Sir Thomas Brock KCB RA
Born	1 March 1847 Worcester, England
Died	22 August 1922(1922-08-22) (aged 75) London, England
Resting place	Mayfield, East Sussex
Nationality	British
Alma mater	School of Design, Worcester Royal Academy Schools
Known for	Sculpture, coin design

Sir Thomas Brock KCB RA (1 March 1847 – 22 August 1922) was an English sculptor and medallist, notable for the creation of several large public sculptures and monuments in Britain and abroad in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.^{[1] [2]} His most famous work is the Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Palace, London.^[2] Other commissions included the redesign of the effigy of Queen Victoria on British coinage, the massive bronze equestrian statue of Edward, the Black Prince, in City Square, Leeds and the completion of the statue of Prince Albert on the Albert Memorial.^[3][4]

Biography

Brock was born on 1 March 1847 in Worcester.^[2] He was the only son of a painter and decorator and attended the Government School of Design in Worcester, after which he undertook an apprenticeship in modelling at the Worcester Royal Porcelain Works.^[5] In 1866 he became a pupil of the sculptor John Henry Foley and also enrolled in the Royal Academy Schools, where he won a gold medal for sculpture in 1869.^[5][6] He met and befriended Frederic, Lord Leighton, whose emphasis on realism and naturalism in sculpture led Brock to become part of the New Sculpture movement and to develop his talent for sympathetic and realistic portraiture.^[4] After Foley's sudden death in 1874, Brock finished several of his commissions, including the monument to Daniel O'Connell in Dublin and a large bronze equestrian statue of Lord Canning for Kolkata.^[5][7][8] It was his completion of Foley's statue of Prince Albert for the Albert Memorial which first brought Brock to prominence and secured his position as an establishment sculptor.^[7][6][9] He also assisted in the casting of Lord Leighton's greatly influential 1877 sculpture An Athlete Wrestling with a Python.^[10]

Brock was elected an associate of the Royal Academy in 1883 and became a full member in 1891.^[6] He was a founding member, and the first president, of the Society of British Sculptors.^[11]

Thomas Brock in his studio, 1889

Brock's group The Moment of Peril (now in the garden of Leighton House) was followed by The Genius of Poetry, at the Carlsberg Brewery in Copenhagen. A plaster model for Eve was shown at the Royal Academy in 1898; a marble version (1900) is in the collection of the Tate and Brock also cast some smaller bronze replicas and other imaginative works that mark his development.^[12] His portrait works include busts, such as those of Lord Leighton and Queen Victoria, statues, such as Sir Richard Owen and Henry Philpott, bishop of Worcester, and sepulchral monuments such as that of Lord Leighton in St Paul's Cathedral.^[1][6][11]

Brock made statues of Victoria to celebrate her golden and diamond jubilees and also designed the depiction of her "veiled" or "widowed" head, used on all gold, silver and bronze coinage between 1893 and 1901.^[11]

In 1901 Brock won the commission to make a colossal equestrian statue of Edward the Black Prince for Leeds City Square. The same year, he was given perhaps his most significant commission, the vast multi-figure Imperial Memorial to Queen Victoria, to be erected in front of Buckingham Palace.^[9] The unveiling of this memorial took place on 16 May 1911,^[13] and according to legend King George V was so moved by the excellence of the memorial that he called for a sword and knighted Brock on the spot.^[9] In any event, it was on the same day that the Lord Chamberlain’s Office notified The London Gazette that the king had ordered that Brock be appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath.^[14]

From 1914 to 1919 Brock returned to the post of president of the Society of British Sculptors.^[11]

Brock married in 1869 and had eight children. He died in London on 22 August 1922 and is buried at Mayfield, East Sussex.^[4]

Public monuments

1875–1889

Image	Title / subject	Location and coordinates	Date	Type	Material	Dimensions	Designation	Wikidata	Notes
More images	Richard Baxter	St Mary's, Kidderminster	1875	Statue on pedestal	Marble and granite		Grade II		Originally in the Bull Ring, Kidderminster and moved to its present site in March 1967.[15][16][17][18]
More images	William Rathbone V	Sefton Park, Liverpool	1877	Statue on pedestal with plaques	Portland stone & bronze		Grade II	Q26333129	Statue by John Henry Foley, pedestal by Brock[19]
More images	A Moment of Peril	Rosenborg Castle Gardens, Copenhagen, Denmark	1880	Sculpture group	Bronze			Q57542450	Replica of the original in the gardens of the Leighton House Museum in London.[20]
More images	Statue of Robert Raikes	Victoria Embankment Gardens, London	1880	Statue on pedestal	Bronze and stone		Grade II	Q19967451	[10][21][22]
More images	Sir Rowland Hill	Vicar Street, Kidderminster	1881	Statue on circular pedestal	Marble and granite		Grade II	Q26392153	[18][23][24][25]
	Sir Richard Temple, 1st Baronet	Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum, Mumbai	1884	Statue	Marble				Moved in 1965 from north end of Oval, Mumbai[8]
More images	Henry Wadsworth Longfellow	Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey, London	1884	Bust	Marble				[11][4][26]
More images	William Menelaus	National Museum Cardiff	1884	Bust	Marble	72.4cm			[27]
More images	Colin Minton Campbell	London Road, Stoke-on-Trent	1887	Statue on pedestal	Bronze and stone	5.05m high			[18][28]
More images	Queen Victoria	Shire Hall, Worcester	1887	Statue on pedestal	Marble and granite		Grade II	Q26669257	[18][29]
More images	Statue of Henry Bartle Frere	Whitehall Gardens, London	1888	Statue on pedestal	Bronze and granite	3.4m tall	Grade II	Q21286428	[10][30][22][6]

1890–1899

Image	Title / subject	Location and coordinates	Date	Type	Material	Dimensions	Designation	Wikidata	Notes
More images	Queen Victoria	Houses of Parliament, Cape Town, South Africa	1890	Statue on pedestal	Granite pedestal			Q20614583
	Daniel O'Connell	St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne, Australia	Erected 1891	Statue on pedestal	Bronze				[31]
More images	Bishop Henry Philpott	Worcester Cathedral	1892	Seated statue on pedestal	Marble and stone				[11][32][33]
	Lord Arthur Hervey	Wells Cathedral	post-1894	Chest tomb with effigy & putti	Marble and stone		Grade I		[11][34]
	Richard Owen	Natural History Museum, London	1896	Statue on pedestal	Bronze and marble				[11][35]
More images	Memorial to Sir Augustus Harris	Catherine St. facade of Theatre Royal, Drury Lane	1897	Wall mounted drinking fountain and sculpture	Granite and bronze		Grade I		Memorial architect: Sidney R. J. Smith [36]
More images	William Lewis, 1st Baron Merthyr	Upper Thomas Street, Merthyr Tydfil	1898	Statue on pedestal	Bronze and granite		Grade II	Q29489929	[18][37]
More images	Henry Tate	Tate Britain	1898	Bust	Bronze	533 x 584 x 356mm			[38]
	Thomas Hughes	Rugby School	1899	Statue on pedestal					[39]

1900–1909

Image	Title / subject	Location and coordinates	Date	Type	Material	Dimensions	Designation	Wikidata	Notes
More images	Queen Victoria	Victoria Square, Birmingham	1901, recast 1951	Statue on pedestal	Bronze and stone			Q47460184	Recast by William Bloye from Brock's original marble statue in 1951[40]
More images	Statue of Queen Victoria	Grand Avenue, Hove	Unveiled 1901	Statue on pedestal	Bronze and marble		Grade II	Q26482744	[18][41][42]
More images	Lord Frederic Leighton memorial	St Paul's Cathedral, London	1902	Effigy on pedestal & plinth with supporting figures	Bronze and coloured marbles				[43]
More images	Queen Victoria	Carlton House Terrace, London	Unveiled 1902, relocated 1971	Statue	Marble	1.9m tall		Q19927909	[10]
More images	Queen Victoria	Bitts Park, Carlisle	1902	Statue on pedestal & steps	Bronze and granite		Grade II	Q26513391	[44][45]
	Royal Scots Fusiliers memorial	Burns Statue Square, Ayr	1902	Statue on pedestal	Bronze and granite		Category B	Q17834558	[46][47]
More images	Edward, the Black Prince	Leeds City Square	1903	Equestrian statue on pedestal	Bronze and granite		Grade II*	Q17533834	[18][48][6]
More images	Queen Victoria	Belfast City Hall.	1903	Statue on pedestal and steps with sculptures	Marble, Portland stone, bronze		Grade A	Q17778520	[49][50]
More images	Edward James Harland	Belfast City Hall	1903	Statue on pedestal	Stone			Q17778453	[51]
More images	William Ewart Gladstone	St John's Gardens, Liverpool	1904	Statue on pedestal, relief panel with 2 statues at base	Bronze		Grade II	Q26333153	[18][52]
More images	William Ewart Gladstone	North transept, Westminster Abbey, London	1904	Statue on pedestal	Marble				[4][53][54]
More images	Sir John Everett Millais	Tate Britain, London	1905	Statue on pedestal	Bronze and Portland stone	6.7m tall	Grade II	Q27080819	[10][55][56]
More images	Sir Henry Tate	Brixton Oval, London	1905	Bust on pedestal	Bronze and stone		Grade II	Q27087718	[18][57]
More images	Statue of Queen Victoria	Queen's Park, Bangalore	1906	Statue on pedestal	Marble and sandstone			Q22116770	[8][58]
More images	Queen Victoria	Queens Gardens, Brisbane, Australia	1906	Statue on pedestal	Bronze and stone				[59]
More images	General John Nicholson	Royal School Dungannon, County Tyrone	1906	Statue on pedestal	Bronze and stone		Grade B+	Q17861889	Originally erected in Kolkata, moved to Delhi then relocated to Dungannon in 1960.[60][61][62][8]

1910–1919

Image	Title / subject	Location and coordinates	Date	Type	Material	Dimensions	Designation	Wikidata	Notes
More images	Statue of Sir Henry Irving	Charing Cross Road, London	1910	Statue on pedestal	Bronze and Portland stone		Grade II	Q18162015	[10][63]
	Edward VII	King Edward VII Galleries, British Museum	1911	Bust	Gilded bronze	77cm by 78.3cm			Marble copy in Buckingham Palace[64][65]
More images	Victoria Memorial, London	The Mall, London	Unveiled 1911, completed 1924	Sculpture on pillar with statues and fountains	Marble, bronze, Portland stone		Grade I	Q1333411	[10][18][66][6][67]
More images	William Lewis, 1st Baron Merthyr	Aberdare Park, Aberdare	1913	Statue on pedestal	Bronze and granite		Grade II	Q29489480	[68]
More images	Navigation	Admiralty Arch, London	1908–1913	Wall-mounted statue	Portland stone		Grade I		[69]
More images	Gunnery	Admiralty Arch, London	1908–1913	Wall-mounted statue	Portland stone		Grade I		[69][70]
More images	Statue of Captain James Cook	The Mall, London	1914	Statue on pedestal	Bronze and Portland stone		Grade II	Q17514442	[18][10][71][72]
	Joseph Lister	Westminster Abbey, London	1915	Portrait medallion	Marble				[4]
More images	Edward VII	Queen's Park, Toronto	1919	Equestrian statue on pedestal	Bronze and stone				Originally erected in Delhi, India, relocated to Canada in 1969 as a gift of the government of India.[73][8]

1920 and later

Image	Title / subject	Location and coordinates	Date	Type	Material	Dimensions	Designation	Wikidata	Notes
More images	Titanic Memorial, Belfast	Belfast City Hall	1920	Statue group on pedestal	Stone			Q7809806	[50]
More images	Edward VII	Macquarie Street, Sydney, Australia	1921	Equestrian statue on pedestal	Bronze and stone				Brock won the commission in 1915, but the work was not finished and delivered until 1921.[74]
More images	Queen Victoria	Victoria Memorial, Kolkata, India	1921	Statue on pedestal	Marble			Q92360284	Completed 1917, unveiled 1921[8][75][76]
	Captain Charles Grant Seely	St Olave's Church, Gatcombe, Isle of Wight.	1922	Sculpture on box tomb	Marble and stone			Q93239404	Brock's final completed work.[77][78]
More images	Memorial to Joseph Lister	Portland Place, London	1924	Bust on column with sculptures	Bronze and granite		Grade II	Q21541736	[79]
More images	War memorial	Queen's University, Belfast	1924	Statue group on pedestal	Bronze and granite			Q66459168	[80]
More images	Joseph Lister	National Portrait Gallery, London	1927	Bust	Bronze				Cast 1927 from a 1912-13 plaster work.[81]
More images	Robert Raikes	Gloucester	1930	Statue on pedestal	Bronze and stone				A copy of Brock's 1880 statue in London[18][82]

See also

• List of statues of Queen Victoria (13 of the entries are by Brock)

References

Further reading

• Brock, Frederick (2012). Sankey, John (ed.). Thomas Brock: forgotten sculptor of the Victoria Memorial. Bloomington, Ind.: AuthorHouse. ISBN 9781467883344.
• Byron, Arthur (1981). London Statues: a guide to London's outdoor statues and sculpture. London: Constable. ISBN 9780094634305.
• Getsy, David J. (2004). Body Doubles: Sculpture in Britain, 1877–1905. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300105124.
• Harrold, Pauline; Rota, Una; Stainton, Thomas, eds. (1968). British Sculpture, 1850–1914: a loan exhibition of sculpture and medals sponsored by the Victorian Society, 30th September–30th October 1968. London: Fine Art Society.
• Read, Benedict (1982). Victorian Sculpture. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300025064.
• Sankey, John Anthony (2002). Thomas Brock and the Critics – An Examination of Brock's Place in the New Sculpture Movement (phd). PhD Thesis: University of Leeds.
• Stocker, Mark. "Brock, Sir Thomas (1847–1922)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/32080. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Thomas Brock.

• 72 artworks by or after Thomas Brock at the Art UK site