John Nost was a Flemish sculptor, from Mechelen

Mechelen

Mechelen Footnote: Mechelen became known in English as 'Mechlin' from which the adjective 'Mechlinian' is derived...

. He was employed by Arnold Quellin, and married his widow. He moved to England at the end of the seventeenth century, and set up business in Haymarket.

He was prolific and received many commissions, including work at Melbourne Hall

Melbourne Hall

Melbourne Hall, Derbyshire, England was once the seat of the Victorian Prime Minister William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, and thus is the ultimate origin for the naming of Melbourne, Australia. The house is now the seat of Lord Ralph Kerr and Lady Kerr and is open to the public...

, Castle Howard

Castle Howard

Castle Howard is a stately home in North Yorkshire, England, north of York. One of the grandest private residences in Britain, most of it was built between 1699 and 1712 for the 3rd Earl of Carlisle, to a design by Sir John Vanbrugh...

, Buckingham House and Chatsworth

Chatsworth House

Chatsworth House is a stately home in North Derbyshire, England, northeast of Bakewell and west of Chesterfield . It is the seat of the Duke of Devonshire, and has been home to his family, the Cavendish family, since Bess of Hardwick settled at Chatsworth in 1549.Standing on the east bank of the...

. Many of his statues were in lead

Lead

Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...

.

His nephew John van Nost the younger (d.1780) carried on the business, moving to Dublin around 1750.