Gilbert Bayes

The Queen of Time, Selfridges, London

Destiny, war memorial, Albion Gardens, Ramsgate, Kent, 1920

Gilbert William Bayes RA (4 April 1872 – 1953) was a British sculptor and medalist.

Career

Born in London into a family of artists, Bayes' lengthy and illustrious career began as a student under Sir George Frampton and Harry Bates, and so became associated with the British New Sculpture movement and its focus on architectural sculpture.

Bayes is perhaps best remembered for his interest in color, his association with the Royal Doulton Company, and his work in polychrome ceramics and enamelled bronze. His major ceramic frieze at the Doulton Headquarters of 1938 was removed in the 1960s when the building was razed, and re-located to the gallery at the Victoria and Albert Museum which bears his name. He also designed a number of war memorials, with public work throughout the former Empire, from New South Wales to Bangalore.

He eventually served as President of the Royal British Society of Sculptors from 1939 through 1944. He died in London in 1953. Bayes' home at 4 Greville Place in London bears a blue plaque placed by English Heritage.

Personal life

In 1906, Bayes married Gertrude Smith, a fellow sculptor, in Farnham, Surrey. They had two children:

• Eleanor Jean Gilbert Bayes (1908-1999), also an artist
• Geoffrey Gilbert Bayes (1912-2001)

Work

• exterior work at the Victoria and Albert Museum under Sir Aston Webb, London, circa 1909
• Destiny, Albion Gardens, Ramsgate, Kent, dedicated 1920
• the Todmorden War Memorial, West Yorkshire, 1921
• Offerings of Peace at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, 1923
• the National War Memorial, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, 1924
• the Queen of Time bronze group above the Oxford Street entrance to London Selfridges, 1928
• Drama Through the Ages, polychrome ceramic frieze for the Saville Theatre (now the Odeon Covent Garden cinema), London, 1931
• exterior bas-reliefs and interior work at the BBC Broadcasting House, London, 1931
• six allegorical relief panels, Commercial Bank of Scotland, Bothwell Street, Glasgow, 1934-35
• History of Pottery through the Ages, polychrome ceramic frieze for the London headquarters of the Royal Doulton Company, 1938
• two memorial bronzes at the St James' Church, Warter
• statue of J.N. Tata at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
• "Blue Robed Bambino" fountain at the Centre William Rappard, Geneva (also known as "Child with Fish")
• Reliefs featuring musicians and other figures on a building in Cavendish Square, London. The house in question had been the piano showroom of Brinmeads the English piano manufacturer.

External links

• National Archives website article covering some of Gilbert Bayes’ work
• English Heritage online biography
• His daughter Eleanor Bayes' 1927 passport