3-082-228 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The late Mrs. Mary Thornycroft, 1895. 'An interesting and esteemed figure in the world of art has departed in the person of Mrs. Thornycroft, who died on Feb. 1. She was the daughter of Mr. John Francis, a sculptor who acted as assistant to Chantrey, and was born at Thornham, in Norfolk. She quickly developed a talent for the art of her father, and soon exhibited at the Royal Academy. She married a fellow-pupil, Mr Thomas Thornycroft, and studied still further in Rome. Here she so impressed Gibson that he recommended her to the Queen as better able to model the royal children than himself. For many years she was engaged in executing the Queen's commissions which now testify to her graceful skill in the royal palaces. Her greatest effect was made by her "Girl Skipping," exhibited thirty-five years ago in Paris. In her children she inspired her own hereditary artistic tastes, and Mr. Hamo Thornycroft, R.A., and Miss Helen Thornycroft - to name only two of her talented family - well sustain the reputation of their gifted mother. Another son, Mr. John J. Thornycroft, is the great torpedo-boat builder, and near the works, in old Chiswick churchyard, Mrs. Thornycroft was buried'. From "Illustrated London News", 1895.