Page:Dictionary of Artists of the English School (1878).djvu/448

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bronze. His last designs were of a monu- mental character. He died in 1817. His son has become eminent in his father's profession.

THEW, Robert, engraver. Born in 1758, at Patrington, Holdernesse, where his father kept a village inn. He was ap- prenticed to a cooper, and served his time, and was a private in the Northumberland Militia during the war. Though without education, he had much natural ability. In 1783 he settled in Hull, and engraved shop-bills, cards, &c, and then a plan of Hull, and, advancing in his attempts, the head of a well-known puppet showman. Later he engraved a good plate after Gerard Dow, and through it gained an introduc- tion to Alderman Boydel), who gave him employment. He practised in the dot manner, and engraved no less than 19 of the lar^e plates for the Shakespeare Gallery, which are finished with great de- licacy and character. A plate by him, after Westall, of Cardinal Wolsey entering Leicester Abbey is one of his best works. He held the appointment of engraver to the Prince of Wales. He died at Stevenage, Herts, in August 1802.

THIRTLE, John, water-colour painter. He was born in Norwich in 1774; the son of a shoemaker. He first practised as a miniature painter, and then oegan business as a frame-maker, carver and gilder, at Norwich. Was a member of the Norwich Society, with which he exhibited, and prac- tised at Norwich in the beginning of the 19th century. He exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1808, but only on this occasion. His drawings were good, well-coloured examples of pure water-colour art. He married the sister-in-law of J. Sell Cotman. He did not leave his native city, and died there September 29, 1839, and was buried in the Rosary Cemetery.

THOM. John, subject painter. Was bom in Edinburgh about 1785, and studied the elements of his art there. Later he came to London, where he met with en- couragement. His 'Young Recruit ' was engraved by A. Duncan in 1825.

THOM 2 James, sculptor. Was born in Ayrshire in 1799, and found his first em- ployment, obscure and unfriended, as a stone-cutter. Uneducated, he produced in stone some clever natural groups, which attracted the notice of his own country- men, and induced him to try his fortune in London. Here he found employment, and his * Tarn O'Shanter ' and ' Old Mortality ' were produced in plaster, sold throughout the country, and made him famous. He entrusted these two groups to an agent to exhibit in America, and, never receiving any returns, he crossed the Atlantic to look after his property, and was induced to re- main. He settled at Newark, where in

exploring for stone for his own purposes, he discovered a valuable quarry. He re- produced from this stone his two favourite groups and a statue of Burns, and several commissioned groups for the decoration of pleasure-grounds. He made a profitable contract for the stone-work and for much of the decorative stone-carving for Trinity Church, New York, and was enabled to purchase a farm on the line of the Erie Railroad, and to build himself a house. He appears then to have abandoned his profession. He died of consumption, in his lodgings at New York. April 17, 1850, aged 51. He left a widow and two children.

THOMAS, Matthew Edward, archi- tect. Was a student of the Royal Aca- demy, and in 1815 gained the gold medal for his design for a palace. This he ex- hibited the following year, and then tra- velled in Italy, and was elected a member of the Academy at Florence and of St Luke at Rome. On his return, he exhi- bited at the Academy in 1820-21-22, and his name then disappears. The works con- tributed in these three latter exhibitions were architectural drawings, not designs.

THOMAS, John, sculptor. Was of a Welsh family, and was born in 1813 at Chalford, Gloucestershire. He came to London to undertake pait of the decora- tive sculpture of the new Houses of Parliament, and was chiefly engaged in works of that class. From 1838 to 1862 he was a constant exhibitor at the Aca- demy. H is contributions were chiefly busts, on which he appears to have been well employed, with an occasional design of a monumental character. The pediment and figures in front of the Great Western hotel are by him, as also are the allegorical bas- reliefs of London, Liverpool, Manchester, and other cities, at the Euston Square station. He designed the new works at the head of the Serpentine river, and the great majolica fountain (now in trie Horti- cural Gardens) for the International Exhi- bition in 1862. Of his works of higher pretension are a ' Musidora.' in marble; 'Lady Godiva/ 'Una and the Lion.' He suffered from overwork and anxiety, and died at Maida Hill, April 9, 1862, aged 49.

THOMAS, John Evan, sculptor. Was born in Wales, and came to London, where he studied under Sir Francis Chantrey. He was from 1835 an exhibitor at the Royal Academy. His works were chiefly, and for many years exclusively, busts, but he executed several statues in marble and bronze, and some portrait statuettes. Among his statues may be mentioned a colossal bronze figure of the 'Marquis of Bute/ at Cardiff, ' The Duke of Welling- ton/ at Brecon, and 'Prince Albert/ on the Castle Hill, Tenby. He only exhibited

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