Hamo Thornycroft ca. 1880 Sir William "Hamo" Thornycroft, RA (9
March 1850–18 December 1925) was a British sculptor, responsible
for several London landmarks. Hamo Thornycroft belonged to the
Thornycroft family of sculptors. His father, Thomas, mother
Mary, and grandfather John Francis were all distinguished
sculptors. He was born in London. His brother, John Isaac
Thornycroft, became a successful naval engineer; their sister,
Theresa, was the mother of the poet Siegfried Sassoon; Theresa
and sisters Alyce and Helen Thornycroft were artists. Hamo's
early training was with his parents and he developed a
passionate and precocious attachment to Classical sculpture. He
subsequently studied at the Royal Academy of Arts, where his
primary influence was the painter-sculptor Frederic Leighton.
Hamo won the Gold Medal of the Royal Academy in 1876, with the
statue Warrior Bearing a Wounded Youth. He was the leading
figure in the movement known as the New Sculpture. His close
personal friend, the critic Edmund Gosse, co