James Jervis Blomfield (1879-1951) was an English-born Canadian artist and designer. He is best known for his design of the
coat of arms of Vancouver
The coat of arms of Vancouver was granted by the College of Arms on 31 March 1969.
History
The city of Vancouver assumed its first municipal seal upon incorporation in 1886. Designed by City Alderman Lauchlan Hamilton, it was pictorial in natu ...
and as a pioneer in the field of
stained glass
Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...
art in Canada, with an extensive body of works completed in
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...
and
Ontario
Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
, including the
Beechwood Cemetery Mausoleum in Canada's national cemetery in
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...
. He lived in Toronto for the last 30 years of his life.
Background
He was born James Alfred Bloomfield in
Maidenhead, Berkshire, England. The middle name he added from his mother's maiden name later in life when he also dropped the second 'o' in Bloomfield.
[ Blomfield is frequently identified in auction literature as James Jerris Blomfield. The editor has communicated with Mr. Vanderhill who asserts that is incorrect and probably results from a transcription error where the 'v' in Jervis was mistaken for an 'r'. As noted in the text, the name comes from the artist's mother's maiden name.] He was born deaf
and worked for a period of time as a junior draftsman.
before moving with his family to Canada, to Calgary, Alberta in 1887. In Calgary, he studied painting and engraving (1887, 1889).
[ His father Henry Bloomfield was an artist and engraver and the family lived in Calgary, then moved to New Westminster, British Columbia. There in 1890, Henry established the first art glass studio in British Columbia which he ran with his sons James and Charles, later moving the operation to Vancouver in 1899.] James Blomfield attracted the attention of Lord Aberdeen
George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen (28 January 178414 December 1860), styled Lord Haddo from 1791 to 1801, was a British statesman, diplomat and landowner, successively a Tory, Conservative and Peelite politician and specialist in fo ...
who paid for his art education in England and Belgium.
Foundations & work
On his return to Canada, his career flourished with such commissions as Holy Trinity Cathedral, New Westminster, St. Paul's Anglican Church in Vancouver, Gabriola, the home of Benjamin Tingley,[ and the original Rogers Window at ]Government House
Government House is the name of many of the official residences of governors-general, governors and lieutenant-governors in the Commonwealth and British Overseas Territories. The name is also used in some other countries.
Government Houses in th ...
in Victoria (destroyed by fire in 1957).
Together with Robert McKay Fripp, S.M. Everleigh, and A. Woodroffe, in 1900 he co-founded the Arts and Crafts Association of Vancouver, which later became the Studio Club (1904) and finally the British Columbia Society of Fine Arts (1908).[
Some time after the turn of the century, he moved to Washington State and later to Chicago where he became professor of design at the Chicago Academy of Fine Art. In 1918 he worked for the '']Christian Science Monitor
''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles both in electronic format and a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 as a daily newspaper b ...
'' as a staff writer.[
]
Final years
By 1922, he had removed to Toronto where he would spend his final years. He died after being struck by a motorist in downtown Toronto at the age of 72. He was married in 1903 to Mary Augusta Diamond of Belleville, Ontario
Belleville is a city in Ontario, Canada, situated on the eastern end of Lake Ontario, located at the mouth of the Moira River and on the Bay of Quinte. Its population as of the 2021 Canadian census was 55,071 (Census Metropolitan Area population 1 ...
, who predeceased him in 1930. They had no children. Their remains are interred at the Hamilton (now Bayview) Mausoleum in Hamilton, Ontario; the stained glass windows of the mausoleum were designed by Blomfield in the 1920s.[
]
Recognition
In 1982, a plaque commemorating Blomfield was unveiled at the Hamilton Mausoleum.[ There is a plaque on his former home at W 10th Ave & Columbia St, in Vancouver. Blomfield's name is included on the official list of potential Vancouver street names.List of Potential Vancouver Street Names]
/ref> He was a member of the Ontario Society of Artists
The Ontario Society of Artists (OSA) was founded in 1872. It is Canada's oldest continuously operating professional art society. When it was founded at the home of John Arthur Fraser, seven artists were present. Besides Fraser himself, Marmaduke ...
.
References
External links
James Jervis Blomfield
at Illustrated Vancouver
* The Vancouver Archives holds th
Bloomfield Family fonds
containing much material about Blomfield and his work.
The Andrew Merrilees collection
of the Ontario Provincial Archives contains a collection of Blomfield works.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blomfield, James Jervis
1879 births
1951 deaths
People from Maidenhead
Artists from British Columbia
Artists from Ontario
Heraldic artists
British heraldists
Canadian stained glass artists and manufacturers
19th-century Canadian artists
Canadian male artists
20th-century Canadian artists
Canadian designers
Road incident deaths in Canada
Pedestrian road incident deaths
Accidental deaths in Ontario
19th-century Canadian male artists
20th-century Canadian male artists