Coade Stone

In 1771, she sacked Pincot and appointed neo-classical sculptor John Bacon (1740-1799) as supervisor. Bacon had worked for Pincot since 1764 as a stone carver and modeller. There are no Coade stone pieces by Bacon known in Lincolnshire, but his marble statue of Mars is in the Collection, Lincoln. 

In 1788, she and her cousin John Sealy (1749-1813) were appointed Artificial Stone Manufacturers to George III, the Prince of Wales and the Duke of York (Kentish Gazette 22 February 1788). The firm became Coade & Sealy until his death in 1813. Their showroom was opened in 1799 at Pedlar's Acre, near the south end of Westminster Bridge and where Sealy lived. Sealy, like Eleanor, was a good clay modeller, the first step in preparing the reverse plaster moulds.

Mr Sealy has lately finished a colossal statue of His Majesty to be placed at Weymouth

(Phillips 1804)

 It seems likely he is the sculptor of the Belton coat of arms (Lemmon 2006 page 6). Eleanor Coade herself was a modeller, but likely too old for Belton's piece. A bespoke design with mouldings not found in a circa 1784 catalogue. The Coade & Sealy 1799 catalogue lists places where use within Lincolnshire, but does not list Belton.

After his death, Eleanor appointed William Croggan as manager. He bought the business when she died. He went bankrupt in 1833 and died in 1835; his son continued the business which continued until the 1980s.

The artificial stone is a ceramic material containing a large proportion of ground pre-fired stoneware, soda glass and flint. This was rolled into sheets, ~100 mm thick or more and hand pressed into the reusable plaster moulds. Most works were cast in sections, as is Belton's crest. The model was carefully sized to be 8-10% bigger than the desired final result due to shrinkage on drying. The hollow clay was fired for 4 days using coal. The Royal Coat of Arms at the Imperial War Museum cast in Coade stone in 1815 is similar to Belton's. It cost 135 guinea's (~£10,000 2023). Carved in Portland stone the cost would have been £500.

As Sealy's 1809 George III at Weymouth demonstrates, left, coats of arms could be colourfully painted. Belton's crest might bear not only traces of paint if examined closely, but also the fingerprints of the craftsmen inside the hollow pieces. Based on the year fired and Sealy's death we can date Belton's heraldry to between 1810 and 1813, the time of the 2nd Baron Brownlow, later 1st Earl.

The Coade stone George III in Lincoln Castle was, like Belton's, manufactured in 1810. Did Sealy reuse any of his 1809 Weymouth moulds?