biography of Simeon, Sr. SKILLIN (1716-1778)

Death place: Boston

Addresses: Boston, active 1738-78

Profession: Ship & house ornamental carver

Comments: Operated a carpentry and carving shop from c.1740 until his death. Records indicate the shop provided ordinary carpentry services, as well as ornate decorative work for furniture makers, carved shop signs, and carved figureheads for ships. Simeon, Sr. is recorded as carving a bust of Lord Chatham, or William Pitt, for a monument in Dedham, MA, that was placed in 1767 and destroyed by British troops two years later. In 1777 he was commissioned to carve the 6-foot 9-inch figurehead Minerva" for the brig Hazard, one of the first armed ships of the Revolution. He was the father of Simeon (Jr.), John, and Samuel Skillin (see entries), all of whom worked with him in the shop. Some scholars had attributed the well-known "Little Admiral" (Old State House, Boston) to Simeon, Sr.; but others have pointed to the lack of documentary evidence to support this (see Craven, p. 11-12, for discussion).

Sources: G&W; Swan, "Simeon Skillin, Senior, the First American Sculptor"; Thwing, "The Four Carving Skillins"; Swan, "Boston's Carvers and Joiners, Part I"; Pinckney, American Figureheads and Their Carvers, 45-55; Craven, Sculpture in America, 10-12."