Joseph Wilton

Life Dates1722 – 1803

Joseph Wilton was born in London, England, in 1722. As a young man, he trained in sculpting in Belgium, France, and Italy.He returned to London in the 1750's and opened a studio. In 1761, he was commissioned to create the gilded lead statue of King George III which stood in Bowling Green in Manhattan, which was later torn down and brought to Wilton on its way to Litchfield to be melted down into musket balls. Much of that statue disappeared during its over night stay in Wilton, and pieces of it turned up in various locations across town over the next several decades.

The naming of Wilton, CT, is not connected to Joseph Wilton.