Frederick William Pomeroy (9 October 1856 – 26 May 1924) was a prolific British sculptor of architectural and monumental works.
He became a leading sculptor in the
New Sculpture movement, a group distinguished by a stylistic turn towards
naturalism and for their works of
architectural sculpture
Architectural sculpture is the use of sculptural techniques by an architect and/or sculptor in the design of a building, bridge, mausoleum or other such project. The sculpture is usually integrated with the structure, but freestanding works that ...
. Pomeroy had several significant public works in London and elsewhere in the United Kingdom, notably in Belfast. His work in London includes the figure of ''
Lady Justice
Lady Justice () is an allegorical personification of the moral force in judicial systems. Her attributes are scales, a sword and sometimes a blindfold. She often appears as a pair with Prudentia.
Lady Justice originates from the personificat ...
'' (1905–1906) on the dome of the
Old Bailey
The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...
.
Biography
Pomeroy was born in
Lambeth
Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, which today also gives its name to the (much larger) London Borough of Lambeth. Lambeth itself was an ancient parish in the county of Surrey. It is situated 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Charin ...
, London, the son of a stone-carver. After his father died in 1869 Pomeroy, aged 14, was left as the main wage-earner for the family and was apprenticed to a firm of architectural stone carvers.
Later he trained, for four years, with
William Silver Frith at the
South London Technical School of Art where he was also taught by
Jules Dalou.
The naturalistic style of Dalou's sculptures were a great influence on Pomeroy's subsequent works.
In 1880, Pomeroy was able to enrol in the
Royal Academy Schools
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 ...
, where he won a number of prizes, including silver medals in both 1882 and 1883.
In 1885 he won a gold medal and travelling scholarship which allowed him to study in Paris under
Antonin Mercié
Marius Jean Antonin Mercié (October 30, 1845 in Toulouse – December 12, 1916 in Paris), was a French Sculpture, sculptor, Medalist, medallist and Painting, painter.
Biography
Mercié entered the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, ...
and also in Italy.
On returning to London, Pomeroy joined the
Art Workers Guild in 1887,
[ and in 1888 began exhibiting with the ]Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society
The arts or creative arts are a vast range of human practices involving creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thought, deeds, and existence in an extensive range of me ...
. In 1887 he was part of a group of artists, supported by the Royal Doulton
Royal Doulton is an English ceramic and home accessories manufacturer that was founded in 1815. Operating originally in Vauxhall, London, and later moving to Lambeth, in 1882 it opened a factory in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, in the centre of Engl ...
Company, who created sculptures for 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 ...
in Glasgow. For the fountain, now situated on Glasgow Green
Glasgow Green is a park in the east end of Glasgow, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde. Established in the 15th century, it is the oldest park in the city. It connects to the south via the St Andrew's Suspension Bridge.
History
In ...
, Pomeroy carved the group representing ''Australia''. Also in 1887 he met the architect J. D. Sedding who subsequently commissioned a large number of decorative architectural works from Pomeroy. These included carvings for the Church of Our Most Holy Redeemer in London, an exterior sculpture for the tower of St Clement's Church in Bournemouth plus a screen and choir stalls in bronze for Holy Trinity, Sloane Street. Pomeroy also created a bronze angel, now lost, for St Peter's Church, Ealing
St Peter's Church, Ealing, is an Anglican parish church in Mount Park Road, North Ealing, in the Diocese of London, regarded by Sir John Betjeman as an example of a Victorian-built church "of which we can be proud". Held to be one of the premie ...
to accompany decorative work by Henry Wilson
Henry Wilson (born Jeremiah Jones Colbath; February 16, 1812 – November 22, 1875) was the 18th vice president of the United States, serving from 1873 until his death in 1875, and a United States Senate, senator from Massachusetts from 1855 to ...
.
Alongside his architectural work, Pomeroy continued to create smaller exhibition pieces. He carved a marble replica of Frederic Leighton
Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton, (3 December 1830 – 25 January 1896), known as Sir Frederic Leighton between 1878 and 1896, was a British Victorian painter, draughtsman, and sculptor. His works depicted historical, biblical, and clas ...
's 1877 bronze sculpture '' Athlete wrestling with a python'' which was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1891 before being transported to Denmark and, eventually, to Australia. The piece was poorly received at the Academy in comparison to the bronze original but a number of other works in the New Sculpture style by Pomeroy helped build his artistic reputation. These included his 1890 statuette of ''Dionysus
In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; ) is the god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre. He was also known as Bacchus ( or ; ...
'', now in the Tate
Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK ...
, ''So on a Delphic Reed'' from 1888 and ''Love the Conqueror'' shown at both the Royal Academy and the Walker Art Gallery
The Walker Art Gallery is an art gallery in Liverpool, which houses one of the largest art collections in England outside London. It is part of the National Museums Liverpool group.
History
The Walker Art Gallery's collection dates from 1819 ...
in Liverpool during 1893. During the 1890s, Pomeroy showed eleven works at the Royal Academy, eight of which were small statuettes. Some of these, including ''Perseus
In Greek mythology, Perseus (, ; Greek language, Greek: Περσεύς, Romanization of Greek, translit. Perseús) is the legendary founder of the Perseid dynasty. He was, alongside Cadmus and Bellerophon, the greatest Greek hero and slayer of ...
'' and ''Love the Conqueror'' were reproduced in sizes suitable for the domestic market, although some much larger versions of ''Perseus'' were also cast, including a life-size bronze now in the National Museum Cardiff
National Museum Cardiff (), formerly known as the National Museum of Wales, is a museum and art gallery in Cardiff, Wales. The museum is part of the wider network of Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales. Entry is kept free by a grant from the Wel ...
.
After Sedding died in 1891, his pupil Henry Wilson
Henry Wilson (born Jeremiah Jones Colbath; February 16, 1812 – November 22, 1875) was the 18th vice president of the United States, serving from 1873 until his death in 1875, and a United States Senate, senator from Massachusetts from 1855 to ...
took over his architectural practice and continued to commission designs from Pomeroy. These included a chimney piece, now destroyed, for a library at Ladbroke Grove
Ladbroke Grove ( ) is a road in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, which passes through Kensal Green and Notting Hill, running north–south between Harrow Road and Holland Park Avenue.
It is also the name of the sur ...
in London, decorative items for the library and chapel at Welbeck Abbey
Welbeck Abbey is an English country house near the village of Welbeck in the Bassetlaw District of Nottinghamshire. It was the site of a monastery belonging to the Premonstratensian order, and after the Dissolution of the Monasteries a residen ...
in Nottinghamshire and a frieze for the chapel at Douglas Castle
Douglas Castle was a stronghold of the Douglas (later Douglas-Home) family from medieval times to the 20th century. The first castle, erected in the 13th century, was destroyed and replaced several times until the 18th century when a large man ...
in South Lanarkshire. The architect Edward William Mountford
Edward William Mountford (22 September 1855 – 7 February 1908) was an English architect, noted for his Edwardian Baroque architecture, Edwardian Baroque style, who designed a number of town halls – Sheffield, Battersea and Lancaster – as ...
commissioned architectural sculptures and decorations from Pomeroy for Paisley Town Hall
Paisley Town Hall is a public hall in Abbey Close, Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland. The building, which is being converted into a centre for performing arts, is a Category A listed building.
History
In the mid-19th century the administrative c ...
in 1890 and, more extensively, for Sheffield Town Hall
Sheffield Town Hall is a municipal building on Pinstone Street in the Sheffield, City of Sheffield, England. The building is used by Sheffield City Council, and also contains a publicly displayed collection of silverware. It is a Grade I liste ...
in 1895. For the latter Pomeroy created a number of works, including a frieze of industrial workers, low-reliefs of figures representing ''Steam'' and ''Electricity'', figures of ''Thor
Thor (from ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred g ...
'' and '' Vulcan'' supporting the city crest plus a series of six lunettes and spandrels
A spandrel is a roughly triangular space, usually found in pairs, between the top of an arch and a rectangular frame, between the tops of two adjacent arches, or one of the four spaces between a circle within a square. They are frequently fil ...
representing aspects of civic virtue.
In the first decade of the 20th century, Pomeroy received several further commissions for architectural sculptures on buildings designed by Mountford. These included the figure of ''Lady Justice
Lady Justice () is an allegorical personification of the moral force in judicial systems. Her attributes are scales, a sword and sometimes a blindfold. She often appears as a pair with Prudentia.
Lady Justice originates from the personificat ...
'' on the dome of the Old Bailey
The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...
plus figures for the entrance to the court, statuettes, lamp standards and other decorations for the Liverpool Museum and Technical College, work for Lancaster Town Hall and a series of low-relief panels on gin-making for the exterior of Booth's Distillery in central London. Starting in 1905 Pomeroy created four colossal bronze figures for the upstream side of Vauxhall Bridge
Vauxhall Bridge is a Grade II* listed steel and granite deck arch bridge in central London. It crosses the River Thames in a southeast–northwest direction between Vauxhall on the south bank and Pimlico on the north bank. Opened in 1906, it r ...
in London.
In 1907 Pomeroy became Master of the Art Workers Guild. He was elected an Associate member of the Royal Academy in 1906, and a full member in 1917. From 1898 to 1908 he was a regular exhibitor with the International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers, at Leeds City Art Gallery from 1897 to 1909, with the Aberdeen Artists Society from 1893 to 1923 and with the Royal Scottish Academy
The Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) is the country's national academy of art. It promotes contemporary art, contemporary Scottish art.
The Academy was founded in 1826 by eleven artists meeting in Edinburgh. Originally named the Scottish Academy ...
he showed seven works between 1903 and 1924. Pomeroy displayed works at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition
The Summer Exhibition is an open art exhibition held annually by the Royal Academy in Burlington House, Piccadilly in central London, England, during the months of June, July, and August. The exhibition includes paintings, prints, drawings, sc ...
each year from 1885 to 1924 and, in the same period, showed 17 works at the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts and, late in his life, became a regular exhibitor with the Royal West of England Academy
The Royal West of England Academy (RWA) is Bristol's oldest art gallery, located in Clifton, Bristol, near the junction of Queens Road and Whiteladies Road. Situated in a Grade II* listed building, it hosts five galleries and an exhibition prog ...
. Several museums hold examples of Pomeroy's work including the Tate
Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK ...
, the Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...
, the Ashmolean Museum
The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology () on Beaumont Street in Oxford, England, is Britain's first public museum. Its first building was erected in 1678–1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University ...
in Oxford, the Laing Art Gallery
The Laing Art Gallery in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, is located on New Bridge Street West. The gallery was designed in the Baroque style with Art Nouveau elements by architects Cackett & Burns Dick and is now a Grade II listed building. It ...
in Newcastle upon Tyne and Pollok House in Glasgow.
In 1913 Pomeroy married Patricia Morrison Coughlan, of Douglas, Cork
Douglas () is a suburb, with a village core, in Cork (city), Cork city, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Douglas is also the name of the townland, Parish (Catholic Church), Roman Catholic parish, Church of Ireland parish and Civil parishes in Irel ...
, with who he had two sons. Pomeroy died on 26 May 1924, aged 65, and was buried at Boscombe in Hampshire. A memorial to him is in St James's Church, Piccadilly
St James's Church, Piccadilly, also known as St James's Church, Westminster, and St James-in-the-Fields, is an Anglican church on Piccadilly in the centre of London, England. The church was designed and built by Sir Christopher Wren.
The churc ...
.
Public works
1887–1905
1906–1909
1910–1919
1920–1924
Other works
* Marble reredos
A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a Church (building), church. It often includes religious images.
The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular a ...
at St Saviour's Church, Colgate, West Sussex
* A bust of the surgeon Sir Henry Thompson at Golders Green
Golders Green is a suburb in the London Borough of Barnet in north London, northwest of Charing Cross. It began as a medieval small suburban linear settlement near a farm and public grazing area green, and dates to the early 19th century. It ...
in London.
* Chancel stalls and screen at Holy Trinity, Sloane Street, London.
File:Frederick William Pomeroy - The Lily of Killarney.jpg, ''The Lily of Killarney''
File:EB1911 Plate IV. v24, pg.505, Fig 1.jpg, ''The Spearman'' bronze statue
File:F. W. Pomeroy (1857-1924) - The Wood Nymph (1908) front part right, Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight, Cheshire, June 2013 (9097771208).png, The Wood Nymph (1908), Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight, Cheshire
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pomeroy, Frederick
1856 births
1924 deaths
19th-century English sculptors
20th-century English sculptors
19th-century English male artists
20th-century English male artists
Alumni of the City and Guilds of London Art School
Alumni of the Royal Academy Schools
Artists from the London Borough of Lambeth
British architectural sculptors
English male sculptors
Masters of the Art Worker's Guild
People from Lambeth
Royal Academicians
Sculptors from London