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James Arthur Woodford OBE RA (1893–1976) was an English sculptor. His works include sets of bronze doors for the headquarters of the Royal Institute of British Architects and Norwich City Hall; the Queen's Beasts, originally made for the Coronation in 1953, and later replicated in stone, and the statue of Robin Hood outside Nottingham Castle.

Life

Woodford was born in Nottingham on 25 September 1893.^[1] His father was a lace designer, who expected his son to follow him into the trade and was opposed to Woodford pursuing a career as an artist. Notoriously, he even threw his son's early sculptures across the room. Despite his father's opposition, Woodford had started studying at the Nottingham School of Art, although his education was curtailed when he enlisted in the Sherwood Foresters during the First World War. After the war, he continued his training at the Royal College of Art in London, and was Rome Scholar in 1922–25.^[2]

Woodford designed the bronze doors of the 1930s extension of the Liverpool Blind School in Hope Street. The doors were later transferred to the new Blind School when it moved to Wavertree, a suburb of Liverpool.

In 1934 Woodford created a monumental pair of doors for the headquarters of the Royal Institute of British Architects at 66 Portland Place, London. They each weigh one-and-a-half tons, the deep relief designs showing the River Thames and various London buildings. He also made figures on the exterior columns, interior ceiling plaster reliefs depicting the main periods of English architecture and various building trades and crafts, and stone window-pieces depicting building through the ages.^[3] Four years later he made a set of 18 sculptured roundels for the six bronze doors of Norwich City Hall, depicting the history of the city and manual trades practised there.^[4]

He created the sculpture of Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture and grain crops, that sits above the portal of The Corn Exchange, Brighton, which was installed in 1934.

Woodford did some decorative work for the liner RMS Queen Mary, carving wooden screens and designing bronze uplighters for the cabin class smoking room.^[5] Another commission around this time was for the facade of the fashionably decorated Good Intent restaurant in Chelsea, where he carved large wooden reliefs of a mermaid and two seahorses.^[6]

During World War II, Woodford served as a camouflage officer with the Air Ministry.^[7] After the war he created a small number of war memorials, most notably for the Court of Honour of the British Medical Association building in Tavistock Square.^[7]

For the coronation ceremony of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, Woodford made a set of ten plaster sculptures of the Queen's Beasts, each 6 feet (1.8 m) tall to be placed at the entrance of Westminster Abbey. He went on to make a set of Portland stone replicas which an anonymous donor presented to Kew Gardens in 1956. They now stand on the Palm House Terrace,^[8] while the originals were donated to the collection of the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Quebec, where they remain to this day.

In the 1950s Woodford made a set of reliefs representing the four elements for the Lloyds building in Lime Street in the City of London. They were placed very high up; Arthur Byron in London's Statues (1981) describes them as "barely visible."^[9] Following the demolition of the building they were installed on a wall at street level as part of the landscaping of the Willis Building on the same site.

In 1951 he made the group of bronze statues of Robin Hood and his Merry Men that stand near the gates of Nottingham Castle.^[10] The group is now Grade II listed as part of the historic setting of the castle.^[11] In 1962 he modelled a new version of the royal coat of arms for use on major public buildings such as courts and embassies for the Ministry of Public Buildings;^[12] the Times said it was "more shapely than the old design, and displays the Lion and Unicorn with greater vigour".^[12]

'Water' James Woodford 'The Four Elements' 1952, stone reliefs

He was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy on 2 March 1937 and a full Academician on 27 April 1945, and appointed OBE in the 1953 Coronation Honours. He moved in the early 1970s from Chiswick, west London to Twickenham, where he died on 8 November 1976.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b "James Woodford R.A." Royal Academy of Arts Collections. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
^ ""Mask",1933". Retrieved 30 May 2011.
^ Byron, Arthur (1981). London's Statues: a guide to London's outdoor statues and sculpture. Constable. pp. 348, 353. ISBN 978-0-09-463430-5.
^ "Public Sculpture in Central Norwich" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
^ Wealleans, Anne (2006). Designing liners: a history of interior design afloat. Taylor and Francis. p. 126. ISBN 978-0-415-37466-8. Retrieved 6 August 2011.
^ Compton, Ann; Edward Halliday (1988). Edward Halliday: art for life, 1925–1939. Liverpool University Press. p. 35. ISBN 978-0-85323-972-7. Retrieved 6 August 2011.
^ ^a ^b Sacha Llewellyn & Paul Liss (2016). WWII War Pictures by British Artists. Liss Llewellyn Fine Art. ISBN 978-0-9930884-2-1.
^ "Palm House Parterres". Archived from the original on 22 September 2011. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
^ Byron, Arthur (1981). London's Statues: a guide to London's outdoor statues and sculpture. Constable. p. 288. ISBN 978-0-09-463430-5.
^ "Nottingham, SB0049, Statue, Robin Hood". Archived from the original on 11 March 2012. Retrieved 26 May 2011.
^ "23 remarkable places listed in 2018". Historic England. 20 December 2018.
^ ^a ^b "New Design for Royal Arms". The Times (London). 29 December 1962. p. 8.

External links

James Woodford An article on The National Archives website with photographs of many of Woodford's works and further details of his service in The Great War.
Royal Academy Summary biography

[racolls-1] "James Woodford R.A." Royal Academy of Arts Collections. Retrieved 17 October 2016.

[2] ""Mask",1933". Retrieved 30 May 2011.

[3] Byron, Arthur (1981). London's Statues: a guide to London's outdoor statues and sculpture. Constable. pp. 348, 353. ISBN 978-0-09-463430-5.

[4] "Public Sculpture in Central Norwich" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 30 May 2011.

[5] Wealleans, Anne (2006). Designing liners: a history of interior design afloat. Taylor and Francis. p. 126. ISBN 978-0-415-37466-8. Retrieved 6 August 2011.

[6] Compton, Ann; Edward Halliday (1988). Edward Halliday: art for life, 1925–1939. Liverpool University Press. p. 35. ISBN 978-0-85323-972-7. Retrieved 6 August 2011.

[Liss2016-7] Sacha Llewellyn & Paul Liss (2016). WWII War Pictures by British Artists. Liss Llewellyn Fine Art. ISBN 978-0-9930884-2-1.

[8] "Palm House Parterres". Archived from the original on 22 September 2011. Retrieved 30 May 2011.

[9] Byron, Arthur (1981). London's Statues: a guide to London's outdoor statues and sculpture. Constable. p. 288. ISBN 978-0-09-463430-5.

[10] "Nottingham, SB0049, Statue, Robin Hood". Archived from the original on 11 March 2012. Retrieved 26 May 2011.

[11] "23 remarkable places listed in 2018". Historic England. 20 December 2018.

[arms-12] "New Design for Royal Arms". The Times (London). 29 December 1962. p. 8.

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{about||the Bishop of Ely|James Woodford (bishop)|the author of The Diary of a Country Parson|James Woodforde}}
+{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
-'''James Woodford''' {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|RA}} (1893–1976) was an English [[sculptor]].
+'''James Arthur Woodford''' {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|OBE|RA}} (1893–1976) was an English [[sculptor]]. His works include sets of bronze doors for the headquarters of the [[Royal Institute of British Architects]] and [[Norwich City Hall]]; the [[Queen's Beasts]], originally made for the Coronation in 1953, and later replicated in stone, and the [[Statue of Robin Hood|statue]] of [[Robin Hood]] outside [[Nottingham Castle]].
 ==Life==
-Woodford was born in [[Nottingham]] on 25 September 1893.<ref name=racolls>{{cite web|title=James Woodford R.A.|url=http://www.racollection.org.uk/ixbin/indexplus?_IXACTION_=file&_IXFILE_=templates/full/person.html&_IXTRAIL_=Academicians&person=5988|website=Royal Academy of Arts Collections|accessdate=17 October 2016}}</ref> His father was a [[lace]] designer. Woodford started studying at the [[Nottingham Trent University, School of Art and Design|Nottingham School of Art]], but his studies were curtailed when he enlisted during the [[First World War]]. After the war, he continued his training at the [[Royal College of Art]] in London. He was Rome Scholar in 1922–25.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.huntsearch.gla.ac.uk/cgi-bin/foxweb/huntsearch/DetailedResults.fwx?collection=all&SearchTerm=53373&mdaCode=GLAHA&reqMethod=Link |title="Mask",1933 |accessdate=30 May 2011}}</ref>
+Woodford was born in [[Nottingham]] on 25 September 1893.<ref name=racolls>{{cite web|title=James Woodford R.A.|url=http://www.racollection.org.uk/ixbin/indexplus?_IXACTION_=file&_IXFILE_=templates/full/person.html&_IXTRAIL_=Academicians&person=5988|website=Royal Academy of Arts Collections|access-date=17 October 2016}}</ref> His father was a [[lace]] designer, who expected his son to follow him into the trade and was opposed to Woodford pursuing a career as an artist. Notoriously, he even threw his son's early sculptures across the room. Despite his father's opposition, Woodford had started studying at the [[Nottingham Trent University, School of Art and Design|Nottingham School of Art]], although his education was curtailed when he enlisted in the [[Sherwood Foresters]] during the [[First World War]]. After the war, he continued his training at the [[Royal College of Art]] in London, and was Rome Scholar in 1922–25.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.huntsearch.gla.ac.uk/cgi-bin/foxweb/huntsearch/DetailedResults.fwx?collection=all&SearchTerm=53373&mdaCode=GLAHA&reqMethod=Link |title="Mask",1933 |access-date=30 May 2011}}</ref>
-Woodford designed the bronze doors of the 1930s extension of the Liverpool Blind School in Hope Street. The doors were later transferred to the new Blind School when it moved to Wavertree, a suburb of Liverpool.
+Woodford designed the bronze doors of the 1930s extension of the Liverpool Blind School in Hope Street. The doors were later transferred to the new Blind School when it moved to Wavertree, a suburb of Liverpool.[[File:RIBA, 66 Portland Place, London.jpg|thumb|Detail from the doors at [[66 Portland Place]], London]][[File:Robin Hood Memorial.jpg|thumb|1951 statue of [[Robin Hood]],  outside [[Nottingham Castle]]]]
-In 1934 Woodford created a monumental pair of doors for the headquarters of the [[Royal Institute of British Architects]] at 66 Portland Place, London. They each weigh one-and-a-half tons, the deep relief designs showing the River Thames and various London buildings. He also made figures on the exterior columns, interior ceiling [[plaster]] [[relief]]s depicting the main periods of English architecture and various building trades and crafts, and stone window-pieces depicting building through the ages.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lMBNAAAAYAAJ&q=london+statues&dq=london+statues&hl=en&ei=R5SOTY3pEsyGhQeCtOW7Dg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDcQ6AEwAA |title=London's Statues: a guide to London's outdoor statues and sculpture |author=Byron, Arthur |publisher=Constable |year=1981 |isbn=978-0-09-463430-5 |pages=348, 353}}</ref> Four years later he made a set of 18 sculptured [[roundel]]s for the six [[bronze]] doors of [[City Hall, Norwich|Norwich City Hall]], each depicting a manual trade that had been practised in the city.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thenorwichsociety.co.uk/pdfs/Public_Sculpture.pdf |title=Public Sculpture in Central Norwich |publisher= |accessdate=30 May 2011 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724011311/http://www.thenorwichsociety.co.uk/pdfs/Public_Sculpture.pdf |archivedate=24 July 2011 |df= }}</ref>[[File:RIBA, 66 Portland Place, London.jpg|thumb|Detail from the doors at 66 Portland Place.]]
+In 1934 Woodford created a monumental pair of doors for the headquarters of the [[Royal Institute of British Architects]] at [[66 Portland Place]], London. They each weigh one-and-a-half tons, the deep relief designs showing the River Thames and various London buildings. He also made figures on the exterior columns, interior ceiling [[plaster]] [[relief]]s depicting the main periods of English architecture and various building trades and crafts, and stone window-pieces depicting building through the ages.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lMBNAAAAYAAJ&q=london+statues |title=London's Statues: a guide to London's outdoor statues and sculpture |author=Byron, Arthur |publisher=Constable |year=1981 |isbn=978-0-09-463430-5 |pages=348, 353}}</ref> Four years later he made a set of 18 sculptured [[roundel]]s for the six [[bronze]] doors of [[City Hall, Norwich|Norwich City Hall]], depicting the history of the city and manual trades practised there.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thenorwichsociety.co.uk/pdfs/Public_Sculpture.pdf |title=Public Sculpture in Central Norwich |access-date=30 May 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724011311/http://www.thenorwichsociety.co.uk/pdfs/Public_Sculpture.pdf |archive-date=24 July 2011 }}</ref>
 He created the sculpture of Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture and grain crops, that sits above the portal of [[Brighton Dome|The Corn Exchange]], Brighton, which was installed in 1934.
-Woodford did some decorative work for the liner [[RMS Queen Mary]], carving wooden screens and designing bronze uplighters for the cabin class smoking room.<ref>{{cite book |title=Designing liners: a history of interior design afloat |last=Wealleans |first=Anne |year=2006 |publisher=Taylor and Francis |location= |isbn=978-0-415-37466-8 |page=126 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U_hd3DfNYioC&printsec=frontcover |accessdate=6 August 2011}}</ref> Another commission around this time was for the facade of the fashionably decorated Good Intent restaurant in [[Chelsea, London|Chelsea]], where he carved large wooden reliefs of a mermaid and two seahorses.<ref>{{cite book |title=Edward Halliday: art for life, 1925–1939 |last=Compton |first=Ann |author2=Edward Halliday |year=1988 |publisher=Liverpool University Press |isbn=978-0-85323-972-7 |page=35 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=no5eCPjZapgC&dq=%22james+woodford%22+sculptor&source=gbs_navlinks_s |accessdate=6 August 2011}}</ref>
+Woodford did some decorative work for the liner {{RMS|Queen Mary}}, carving wooden screens and designing bronze uplighters for the cabin class smoking room.<ref>{{cite book |title=Designing liners: a history of interior design afloat |last=Wealleans |first=Anne |year=2006 |publisher=Taylor and Francis |isbn=978-0-415-37466-8 |page=126 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U_hd3DfNYioC |access-date=6 August 2011}}</ref> Another commission around this time was for the facade of the fashionably decorated Good Intent restaurant in [[Chelsea, London|Chelsea]], where he carved large wooden reliefs of a mermaid and two seahorses.<ref>{{cite book |title=Edward Halliday: art for life, 1925–1939 |last=Compton |first=Ann |author2=Edward Halliday |year=1988 |publisher=Liverpool University Press |isbn=978-0-85323-972-7 |page=35 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=no5eCPjZapgC&q=%22james+woodford%22+sculptor |access-date=6 August 2011}}</ref>
+During World War II, Woodford served as a camouflage officer with the [[Air Ministry]].<ref name="Liss2016">{{cite book|author=Sacha Llewellyn & Paul Liss|publisher=Liss Llewellyn Fine Art|year=2016|title=WWII War Pictures by British Artists|isbn=978-0-9930884-2-1}}</ref> After the war he created a small number of war memorials, most notably for the Court of Honour of the [[British Medical Association]] building in [[Tavistock Square]].<ref name="Liss2016"/>
-For the coronation ceremony of [[Queen Elizabeth II]] in 1953, Woodford made a set of ten plaster sculptures of the [[Queen's Beasts]], each {{convert|6|ft|m}} tall to be placed at the entrance of [[Westminster Abbey]]. He went on to make a set of [[Portland stone]] replicas which an anonymous donor presented to [[Kew Gardens]] in 1956. They now stand on the Palm House Terrace.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kew.org/visit-kew-gardens/garden-attractions-A-Z/Palm-House-Parterres.htm |title=Palm House Parterres |author= |work= |publisher= |accessdate=30 May 2011 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110922221700/http://www.kew.org/visit-kew-gardens/garden-attractions-A-Z/Palm-House-Parterres.htm |archivedate=22 September 2011 |df= }}</ref>
+For the coronation ceremony of [[Queen Elizabeth II]] in 1953, Woodford made a set of ten plaster sculptures of the [[Queen's Beasts]], each {{convert|6|ft|m}} tall to be placed at the entrance of [[Westminster Abbey]]. He went on to make a set of [[Portland stone]] replicas which an anonymous donor presented to [[Kew Gardens]] in 1956. They now stand on the Palm House Terrace,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kew.org/visit-kew-gardens/garden-attractions-A-Z/Palm-House-Parterres.htm |title=Palm House Parterres |access-date=30 May 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110922221700/http://www.kew.org/visit-kew-gardens/garden-attractions-A-Z/Palm-House-Parterres.htm |archive-date=22 September 2011 }}</ref> while the originals were donated to the collection of the [[Canadian Museum of History]] in [[Gatineau]], Quebec, where they remain to this day.
-In the 1950s Woodford made a set of reliefs representing the four elements for the [[Lloyd's of London|Lloyds]] building in Lime Street in the City of London. They were placed very high up; Arthur Byron in ''London's Statues'' (1981) describes them as "barely visible."<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lMBNAAAAYAAJ&q=london+statues&dq=london+statues&hl=en&ei=R5SOTY3pEsyGhQeCtOW7Dg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDcQ6AEwAA |title=London's Statues: a guide to London's outdoor statues and sculpture |author=Byron, Arthur |publisher=Constable |year=1981 |isbn=978-0-09-463430-5 |page=288}}</ref> Following the demolition of the building they were installed on a wall at street level as part of the landscaping of the [[Willis Building (London)|Willis Building]] on the same site.
+[[File:'Fire' James Woodford ‘The Four Elements’ 1952, stone reliefs.jpg|thumb|'Fire' James Woodford ‘The Four Elements’ 1952, stone reliefs]]
+In the 1950s Woodford made a set of reliefs representing the four elements for the [[Lloyd's of London|Lloyds]] building in Lime Street in the City of London. They were placed very high up; Arthur Byron in ''London's Statues'' (1981) describes them as "barely visible."<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lMBNAAAAYAAJ&q=london+statues |title=London's Statues: a guide to London's outdoor statues and sculpture |author=Byron, Arthur |publisher=Constable |year=1981 |isbn=978-0-09-463430-5 |page=288}}</ref> Following the demolition of the building they were installed on a wall at street level as part of the landscaping of the [[Willis Building (London)|Willis Building]] on the same site.
-In 1951 he made the bronze statue of [[Robin Hood]] that stands near the gates of [[Nottingham Castle]].<ref>http://pmsa.cch.kcl.ac.uk/NM/SB0049.htm</ref> In 1962 he modelled a new version of the royal coat of arms for use on major public buildings such as courts and embassies for the [[Ministry of Works (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Public Buildings]];<ref name="arms" /> the ''Times'' said it was "more shapely than the old design, and displays the Lion and Unicorn with greater vigour".<ref name="arms">{{cite news|title=New Design for Royal Arms|newspaper=The Times (London)|date=29 December 1962|page=8}}</ref>
+In 1951 he made the [[Statue of Robin Hood|group of bronze statues]] of [[Robin Hood]] and his Merry Men that stand near the gates of [[Nottingham Castle]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://pmsa.cch.kcl.ac.uk/NM/SB0049.htm |title=Nottingham, SB0049, Statue, Robin Hood |access-date=2011-05-26 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120311113426/http://pmsa.cch.kcl.ac.uk/NM/SB0049.htm |archive-date=2012-03-11 }}</ref> The group is now Grade II listed as part of the historic setting of the castle.<ref>{{cite web |title=23 remarkable places listed in 2018 |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/whats-new/news/23-remarkable-places-listed-in-2018/ |website=Historic England|date=20 December 2018 }}</ref>
+In 1962 he modelled a new version of the royal coat of arms for use on major public buildings such as courts and embassies for the [[Ministry of Works (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Public Buildings]];<ref name="arms" /> the ''Times'' said it was "more shapely than the old design, and displays the Lion and Unicorn with greater vigour".<ref name="arms">{{cite news|title=New Design for Royal Arms|newspaper=The Times (London)|date=29 December 1962|page=8}}</ref>
+[[File:'Earth' James Woodford ‘The Four Elements’ 1952, stone reliefs.jpg|thumb|'Earth' James Woodford ‘The Four Elements’ 1952, stone reliefs]]
-He was elected an Associate of the [[Royal Academy]] on 2 March 1937 and a full Academician  on 27 April 1945.  He died on 8 November 1976.<ref name=racolls/>
+[[File:'Air' James Woodford 'The Four Elements' 1952.jpg|thumb|'Air' James Woodford 'The Four Elements' 1952, stone reliefs]]
+[[File:'Water'.jpg|thumb|'Water' James Woodford 'The Four Elements' 1952, stone reliefs]]
+He was elected an Associate of the [[Royal Academy]] on 2 March 1937 and a full Academician  on 27 April 1945, and appointed OBE in the [[1953 Coronation Honours]].  He moved in the early 1970s from [[Chiswick|Chiswick, west London]] to [[Twickenham]], where he died on 8 November 1976.<ref name=racolls/>
 ==References==
@@ Line 34: / Line 40: @@
 [[Category:1893 births]]
 [[Category:1976 deaths]]
+[[Category:20th-century British sculptors]]
+[[Category:Alumni of Nottingham School of Art]]
+[[Category:Alumni of the Royal College of Art]]
+[[Category:Artists from Nottingham]]
 [[Category:British architectural sculptors]]
-[[Category:20th-century British sculptors]]
 [[Category:British male sculptors]]
+[[Category:Camoufleurs]]
+[[Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire]]
 [[Category:Royal Academicians]]
+[[Category:20th-century British male artists]]

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