Henry Scheemakers

Henry Scheemakers (birth name: Hendrik Scheemaekers) (Flanders c.1686 - Paris, 18 July 1748) was a Flemish-born sculptor who worked in England and France in the first half of the 18th century.

[2] Henry Scheemakers, or Hendrik Scheemaekers in Flemish records, was the eldest son of Antwerp sculptor Pieter Scheemaeckers and his wife Catharina van der Hulst (d.1712).

Testimony by multiple witnesses during the divorce procedure of 2 July 1708 attested to the awful behaviour of the father Pieter, who mistreated and beat his wife and children calling them 'pigs' and flew into drunken rages during which he destroyed their home.

The London Years Brother Peter Scheemakers had arrived in England by around 1720, going into loose partnership with Gent-born sculptor Laurent Delvaux, especially following the early death of Antwerp-born Pierre-Denis Plumier around mid-1721.

Marriage and Children In the meantime Henry had married Catherine Hennekin at the St James' Royal Catholic Chapel in 1727.

Thomas took on his uncle's workshop in Vine Street when Peter retired to his native town of Antwerp where he died ten years later in 1781.

Thomas had married in London in 1779 but also died childless, leaving an estate worth almost £3,500 and appointing as executors his wife and Joseph Nollekens the sculptor.