[1] At the age of twelve, he was apprenticed to an uncle who was a cutler at Winchester, where his ability at carving knife handles revealed his skill as a sculptor.

In 1849, the family moved out of London, probably for health reasons, to Otterbourne, near Winchester, where Lucas may have become a friend of the Victorian children's author, Charlotte Mary Yonge.

Amongst his works on display at Bodelwyddan Castle are wax medallions of Sir Frederic Madden,[6] Thomas Garnier,[7] Anthony Panizzi[8] and Henry Hallam.

[14] Lucas was an enthusiastic student of the Elgin Marbles, of which he made two large wax models, the first showing the Parthenon as it appeared after bombardment by the Venetians in 1687; the other representing it restored in accordance with his own theories as to the original arrangement of the sculptures.

[1] These albumen "cartes de visite"[15] (now in the National Portrait Gallery) show Lucas in a variety of theatrical and expressive poses that further reveal his eccentricity.

[2] Towards the end of his life, Lucas's conversational prowess ensured that he was a frequent guest at Broadlands, the seat of Lord Palmerston, who obtained for him a civil-list pension in June 1865.

[16][17] Among the objects in the Bode's collection is a bust of Flora, which had been purchased by the Kaiser Friedrich Museum, Berlin, under the belief that it was by Leonardo da Vinci.

Wilhelm von Bode, the general manager of the Prussian Art Collections for the Berlin Museum, had spotted the bust in a London gallery and purchased it for 160.000 Goldmark.

Albert was able to explain how the layers of wax had been built up from old candle ends; he also described how his father would stuff various debris, including newspapers, inside the bust.