The Wills Brothers, also known as W. J. & T. Wills, consisting of William John (born in
Islington
Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...
, London) and Thomas Wills (born in
St Pancras, London) were a firm of sculptor brothers
who were noted for their sculpture and modelling work between 1857 and 1895.
Annual exhibitors at the
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...
until 1884, they were best known for their designs of drinking fountains, and were employed by the
Metropolitan Free Drinking Fountain Association and
Coalbrookdale Company
Coalbrookdale is a village in the Ironbridge Gorge in Shropshire, England, containing a settlement of great significance in the history of iron ore smelting. It lies within the civil parish called the Gorge.
This is where iron ore was first s ...
.
They were noted for their
cast iron
Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...
work in particular, made by the Coalbrookdale Company.
In 1859 they were commissioned to design the "People's Fountain" for the Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council, costing £114 in total (of which £80 was for the sculpture) and completed in 1860.
The statue on a high pedestal was relocated in 1866 to
Bolton Park (later renamed
Queen's Park).
In 1978 the statue was vandalised beyond repair; it was replaced on the pedestal with an inferior statue of a woman pouring water from a jug.
The brothers were also well known for their statues of notable figures. Notable works include
Richard Cobden in
Camden
Camden may refer to:
People
* Camden (surname), a surname of English origin
* Camden Joy (born 1964), American writer
* Camden Toy (born 1957), American actor
Places Australia
* Camden, New South Wales
* Camden, Rosehill, a heritage res ...
(1866–1868), Sir
Humphry Davy
Sir Humphry Davy, 1st Baronet, (17 December 177829 May 1829) was a British chemist and inventor who invented the Davy lamp and a very early form of arc lamp. He is also remembered for isolating, by using electricity, several elements for t ...
in
Penzance
Penzance ( ; kw, Pennsans) is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is about west-southwest of Plymouth and west-southwest of London. Situated ...
(1872),
Lord Mayo
Richard Southwell Bourke, 6th Earl of Mayo, (; ; 21 February 1822 – 8 February 1872) styled Lord Naas (; ) from 1842 to 1867 and Lord Mayo in India, was a British politician, statesman and prominent member of the Conservative Party (UK), ...
in
Cockermouth (1875), George Leach Ashworth in
Rochdale
Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...
(1877), Sir
Thomas White in
Coventry
Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...
(1883),
Henry Edwards in Weymouth (1886) and
William III William III or William the Third may refer to:
Kings
* William III of Sicily (c. 1186–c. 1198)
* William III of England and Ireland or William III of Orange or William II of Scotland (1650–1702)
* William III of the Netherlands and Luxembourg ...
at
Brixham
Brixham is a coastal town and civil parish, the smallest and southernmost of the three main population centres (the others being Paignton and Torquay) on the coast of Torbay in the county of Devon, in the south-west of England. Commercial fish ...
,
Torbay (1889).
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
English male sculptors
19th-century English male artists
19th-century British sculptors
Sculptors from London