| Thomas Rawlins | |
|---|---|
Illustration from Rawlins' pattern book, Familiar Architecture | |
| Born | 1727 |
| Died | 18 March 1789 |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Sculptor, architect, author |
| Known for | Funary Monuments |
| Notable work | Monument for Sir Thomas Churchman at St Giles' Church, Norwich |
Thomas Rawlins (1727–1789) was an English sculptor, architect and architectural author, who specialized in funerary monuments.
Thomas Rawlins was the son of a Norwich worsted weaver. He was trained by a London sculptor and ran a successful business as a funerary monument mason in Norwich from circa 1743–81, specialising in coloured marbles. In 1753 he advertised himself as, a carver and mason at Duke's Palace Yard, Norwich of monuments and chimney pieces both ancient and modern. [1] [2]
Norwich is a historic city in Norfolk, England. Situated on the River Wensum in East Anglia, it lies approximately 100 miles (161 km) north-east of London. It is the county town of Norfolk and is considered the capital of East Anglia, with a population of 141,300. From the Middle Ages until the Industrial Revolution, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important.
Worsted is a high-quality type of wool yarn, the fabric made from this yarn, and a yarn weight category. The name derives from Worstead, a village in the English county of Norfolk. That village, together with North Walsham and Aylsham, formed a manufacturing centre for yarn and cloth in the 12th century, when pasture enclosure and liming rendered the East Anglian soil too rich for the older agrarian sheep breeds. In the same period, many weavers from Flanders moved to Norfolk. "Worsted" yarns/fabrics are distinct from woollens : the former is considered stronger, finer, smoother, and harder than the latter.
Ranking high as a sculptor in the view of art historian Nicholas Pevsner, Rawlins' style spans from late Baroque Rococo to Neoclassical. This stylistic change, according to Pevsner, is illustrated by two monuments in St Andrew's Church, Norwich, the first to John Custance (circa 1756) the second to Richard Dennison (circa 1767). [3] Later monuments to William Wilcocks (1714–1770) in St Swithin's (now Norwich Arts Centre), and Robert Rushbrook (1705–81) in Saint John the Baptist, Maddermarket, Norwich, display a great awareness of neo-classical motifs. His monument for Sir Thomas Churchman at St Giles' Church, Norwich however, is considered to be his finest work. It features a medallion portrait and a sarcophagus, which is decorated with allegorical figures representing Vanity, Time, and Judgement, along with an Egyptian pyramid in construction.
Rococo, less commonly roccoco, or "Late Baroque", is a highly ornamental and theatrical style of decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colors, sculpted molding, and trompe l'oeil frescoes to create the illusions of surprise, motion and drama. It first appeared in France and Italy in the 1730s and spread to Central Europe in the 1750s and 1760s. It is often described as the final expression of the Baroque movement.
St Andrew's Church, Norwich is a Grade I listed medieval building in Norwich.
Norwich Arts Centre is a live music venue, theatre and art gallery located in St. Benedict's Street in Norwich, Norfolk, England. It has a capacity of 260 for standing music concerts and 120 for seated events. In November 2014, it was named "Britain's Best Small Venue" by the NME.
Rawlins also practised as an architect. His designs, like his contemporary Thomas Ivory, architect of the Octagon Chapel (1756), were Neo-Palladian in style. He competed for the Royal Exchange (City Hall, Dublin) in 1769, and exhibited designs at the Society of Artists in 1767, 1769 and 1770 and at the Royal Academy in 1773, 1774 and 1776.
Thomas Ivory (1709–1779) was an English builder and architect, active in Norwich.
The Octagon Chapel is a Unitarian Chapel located in Colegate in Norwich, Norfolk, England. It is home to a growing liberal religious community, welcoming people of all religious faiths and none. The congregation is a member of the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches.
The City Hall, Dublin, originally the Royal Exchange, is a civic building in Dublin, Ireland. It was built between 1769 and 1779 to the designs of architect Thomas Cooley and is a notable example of 18th-century architecture in the city.
In 1765 the Ipswich Journal advertised a proposed work on architecture by Rawlins and in 1768 he published a pattern book, Familiar Architecture: or Original Designs of Houses for Gentlemen and Tradesmen; Parsonages; Summer Retreats; Banqueting-Rooms; and Churches. Further editions of Rawlins' pattern book were issued in 1789 and 1795, and in contemporary times it has been called influential and practical. [4] Archer (2005) suggests that Rawlins' book was seeking to address a bourgeois provincial, rather than an elite metropolitan, clientele, and notes his emphasis on the need for flexibility on questions of proportion so as to fit buildings to the inclinations of their owners. [5]
Proportion is a central principle of architectural theory and an important connection between mathematics and art. It is the visual effect of the relationships of the various objects and spaces that make up a structure to one another and to the whole. These relationships are often governed by multiples of a standard unit of length known as a "module".
His only documented architectural works are the entrance to St. Andrew's and Blackfriars' Hall, Norwich in 1774, (subsequently rebuilt) and Weston House completed in 1781 for John Custance at Weston Longville. [4] [6] The Blackfriars entrance was in a Gothic style, and housed Norwich Library. [7] The house was described by one critic as a "dull five-by-five bay two-and-a-half-story house" [8] it later became the residence of Parson James Woodforde, and was demolished in 1926. In 1772 his reinforcement with ironwork of the south aisle of Saint John the Baptist at Maddermarket became the subject of satirical verses. [9] Nonetheless, Rawlins is commemorated by a stone in the floor of the church, describing him simply as an architect who died on 18 March 1789. [10]
St. Andrew's Hall and Blackfriars' Hall are a Grade I listed set of friary church and convent buildings in the English city of Norwich, Norfolk, dating back to the 14th century. They make up the most complete friary complex surviving in England. The complex is made up of several flint buildings. The centrepiece is St Andrew's Hall. The halls are now used for conferences, weddings, concerts, beer festivals and meetings. The maximum capacity is 1200 people. It is one of the Norwich 12 heritage sites.
Weston Longville is a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk, approximately 8 miles (13 km) north-west of Norwich. Its name is derived from the Manor of Longaville in Normandy, France, which owned the local land in the 12th century. It covers an area of 11.24 km2 (4.34 sq mi) and had a population of 303 in 127 households at the 2001 census, increasing to a population of 339 in 144 households at the 2011 Census. For the purposes of local government, it falls within the district of Broadland.
Gothic Revival is an architectural movement popular in the Western World that began in the late 1740s in England. Its popularity grew rapidly in the early 19th century, when increasingly serious and learned admirers of neo-Gothic styles sought to revive medieval Gothic architecture, in contrast to the neoclassical styles prevalent at the time. Gothic Revival draws features from the original Gothic style, including decorative patterns, finials, lancet windows, hood moulds and label stops.
John Brown (1805–1876) was a 19th-century architect working in Norwich, in the county of Norfolk, England. His buildings include churches and workhouses.
James Paine (1717–1789) was an English architect.
Samuel Sanders Teulon was a 19th-century English Gothic Revival architect, noted for his use of polychrome brickwork, and the complex planning of his buildings.
Ewan Christian (1814–95) was a British architect. He is most notable for the restorations of Southwell Minster and Carlisle Cathedral, and the design of the National Portrait Gallery. He was Architect to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners from 1851 to 1895. Christian was elected A RIBA in 1840, FRIBA in 1850, RIBA President 1884–86 and was awarded the Royal Gold Medal in 1887.
William Paty was a British surveyor, architect and mason working mainly in Bristol. He was appointed City Surveyor in 1788. He worked with his father Thomas Paty and brother John Paty.
John Snetzler was an organ builder of Swiss origin who worked mostly in England.
Thomas Farnolls Pritchard or Farnolls Pritchard was an English architect and interior decorator who is best remembered for his design of the first cast-iron bridge in the world.
The Church of St John the Baptist, Maddermarket, is a redundant Anglican church in the city of Norwich, Norfolk, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building, and is in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.
Richard Makilwaine Phipson (1827–1884) was an English architect. A diocesan architect for the Anglican Diocese of Norwich, he is responsible for the renovation of almost 100 churches in East Anglia.
Herbert John Green was an English architect who was born near Ipswich in the English county of Suffolk.
Christopher Layer, of Norwich, Norfolk, was an English merchant, burgess of Norwich, and briefly a Member of Parliament.
John Bond Pearce was an English architect from Norwich, Norfolk. His architectural practice was in Surrey Street, Norwich. His son Neville Bond Pearce was also a noted architect. Pearce designed many of his building in the Victorian Gothic architectural style, a good example being the town hall in Great Yarmouth opened in 1882.
Richard Westmacott (1747–1808) was an 18th-century monumental sculptor and the beginning of a dynasty of one of Britain's most important sculpting families. He also specialised in fireplace design for England's grand country houses.
John Francis Moore was a sculptor who was active in late 18th century Britain. His works include two memorials in Westminster Abbey.
St Giles' Church, Norwich is a Grade I listed parish church in the Church of England in Norwich.
St Edmund’s Church, Norwich is a Grade I listed redundant parish church in the Church of England in Norwich.
William Sands, senior, was an English architect and mason who worked in Spalding, Lincolnshire. He was master of the Freemason’s Lodge and a member of the Spalding Gentlemen's Society. He appears to have been an architect who supplied plans for houses for other craftsmen to construct. Sands was also a monumental mason. Examples of his work can be seen in Croyland Abbey and the church at Weston, Lincolnshire. His architectural practice was continued by his son William Sands, junior.
