Alvin Tolman Marriott (29 December 1902 – 20 September 1992) was a Jamaican sculptor. He worked in Europe,

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north ...

and Central America, and

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

. Many of his carvings and statues are on public display and in administrative buildings in Jamaica and the UK.

Early life

Marriott was born in Essex Hall, St.Andrew, Jamaica in 1902, to Emily and Robert Marriott. His mother was a playwright and musician and his father a farmer and maker of straw goods. In 1913 his parents moved to

Port Antonio Port Antonio is the capital of the parish of Portland on the northeastern coast of Jamaica, about from Kingston. It had a population of 12,285 in 1982 and 13,246 in 1991. It is the island's third largest port, famous as a shipping point for b ...

, better for sales of his father's straw hats to visitors. Marriott's artistic talent was evident at Titchfield School and he began sculpting with local limestone.

Kingston, Panama, the USA and Europe

After his father died in 1923, his family moved to the capital, Kingston. As the oldest of four siblings, Marriott sold his creations to help family finances, including busts of famous people such as

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...

and Governor Richards. He married a schoolfriend, Beatrice Black, in 1928. They went on to have eight children. From 1930 he worked as a furniture maker and carver and won a number of prizes. He gained travel experience, going to

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

to do carpentry in 1940 and then to the US in 1944 as a

farmworker A farmworker, farmhand or agricultural worker is someone employed for labor in agriculture. In labor law, the term "farmworker" is sometimes used more narrowly, applying only to a hired worker involved in agricultural production, including harv ...

, where his artistic skills were celebrated locally and he did a bust of president

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

. He received a scholarship from the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...

in 1947 to enrol at

Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts Camberwell College of Arts is a public tertiary art school in Camberwell, in London, England. It is one of the six constituent colleges of the University of the Arts London. It offers further and higher education programmes, including postgra ...

in London for his first-ever formal artistic training. He was retained as a lecturer the following academic year. He then began work on carvings for the restoration of the UK

Houses of Parliament The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north ban ...

to replace the wartime bomb damage. He also carved for different furniture makers.

Later work for Jamaica

In 1951 he returned to Jamaica and produced carvings for the University of the West Indies. He created Jamaica's

coronation A coronation is the act of placement or bestowal of a crown upon a monarch's head. The term also generally refers not only to the physical crowning but to the whole ceremony wherein the act of crowning occurs, along with the presentation of ot ...

gift for H.M. Queen Elizabeth II, a carved wooden tray. He taught at the Jamaica School of Arts and Crafts (1955–61). He left for England to sculpt the statue "Athlete" based on Jamaica's first Olympic gold medallist,

Arthur Wint Arthur Stanley Wint OD MBE (25 May 1920 – 19 October 1992) was a Jamaican Royal Air Force (RAF) pilot during the Second World War, sprinter, physician, and later High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. Competing at the 1948 and 1952 Olympi ...

. It stands at the

National Stadium Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football stadiu ...

and was unveiled by Princess Margaret in 1962 for the

Central American and Caribbean Games The Central American and Caribbean Games (CAC or CACGs) are a multi-sport regional championship event, held quadrennial (once every four years), typically in the middle (even) year between Summer Olympics. The games are for countries in Cent ...

. He was employed as the chief of architectural embellishments for builder A.D. Scott Ltd. He completed busts of the Jamaican National Heroes prime minister

Alexander Bustamante Sir William Alexander Clarke Bustamante (born William Alexander Clarke; 24 February 1884 – 6 August 1977) was a Jamaican politician and labour leader, who, in 1962, became the first prime minister of Jamaica. Early life and education He was ...

, pan-Africanist

Marcus Garvey Marcus Mosiah Garvey Sr. (17 August 188710 June 1940) was a Jamaican political activist, publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator. He was the founder and first President-General of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African ...

and premier

Norman Manley Norman Washington Manley (4 July 1893 – 2 September 1969) was a Jamaican statesman who served as the first and only Premier of Jamaica. A Rhodes Scholar, Manley became one of Jamaica's leading lawyers in the 1920s. Manley was an advocate ...

, as well as Governor-General Sir

Clifford Campbell Sir Clifford Clarence Campbell (28 June 189228 September 1991) was a Jamaican educator and politician who served as speaker of the House and President of the Senate. In 1962, after Jamaica achieved independence, he was appointed as the first ...

and leading supporter of Jamaican sports Sir Herbert Macdonald.

Awards

In 1967 he received the Jamaica Badge of Honour in the Queen's

Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning British monarch's official birthday by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are prese ...

List. In 1969 he became Jamaica's first Artist of the Year. He was awarded a gold

Musgrave Medal The Musgrave Medal is an annual award by the Institute of Jamaica in recognition of achievement in art, science, and literature.Webster, Valerie J. (2000), ''Awards, Honors & Prizes, Volume 2'', Gale Group, , p. 447. Originally conceived in 1889 a ...

by the

Institute of Jamaica The Institute of Jamaica (IOJ), founded in 1879, is the country's most significant cultural, artistic and scientific organisation:

Final major commission

The Jamaican Government commissioned him to sculpt a statue of the recently deceased reggae star

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements o ...

in 1984, after uproar over the abstract first monument. He travelled once more to the UK to work on the project in

Vauxhall Vauxhall ( ) is a district in South West London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. Vauxhall was part of Surrey until 1889 when the County of London was created. Named after a medieval manor, "Fox Hall", it became well known for ...

, south London. By this time he was already suffering from

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

. The statue now stands in Celebrity Park, Kingston. Marriott died in Miami Florida, USA, on 20 September 1992.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marriott, Alvin 1902 births 1992 deaths 20th-century Jamaican sculptors Recipients of the Musgrave Medal Alumni of Camberwell College of Arts 20th-century male artists People from Saint Andrew Parish, Jamaica