Sandstone sculpture of Nance Tinnock, by James Crawford Thom
Description
This full size seated figure of the character Nanse Tinnock in a fine grained sandstone (freestone) was carved around 1832 by James C. Thom. Nanse Tinnock was the hostess of the Sorn Inn in Mauchline at the time Burns was resident there and featured in one of his poems.
This carving was initially purchased by David Auld and displayed in the garden of the Monument Hotel in Alloway. After sustaining damage from a falling tree and skillfully restored it was bought by the Burns Monument Trustees for £70 and now sits in the Statue House in the Monument gardens.
James Crawford Thom (1802-1850) born near Tarbolton was a stonemason who was encouraged by David Auld custodian of the Burns Monument in Alloway and carved a number of life sized characters from Burns' poems. He first tried his hand at stone carving at Auld's behest on a Bust of Burns.
Object information