Charles Bell Birch (28 September 1832 – 16 October 1893) was a British sculptor.

Biography

Birch was born at

Brixton Brixton is an area of South London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th century ...

in south London, the son of the author and translator Jonathan Birch (1783–1847) and his wife Esther (née Brooke). As a child he showed artistic promise, and at the age of twelve he was admitted to study at Somerset House School of Design. In the following year, 1845, his father moved to Germany, and Birch attended the Royal Academy in Berlin, where he produced his first significant work, a bust of the British Ambassador to Berlin, the

Earl of Westmoreland Earl of Westmorland is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of England. The title was first created in 1397 for Ralph Neville. It was forfeited in 1571 by Charles Neville, 6th Earl of Westmorland, for leading the Rising of the North ...

. Birch returned to England in 1852 and became a student at the

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

of Arts, gaining two medals. For ten years he was principal assistant to

John Henry Foley John Henry Foley (24 May 1818 – 27 August 1874), often referred to as J. H. Foley, was an Irish sculptor, working in London. He is best known for his statues of Daniel O'Connell for the O'Connell Monument in Dublin, and of Prince Albert for t ...

R.A. and from 1852 till his death he exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy, and was elected an Associate member of the academy in 1880. Birch won a significant prize of £600 in an open competition in 1864 from the

Art Union of London The Art Union of London (1837–1912) was an organisation which distributed works of art amongst its subscribers by lottery. Art unions Art unions were organisations created to function as patrons of art. Members would pay a small annual subscr ...

for his marble work ''The Wood Nymph'', which was judged to be the "best original figure or group". It was subsequently selected as one of the representative works of British art for the Vienna, Philadelphia and Paris Exhibitions. To mark the

Golden Jubilee A golden jubilee marks a 50th anniversary. It variously is applied to people, events, and nations. Bangladesh In Bangladesh, golden jubilee refers the 50th anniversary year of the separation from Pakistan and is called in Bengali language, ...

of Queen Victoria's reign in 1887, Birch was commissioned to carve a statue, in

Carrara Carrara ( ; ; , ) is a town and ''comune'' in Tuscany, in central Italy, of the province of Massa and Carrara, and notable for the white or blue-grey Carrara marble, marble quarried there. It is on the Carrione River, some Boxing the compass, ...

marble, of the Queen for

Udaipur Udaipur (Hindi: , ) (ISO 15919: ''Udayapura'') is a city in the north-western Indian state of Rajasthan, about south of the state capital Jaipur. It serves as the administrative headquarters of Udaipur district. It is the historic capital of t ...

in India. Subsequently, at least eight copies of this statue were cast in bronze for locations in Britain and throughout the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

. In 1891 he was one of eight eminent artists who were invited to submit designs for new British coinage. Adrian Jones and Horace Montford were pupils of Birch.

Selected works

* ''Wood Nymph'' (1864), his first really popular work * ''Dragon'' (1880) on Temple Bar Memorial * Statue of ''Lieutenant Walter Hamilton'' in Dublin (about 1880), now on display in the

National Army Museum The National Army Museum is the British Army's central museum. It is located in the Chelsea district of central London, adjacent to the Royal Hospital Chelsea, the home of the " Chelsea Pensioners". The museum is a non-departmental public bod ...

Chelsea, London Chelsea is an area in West London, England, due south-west of Kilometre zero#Great Britain, Charing Cross by approximately . It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the SW postcode area, south-western p ...

. * Statue of

Benjamin Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman, Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician and writer who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a ...

(1883) in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

* Statue of

George Brown George Brown may refer to: Arts and entertainment * George Loring Brown (1814–1889), American landscape painter * George Douglas Brown (1869–1902), Scottish novelist * George Williams Brown (1894–1963), Canadian historian and editor * Ge ...

(1884), one of the

Fathers of Confederation The Fathers of Confederation are the 36 people who attended at least one of the Charlottetown Conference, Charlottetown Conference of 1864 (23 attendees), the Quebec Conference, 1864, Quebec Conference of 1864 (33 attendees), and the London Conf ...

, in

Queen's Park (Toronto) Queen's Park is an urban park in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Opened in 1860 by Edward VII of the United Kingdom, Edward, Prince of Wales, it was named in honour of Queen Victoria. The park is the site of the Ontario Legislative Building, ...

* Allegorical statues of "Justice" and "Plenty" (1887), for the

Australian Joint Stock Bank The Australian Joint Stock Bank was a bank in Australia. It operated from 1852 to 1910, after which it became the Australian Bank of Commerce and then was taken over by the Bank of New South Wales in 1931. History The Australian Joint Stock Ba ...

George Street, Sydney George Street is a street in the Sydney central business district, central business district of Sydney. It was Sydney's original high street, and remains one of the busiest streets in the city centre. It connects a number of the city's most im ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. * Statue of

William Earle (soldier) Major General William Earle (18 May 1833 – 10 February 1885) was a British Army officer of the 19th century.

(1887) outside

St George's Hall, Liverpool St George's Hall is a building on St George's Place, opposite Liverpool Lime Street railway station, Lime Street railway station in Liverpool city centre, the centre of Liverpool, England. Opened in 1854, it is a Neoclassical architecture, Neocla ...

* Fountain (1889) in the

Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney The Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney is a heritage-listed major botanical garden, event venue and public recreation area located at Farm Cove on the eastern fringe of the Sydney central business district, in the City of Sydney local government are ...

* Statue of

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 Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

(1896), at the north end of

Blackfriars Bridge Blackfriars Bridge is a road and foot traffic bridge over the River Thames in London, between Waterloo Bridge and Blackfriars Railway Bridge, carrying the A201 road. The north end is in the City of London near the Inns of Court and Temple C ...

in London * Statue of William Ward, 1st

Earl of Dudley Earl of Dudley, of Dudley Castle in the County of the West Midlands (though previously in the County of Stafford) is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, both times for members of the Ward family. Hist ...

, (1888) Castle Street,

Dudley Dudley ( , ) is a market town in the West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically part of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley. In the ...

, England * Bust of Prince Frederick William of Prussia, taken from sittings before his marriage with the Princess Victoria * ''The Last Call'', a group representing the attempt to save the Residency at Cabul in 1879 * An equestrian statuette of William III, created for the King of the Netherlands * A series of illustrations for

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...

's poem ''

Lara Lara may refer to: People * Lara (name), can be a given name or a surname in several languages * Lara (mythology), a naiad nymph, daughter of the river Almo in Ovid's ''Fasti'' Places *Lara (state), a state in Venezuela * Electoral district ...

'' created for the Art Union of London (1880)

References

Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Birch, Charles Bell 1832 births 1893 deaths 19th-century English sculptors 19th-century English male artists Artists' Rifles soldiers Associates of the Royal Academy English male sculptors People from Brixton Sculptors from London