Joseph Else

FRBS The Royal Society of Sculptors (RSS) is a British charity established in 1905, which promotes excellence in the art and practice of sculpture. Its headquarters are a centre for contemporary sculpture on Old Brompton Road in South Kensington, Lo ...

(8 February 1874 – 8 May 1955) was a sculptor from

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

best known for his work on

Nottingham Council House Nottingham Council House is the city hall of Nottingham, England. The high dome that rises above the city is the centrepiece of the skyline and presides over the Old Market Square, Nottingham, Old Market Square which is also referred to as the ...

Career

He was the son of William Else, a leather cutter, and Eliza Cowilshaw. He studied at Nottingham School of Art from 1890 to 1900 and then at the

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

in London. After leaving London he went to the Belfast College of Art as professor of sculpture and lecturer in anatomy. He began teaching at the Nottingham School of Art around 1919 and in 1922 was made principal, in succession to Joseph Harrison, a position he held until 1939. It was during this tenure that he created some of his most famous sculpture for the new Nottingham Council House, with a work called Justice, and the two lions flanking the main entrance steps. He also created War Memorials for the Law Society, and Messrs. Thomas Forman and Sons, the bronze tablet on the Nottingham Castle sundial in memory of the fallen of the 17th Battalion

Sherwood Foresters The Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence for just under 90 years, from 1881 to 1970. In 1970, the regiment was amalgamated with the Worcestershire Regiment to ...

, the Bonington bronze tablet at Arnold, the Lancashire Memorial of Messrs. J.B. Lewis and Company, the bust of Samuel Morley in Nottingham Arboretum, and the figure on St Luke’s House. In London he completed the sculptural decoration on Selfridges building on Oxford Street. He was a fierce critic of the modernist style of sculpture, and railed against works produced by

Jacob Epstein Sir Jacob Epstein (10 November 1880 – 21 August 1959) was an American and British sculptor who helped pioneer modern sculpture. He was born in the United States, and moved to Europe in 1902, becoming a British subject in 1910. Early in his ...

. In a lecture at the Nottingham Society of Artists in 1928 he said

I feel apologetic for mentioning these abnormalities and would not have done so were it not for the wide publicity accorded to them. To me, it is an affront to the intelligence to suggest that you should admire works so destitute of beauty and so fearful in character. Can things of this description live as the masterpieces of the ancients have done?

He maintained his studio in Beeston. He was appointed an associate member of the

Royal Society of British Sculptors The Royal Society of Sculptors (RSS) is a British charity established in 1905, which promotes excellence in the art and practice of sculpture. Its headquarters are a centre for contemporary sculpture on Old Brompton Road in South Kensington, Lo ...

in 1923 and in 1938 was elected a Fellow. On retirement from Nottingham in 1939 he moved to

Newnham on Severn Newnham or Newnham on Severn is a village in west Gloucestershire, England. It lies in the Royal Forest of Dean, on the west bank of the River Severn, approximately 10 miles south-west of Gloucester and three miles southeast of Cinderford. It i ...

in Gloucestershire. The outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

restricted access to materials for sculpture. He became a member of the

British Bryological Society The British Bryological Society is an academic society dedicated to bryology, which encourages the study of bryophytes (mosses, liverworts and hornworts). It publishes the peer-reviewed ''Journal of Bryology''. History The Society developed from ...

, and prepared hundreds of illustrations for ''A Histology of British Mosses''. He died on 8 May 1955. He is commemorated in the naming of a public house, The Joseph Else, at 11-12 South Parade, Nottingham.

Works

*Portrait bust, displayed at the

Royal Academy of Arts 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 ...

1910 *Bust of William Kiddier, displayed at the Royal Academy of Arts 1915 *Model of a War Memorial proposed for Ryde, Isle of Wight 1919 *Bust of Thomas Barrett, displayed at Nottingham Castle Museum 1921 *War Memorial, Nottingham Incorporated Law Society 1921 *Sculpture of ''A Mask'', displayed at the Royal Academy of Arts 1925 *Sculpture of ''Sacrificium'', displayed at the Royal Academy of Arts 1926 *Sculpture of ''Gladius Sertumque'', displayed at the Royal Academy of Arts 1927 *Bust of Samuel Morley, Nottingham Arboretum 1928 *Memorial bronze to

Richard Parkes Bonington Richard Parkes Bonington (25 October 1802 – 23 September 1828) was an English Romantic landscape painter. He moved to France at the age of 14 and can also be considered as a French artist, and an intermediary bringing aspects of English styl ...

, Arnold, Nottingham 1929 *Left Lion,

1929 *Right Lion, Nottingham Council House 1929 *Frieze on The Old Industries of Nottingham, Nottingham Council House 1929 *Commerce on Nottingham Council House 1929 *Sculpture of ''Youth'', displayed at the Royal Academy of Arts 1932 *Sculpture of ''The Sun Worshipper'' (''L'Adortrice de Soleil''), displayed at the Royal Academy of Arts 1932 *Sculpture of St Luke, St Luke’s House, Friar Lane, Nottingham 1933 *Panel of ''The Ride of the Valkyries'', displayed at the Royal Academy of Arts 1933

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Else, Joseph 1874 births 1955 deaths Alumni of Nottingham School of Art Alumni of the Royal College of Art Artists from Nottingham British architectural sculptors British male sculptors Fellows of the Royal British Society of Sculptors Members of the British Bryological Society