Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Nixon, Samuel
NIXON, SAMUEL (1803–1854), sculptor, was born in 1803. In 1826 he exhibited at the Royal Academy ‘The Shepherd,’ in 1828 ‘The Reconciliation of Adam and Eve after the Fall,’ in 1830 ‘The Birth of Venus,’ and in 1831 ‘The Infant Moses.’ He was principally employed during the next few years on portrait and sepulchral sculpture. When Philip Hardwick [q. v.] the architect was engaged on building Goldsmiths' Hall, in Foster Lane, Cheapside, he employed Nixon to do the sculptural decorations; the groups of the four seasons on the staircase were especially admired. Nixon also executed a statue of John Carpenter for the City of London School, and one of Sir John Crosby, to be placed in Crosby Hall, Bishopsgate Street. His principal work was the statue of William IV at the end of King William Street in the city, on the exact site of the famous Boar's Head of Eastcheap, set up in December 1844. This statue, which is fifteen feet three inches in height, is constructed of two blocks of Scotch granite, and the difficulty of the work severely crippled Nixon's health and resources (cf. Gent. Mag. 1844, i. 179). Nixon's workshop was at 2 White Hart Court, Bishopsgate Street, and he died at Kennington House, Kennington Common, on 2 Aug. 1854, aged 51. A brother was a glass-painter of repute.
[Gent. Mag. 1854, ii. 405; Redgrave's Dict. of Artists; Royal Academy Catalogues.]