Factors That Influenced the Success of Coade Stone

The factors which influenced the success of Coade stone are considered; its resistance to environmental degradation, its versatility of artefact manufacture, the multiplicity of provision of statuary and of building items, and especially the ease with which the production of heraldic emblems such as coats-of-arms and escutcheons to specific sizes are noteworthy. Some specific examples are used from the Coade & Sealy Catalogue of 1784 to illustrate. Restoration problems of badly damaged Coade stone artefacts using modern materials are discussed. The demise of Coade & Co. is attributed to the appearance of cementitious artificial stone alternatives and the later manufacture versions by John Blashfield, Mark Blanchard, Austin & Seeley, James Parker and James Pulham. Confusion of terminology with “terracotta” artefacts in the mid- to late-nineteenth century.