Edward Hodges Baily

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Edward Hodges Baily
Born10 March 1788 (1788-03-10)
Bristol, England
Died22 May 1867 (1867-05-23) (aged 79)
London, England
NationalityBritish
Known forSculpture
Notable workNelson's Column
AwardsFRS, Turner Gold Medal

Edward Hodges Baily RA FRS (10 March 1788 – 22 May 1867; sometimes misspelled Bailey) was a prolific British sculptor responsible for numerous public monuments, portrait busts, statues and exhibition pieces as well as works in silver. He carved friezes for both the Marble Arch and Buckingham Palace in London. His numerous statues of public figures include that of Horatio Nelson on top of Nelson's Column and Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey on Grey's Monument in Newcastle upon Tyne. Throughout his career Baily was responsible for creating a number of monuments and memorials for British churches and cathedrals, including several in St Paul's Cathedral.

Biography[edit]

Baily was born in 1788 at Downend in Bristol to Martha Hodges (1755-1836) and William Hillier Baily (1763-1834), a woodcutter who specialised in carving ship's figureheads.[1] At the age of fourteen he was placed as an accounts clerk in a mercantile house, where he worked for two years, though he continued to produce wax models and busts, his childhood hobby.[2] In 1804, aged sixteen he abandoned his job and set himself up as a professional wax portraitist.[3] Two Homeric studies, executed for a friend, were shown to the sculptor John Flaxman who was so impressed, that in 1807, he accepted Baily as a pupil in his London studio and subsequently employed him as an assistant.[1] In 1808 Baily won the silver medal of the Society of Arts for a plaster figure of Laocoön and the next year entered the Royal Academy Schools.[3][4] At the academy he won a silver medal in 1809 and in 1811 he gained their gold medal for a model of Hercules restoring Alcestis to Admetus, and soon after exhibited Apollo discharging his Arrows against the Greeks and Hercules casting Lichas into the Sea.[3][4]

Eve at the Fountain

From 1816 to 1846 Baily was the Chief Modeller for Rundell, Bridge and Rundell, goldsmiths to the royal family, where he was responsible for creating the Doncaster Cup trophy in 1843 and the Ascot Gold Cup in 1844.[3] Baily also produced designs for the silversmith Paul Storr.[1] For a soup tureen commission in 1821, Baily designed a pair of ornamental handles which became the basis of his large scale marble sculpture Eve at the Fountain, which was acquired by the Bristol Literary Institute and is now in the Bristol Museum & Art Gallery.[3] Widely reproduced at reduced sizes in both Parian ware and bronze, the work was among the most popular individual sculptures in Britain at the time.[1] Baily returned to Eve as a subject in 1842 with the work Eve listening to the Voice.[5] Baily was elected an Associate member of the Royal Academy in 1817 and, on the strength of Eve at the Fountain, a full Academician in 1821.[4][5]

From the 1820s until 1858 Baily had a series of high-profile public commissions and was also responsible for numerous portrait busts, statues and exhibition pieces.[6] He carved the bas-reliefs on the facade of the Masonic Hall on Park Street in Bristol and those on the south side of the Marble Arch in Hyde Park in 1826.[3] When changes were made to the size and design of the Marble Arch, a number of friezes that Baily had carved were considered surplus to requirements but were installed on the facade of Buckingham Palace.[7] He also designd the models of the stone figures installed on the pediment of Buckingham Palace when the building was enlarged and carved the frieze Britannia Rewarding Arts and Sciences for the Palace's throne room.[1] He created the prominent statue of Horatio Nelson for the top of Nelson's Column, in Trafalgar Square.[4] For the facade of the National Gallery facing onto Trafalgar Square he created a series of statues and friezes.[3]

Baily's statue of Nelson on Nelson's Column

Baily exhibited at the Royal Academy regularly from 1810 to 1862 and at the British Institution from 1812 to 1840.[3] His exhibition pieces often represented aspects of family life with titles such as Maternal Affection and Mother and Child.[6] For Saint Stephen's Hall in the Palace of Westminster he created statues of Charles James Fox and Lord Mansfield.[6] Subjects of his portrait busts included the Duke of Wellington, his mentor John Flaxman and Lord Byron.[6] Several of his designs for monuments were cast as small scales bronzes for the domestic retail market, notably his equestrian statue of George IV.[3]

Financial insecurity was a recurring theme in Baily's life. He was first declared bankrupt in 1831, and again in 1838. On the first occasion questions were asked in Parliament on his behalf because his financial distress had resulted from delays in receiving payment for sculptures at Buckingham Palace.[1] Fortunately his appeals to the Royal Academy for financial assistance, were successful in the 1830s, as again in the 1860s, when they provided him with a pension of £200 a year as an honorary retired Academician.[1] Baily's election as a fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) came in 1842. Among his final works was the design for the Turner medal in 1857, the Royal Academy's award for landscape painting.[1]

Baily married Elizabeth Wardley (1786-1836) in Bristol during 1806 and the couple had four children.[1] Their daughter, Caroline, married Edgar George Papworth Senior one of Baily's assistants.[1] Among his other assistants and pupils were John Henry Foley, Musgrave Watson, Joseph Durham, Edward Bowring Stephens and William Theed.[1][8] Baily's nephew was William Hellier Baily, the paleontologist.

Baily died at 99 Devonshire Road, Holloway in north London on 22 May 1867 and is buried in the city's Highgate Cemetery.[9]

Selected public works[edit]

1815–1829[edit]

Image Title / subject Location and
coordinates 		Date Type Material Dimensions Designation Wikidata Notes
Memorial to Calverly Bewick Newcastle Cathedral After 1815 Sculpture group on plinth Marble Grade I With William Theed[10][11]

More images 		William Ponsonby Crypt of St Paul's Cathedral, London 1820 Sculpture group on plinth Marble [12][13]
Eve at the Fountain Bristol Museum and Art Gallery 1822 Statue Marble A plaster version is held by the Victoria and Albert Museum[14]
Bristol with Minerva and Apollo Portico of 17 Park Street, Bristol 1824 Curved relief frieze Carrara marble 820cm long by 80cm high Grade II* Q17553095 Architect;- Charles Robert Cockerell.[15]
Memorial to Thomas Parry St. George's Cathedral, Chennai 1824 Relief sculpture Marble [16]

More images 		Henry Fuseli National Portrait Gallery, London 1824 Bust Marble 570mm x 285mm [17]

More images 		John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent Crypt of St Paul's Cathedral, London 1826 Statue Marble [12][18]

More images 		Battle of St Vincent Regent's Place Plaza, Camden, London c. 1826 Frieze Marble [19]
Memorial to Bishop George Pelham St Mary's Church, Buckden, Cambridgeshire 1827 Sculpture Marble Grade I [20]
Monument to Thomas Picton Picton Terrace, Carmarthen 1828 Statue Bronze Statue; 9ft 6in Monument was dismantled in 1846[8][21][22]
The Death of General Sir Thomas Picton at Waterloo Carmarthenshire County Museum, Carmarthen 1828 Relief frieze Stone Created for the Picton Monument dismantled in 1846[8][22]

More images 		Valour and Virtue and Peace and Plenty South face of Marble Arch, London 1828 Two reliefs Marble 150cm square Grade I Q845529 [7][23]

More images 		Pallas Athene Athenaeum Club, London 1829 Gilded statue Grade I Q89271625 Architect, Decimus Burton[24]

1830–1839[edit]

Image Title / subject Location and
coordinates 		Date Type Material Dimensions Designation Wikidata Notes
Sir Thomas Lawrence National Portrait Gallery, London 1830 Bust Marble 700mm x 420mm [25]

More images 		Pulteney Malcolm Crypt of St Paul's Cathedral, London 1832 Statue Marble [12][26]

More images 		Maternal Affection Victoria and Albert Museum 1837 Sculpture group Marble 94cm [14]

More images 		George Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont Church of St Mary, Petworth, West Sussex After 1837 Seated statue on pedestal Marble Grade I [1][27]

More images 		Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey Grey's Monument, Newcastle upon Tyne 1838 Statue Marble Grade I Q5608058 [8][28]

More images 		Thomas Telford Westminster Abbey, London 1839 Statue on pedestal Marble [29]

More images 		Horatio Nelson Nelson's Column, London 1839-42 Statue Craigleith stone Grade I Q2447876 [8][30]

1840–1849[edit]

Image Title / subject Location and
coordinates 		Date Type Material Dimensions Designation Wikidata Notes

More images 		Henry Vassall-Fox, 3rd Baron Holland Westminster Abbey, London After 1840 Bust on monument with figures at base Marble [31]

More images 		Albert, Prince Consort Victoria and Albert Museum 1841 Bust Marble 80cm Commissioned, and rejected, by Queen Victoria for portraying Albert as too old[14]

More images 		Astley Cooper St Paul's Cathedral, London 1842 Statue Marble [12][32]

More images 		Richard Bourke Sydney, Australia 1842 Statue on pedestal Bronze & stone [33]

More images 		Eve listening to Adam Victoria and Albert Museum 1842 Statue Marble 96.5cm Also known as Eve listening to the Voice[14]

More images 		Dr Isaac Watts Abney Park Cemetery, Stoke Newington, London 1845 Statue on pedestal Stone Grade II Q26528763 [34]

More images 		David Hare Hare School, Kolkata 1845 Statue on pedestal Marble KMC Grade 1 Q68148800 [16]
Charles Metcalfe, 1st Baron Metcalfe St. William Grant Park, Kingston, Jamaica After 1846 Statue on pedestal Stone [16]

1850 and later[edit]

Image Title / subject Location and
coordinates 		Date Type Material Dimensions Designation Wikidata Notes
Nicholas Conyngham Tindal Tindal Square, Chelmsford, Essex 1850 Seated statue on pedestal Bronze & stone Grade II Q26391312 [8][35]
Thomas Fleming Manchester Cathedral 1851 Statue on pedestal Marble Grade I [36][37]

More images 		Statue of Robert Peel Market Place, Bury, Greater Manchester 1852 Statue on pedestal with relief panels Bronze & granite Grade II Q7160232 [8][38]

More images 		George Stephenson National Railway Museum, York 1852 Statue on pedestal Marble & stone Relocated from Euston Station, London[39]
Lord Mansfield St Stephen's Hall, Westminster, London 1855 Statue on pedestal Marble [40]
Charles James Fox St Stephen's Hall, Palace of Westminster, London 1856 Statue on pedestal Marble [41][42]

Church monuments and memorials[edit]

Throughout his career Baily was responsible for creating a number of monuments and memorials for British churches and cathedrals. Examples include

Memorial to Robert Gray, Bristol Cathedral
  • A tablet with two marble full-length angels, to Samuel Paynter, of Richmond at St Mary Magdalene, Richmond.
  • Several memorials in the Church of St Nicholas, Lintn Hill, Maidstone, at St James, Uttoxeter Road, Stoke-on-Trent and at St John the Baptist, Devizes[43][44][45]
  • Memorial with kneeling female figure, Church of the Holy Trinity, Ardington, Oxfordshire[46]
  • Memorials to Peter Denys, died 1816, and to Lady Charlotte Denys, died 1835, Church of St Mary, Easton Neston, Northamptonshire[47]
  • Two memorials, to Benjamin Newcombe (1818) and to George Gostling (1854) in Church of St John the Baptist, Egham High Street[48]
  • Memorial plaque to A Walker Heneage, died 1828, in the Church of St Swithin, Compton Bassett[49]
  • Memorial tablet for Elizabeth Bell (1829), Church of St James, Lincolnshire[50]
  • Large memorial to J. Spearing, died 1831, Church of St Mary, Potterne, Wiltshire[51]
  • Memorials to John Ogle, died 1831, and to Sara Ogle, died 1846, in the Church of Saint Mary Magdalene, Whalton[52]
  • Memorial, with medallion bust, to Bishop John Jebb, died 1833, in the Church of the Holy Trinity, Clapham Common,London[53]
  • A chancel wall plaque 1836, Church of St Andrew, Heddington, Wiltshire[54]
  • Wall monument to Thomas Botfield, died 1843, Church of St Michael, Hopton Wafers, Shropshire[55]
  • A memorial with carved figure, 1846, Church of St Mary, Hertfordshire[56]
  • A sculpture group memorial to John Thackeray, died 1851, Church of St Mary the Virgin, Lewisham High Street, London[57]

Other works[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Katharine Eustice (8 April 2021). "Baily, Edward Hodges". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/1076. Retrieved 14 July 2022. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. ^ Rupert Gunnis. Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660–1851. The Abbey Library.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i James Mackay (1977). The Dictionary of Western Sculptors in Bronze. Antique Collectors' Club. ISBN 0902028553.
  4. ^ a b c d Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Baily, Edward Hodges" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 221.
  5. ^ a b "Eve listening to the Voice". Victoria & Albert Museum. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
  6. ^ a b c d Ernest Radford (1885). "Baily, Edward Hodges" . In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 2. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 427.
  7. ^ a b Historic England. "The Marble Arch (1239534)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Jo Darke (1991). The Monument Guide to England and Wales. Macdonald Illustrated. ISBN 0-356-17609-6.
  9. ^ Frederick Teague Cansick (1872). The Monumental Inscriptions of Middlesex Vol 2. J Russell Smith. p. 128. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  10. ^ Historic England. "Cathedral of St Nicholas (1355309)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  11. ^ "Memorial to Calverly Berwick". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  12. ^ a b c d "St Paul's Cathedral". Church Monument Gazetter. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  13. ^ "Monument to Sir William Ponsonby". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  14. ^ a b c d e Diane Bilbey with Marjorie Trusted (2002). British Sculpture 1470 to 2000 A Concise Catalogue of the Collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum. V&A Publications. ISBN 1851773959.
  15. ^ Historic England. "Freemasons' Hall and Attached Cast Iron Railings (1282205)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  16. ^ a b c d Mary Ann Steggles & Richard Barnes (2011). British Sculpture in India: New Views & Old Memories. Frontier Publishing. ISBN 9781872914411.
  17. ^ "Henry Fuseli". National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  18. ^ "Statue of John, Earl of St Vincent". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  19. ^ "The Battle of St Vincent Frieze". Art UK. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  20. ^ Historic England. "Parish Church of St Mary (1330416)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  21. ^ "War Memorials Register: Sir T Picton". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  22. ^ a b Cadw. "Picton Monument (9503)". National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  23. ^ Philip Ward-Jackson (2011). Public Sculpture of Britain Volume 1: Public Sculpture of Historic Westminster. Liverpool University Press / Public Monuments & Sculpture Association. ISBN 978-1-84631-662-3.
  24. ^ Historic England. "The Athenaeum (1225842)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  25. ^ "Sir Thomas Lawrence". National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  26. ^ "Monument to Sir Pulteney Malcolm". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  27. ^ Historic England. "The Parish Church of St Mary (1224199)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
  28. ^ Historic England. "Earl Grey Monument (1329931)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  29. ^ "Thomas Telford". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
  30. ^ Historic England. "The Nelson Monument (Nelson's Column) (1276052)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  31. ^ "Charles James Fox and Henry V. Fox, Lord Holland". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  32. ^ "Monument to Sir Astley Paston Cooper". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  33. ^ "Dictionary of Sydney: Sir Richard Bourke statue". State Library of New South Wales. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
  34. ^ Historic England. "Monument to Isaac Watts in Abney Park Cemetery (1235434)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  35. ^ Historic England. "Statue of Sir Nicholas Conyngham Tindal (1099160)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
  36. ^ Historic England. "Cathedral Church of St Mary (1218041)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
  37. ^ University of Glasgow History of Art / HATII (2011). "Statue, in marble, of the late Thomas Fleming, Esq of Manchester". Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain & Ireland 1851–1951. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
  38. ^ Historic England. "Statue of Sir Robert Peel (1356807)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  39. ^ "Marble statue of George Stephenson, 1852". Science Museum Group. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
  40. ^ "William Murray 1st Earl of Mansfield 1705-99 Speaker 1760 1770-1". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  41. ^ "Charles James Fox 1749-1806 Whig Reformer". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  42. ^ Malcolm Hay & Jacqueline Riding (1996). Art in Parliament - The Permanent Collection of the House of Commons. Jarrod Publishing & The Palace of Westminster. ISBN 0-7117-0898-3.
  43. ^ Historic England. "Church of St Nicholas (1250235)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  44. ^ Historic England. "Church of St James (1210730)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  45. ^ Historic England. "Church of St John the Baptist (1262359)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  46. ^ Historic England. "Church of Holy Trinity (1048189)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  47. ^ Historic England. "Church of St Mary (1189210)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  48. ^ Historic England. "Church of Saint John the Baptist (1189321)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  49. ^ Historic England. "Church of St Swithin (1363781)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  50. ^ Historic England. "Church of St James (1379386)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  51. ^ Historic England. "Church of St Mary (1258968)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  52. ^ Historic England. "Church of Saint Mary Magdalene (1247805)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  53. ^ Historic England. "Church of Holy Trinity (1080491)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  54. ^ Historic England. "Church of St Andrew (1261202)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  55. ^ Historic England. "Church of St Michael (1383537)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  56. ^ Historic England. "Church of St Mary (1347611)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  57. ^ Historic England. "Church of St Mary the Virgin (1193297)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  58. ^ Historic England. "The Old Council House & attached front gates (1207433)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  59. ^ Historic England. "Church of St Margaret (1022289)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  60. ^ Aileen Dawson (1999). Portrait Sculpture A Catalogue of the British Museum collection c. 1675-1975. British Museum Press. ISBN 0714105988.

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]

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