Coade stone

Coade stone or Lithodipyra (Ancient Greek (λίθος/δίς/πυρά), "stone fired twice") was stoneware that was often described as an artificial stone in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It was used for moulding Neoclassical statues, architectural decorations and garden ornaments that were both of the highest quality and remain virtually weatherproof today. Produced by appointment to George III and the Prince Regent, it features on St George's Chapel, Windsor; The Royal Pavilion, Brighton; Carlton House, London; the Royal Naval College, Greenwich; and a large quantity was used in the refurbishment of Buckingham Palace in the 1820s.

Lithodipyra was first created around 1770 by Eleanor Coade who ran Coade's Artificial Stone Manufactory, Coade and Sealy, and Coade in Lambeth, London, from 1769 until her death in 1821, after which Lithodipyra continued to be manufactured by her last business partner William Croggon until 1833.

The recipe and techniques for producing Coade stone have been rediscovered by the team at Coade ltd., which now reproduce a range of Coade sculpture at their workshops in Wilton.

In 1769 Mrs Coade bought Daniel Pincot’s struggling artificial stone business at Kings Arms Stairs, Narrow Wall, Lambeth, a site now under the Royal Festival Hall. This business developed into Coade's Artificial Stone Manufactory with Eleanor in charge, such that within two years (1771) she fired Pincot for 'representing himself as the chief proprietor'.

Mrs Coade did not invent 'artificial stone' - various inferior quality precursors having been both patented and manufactured over the previous forty (or sixty) years - but she was probably responsible for perfecting both the clay recipe and the firing process. It is possible that Pincot's business was a continuation of that run nearby by Richard Holt, who had taken out two patents in 1722 for a kind of liquid metal or stone and another for making china without the use of clay, but there were many start-up 'artificial stone' businesses in the early 18th century of which only Mrs Coade's succeeded.

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Wikipedia