited at the Royal Academy, described as being ‘by John Bacon and Sons’ (Graves I, 1905-6, 88).
Cecil predicted that the loss to British sculpture occasioned by their father's death ‘will be compensated by the genius of his sons’ (GM 1799, vol 69, pt 2, 810). He was optimistic: Thomas seems not to have taken any interest in the profession after and it was John Bacon II who continued the business alone.
Literary References: Cox-Johnson 1961, 7, 12 n1; Graves I, 1905-6, 90; Grove 3, 1996, 26 (Bryant)