W. J. Coffee

William John Coffee (1774–1846) was an internationally renowned English artist and sculptor who worked in porcelain, plaster, and terra cotta. He also worked in oil paint, although this was not the medium for which he became famous. His early career was as a modeller for Duesbury at the china factory on Nottingham Road in Derby, England. The latter part of his life was spent in America.^[1]

Biography

Stone-cast bust of Erasmus Darwin, made by Coffee c 1795

One of his paintings

Coffee worked for William Duesbury in Derby, but he also worked at Pinxton Porcelain and potteries at Friar Gate in Derby and at the village of Church Gresley.^[2] During his time in Derby, Coffee made busts of some of the local dignitaries and historic figures including a life size bust of Erasmus Darwin. This bust is a fine example of Coffee's modelling skills and is now on display at Derby Museum.

Coffee also produced a terra cotta copy of the Florentine Boar (1806) and a number of terra cotta statues of Greek figures representing medicine and healing for the garden of Joseph Strutt. The boar was destroyed duiring World War II but has been recently replaced. Joseph Strutt's garden was given to the town as Derby Arboretum in 1840 complete with statues, but those of the Greek figures are now missing or lost. Coffee also made a 10-foot-tall (3.0 m) terra cotta statue of Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine, for William Strutt's Derbyshire Infirmary which was mounted above a dome at the very pinnacle of the newly designed hospital.^[3]

Coffee emigrated from England to New York City in 1816,^[4] where he became famous as a sculptor for American historical figures such as James Madison and Thomas Jefferson.^[1] He also made the ornamental plaster mouldings for Jefferson's house and for the University of Virginia. Coffee also sculpted a stature of Winfield Scott which later served as a model for an engraving of Scott on a U.S. Postage stamp, issued in 1870.^[5]

References

1. Derbyshire Heritage Artists, artsderbyshire.org.uk, accessed March 2011
2. Bricknell, B.R. (2008). Archive Report AR2. Derby International Porcelain Society. p. 97.
3. Elliott, Paul (2000). "The Derbyshire General Infirmary and the Derby Philosophers: The Application of Industrial Architecture and Technology to Medical Institutions in Early-Nineteenth-Century England". Medical History 46: 65–92. doi:10.1017/S0025727300068745. PMC 1044459. PMID 11877984.
4. The directory of Derby Artists quotes: Coffee, "William John - 1774 - 1846. Modeller for Crown Derby, emigrated to New York 1816"
5. "Winfield Scott". Smithsonian National Postal Museum. Retrieved March 7, 2014.

External links

• Derby Museum and Art Gallery