1 of the 100 objects featured in “The History of Cornwall in 100 Objects
On display on the ground floor, in the Herbarium/Billiard Room, Room Nº 5 on the left as you enter the room.
Both sculptor and subject were born near Launceston, Burnard in Altarnun and Adams in Laneast. Both, by their talent, escaped the life for which they might had been destined, Burnard to produce sculptures of 19th century celebrities such as Thackeray, Gladstone and even Harriet Beecher Stowe, Adams to discover the planet Neptune and to have a distinguished academic career. Burnard’s other Cornish subjects included Treffry, Trevithick, Borlase and Lander. However, in later life, Burnard’s fortune deserted him and he died in the workhouse in Redruth