Gilbert Bayes

Gilbert William Bayes (4 April 1872 – 10 July 1953) was an English sculptor. His art works varied in scale from medals to large architectural clocks, monuments and equestrian statues and he was also a designer of some note, creating chess pieces, mirrors and cabinets. 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. He first exhibited at the Royal Academy in London in 1889, aged 17. In Paris, Bayes won an honourable mention at the 1900 International Exhibition, then several medals at the Paris Salon and, in 1925, a gold medal and diploma of honour at the Exhibition of Decorative Art. His work was part of the sculpture event in the art competition at the 1928 Summer Olympics.

Bayes is perhaps best remembered for his interest in colour, his association with the Royal Doulton Company, and his work in polychrome ceramics and enamelled bronze. His 1939 major polychrome stonework frieze, Pottery through the Ages at the Doulton Headquarters in London was removed in the 1960s when the building was razed, and the work was re-located to the Victoria and Albert Museum. He also designed a number of war memorials, with public works throughout the former British Empire, from New South Wales to Bangalore.

In 1896, Bayes was elected to the Art Workers' Guild, and in 1925 was elected to the position of Master.

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)

Works Statues of Sir William Chambers and Sir Charles Barry and other exterior work at the Victoria and Albert Museum under Sir Aston Webb, London, circa 1909. Destiny, Albion Gardens, Ramsgate, Kent, dedicated 1920 Hythe war memorial, Kent, 1921 Todmorden War Memorial, West Yorkshire, 1921. The Building of King Solomon's Temple, Central Warwickshire Masonic Temple (demolished), Birmingham, 1927 (frieze said to be in store) The Queen of Time monumental bronze and enamel group with clock above central Oxford Street entrance to Selfridges department store, London, 1928 In 1980 the figures were almost all intact and in good repair; since then, large numbers of figures have been destroyed, removed or stolen. 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 A series of sporting figures outside Lord's Cricket Ground, London, 1934 In 2011 the Royal British Society of Sculptors created the Gilbert Bayes Award for early career sculptors.