#coadestone

Out of my sample of 677 British innovators, there are only two women. There are various possible reasons for this. Perhaps more female-heavy industries are not typically included in grand narratives of the IR, which were used to construct my sample. Or perhaps contemporary sources did not take women seriously. Or maybe women did not generally have enough access to requisite training and education (more on that later).

So I'd like to highlight some female innovators. I was initially going to put them all into this post, but the more I wrote, the more I realised they deserve separate entries. So here goes:

Eleanor Coade (1733-1821) developed coade stone (or as she called it, Lithodipyra) in around 1770. 

You've almost certainly not heard of coade stone, yet you've very probably seen some! It's a sort of artificial stone, and was used in countless statues and building frontispieces, particularly around London and spa towns like Bath, but also internationally. Some of the more famous examples include the Southbank Lion on the Southern end of Westminster Bridge,* Nelson's Pediment at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich, and the sculptural reliefs on Buckingham Palace, Brighton Pavilion, the original Twinings shop (still in use!) on the Strand, and the building that now houses the Imperial War Museum. 

Coade stone is versatile, yet withstands the elements with ease. After around two centuries of substantial air pollution, many of these monuments are as detailed as they were the day they were made. 

Unlike many inventors, Coade kept her recipe a closely guarded secret. So secret, that it wasn't until 1985 that a British Museum analysis finally determined that it is made of ceramic stoneware. Despite this secrecy, she was an extremely talented publicist, with numerous adverts in the Daily Advertiser, the Gazetteer, and the New Daily Advertiser, and in 1784 published a comprehensive catalogue of 746 designs. In 1780 she obtained the Royal Appointment to George III (and later George IV), and worked with some of the most celebrated architects of her day: Robert Adam, James and Samuel Wyatt, William Chambers, John Nash, and John Soane. 

I've seen doubt thrown upon whether she actually developed the process herself. I think we can be as sure of her contributions as we can be of Richard Arkwright's. Even if another workman came up with the initial principle (as Thomas Highs or John Kay did for Arkwright), Coade was the one who developed it and brought it into the market. She was also personally very skilled at the process, winning prizes from the Society of Artists. Sufficient evidence, I think, that she invented the process herself.

What I like most about Coade, however, was her grit - perhaps necessary in a business world dominated by men. She initially bought the artificial stone company, in 1769, from a Daniel Pincot. Coade stone appeared soon after. But when Pincot pretended that the business was still his, she promptly fired him.

So next time you see some implausibly intricate statuary from the 18th or early 19th centuries, think of the pioneering Eleanor Coade.

(You can read about the other female inventors here)