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 ( la, Iustitia) 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 ...
'' (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 London, the son of an artist-craftsman. 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
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 ...
at the
South London Technical School of Art where he was also taught by
Jules Dalou
Aimé-Jules Dalou (31 December 183815 April 1902) was a 19th-century French sculptor, admired for his perceptiveness, execution, and unpretentious realism.
Early life
Born in Paris to a working-class family of Huguenot background, he was raised ...
.
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, 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 sculptor, medallist and painter.
Biography
Mercié entered the École des Beaux-Arts, Paris, and studied under Alexandre Falguière and Fr ...
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 and Crafts Exhibition Society was formed in London in 1887 to promote the exhibition of decorative arts alongside fine arts. The Society's exhibitions were held annually at the New Gallery (London), New Gallery from 1888 to 1890, and roug ...
. 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 her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...
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
I ...
, Pomeroy carved the group representing ''Australia''. Also in 1887 he met the architect J. D. Sedding
John Dando Sedding (13 April 1838 – 7 April 1891) was an English church architect, working on new buildings and repair work, with an interest in a "crafted Gothic" style. He was an influential figure in the Arts and Crafts movement, many of wh ...
who subsequently commissioned a large number of decorative architectural works from Pomeroy. These included carvings for the Church of Our Most Holy Redeemer
Our Most Holy Redeemer is a late 19th-century church in Clerkenwell, London, England, by the architect John Dando Sedding. It is an Anglo-Catholic church in the Diocese of London of the Church of England. It is at the junction of Exmouth Market ...
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
The Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity with Saint Jude, Upper Chelsea, commonly called Holy Trinity Sloane Street or Holy Trinity Sloane Square, is a Church of England parish church in London, England. It was built in 1888–90 at the ...
. 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 being amongst "the noblest churches we possess". Held to be one of the premier architectural ...
to accompany decorative work by Henry Wilson
Henry Wilson (born Jeremiah Jones Colbath; February 16, 1812 – November 22, 1875) was an American politician who was the 18th vice president of the United States from 1873 until his death in 1875 and a senator from Massachusetts from 1855 ...
.
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 painter, draughtsman, and sculptor. His works depicted historical, biblical, and classical subjec ...
'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 (; grc, wikt:Διόνυσος, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstas ...
'', 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 U ...
, ''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 of the Gallery
The Walker Art Gallery's collection ...
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 ( /ˈpɜːrsiəs, -sjuːs/; Greek: Περσεύς, translit. Perseús) is the legendary founder of Mycenae and of the Perseid dynasty. He was, alongside Cadmus and Bellerophon, the greatest Greek hero and slayer ...
'' and ''Love the Conqueror'' were reproduced in sizes suitable for the domestic market, although some much larger versions of ''Perseus'' were also cast.
After Sedding died in 1891, his pupil Henry Wilson
Henry Wilson (born Jeremiah Jones Colbath; February 16, 1812 – November 22, 1875) was an American politician who was the 18th vice president of the United States from 1873 until his death in 1875 and a senator from Massachusetts from 1855 ...
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 an area and a road in West London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, passing through Kensal Green and Notting Hill, running north–south between Harrow Road and Holland Park Avenue.
It is also a name given to ...
in London, decorative items for the library and chapel at Welbeck Abbey
Welbeck Abbey in the Dukeries in North Nottinghamshire was the site of a monastery belonging to the Premonstratensian order in England and after the Dissolution of the Monasteries, a country house residence of the Dukes of Portland. It is o ...
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 style, who designed a number of town halls – Sheffield, Battersea and Lancaster – as well as the Old Bailey in London ...
commissioned architectural sculptures and decorations from Pomeroy for Paisley Town Hall in 1890 and, more extensively, for Sheffield Town Hall 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 non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, the protection of humankind, hallowing, ...
'' and '' Vulcan'' supporting the city crest plus a series of six lunettes
A lunette (French ''lunette'', "little moon") is a half-moon shaped architectural space, variously filled with sculpture, painted, glazed, filled with recessed masonry, or void.
A lunette may also be segmental, and the arch may be an arc taken ...
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 fill ...
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 ( la, Iustitia) 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 ...
'' 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, i ...
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
The International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers was a union of professional artists that existed from 1898 to 1925, "To promote the study, practice, and knowledge of sculpture, painting, etching, lithographing, engraving, and kindred ...
, at Leeds City Art Gallery from 1897 to 1909, with the Aberdeen Artists Society The Aberdeen Artists Society was founded in 1827 and aims to raise awareness of contemporary visual arts in Aberdeen and the North of Scotland.
History
The Aberdeen Artists' Society was founded in 1827 by local artists associated with Scottish p ...
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 Scottish art.
The Academy was founded in 1826 by eleven artists meeting in Edinburgh. Originally named the Scottish Academy, it became the ...
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, s ...
each year from 1885 to 1924 and, in the same period, showed 17 works at the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts
The Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts (RGI) is an independent organisation in Glasgow, founded in 1861, which promotes contemporary art and artists in Scotland. The institute organizes the largest and most prestigious annual art exhibit ...
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 2* listed building, it hosts five galleries and an exhibition progra ...
. 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 U ...
, the Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...
, the Ashmolean Museum
The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology () on Beaumont Street, 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 o ...
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
Pollok House, formerly the family seat of the Stirling-Maxwell family, is located at Pollok Country Park in Glasgow, Scotland (which also houses the Burrell Collection).
Overview
The house, built in 1752 and originally thought to be designed ...
in Glasgow.
In 1913 Pomeroy married Patricia Morrison Coughlan, of Douglas, County Cork
Douglas () is a suburb, with a village core, in Cork city, Ireland. Douglas is also the name of the townland, Roman Catholic parish, Church of Ireland parish and civil parish in which it is contained.
Originally a separate village, the growt ...
, with who he had two sons. Pomeroy died on 26 May 1924, aged 65, and was buried at Boscombe
Boscombe is a suburb of Bournemouth, England. Historically in Hampshire, but today in Dorset, it is located to the east of Bournemouth town centre and west of Southbourne.
Originally a sparsely inhabited area of heathland, from around 1865 B ...
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, United Kingdom. The church was designed and built by Sir Christopher Wren.
Th ...
.
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. It often includes religious images.
The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular architecture, for e ...
at St Saviour's Church, Colgate, West Sussex
Colgate is a small village and civil parish in the Horsham district of West Sussex, England, about four miles (6 km) north east of Horsham.
A small village, with its origins at the northern edge of St. Leonards Forest, it has no shops or re ...
* A marble bust of William Henry Perkin
Sir William Henry Perkin (12 March 1838 – 14 July 1907) was a British chemist and entrepreneur best known for his serendipitous discovery of the first commercial synthetic organic dye, mauveine, made from aniline. Though he failed in trying ...
for the Royal Society of Chemistry
The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society (professional association) in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the Royal Inst ...
at Burlington House
Burlington House is a building on Piccadilly in Mayfair, London. It was originally a private Neo-Palladian mansion owned by the Earls of Burlington and was expanded in the mid-19th century after being purchased by the British government. To ...
, London.
* A bust of the surgeon Sir Henry Thompson at Golders Green
Golders Green is an area in the London Borough of Barnet in England. A smaller suburban linear settlement, near a farm and public grazing area green of medieval origins, dates to the early 19th century. Its bulk forms a late 19th century and ea ...
in London.
* Chancel stalls and screen at Holy Trinity, Sloane Street
The Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity with Saint Jude, Upper Chelsea, commonly called Holy Trinity Sloane Street or Holy Trinity Sloane Square, is a Church of England parish church in London, England. It was built in 1888–90 at the ...
, 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 British sculptors
20th-century British 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
British architectural sculptors
English male sculptors
People from Lambeth
Royal Academicians
Sculptors from London
Masters of the Art Worker's Guild