Percy George Bentham (1883–1936) was a British sculptor whose works include portrait busts, statues and several war memorials.
He was a 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 ...
, and a member of the
Art Workers' Guild
The Art Workers' Guild is an organisation established in 1884 by a group of British painters, sculptors, architects, and designers associated with the ideas of William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement. The guild promoted the 'unity of al ...
.
He was born in
Fulham
Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...
in 1883. He studied at
City and Guilds of London School of Art under
William Silver Frith
William Silver Frith (1850–1924) was a British sculptor.
Frith graduated from the Lambeth School of Art and the Royal Academy Schools, and became assistant to Jules Dalou. By 1880 Frith had succeeded Dalou as master at the newly formed South L ...
, 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 ...
School, and in Paris. In 1907 he was awarded a first prize of £20 and a silver medal, for a set of four models of a figure from the life.
[ He was a pupil of ]Alfred Drury
Edward Alfred Briscoe Drury (11 November 1856 – 24 December 1944) was a British architectural sculptor and artist active in the New Sculpture movement. During a long career Drury created a great number of decorative figures such as busts an ...
R.A., and assistant to Albert Bruce-Joy
Albert Bruce-Joy (21 August 1842 – 22 July 1924) was an Irish sculptor working in England. His original surname was Joy but he became known under his hyphenated name Bruce-Joy later in life.
He was the brother of the painter George W. Joy.
B ...
[ and also in the studio of William Robert Colton.
]
Career
He exhibited 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 ...
from 1915 to 1930.
One of his works is 'Navigation', a stone relief on the Leadenhall building
122 Leadenhall Street, also known as the Leadenhall Building, Leadenhall Tower or informally the Cheesegrater, is a skyscraper in central London. It opened in July 2014 and was designed by RSHP, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners. The informal nam ...
in the City of London
The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...
, formerly the site of the Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company.
The plaster for ‘Fisherman and Nymph’ had been exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1922. It was cast in bronze and is now in the lake at Coombe Abbey Country Park.[
In the 1920s he produced several War Memorials: ]Audenshaw
Audenshaw is a town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, east of Manchester. Historically part of Lancashire, in 2011 it had a population of 11,419.
The name derives from Aldwin, a Saxon personal name, and the Old English suffix ''shagh' ...
, Greater Manchester (1920), Haydon Bridge
Haydon Bridge is a village in Northumberland, England, which had a population of 2,184 in the 2011 census. Its most distinctive features are the two bridges crossing the River Tyne, River South Tyne: the picturesque original bridge after which ...
, Northumberland (1921), Trowbridge
Trowbridge ( ) is the county town of Wiltshire, England; situated on the River Biss in the west of the county, close to the border with Somerset. The town lies south-east of Bath, Somerset, Bath, south-west of Swindon and south-east of Brist ...
, Dukinfield
Dukinfield is a town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, on the south bank of the River Tame, Greater Manchester, River Tame opposite Ashton-under-Lyne, east of Manchester. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, the built up ar ...
and Ballywalter
Ballywalter ( and ''Walter'') is a village or townland (of ) and civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the east (Irish Sea) coast of the Ards Peninsula between Donaghadee and Ballyhalbert. Ballywalter was formerly known as Wh ...
, co. Down.
He produced carvings in 1924 for the War Memorial building at Felsted School
Felsted School is a co-educational independent school, independent boarding school, boarding and Day school, day school, situated in Felsted in Essex, England. It is in the British Public school (UK), public school tradition, and was founded i ...
, and the memorial reredos at St James Church, Emsworth
Emsworth is a town in the Borough of Havant in the county of Hampshire, on the south coast of England near the border with West Sussex. It lies at the north end of an arm of Chichester Harbour, a large and shallow inlet from the English Channe ...
.
In 1932 at Eaton Socon
Eaton Socon is a district of St Neots, in the civil parish of St Neots, in the Huntingdonshire district, in the county of Cambridgeshire, England, 1.4 miles south-west of St Neots town centre. Eaton Socon is a component of the town of St Neot ...
he did much work on the rebuilding of the church after a fire, including "a rood screen, choir benches, parclose screens, roofing, and the organ case, all in Suffolk oak. The stone carving includes many symbolical corbel groups and portraits. Among the faces are those of the Bishop of St Albans
The Bishop of St Albans is the Ordinary (officer), Ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of St Albans in the Province of Canterbury. The bishop is supported in his work by two suffragan bishops, the Bishop of Hertford and the Bishop o ...
, the Archdeacon of Bedford, the vicar of Eaton Socon, the churchwardens, the architect, the clerk of the works, and the builders' foreman."
He worked on the Great Hall at University College London
University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...
, in 1932 and carved decorations for the Mocatta Theatre, including the relief portraits in bronze of Mr. Mocatta and Mr. Gustave Tuck.
He carved the new pulpit for St Stephen's Church, St Albans
St Stephen's Church is a Church of England parish church in St Albans, Hertfordshire, England. It is located to the south of the town centre, at the top of St Stephen's Hill (which leads down and then up Holywell Hill to the Abbey). It is a Gra ...
. He also produced some bronze door handles for the Jockey Club
The Jockey Club is the largest commercial horse racing organisation in the United Kingdom. It owns 15 of Britain's famous racecourses, including Aintree Racecourse, Aintree, Cheltenham Racecourse, Cheltenham, Epsom Downs Racecourse, Epsom ...
, Newmarket, and at Ascot
Ascot, Ascott or Askot may refer to:
Places Australia
* Ascot, Queensland, suburb of Brisbane
* Ascot, Queensland (Toowoomba Region), a locality
* Ascot Park, South Australia, suburb of Adelaide
* Ascot (Ballarat), town near Ballarat in Victoria ...
the carved heads of the arches of the Royal Pavilion.[
Other work includes two lions in bronze for ]Halifax, Nova Scotia
Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...
, the models for the sculptural decorations in the British Government Buildings, in Antwerp
Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...
, and statues at the Harbour Board Offices 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 ...
.[
He also designed decorations for the South Eastern Electricity Board.
He was an associate of the ]Royal British Society of 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 ...
and a member of the Chelsea Arts Club
Chelsea Arts Club is a private members' club at 143 Old Church Street in Chelsea, London with a membership of over 4,000, including artists, sculptors, architects, writers, designers, actors, musicians, photographers, and filmmakers. The club wa ...
.
Personal life
He married Ellen Celia Hobbs in 1909 at St Matthew's Church, Willesden.[ They had three children, ]Frederick Frederick may refer to:
People
* Frederick (given name), the name
Given name
Nobility
= Anhalt-Harzgerode =
* Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670)
= Austria =
* Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria fro ...
(b 1911), Philip (b 1913) and Celia (b 1927), all born in Willesden
Willesden () is an area of north-west London, situated 5 miles (8 km) north-west of Charing Cross. It is historically a parish in the county of Middlesex that was incorporated as the Municipal Borough of Willesden in 1933; it has formed ...
. Philip became a sculptor like his father and is best known for The Coventry Boy, while Frederick became a renowned theatre lighting expert. In 1911 the family were living in Harlesden
Harlesden is a district in the London Borough of Brent, north-west London.
Located north of the Grand Union Canal and Wormwood Scrubs, the Harrow Road flows through the centre of the area which goes eastwards to Central London and west towar ...
. Later he had a studio at 8A Gunter Grove, off the Fulham Road.[ In 1936 he lived on Pebworth Road, ]Wembley
Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...
. He died on the 17 June 1936 at St Bartholomew's Hospital
St Bartholomew's Hospital, commonly known as Barts, is a teaching hospital located in the City of London. It was founded in 1123 by Rahere, and is currently run by Barts Health NHS Trust.
History
Early history
Barts was founded in 1123 by ...
. His grandfather was the British philosopher Jeremy Bentham
Jeremy Bentham (; 4 February Dual dating, 1747/8 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S. 5 February 1748 Old Style and New Style dates, N.S.
5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number.
Humans, and many other animals, have 5 digits on their limbs.
Mathematics
5 is a Fermat pri ...
– 6 June 1832) was an English philosopher, jurist, and social reformer regarded as the founder of mo ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bentham, Percy George
English sculptors
Sculptors from London
People from Fulham
1883 births
1936 deaths
20th-century British sculptors