Thomas Carter (1702–1756) was an 18th century British sculptor. His nephew, also Thomas Carter (d.1795), was a sculptor who worked with him and it is hard to separate some sections of their work. They specialised in ornate marble fireplaces for English country mansions.

Life

His was born in London in 1702. He had a stone yard in

Shepherd Market Shepherd Market is a small precinct in Mayfair, in the West End of London. Its two business-lined squares are between Piccadilly and Curzon Street; it has a village-like atmosphere. It was built up between 1735 and 1746 by Edward Shepherd on t ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. He mainly made chimneypieces but also did some statuary. Around 1729 he received a loan of £100 from

Charles Jervas Charles Jervas (also Jarvis and Jervis; c. 1675 – 2 November 1739) was an Irish portrait painter, translator, and art collector of the early 18th century. Early life Born in Shinrone, County Offaly, Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland around 1675, ...

who had met him through a business connection. This permitted him to get an assistant and buy some better quality marbles. Through this action he employed Roubiliac, but the latter quickly found his own clients and left the business. Carter later moved to premises in the Parish of St George's near

Hanover Square, Westminster Hanover Square is a green square in Mayfair, Westminster, south west of Oxford Circus where Oxford Street meets Regent Street. Six streets converge on the square which include Harewood Place with links to Oxford Street, Princes Street, Hanover S ...

. Apprentices in his yard included John Deare and Peter Matthias Van Gelder. He died in 1795 and John Cheere was executor of his will. He was married to Mary and had two daughters: Elizabeth and Ann. The latter was wife of Thomas Carter the Younger (her first cousin).

Works

*Tomb of Sir

Henry Every Henry Every, also known as Henry Avery (20 August 1659Disappeared: June 1696), sometimes erroneously given as Jack Avery or John Avery, was an English pirate who operated in the Atlantic and Indian oceans in the mid-1690s. He probably used s ...

at Newton Solney (c.1712) *Mausoleum to Speaker Conolly (1730) in

Celbridge Celbridge (; ) is a town and townland on the River Liffey in County Kildare, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is west of Dublin. Both a local centre and a commuter town within the Greater Dublin Area, it is located at the intersection of the ...

in Ireland (contains two recumbent figures inside) *Tomb of Mary Carew at

Antony, Cornwall Antony () is a coastal civil parish and a village in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is situated on the Rame Peninsula about three miles west of Torpoint and has a shop, a pub and a garage. There are two possible etymologies of ...

(1731) *Tomb of Lord and Lady Cecil Wray at Branston, Lincolnshire (1736) *Tomb of Col Thomas Moore at Great Bookham (1740) *Chimneypieces for Rousham Park (1737) for General Dormer-Cottrell *Chimneypieces for

Longford Castle Longford Castle is a Grade I listed country house on the banks of the River Avon south of Salisbury, Wiltshire, England. It is the seat of the Earl of Radnor and an example of the Elizabethan prodigy house. History In 1573 Thomas Gorges ...

(1739) *Chimneypieces at Holkham Hall in

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

(1740) *Chimneypieces for the house of Mr

James West James or Jim West may refer to: People * James West (Australian journalist) (born 1982), Australian journalist and author * James West (antiquary) (1703–1772), English politician and antiquary; president of the Royal Society * James E. West (po ...

Lincoln's Inn Fields Lincoln's Inn Fields is located in Holborn and is the List of city squares by size, largest public square in London. It was laid out in the 1630s under the initiative of the speculative builder and contractor William Newton, "the first in a ...

(1745) *Memorial to Carew Hervy Mildmay in

Sherborne Abbey Sherborne Abbey, otherwise the Abbey Church of St. Mary the Virgin, is a Church of England church in Sherborne in the English county of Dorset. It was formerly a Saxon Catholic cathedral (705–1075) and a Benedictine abbey church (998–1539) ...

(1746) *Chimneypieces for

Welbeck Abbey Welbeck Abbey is an English country house near the village of Welbeck in the Bassetlaw District of Nottinghamshire. It was the site of a monastery belonging to the Premonstratensian order, and after the Dissolution of the Monasteries a residen ...

(1746) *Chimneypieces for Moulsham Park in

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

(1746) *Chimneypieces at Oakover Hall (1747) *Multiple chimneypieces at Uppark in

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

for Sir Matthew Fetherstonhaugh *Chimneypieces for Milton Hall (1750) executing the designs of

Sir William Chambers __NOTOC__ Sir William Chambers (23 February 1723 – 10 March 1796) was a Swedish-British architect. Among his best-known works are Somerset House, the Gold State Coach and the pagoda at Kew. Chambers was a founder member of the Royal Academy. ...

*Multiple chimneypieces for

Blair Castle Blair Castle (in Scottish Gaelic: ''Caisteil Bhlàir'') stands in its grounds near the village of Blair Atholl in Perthshire in Scotland. It is the ancestral home of the Clan Murray, and was historically the seat of their clan chief, chief, the ...

(1748-1756) *Chimneypieces at Belhus, Essex (1752) *Two figures for Blair Castle *Chimneypieces for Charles Townsend, Lord Townsend's London house (1756)

Thomas Carter the Younger

Nephew and son-in-law of Thomas Younger the Elder, he was probably apprenticed to him. On the Elder'd death in 1756 he bequeathed his stock to Benjamin Carter, his brother, who also specialised in chimneypieces. But Thomas the Younger appears to have gone into business with Benjamin and together they opened a new yard at

Piccadilly Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, England, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road (England), A4 road that connects central London to ...

. They had a considerable workforce and persons who worked there included John Eckstein. They continued to specialise in chimneypieces. Carter the Younger appears to have been the craftsman who worked with

Robert Adam Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (architect), William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and train ...

creating the world-famous Adam fireplaces. His commissions were largely from the British aristocracy and rose as high as working for

the Prince Regent George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 29 January 1820 until his death in 1830. At the time of his accession to the throne, h ...

. He died in

Knightsbridge Knightsbridge is a residential and retail district in central London, south of Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park. It is identified in the London Plan as one of two international retail centres in London, alongside the West End of London, West End. ...

on 5 January 1795.

Works

Memorial to Chaloner Chute in the chapel of The Vyne in Hampshire

*Chimneypieces for

Saltram House Saltram House is a listed building, grade I listed George II of Great Britain, George II era house in Plympton, Devon, England. It was deemed by the architectural critic Nikolaus Pevsner to be "the most impressive country house in Devon". ...

(1760) *Chimneypieces for Shardeloes (1761) *"Marbles" for the Gallery at

Strawberry Hill House Strawberry Hill House—often called simply Strawberry Hill—is a Gothic Revival architecture, Gothic Revival villa that was built in Twickenham, London, by Horace Walpole (1717–1797) from 1749 onward. It is a typical example of the "#Strawb ...

(1763) for

Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford (; 24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English Whig politician, writer, historian and antiquarian. He had Strawberry Hill House built in Twickenham, southwest London ...

*Chimneypieces at

Bowood House Bowood is a Grade I listed Georgian era, Georgian English country houses, country house in Wiltshire, England, that has been owned for more than 250 years by the Fitzmaurice family. The house, with interiors by Robert Adam, stands in extensive g ...

to the designs of both

and James Stuart (1763 to 1774) *Chimneypieces for the house of Sir Richard Lyttleton's house in

(1764) *Chimneypieces for

Croome Court Croome Court is a mid-18th-century Neo-Palladian mansion surrounded by extensive landscaped parkland at Croome D'Abitot, near Upton-upon-Severn in south Worcestershire, England. The mansion and park were designed by Lancelot "Capability" Brown ...

(1765) *Chimneypieces for Mersham Hall in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

(1766 to 1768) for Sir Edward Knatchbull, 7th Baronet *Chimneypieces for Lansdowne House at

Berkeley Square Berkeley Square is a garden square in the West End of London. It is one of the best known of the many squares in London, located in Mayfair in the City of Westminster. It was laid out in the mid 18th century by the architect William Kent, ...

(1768) to the designs of

*Multiple chimneypieces for Milton Abbey (1774 to 1776) *Memorial to Chaloner Chute at The Vyne in Hampshire (1775-1780) commissioned by Sir John Chute *Chimneypieces for the Museum at

Busbridge Busbridge is a village in the civil parish of Godalming, in the borough of Waverley in Surrey, England that adjoins the town of Godalming. It was until the Tudor period often recorded as Bushbridge and was a manor and hamlet of Godalming unt ...

(1777) commissioned by Henry Holland and paid for by Sir Thomas Marker *Chimneypieces for General Richard Smith MP of Chilton Lodge in Hungerford (1777) *Chimneypieces for the house of Nicholas Henny in St James Street, London (1777) *Chimneypieces for Lord Delavel on

Hanover Square, London Hanover Square is a green square in Mayfair, Westminster, south west of Oxford Circus where Oxford Street meets Regent Street. Six streets converge on the square which include Harewood Place with links to Oxford Street, Princes Street, Hanover S ...

(1782) to the designs of Sir John Soane *Royal Commission for chimneypieces at

Carlton House Carlton House, sometimes Carlton Palace, was a mansion in Westminster, best known as the town residence of George IV, during the regency era and his time as prince regent, before he took the throne as king. It faced the south side of Pall M ...

(1785) for

*Ornamentation in dining-room of

Holkham Hall Holkham Hall ( or ) is an 18th-century English country house, country house near the village of Holkham, Norfolk, England, constructed in the Neo-Palladian style for Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester (fifth creation), Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of ...

(1777) *Chimneypieces for the offices of Ransome, Morland and Hammersley of Pall Mall (1791) to the designs of Sir John Soane *Chimneypieces for

Woburn Abbey Woburn Abbey (), occupying the east of the village of Woburn, Bedfordshire, England, is a country house, the family seat of the Duke of Bedford. Although it is still a family home to the current duke, it is open on specified days to visitors, ...

(1791) for the

Duke of Bedford Duke of Bedford (named after Bedford, England) is a title that has been created six times (for five distinct people) in the Peerage of England. The first creation came in 1414 for Henry IV's third son, John, who later served as regent of Fran ...

Survival

Most of the Carters' work still survive in-situ. Some examples of their work such as the "

Aesop's Fables Aesop's Fables, or the Aesopica, is a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a Slavery in ancient Greece, slave and storyteller who lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 564 Before the Common Era, BCE. Of varied and unclear origins, the stor ...

" Fireplace of 1755, have sold for sums over £60,000.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Thomas 1702 births 1756 deaths Sculptors from London English sculptors