Thornycroft, Mary, 1809-1895

Mary Francis Thornycroft was a prolific English sculptor of the 19th century. Born the third daughter of the four children of accomplished sculptor, John Francis, and his wife, Mary, she married one of her father's students, Thomas Thornycroft, on February 29, 1840. Training alongside her father's male students, she was determined to follow him in sculpturing as a career. Learning early to purchase materials and use marketing skills, she was able to have an intelligent conversation with the fellow students as well as aristocratic clientele.

Her first piece was a bust of her father, which was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1835. Eventually, she exhibited at the Royal Academy 33 times during her career. This time period was the dawn of women becoming recognized in the art world along with the business world. By being a woman, she was limited in her subjects as she could not wisely travel alone as a male sculptor could. Her subjects were mainly infants and children. She and her husband traveled to Rome in 1843 to purchased more affordable marble and gain European clientele. During the trip, she gave premature birth to her second child, a son named John Isaac.

Not only was she a successful female sculptor but was the mother of six children surviving to adulthood. Of her children, four were artistic with three being daughters. Being herself the subject of her children's many works, her daughter Alyce became a painter as well as a well-known sculptor. Her daughters Helen and Theresa Georgina became painters, and a son, Sir William Hamo Thornycroft, excelled as a sculptor. Theresa's son became poet Siegfried Sassoon. Her son John Isaac Thornycroft became a naval architect.

Her bronze bust created by Alyce is on exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery. She worked extensively for the Royal family, perhaps best-known are her busts of Queen Victoria and Albert's children. She used the four seasons for the theme of porcelain pieces: HRH the Prince Alfred, as Autumn; HRH the Prince of Wales, as Winter; HRH the Princess Alice, as Spring; HRH the Princess Royal, as Summer. These pieces were produced for the 1851 Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations in London. She collaborated with her husband for two other pieces that were displayed at this 1851 exhibition. She also created busts for aristocratic clientele. In 1852 she submitted a marble bust of the "Honorable Miss Stanhope" to the 84th Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts. In the drawing-room at Osborne House, the Royal holiday home on the Isle of Wight, were nine life-size marble statues of the young princes and princesses, which she had created for a commission of Queen Victoria. All are now part of the Royal Collection.

Besides, the Royal children, she created a piece, "The Skipping Girl," which was for the 1862 International Exhibition in London. In 2010, "The Skipping Girl" sold at auction for $1,800. She had many exhibitions throughout her career including in Leeds, Yorkshire and Dublin, Ireland. She taught Princess Louise to sculpt, who became a well-known sculptor in her own right. She became a member of the Society of Women Artists.