Sir Henry Cheere is renowned as one of the very first British sculptors and masons to rival the skill demonstrated by his European rivals and predecessors.
Cheere's career began in London in 1718, as an apprentice. By the time he was twenty-three he had established both a reputation for quality and his own firm of sculptors, which led to him being named, aged forty, as 'carver' to Westminster Abbey, where he is known to have created at least nine monuments. In 1760 he was knighted and in 1766 made a baronet of St. Margaret's, Westminster.
Sir Henry's designs feature in country houses, mansions and institutions throughout the UK, and his habit of not signing his work, combined with the large number of sculptors and apprentices he employed has sometimes made clear attribution of his less monumental works difficult.