Mrs Eleanor Coade
Mrs Eleanor Coade
Eleanor Coade (1733-1821) was an unusual woman for her age. Born into a prosperous merchant family with ties in Cornwall and Devon, as well as in London, she was a well-known business woman and entrepreneur who successfully ran her business for nearly fifty years by combining artistic taste with marketing skills.
“Coade Artificial Stone Manufactory” made statues, fountains, urns, garden features, mantelpieces, commemorative and heraldic devices and other interior decorative carvings such as candelabra. Every eminent architect of the time from Robert Adam to Sir John Soane, John Nash, James Wyatt and Samuel Wyatt commissioned her work which can still be found today throughout Britain. She also exported to North America, to Philadelphia and Washington (“new Federal building friezes, keystones and chimney pieces”), as well as South America, Russia and Poland.
Coade was inspired by the classical style but also referenced gothic style, Egyptian works of art, and Chinese heritage. In the UK, her commissions adorn the Royal Naval College at Greenwich, Buckingham Palace, St George’s Chapel and Windsor Castle. The great lion on Westminster Bridge is made from Coade Stone and you can also find the stoneware surmounting doorways on London streets and porticos at various great country houses.
She was a remarkable woman yet largely unknown to most people today partly perhaps because her ceramic product so well imitated the stone it represented. She never revealed the complete detail of the constituent parts of her product or her exact firing technique and always remained closely involved in the production side. She was not the first person to create artificial stone – the Romans did as well but her particular secret formula seemed to die with her. The remarkable thing about her stone was that it did not shrink when fired which would have been achieved by incorporating preshrunk clay into the mixture. Even today the prices mixture and firing techniques are still not exactly known.
Records give an insight into her marketing techniques. She had an impressive showroom, conducted tours and printed what we today would call brochures, quoting classical authors. These “brochures” also listed her clients, one of whom was the first Earl of Carnarvon. He commissioned a number of ornaments in 1793 to surmount the new entrance to his “Capability” Brown Park at Highclere. In fact the splendour of London Lodge is almost entirely due to Mrs Coade.
Geordie and I began the restoration of this building and it was a fascinating process. It started from dereliction with trees growing out of, and around, the two lodge buildings on either side of the gates. An experienced stonemason from the Midlands, Eric Knight and his team, undertook the project and found a stamped Coade stone. Peter, our architect gave me a book on Coade stone, not always the quickest read but one I keep by me. Gratifyingly, our efforts received a Georgian Society award and this gatehouse is now rather comfortable and the one building we rent out for visitors and guests to enjoy whenever the Castle is open for tours.
Mrs Coade, a devout Baptist, was a philanthropist and proponent of women's rights. She never married and after her death left her fortune to family, educational charities and women in difficult circumstances, stipulating that their husbands should have no control over the money. I hope she would approve of our occasional practice of offering London Lodge as an auction prize to favourite charities to help those less well off.
22 Comments
Dear Lady Carnarvon,
wonderful, hardwearing stuff Coade, and a very clever, inspiring woman! So many features exist, that if left to the expense of carved stone would never exist. Its s shame the company did not survive after her.
If she was never married why the Mrs before her name?
Interesting story... but a question. If she never married, how did she become Mrs. Coade?
Can you stay in the gatehouse over night?
I think Mrs. Coade a proponent of women's rights would definitely approve of your offering
London Lodge as an auction prize to help those less well off and she would commend you
for your efforts. This is a wonderful legacy to her memory Lady Carnarvon.
Wonderful article....enjoyed it very much. My mind substituted "precise" for "prices" though. One of those little "oops" moments. I always love and learn from these interesting articles from Highclere.
Lovely picture of Mrs Eleanor coade and did you and lord Carnarvon have a wonderful weekend and lam fan of Downton Abbey and higcelere castle
Lovely picture of Mrs Eleanor coade and did you and lord Carnarvon have a wonderful weekend and lam fan of Downton Abbey and higcelere castle
Lovely picture of Mrs Eleanor coade and did you and lord Carnarvon have a wonderful weekend and lam fan of Downton Abbey and higcelere castle
Fascinating!
Lady Carvarvon, thank you for such an interesting story. Even several hundred years ago, women were making significant contributions to society.
What a lovely story; thank you Lady Carnarvon
What a spectacularly fascinating woman and story! Thank you for so much for this very interesting read...leaves one wondering who her parents were and
how she was brought up to be so clever and independent. Thank you for this wonderful (as usual, delightfully written!) piece. How are you all faring with the
high temperatures and water rationing?
Mrs. Eleanor Coade seems to have been a woman ahead of her time - I am so appreciative of the fact that she owned her own business and wanted to ensure that women had their own money that their husbands could not control - how fabulous! I am always eager to read your posts - interesting snippets of information and I learn much from them! Many thanks and have a lovely week, Lady Carnarvon.
I was so excited to see the title of today's, read. I learned about Coade Stone, while reading Bill Bryson's HOME. A great read and full of fascinating information. Secondly upon reading there is Capability Brown,By far the biggest influence on English country side and Gardens worldwide in my opinion.I was so happy to see he tribute to Capability Brown when I visited Highclere
I always love reading about independent successful women and the results of her dream
I loved this post. Here in America or traveling abroad I am always interested, not just in the statuary, but who produced it. It's wonderful knowing a little about the contributions of Eleanor Coade.
Thank you for devoting your post today to one of my favorite topics, architecture. I take daily morning walks in my California neighborhood, slowed down by my stopping to gawk at homes' doors, windows, and masonry details. A visit to Highclere is on my travel list. I would love to feast my eyes on the Coade works and other scrumptious features of your castle.
Thank you for introducing me to the remarkable Mrs Eleanor Coade. What a talented and entrepreneurial woman. As it happens, I will have admired much of her work without realising it. The only shame is that she never married and had children, so her secret recipe for Coade Stone was lost. Next time I'm visiting the UK I will revisit some places in London so I can have another look with "fresh eyes" at her stone work. I know she would be more than happy that you occasionally offer a stay at London Lodge as an auction prize for the less fortunate. Thank you for another inspiring Tuesday morning read.
You always have the most interesting reads for me each Monday. I am fascinated by your wealth of knowledge.
Fascinating story about Mrs. Eleanor Coade. Thank you for sharing. Next time we are back in the UK, I will certainly hunt down some of her work.
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Lovely the pictures of Mrs Eleanor coade did you have and lord Carnarvon and lam Downton Abbey higcelere castle