William Bloye

William James Bloye
Born	1890 Cornwall
Died	6 June 1975 Arezzo, Italy
Known for	Sculpture
Awards	FRBS Otto Beit Medal

William James Bloye, PPRBSA (1890 – 6 June 1975 Arezzo) was an English sculptor, active in Birmingham either side of World War II.

Life

He studied, and later, taught at the Birmingham School of Art (his training was interrupted by World War I, when he served in the Royal Army Medical Corps from 1915 to 1917;^[1] he was eventually succeeded at Birmingham by John Bridgeman), where his pupils included Gordon Herickx, Roy Kitchin, Raymond Mason, John Poole and Ian Walters. He also studied stone-carving and letter cutting under Eric Gill around 1921.

Blue plaque at Golden Hillock Road.

In 1925 he 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 plaques, typically for public houses in Birmingham, and decorated a number of buildings by the architect Holland W. Hobbiss.

During the 1920s, he served on the Technical Committee of the Birmingham Civic Society.^[2]

He became a member of the Royal British Society of Sculptors: 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. He died in Arezzo, Italy in 1975.

In December 2010, a blue plaque was unveiled at City College, on the site of his former studio.^[1]

As of January 2010, Birmingham City Council are working on the restoration Bloye's statue of Pan at Aston Hall. The statue's head is missing, and they have appealed for old photographs, to assist in its reconstruction.^[3]

RBSA

William Bloye's entry in the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists members' register; in his own hand. Dated 1930.

Bloye was closely associated with the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists (RBSA). Although the two 1919 bronze plaques at the RBSA entrance are the earliest known work by Bloye in Birmingham, he only became a member in 1930.^[4] After a period as vice-president, he became president in 1948^[5] and served in that role until 1950. He was also the RBSA's Professor of Sculpture^[5] from at least the mid-1940s until at least 1961^[6] (after which time the post is no longer mentioned in the annual catalogues).^[7]

The Society's permanent collection includes one of his works, a life-size plaster bust, Head of Man.^[8] It is undated and not usually on display. The subject's name is not recorded.

Works

Image	Title / subject	Location and coordinates	Date	Type	Material	Dimensions	Designation	Owner / administrator	Notes
	Allegories of Art and Industry	Over the north-west door of Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery (The Feeney Gallery extension), Great Charles Street 52°28′52″N 1°54′18″W / 52.4811°N 1.9050°W	c. 1919		Stone			Birmingham City Council	[9]
	Aesculapius	Chest Clinic, Great Charles Street 52°28′54″N 1°54′17″W / 52.4817°N 1.9047°W	1930	Relief carving	Stone				[9]
More images	Boulton, Watt and Murdoch	Broad Street 52°28′43″N 1°54′30″W / 52.478587°N 1.908395°W	1956	statues	Gilded Bronze			Birmingham City Council	Matthew Boulton, James Watt and William Murdoch
More images	Queen Victoria	Victoria Square 52°28′47″N 1°54′11″W / 52.479628°N 1.902998°W	1951	statue	Bronze			Birmingham City Council	Recast from a marble statue by Thomas Brock[9]
	Royal Oak	Lozells 52°30′10″N 1°54′02″W / 52.502687°N 1.900501°W	c. 1936		Stone				Decoration around the doorway of a former pub (now a shop). Formerly brightly painted.[9]
	The Boar's Head	The Boar's Head, Perry Barr 52°31′45″N 1°53′44″W / 52.529153°N 1.895465°W	c. 1938		Wood				Painted pub sign comprising a model boar's head, on a pole.[9] Taken from the arms of the Gough-Calthorpe family of nearby Perry Hall
	Running stag	Perry Barr Stadium 52°31′09″N 1°53′52″W / 52.519192°N 1.897717°W	1929	Bas-relief	Stone				Logo of Birchfield Harriers.[9] Attributed.[9]
	The Towers	Tower Hill, Great Barr 52°32′08″N 1°55′14″W / 52.535574°N 1.92062°W	1936		Stone				Bloye was responsible for all the stone carving on this brick building[9]
	Bronze Plaques	Royal Birmingham Society of Artists 52°29′06″N 1°54′27″W / 52.484891°N 1.907520°W	1919		Bronze				Formerly at the Society's old headquarters on New Street[9]
	Call, Front Line and Return	Hall of Memory, Broad Street 52°28′46″N 1°54′25″W / 52.4795°N 1.9070°W	1925	Interior bas-relief carvings					[9]
More images	'Wisdom, Fortitude, Charity, Faith'	Legal and General Assurance Building, 7 Waterloo Street 52°28′49″N 1°54′00″W / 52.480405°N 1.900024°W	1932	Four bas relief panels					Exterior high level bas-relief carvings.[9]
More images	Capitals and pediment sculptures	New Oxford House, 16 Waterloo Street 52°28′48″N 1°54′05″W / 52.479942°N 1.901489°W	1935						Exterior: two capitals, shield above door and upstairs pediment and putto.[9]
	Coat of arms and two lion reliefs	Council House, Priory Road, Dudley 52°30′44″N 2°05′03″W / 52.5122°N 2.0841°W	1928						Façade on Council House (Town Hall)[10]
	Fox and Hollybush	Acocks Green 52°26′39″N 1°50′03″W / 52.44408°N 1.83418°W	1927-8	Bas-relief					From former Fox Hollies pub.[9] Now on Lidl supermarket.
	War Memorial: George and the Dragon and lions on flagpoles	Town Hall, Priory Street, Dudley 52°30′41″N 2°05′04″W / 52.5115°N 2.0844°W	1928						Also four bronze lions (1936) on flagpoles, Town Hall tower[10]
	Dudley's Past	Town Hall, corner of Priory Road and Priory Street, Dudley 52°30′43″N 2°05′02″W / 52.5120°N 2.0839°W	1935						[10]
	The Antelope	Sparkhill 52°27′12″N 1°51′57″W / 52.453362°N 1.865753°W	c. 1929	Bas-relief pub sign					Designed by Bloye, sculpted by his assistant, Tom Wright[9]
	Allegory of Painting	Art Gallery, Avenue Road, Leamington Spa	1929		Sandstone				Life-size female nude[11]
	Pan	Aston Hall, Birmingham 52°30′24″N 1°53′09″W / 52.50658°N 1.88577°W	1934						[3][9]
	Two stone vases	Aston Hall, Birmingham 52°30′24″N 1°53′07″W / 52.50666°N 1.88519°W 52°30′23″N 1°53′07″W / 52.50642°N 1.88524°W	1934	Vases	Stone			Birmingham City Council	[9]
	Capitals and Heads	Council House, Priory Road, Dudley 52°30′44″N 2°05′03″W / 52.5122°N 2.0841°W	1935						[10]
	Dudley from the Wren's Nest	Council House, Priory Road, Dudley 52°30′44″N 2°05′04″W / 52.5121°N 2.0844°W	1935	Two reliefs	Plaster				Within building - at entrance to council chamber and entrance to committee reception room.<0ref name="NoszlopySBC" />
	St. Nicholas Rescuing the Three Children	John Shelton School, Coventry (former)	1936						Lost after the school was demolished in 1999[11]
	Bear and Staff	The Bear Inn, Stratford Road, Sparkhill 52°26′54″N 1°51′40″W / 52.448235°N 1.861201°W	c. 1937	Bas-relief					Pub sign, depicting feature of the arms of Warwickshire, in which the area was located at the time of installation.[9]
More images	Lamp of Knowledge	Perry Common Library 52°32′08″N 1°52′32″W / 52.535590°N 1.875583°W	c. 1934	Bas-relief	stone				[9]
More images	Spirit of Knowledge	Yardley Wood Library 52°25′07″N 1°51′35″W / 52.41856°N 1.85970°W	c. 1936	Bas-relief	stone				[9]

Work	Location (Birmingham unless stated)	Date	Picture	Coordinates (With links to map and aerial photo sources)	Notes
Brookvale Pub, sign with putto and grapes	Erdington	c. 1934		52°30′50″N 1°51′27″W / 52.51399°N 1.85737°W	Painted stone pub sign.[9]
Huntsman and Dog, pub sign	The Green Man Pub, High Street, Harborne	c. 1940		52°27′41″N 1°56′35″W / 52.46138°N 1.94301°W	Painted wooden pub sign.[9]
Library Emblem	Yardley Library, Yardley	1938		52°27′40″N 1°48′58″W / 52.461°N 1.816°W
Apollo fountain	Coronation Gardens, Ednam Road, Dudley	1939		52°30′46″N 2°05′00″W / 52.51277°N 2.08337°W	Sculpture on top of fountain[10] The model was international gymnast and basketball player Fred Starkey.[12] The plaster models are in the collection of Birmingham Museums Trust.[13]
Josiah Mason	Now at the junction of Chester Road & Orphanage Road in Erdington	1952		52°31′54″N 1°49′30″W / 52.531556°N 1.825128°W	Bronze bust, recast from a marble statue (subsequently destroyed) by Francis John Williamson of 1885, which stood opposite Mason Science College in Edmund Street[9]
Engineering, bas-relief	Mechanical Engineering Building at the University of Birmingham	1954		52°26′57″N 1°56′06″W / 52.44928°N 1.93509°W	[9]
Aesculapius	Medical School, University of Birmingham	c. 1938		52°27′07″N 1°56′17″W / 52.45190°N 1.93813°W	[9]
John Skirrow Wright	Birmingham Council House	1956		52°28′48″N 1°54′10″W / 52.480082°N 1.902760°W	Bronze bust cast from a marble statue (subsequently destroyed) by Francis John Williamson[9]
St. Alphege	St. Alphege CofE Infants School, New Road, Solihull	1959		52°24′41″N 1°46′28″W / 52.41148°N 1.77450°W	Restored in 1994[11]
Mermaid fountain	University of Birmingham Guild of Students	1960		52°26′57″N 1°55′38″W / 52.44927°N 1.927225°W	Bronze[9]
Mermaid	University of Birmingham Guild of Students	1960		52°26′58″N 1°55′39″W / 52.44951°N 1.92741°W	Clipsham stone sculpture, on wall[9]
Decoration	The Mermaid (public house), Sparkhill	c. 1960		52°27′25″N 1°52′08″W / 52.456861°N 1.868761°W	(Bas-relief pub sign attributed to Alan Bridgewater[9])
Bust of Wilfred Byng Kenrick	Byng Kenrick Grammar School For Girls	1962 (unveiled 1963)			Bronze. Lost, believed stolen.[9])
Coat of Arms	Dental Hospital	c. 1973		52°29′09″N 1°53′42″W / 52.485875°N 1.895101°W	Fibreglass. Now removed.[9]
Head of Man	Royal Birmingham Society of Artists	undated			Plaster[8]
Sermon to the Birds	St Francis of Assisi's Church, Bournville	1933		52°25′44″N 1°56′08″W / 52.42902°N 1.93558°W	Oak Wood. Part of Grade II listed building.[9]
Ten panels in ceiling	Moseley School (old assembly hall)	undated		52°26′26″N 1°51′52″W / 52.44066°N 1.86433°W	Plaster[14] (Full image set at Media related to Moseley School assembly hall ceiling panels at Wikimedia Commons).
Sun and lettering	Sun Insurance Building, Bennetts Hill	1927		52°28′48″N 1°54′01″W / 52.47991°N 1.90025°W	Stone bas-relief[9] Media related to Bloye sculptures on Sun Insurance Building, Bennetts Hill at Wikimedia Commons).
Heraldic sculptures (also Bronze statue of girl in fountain in courtyard)	Fountain Court, Steelhouse Lane	1964		52°29′01″N 1°53′42″W / 52.48370°N 1.89494°W	Stone bas-relief. Statue of girl in private courtyard.[9] Media related to Bloye sculptures at Fountain Court Building, Steelhouse Lane at Wikimedia Commons.
Mother and Child, Young Child Playing	90 Lancaster Street, Birmingham	c1935		52°29′14″N 1°53′37″W / 52.48731°N 1.89370°W	Stone bas-relief[9]
Maternity	Carnegie Welfare Institute, Hunter's Road, Hockley	c1923-6		52°29′50″N 1°54′55″W / 52.49712°N 1.91522°W	Painted mahogany[9]
The Good Shepherd and Latin Cross	Christ Church, Burney Lane, Ward End	c1935		52°29′23″N 1°49′17″W / 52.48984°N 1.82130°W	Stone bas-relief[9]
Christ	All Saints church, Coneyford Road, Shard End	1951-5		52°29′40″N 1°46′34″W / 52.49454°N 1.77601°W	Stone[9]
Lion Pediment and Seated Craftsmen	Supreme Works, 186 Soho Hill, Handsworth	c1922		52°30′01″N 1°55′16″W / 52.50018°N 1.92123°W	Stone bas-relief.[9] Media related to Supreme Works, 186 Soho Hill, Birmingham at Wikimedia Commons.

References

1. "Life of Birmingham sculptor William Bloye commemorated". City College. December 2010. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 11 December 2010.
2. "Ornamental Fountain". National Recording Project. Public Monument and Sculpture Association. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
3. "The mystery of the headless statue". Birmingham Newsroom. Birmingham City Council. 2011-01-17. Retrieved 17 January 2011.
4. Anon (1930). "The Spring Exhibition, 1930 (catalogue)". RBSA.
5. Anon (1948). "Royal Birmingham Society of Artists Autumn Exhibition 1948 (catalogue)". RBSA.
6. Anon (1961). "The Second Spring Exhibition, 1961 (catalogue)". RBSA.
7. RBSA catalogues, 1962 onwards
8. RBSA archives, catalogue number B43
9. Noszlopy, George T. (1998). Public Sculpture of Birmingham including Sutton Coldfield. Public Sculpture of Britain. 2. Liverpool University Press. ISBN 0-85323-682-8.
10. Noszlopy, George T. (2005). Public Sculpture of Staffordshire and the Black Country. Public Sculpture of Britain. 9. Liverpool University Press. ISBN 978-0-85323-999-4.
11. Noszlopy, George T. (2003). Public Sculpture of Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull. Public Sculpture of Britain. 6. Liverpool University Press. ISBN 0-85323-847-2.
12. Anon (2001-04-02). "Former city man tribute". Birmingham Evening Mail. - via HighBeam Research, subscription needed
13. Accession numbers: 1991P111; 1991P112
14. The Moseleians Association - Moseley School and the work of William Bloye (1890-1975)