Angel of Death

The Angel of Death is the title given to this monument of George William Lancaster and his wife Louisa Mary who died on this day in 1922.

In Sweet and Loving Memory of

George William

Lancaster

23rd January 1920

Aged 66 Years

'Love Lives Forever'

The memorial was sculpted by Sydney March in Portland stone and Bronze and is a Grade II listed monument in East Sheen Cemetery. This work was influenced by North Italian tomb sculpture ~ especially Leonardo Bistolfi ~ and is considered one of the most significant examples of funerary sculpture.

The Lancasters were a north-country family who made their money in coal mining.

Their monument was described by Hugh Meller, author of London Cemeteries: An Illustrated Guide & Gazetteer, as 'arguably the most dramatic sculpture in any of London's cemeteries'. I have to admit that it is one of my favourites too.

Louisa Mary

Lancaster

Died

June 23rd 1922

'She Lived For Others' 

It is often said that truth is stranger than fiction and I recently found this very interesting article by Sheldon K Goodman about the relationship between George and his wife Louisa, whom he was not even married to, for the full story please continue to read his article..

https://cemeteryclub.wordpress.com/2015/12/24/the-bronze-angels-of-london/

Friday's Funerary Artist

Cees Langendorff

1948 -1998

As a boy of 10, Cees Langendorff made drawings of bridges, on the back of rolls of wallpaper because he wanted to be a bridge builder.
Later he worked in clay at the State Academy in Amsterdam.
As a sculptor he received commissions from the cities of The Hague and Amsterdam, and he conducted all his work. After periods of austerity, he switched to drawing and painting.



Friday's Funerary Artist

Here lies buried

Hildo Krop

City Sculptor of Amsterdam

26-2-1884   20-8-1970

and also of

W.F Krop

-Sleef

10-12-1891   3-9-1981

H. Krop

 ? 1915    20-11-2001

Hildebrand Lucien (Hildo) Krop was a prolific Dutch sculptor and furniture designer, widely known as the city sculptor of Amsterdam, where his work is well-represented.

War Memorial, Steenwijk, Holland 1947

Hildo was a baker's son, but was unwilling to work with his older brother. In Leiden he took classes in making marzipan figures. He then travelled to France and Italy where he worked as a pastry chef.
Hildo was in England in 1906 and employed by a couple as a cook. He discovered his talent as a draftsman and attended summer school in art.
Upon returning to the Netherlands, he decided to become an artist and went to study in Paris. Then In 1908, he studied at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Amsterdam where he learnt stone carving from the sculptor John Rädecker.

In 1910, he taught at a high school in Haarlem. In 1911-1912, he studied in Berlin and then traveled from Rome to Paris, where he joined Dutch painter Jacob Bendien. He befriended Ossip Zadkine, who taught him sculpture and direct carving. In 1913 after returning to Amsterdam, he worked as an assistant in the studio of Hendrik van den Eijnde until1916.
Hildo then became a staff member of the Amsterdam Department of Public Works. He created two groups of dockworkers in granite for a 1916 Public Works project. His work appears integrated with many civic buildings and bridges of the time.

He designed exterior figures on the Scheepvaarthuis by Amsterdam School architects Johan van der Mey, Piet Kramer and Michel de Klerk are his. After this building, Krop received appointment as city sculptor.

Hildo was responsible for many sculptures in Amsterdam, which include the Berlage monument on Victory Square and the plaque at the monument on the Dyke. At the Nassau Square in The Hague is his war memorial. The beautiful art nouveau villa Rams Woerth in Steenwijk has rooms that feature a varied collection of his work. Hildo Krop also designed furniture, ceramics, glass and ironworks.

Hildo spent much of his life among communist circles. In 1921, he designed the cover for H. Roland Holst's book Soviet Russia. In 1931, he made a bust of Lenin. In 1932, he traveled to the Soviet Union where he stayed for three months.
Hildo also cooperated with Soviet intelligence agents. His first spymaster was Max Friedman. Through him, he came to know 'Ludwik' (Ignace Reiss).

University Library, Amsterdam 

Hildo was the son of Henry Krop, baker, and Johanna Louisa Cordes and he had two brothers and four sisters. On the 24 December 1914 Hildo married Frederika Willemnia ("Mien") Sleef. They had two children, a daughter and a son. A third child (son) died young.
For more information, please click on his name here Hildo Krop