George Tinworth

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George Tinworth
Doulton

George Tinworth (5 November 1843 – 11 September 1913

Doulton factory at Lambeth from 1867 until his death.[2]

Birth and training

Born at 6 Milk Street,

Chums Boys Annual
of 1896 Tinworth explained: "I had to keep the whole affair dark from my father. Indeed, I went to Lambeth School of Art of a night for months before he knew anything about it. He used to ask my mother where I was, but happily for me she always refused to gratify his curiosity." (Chums, 1896).

Before he sold any work he made money by mending cart wheels. He also worked in a fireworks factory earning half a crown per week. From there he moved to a hot presser's where for four shillings per week he worked from seven in the morning until nine at night.

In the same year that he began study at Lambeth he created 'The Mocking of Christ', now on show at the

Walworth Road, Southwark
.

From the Lambeth School of Art (now the

Royal Academy
Schools in 1864, winning various medals for his work.

Doulton & Co

After the Royal Academy he got a job with

Doulton, the Lambeth stoneware manufacturer, Tinworth had previously been one of a group of students from the Lambeth School of Art who assisted its principal, John Sparkes in the making of a terracotta frieze for an extension to Doulton's premises.[4]

He began work at the Doulton factory making cases for water filters, but soon moved on to making the new range of

1867 Paris Exhibition.[4]
His father died in the same year, and he was left as the main supporter of his mother and family.

Saul throws a spear at David by Tinworth
The pulpit in St. Alban's Anglican Church in Copenhagen, Denmark, donated by Doulton and designed by Tinworth
The City of Refuge by Tinworth, Wraysbury Baptist Chapel
Four decorative panels by Tinworth, from St Bede's College, Manchester

At Doulton, he produced vases, jugs, humorous figures and animals and larger pieces. Through his engagement with Doulton, Tinworth also designed an

terra cotta with salt glazed details to Tinworth 's design.[5]

Notable work

Detail: The Fountain of Life

The Cuming Museum, Southwark, has three examples of his life-sized clay heads and a terracotta scene entitled The Jews making bricks under Egyptian Taskmasters. This last was presented to the museum by Doulton and Co in 1914 as a memorial to Tinworth; they seem not to have recognised that it could be interpreted as an allegory of the exploitation of his fellow clayworkers.

Many of his pieces were shown at the Royal Academy where they were admired by John Ruskin, amongst others. The first to be exhibited there, in the year he joined the school, was a group of children fighting called "Peace and Wrath in Low Life".[6] A large scale terracotta fountain, "The Fountain of Life", was donated to Kennington Park by Henry Doulton in 1872 (or 1869?). This was vandalised in the 1980s and The Friends of the Park are seeking funding for its restoration.

Other pieces by Tinworth are to be found in the

Burton, Wiltshire
.

In 1870, Tinworth was commissioned to produce two stone friezes for the royal parish church at

The Royal Collection to St Gabriel's Church, North Acton, following a national appeal for assistance in completing the church, after its construction costs exceeded the available funds. They remain on public display in Acton.[10]

The Cuming Museum has Tinworth's major independent art project in storage. This is a 4-foot-high (1.2 m) model of a project for an elaborate memorial to Southwark's connection with

Barabas and Saul attacking David
.

The Southwark Local Studies Archive[11] has his manuscript (and unpublished) autobiography.

At York Minster, the reredos of St Stephen's Chapel in terracotta is due to Tinworth. It was added in 1937.[12]

Death

Tinworth died in London on 11 September 1913 and was buried in his mother's plot at West Norwood Cemetery.[1] The monument on the tomb was one of many destroyed by the London Borough of Lambeth, who reused the grave for new burials in the 1980s. After a legal protest by a descendant, Lambeth placed a simple plaque commemorating the people buried in the plot.[13]

His name is commemorated in Tinworth Street, Lambeth.

Notes

  1. ^ a b "George Tinworth Dead". The Boston Globe. London. 11 September 1913. p. 3. Retrieved 15 April 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ 'George Tinworth', Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851–1951, University of Glasgow History of Art and HATII, online database 2011 accessed 13 Oct 2011
  3. ^ City and Guilds of London Art School web site
  4. ^
    ISBN 978-0-7478-0338-6
    . Retrieved 12 October 2011.
  5. ^ "About the Church". St. Alben's Church. Retrieved 26 February 2010.
  6. ^ Doulton Artists
  7. ^ Detail of former Doulton's works, Black Prince Road
  8. ^ Black Prince Road and Doris Street | Survey of London; vol. 23
  9. ^ The Doulton Lambeth Wares, Desmond Eyles and Louise Irvine: Richard Dennis, Shepton Beauchamp, 2002, p. 49.
  10. ^ "Art and Devotion". Final paragraph: St Gabriel's Church, North Acton. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  11. ^ Southwark Local Studies Library – 24 Hour Museum – official guide to UK museums, galleries, exhibitions and heritage at www.24hourmuseum.org.uk
  12. ^ "York Minster: St. Stephen's Chapel". www.fmschmitt.com. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  13. ^ Friends of West Norwood Cemetery Archived 16 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine Newsletter 52

Further reading

  • Rose, Peter. George Tinworth, Harriman-Judd Collection, Vol 1. CDN Corps, USA, 1982 (including a chronology of principal works compiled by Desmond Eyles).

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to George Tinworth.
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