Tinworth, GEORGE, artist in terra-cotta, was born in London, 5th November 1843, the son of a poor wheelwright, and while working in his father's shop took to wood-carving of his own accord. In 1861 he found opportunity to get lessons in an art school at Lambeth, and in 1864 entered the Royal Academy schools. He soon began exhibiting figures and groups of figures at the Royal Academy, and in 1867 obtained a permanent appointment in the great Doulton art pottery. The works by which he became famous were mainly terra-cotta panels with groups of figures in high relief illustrating scenes from sacred history, which happily combine grace, strength, and dignity with originality of design, dramatic effectiveness, and devout feeling. An important example is the reredos in York Minster, with twenty-eight terra-cotta panels.
See an Essay on the Life and Works of G. Tinworth, by E. W. Gosse (1883), and Strand Mag. (Nov. 1891).