Biography

John Edward Carew was born in Tramore, County Waterford, Ireland, in about 1782 and went to study art in Dublin before leaving for England, where he worked as an assistant to Sir Richard Westmacott until 1823. He acquired a very important patron, the Earl of Egremont, for whom he did a series of neo-classical ideal works at Petworth House, Sussex (see Read 216); he also did some work for the royal family, executing two of the marble chimney-pieces at Buckingham Palace. He is known particularly for the relief panel of the death of Nelson at the base of Nelson's Column, and the figure of Sir Richard Whittington at the Royal Exchange. Benedict Read numbers him among the "prominent early Victorian sculptors" (216), and Bob Speel describes his works as "very classical, noble," and as having "considerable grace." He died in 1868. — Jacqueline Banerjee

Works

Sources

Read, Benedict. Victorian Sculpture. New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 1982.

Speel, Bob. John Edward Carew (1785-1868). Web. 12 May 2011.

Wroth, W. W.., rev. John Turpin. "Carew, John Edward (c.1782-1868)." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.. Online ed. Web. 12 May 2011.


Last modified 12 July 2011