2-979-110 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Altar-tomb and Sculpture in Ledbury Church, 1857. Monument to a dead child, conceived by Mary Thornycroft and sculpted by her husband Thomas Thornycroft. 'This altar-tomb and group of sculpture have been executed by Mr. Thornycroft, and erected in the chancel of Ledbury Church, to the infant son of Mr. John Martin, M.P., of the Upper Hall, Ledbury. The child reposes in the placid sleep of infancy, its little hands trustfully crossed on its breast. Angels grouped at the head guard [the] sleeper - one bearing the crown of immortality, waiting the appointed time. In this highly-meritorious work Mr. Thornycroft has revived the architectural arrangement of the Middle Ages...It bears the following inscription: "John Hamilton, the beloved infant son of John Martin and Maria Henrietta, his wife, born April 23rd, 1850, died March 18th, 1851. Them which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him".' From "Illustrated London News", 1857.