William Harbutt (13 February 1844 – 1 June 1921) was a British artist and the inventor of

Plasticine Plasticine is a putty-like modelling material made from calcium salts, petroleum jelly and aliphatic acids. Though originally a brand name for the British version of the product, it is now applied generically in English as a product category ...

Early life

Born in

North Shields North Shields () is a town in the Borough of North Tyneside in Tyne and Wear, England. It is north-east of Newcastle upon Tyne and borders nearby Wallsend and Tynemouth. Since 1974, it has been in the North Tyneside borough of Tyne and Wea ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, the son of Thomas Harbutt (5 August 1803 – 1880) and Elizabeth Whitehouse Jefcoate (27 June 1804 – 1883), Harbutt studied at the

National Art Training School The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It offe ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, and eventually became an associate of the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It ...

Career

He was headmaster of the

Bath School of Art and Design Bath School of Art and Design is an art college in Bath, England, now known separately as Bath School of Art and Bath School of Design. It forms part of the Bath Spa University whose main campus is located a few miles from the City at Newton Pa ...

from 1874 to 1877, and then opened his own art school at The Paragon Art Studio, 15 Bladud Buildings,

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

with his wife Elizabeth (Bessie), a well-known

miniature portrait A portrait miniature is a miniature portrait painting, usually executed in gouache, Watercolor painting, watercolor, or Vitreous enamel, enamel. Portrait miniatures developed out of the techniques of the miniatures in illuminated manuscripts, an ...

artist who exhibited works at the

Royal Academy of Art The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its purpo ...

and the Chicago World's Fair, and in 1887 was commissioned by

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

to produce portraits of herself and her late husband Prince Albert.

Plasticine

Harbutt invented

around 1897 as a non-drying modelling clay for use by his students. At the time he was living in Hartley House, 37 Belvedere, Lansdown Road, Bath, BA1 5HR; later moving to The Grange, High Street, Bathampton. In 1899 Harbutt was awarded a

trade mark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from oth ...

, and in 1900 a factory was set up at nearby

Bathampton Bathampton () is a village and civil parish east of Bath, England on the south bank of the River Avon. The parish has a population of 1,603. The Kennet and Avon Canal passes through the village and a toll bridge links Bathampton to Bathea ...

to manufacture the product for commercial sale. Harbutt travelled widely to promote the product, and his theories about the teaching of art by allowing children free expression.

Personal life

Harbutt was also a councillor on

rural district Rural districts were a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales, and Ireland for the administration of predominantly rural areas at a level lower than that of the a ...

council and

parish council. He was a member of Bath New Church Society which followed the teachings of

Emanuel Swedenborg Emanuel Swedenborg (, ; born Emanuel Swedberg; 29 March 1772) was a Swedish pluralistic-Christian theologian, scientist, philosopher and mystic. He became best known for his book on the afterlife, ''Heaven and Hell'' (1758). Swedenborg had a ...

, He and Bessie had seven children, six of whom survived infancy and worked in the family business. The Harbutt company, owned and run by Harbutt's descendants, continued to manufacture Plasticine in Bathampton until 1983.

Death

He died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severit ...

while on a trip to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1921.

Memorials

The Paradise in Plasticine garden, a creation of journalist and presenter

James May James Daniel May (born 16 January 1963) is an English television presenter and journalist. He is best known as a co-presenter of the motoring programme '' Top Gear'' alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond from 2003 until 2015. He also ...

displayed at the 2009 Chelsea Flower Show included a bust of Harbutt sculpted by

Jane McAdam Freud Jane McAdam Freud (24 February 1958 – 9 August 2022) was a British conceptual sculptor working in installation art and digital media. She was the winner of the 2014 European Trebbia Awards for artistic achievement. Life and work McAdam F ...

. His home town of North Shields attempted to commemorate his legacy, in 2009, by commissioning some street furniture to resemble plasticine shapes and colour, made out of concrete. Unfortunately these had to be removed shortly after installation due to complaints from the public, as the street furniture retained pools of water in the seats after rain rendering them unusable or the user getting wet. In addition they were not comfortable or practical and very problematic for elderly or infirm members of the public to get in to and up from. The 'plasticine' chairs were relocated throughout the region to less commercial areas including to the grounds of a local sixth form college, and repainted from the plain plasticine colours to various colour schemes and designs. These remain in place (if rarely used or occupied). Traditional metal street furniture replaced the 'plasticine' furniture in the town centre of his birthplace.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harbutt, William 1844 births 1921 deaths Alumni of Bath School of Art and Design Alumni of the Royal College of Art People from North Shields English Swedenborgians Associates of the Royal College of Art