William James Bloye (8 July 1890 – 6 June 1975) was an English sculptor, active in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

either side of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Life

Bloye studied, and later, taught at the

Birmingham School of Art The Birmingham School of Art was a municipal art school based in the centre of Birmingham, England. Although the organisation was absorbed by Birmingham Polytechnic in 1971 and is now part of Birmingham City University's Faculty of Arts, Design ...

(his training was interrupted by

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, when he served in the

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps ...

from 1915 to 1917; he was eventually succeeded at Birmingham by John Bridgeman), where his pupils included Gordon Herickx, Roy Kitchin, Raymond Mason, John Poole and

Ian Walters Ian Homer Walters (9 April 1930 – 6 August 2006) was an English sculptor. Biography Born in Solihull, Walters was educated at Yardley Grammar school and under William Bloye at the Birmingham School of Art. After National Service in the Royal A ...

. He also studied stone-carving and letter cutting under

Eric Gill Arthur Eric Rowton Gill, (22 February 1882 – 17 November 1940) was an English sculptor, letter cutter, typeface designer, and printmaker. Although the '' Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' describes Gill as ″the greatest artist-cr ...

around 1921. William Bloye blue plaque

In 1925 Bloye became a member of the Birmingham Civic Society, having, at about that time, a studio at 111, Golden Hillock Road, Small Heath, Birmingham. As Birmingham's unofficial civic sculptor he worked on virtually all public commissions including libraries, hospitals and the University. He often carved

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

plaques, typically for

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...

s in Birmingham, and decorated a number of buildings by the architect

Holland W. Hobbiss Holland William Hobbiss, (8 February 1880 – 22 July 1970) was an English architect in the Birmingham area. He traded under the names ''Holland W. Hobbiss and Partners'' and ''Holland W. Hobbiss and M. A. H. Hobbiss''. Life Hobbiss was born ...

. During the 1920s, he served on the Technical Committee of the Birmingham Civic Society. Bloye became a member of the

Royal British Society of Sculptors The Royal Society of Sculptors 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, South Kensington, London. It ...

: associate (with the honorific suffix ARBS) in 1934, and fellow (FRBS) in 1938. He also won the latter's Otto Beit Medal. Retiring from the School of Art in 1956 he moved to

Solihull Solihull (, or ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in West Midlands County, England. The town had a population of 126,577 at the 2021 Census. Solihull is situated on the River Blyth ...

. He died in

Arezzo Arezzo ( , , ) , also ; ett, 𐌀𐌓𐌉𐌕𐌉𐌌, Aritim. is a city and '' comune'' in Italy and the capital of the province of the same name located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about southeast of Florence at an elevation of above sea lev ...

, Italy in 1975. In December 2010, a

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term ...

was unveiled at City College, on the site of his former studio. As of January 2010, Birmingham City Council are working on the restoration of Bloye's statue of Pan at

Aston Hall Aston Hall is a Grade I listed Jacobean house in Aston, Birmingham, England, designed by John Thorpe and built between 1618 and 1635. It is a leading example of the Jacobean prodigy house. In 1864, the house was bought by Birmingham Corpor ...

. The statue's head is missing, and they have appealed for old photographs to assist in its reconstruction.

RBSA

Bloye was closely associated with the

Royal Birmingham Society of Artists The Royal Birmingham Society of Artists or RBSA is an art society, based in the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham, England, where it owns and operates an art gallery, the RBSA Gallery, on Brook Street, just off St Paul's Square. It is both a r ...

(RBSA). Although the two 1919 bronze plaques at the RBSA entrance are the earliest known work by Bloye in Birmingham, he became a member only in 1930. After a period as vice-president, he became president in 1948 and served in that role until 1950. He was also the RBSA's Professor of Sculpture from at least the mid-1940s until at least 1961 (after which time the post is no longer mentioned in the annual catalogues).RBSA catalogues, 1962 onwards The Society's permanent collection includes one of his works, a life-size plaster bust, ''Head of Man''.RBSA archives, catalogue number B43 It is undated and not usually on display. The subject's name is not recorded.

Selected public works

1919

1920-1929

1930-1940

1950-1959

1960-1974

Date unknown

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bloye, William 1890 births 1975 deaths 20th-century British sculptors 20th-century English male artists Artists from Birmingham, West Midlands British architectural sculptors English male sculptors Modern sculptors People from Small Heath, Birmingham Members and Associates of the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists British letter cutters Fellows of the Royal British Society of Sculptors Alumni of the Birmingham School of Art Academics of the Birmingham School of Art British Army personnel of World War I Royal Army Medical Corps soldiers