Ferdinand Victor Blundstone (1882–1951) was a Swiss-born sculptor who worked in England. His father was Charles Blundstone, an India rubber merchant who was born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, England. He studied at the

South London Technical Art School Founded in 1854 as the Lambeth School of Art, the City and Guilds of London Art School is a small specialist art college located in central London, England. Originally founded as a government art school, it is now an independent, not-for-profit ...

and

Royal Academy Schools 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 purpo ...

. Blundstone's works include portraits and sculptures. After the Great War he executed several war memorials, including

Folkestone War Memorial Folkestone War Memorial is a First World War memorial situated in The Leas area of Folkestone, Kent. Designed by Ferdinand Victor Blundstone and unveiled in 1922, it commemorates the 578 men of Folkestone who served in the war, and those who p ...

(now Grade II* listed).

Education

Blundstone studied Art at Ashton-under-Lyne and then at

before entering the

. There his awards included the Landseer Scholarship which he was awarded in 1904 for one of his sculptures. He won a second place prize for a model in 1905. Two years later he was awarded a one-year Landseer Scholarship. Also in 1907 he won a traveling studentship of £200 and a gold medal.''Ferdinand Victor Blundstone''
Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851–1951, University of Glasgow History of Art and HATII, online database 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2012.''Landseer Scholarship.''
Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851–1951, University of Glasgow History of Art and HATII, online database 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2012.

Private life

Blundstone lived in Manchester in about 1908. He may have lived in

Heaton Chapel Heaton Chapel is an area in the northern part of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. Within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic county of Lancashire, it borders the Manchester districts of Levenshulme to the north, th ...

(northern part of

Stockport Stockport is a town and borough in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt and Tame merge to create the River Mersey here. Most of the town is within ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...

) with his family during World War I.Wyke, Terry. ''Public Sculpture of Greater Manchester''. Liverpool University Press. pp. 238–239. . London was his home from about 1919 to 1951.

Career

When Blundstone established himself as a sculptor, he had studios in London and in 1907 moved to Stamford Bridge Studios. In about 1907 he had a studio at Clifton Hill Studio and in 1918 he moved to St. John's Wood.

Works

The following is a partial list of Blundstone's works.

Professional associations

Blundstone (died 1951) was a member of the following associations: * 1919–1951 – Member of Royal Society of British Sculptors * 1921–1923 – Member of council Royal Society of British Sculptors * 1924–1931 – Member of

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 a ...

* 1926–1951 – Fellow of Royal Society of British Sculptors * 1935–1936 – Member of council Royal Society of British Sculptors

Exhibits and competitions

Blundstone exhibitions entries include portraits, statues, trophies and war memorials: * 1903 – 'Tiger at Bay' shown at the Corporation of Manchester Art Gallery, Twenty-First Autumn Exhibition * 1907 – ''Jacob Wrestling with the Angel'' was shown at Corporation of Manchester Art Gallery, Twenty-Fifth Autumn Exhibition * 1907–1944 – at The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts (Summer Exhibition) * 1908 – Multiple works exhibited at Leeds City Art Gallery, The Spring Exhibition * 1916 – ''Design for a Garden Figure'' shown at Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society: Eleventh Exhibition * 1925 – For his garden sculpture, he won the Paris Exhibition's silver medal. * 1927 – ''The age of imagination'' was shown at The Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, The One-Hundred-and-First His competition attendance included: * 1904 – Landseer Scholarships (Royal Academy of Arts) (Won) * 1907 – Landseer Scholarships (Royal Academy of Arts) (Won) * 1920 – Folkestone Memorial Competition (Folkestone Council), 1920 (Won) * 1931–1932 – Memorial for Animals, for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Royal Society of British Sculptors) (Participant, awarded £20)

Notes

References

External links

Portrait of Ferdinand Victor Blundstone
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blundstone, Ferdinand Victor 1882 births 1951 deaths English sculptors English male sculptors World War I artists World War I memorials in the United Kingdom 20th-century war artists British war artists 20th-century British sculptors British expatriates in Switzerland