Henry Freeman Bronze Bust

Mr Richard Sefton is a well renowned sculptor previously working as a builder, before starting work with Connoisseur some 30 years ago. He enjoyed a successful career as a sculptor and has exhibited and sold work all over the world, in venues including the Kennedy Art Centre in Washington and The Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma. Closer to home, his bust of Elgar was on display at the Elgar Birthplace Museum in Lower Broadheath.

He was thrilled to be asked to complete a bust for the Whitby lifeboat station, commemorating Henry Freeman, coxswain of the lifeboat from 1835 to 1904. The finished sculpture was cast in bronze and is now the centerpiece on the new lifeboat station, it is without doubt a wonderful piece of work. Richard said he enjoyed the project tremendously: "I'm most excited about this, as this is history - it's a real man. Everything else I do is make believe, it will be there for future generations when I'm long gone." "I'm hoping to carry on for as long as I can," he said. "I love the job and I believe it's keeping me young because whilst I'm doing it, I haven't got time to be ill."

The photographs below present the process of producing the bronze bust.

The story of the Henry Freeman sculpture

The story did not end with the large bronze bust, instead leading to a small Henry Freeman figurine.