Sir Thomas Brock, an English sculptor and medallist, is the creator of many notable sculptures and statues, often on an epic scale. Here, we will be taking a look at his life and famous works…
Thomas Brock’s Early life
Thomas Brock was born on 1st March 1847 in Worcester. He attended the Government School of Design before he started an apprenticeship as a modeller at Worcester Royal Porcelain works. In 1866, he became a student of the sculptor John Henry Foley and enrolled in the Royal Academy Schools. Here, he won a gold medal for sculpture in 1869.
Unfortunately, Foley suddenly passed away in 1874 and so Thomas Brock took over some of his commissions, one of which was the monument to Daniel O’Connell in Dublin. However, it was the completion of Foley’s statue of Prince Albert, for the Albert Memorial in Kensington Gardens, that made Brock distinctive and secured him a position as an established sculptor.
Thomas Brock’s Famous works
People around the world would have seen Sir Thomas Brock’s work and probably not been aware of it. Some of his most notable work includes the Imperial Memorial, the Titanic Memorial in Belfast, his statue of Edward the Black Prince in Leeds, and the Queen Victoria statue in Birmingham. His portrait works include busts, such as those of Lord Leighton and Queen Victoria, and statues, such as Sir Richard Owen and Henry Philpott.
In 1891, Thomas Brock designed the ‘veiled head’ portrait of Queen Victoria and it was chosen from a competition organised by the Royal Mint to replace the Golden Jubilee image created by Sir Edgar Boehm, which was widely disliked. The gold sovereign, and silver coins, were minted from 1893 with the design introduced for lower value coins two years later. Brock’s Victoria also appeared on commemorative medals such as the Royal Victorian Medal of 1896 and the Diamond Jubilee of 1897. This design was the last to be used on UK coins before Victoria’s death in 1901.
Queen Victoria Memorial
The remainder of Thomas Brock’s career was spent creating in front of Buckingham Palace the huge, 82 foot high Queen Victoria Memorial. In 1911, during an opulent ceremony, the monument was unveiled and King George V was so stunned by it’s appearance that he knighted Brock on the spot. Thomas Brock continued to work on this until he passed away on 22nd August 1922, and the memorial was finalised two years later.
We have a great selection of Queen Victoria sovereign coins available HERE.
