Ercole James Parlanti

Born 1871 (Circa)
Died 1955

Active: 1901 - 1953

Country of birth: Italy

Country of death: England

Bronze founder, business owner

Born in Rome. He was the son of Antonio Parlanti and the brother of Alessandro Parlanti (c.1862-1921 or later). Ercole came to Britain c.1897 and worked for his brother Alessandro at the bronze foundry in Parson's Green Lane. Before his brother’s retirement c.1918-19, Ercole Parlanti set up his own foundry in West Kensington. In the early 1920s he prospered from commissions for war memorials and in March 1926, the business became a limited company, with Ercole, his son Conrad and Mervyn Lambert as directors. However, the firm soon ran into difficulties following its expansion as art metal founders into additional premises in Victoria Street in Westminster. The business entered into liquidation in 1926 and Parlanti himself was subject to bankruptcy proceedings in 1927. Ercole's business and property at Beaumont Road were purchased in March 1927 by the Crittall Manufacturing Co and afterwards focused on making bronze casements.

Three years later Ercole founded Parlanti’s Ltd, perhaps with his son Conrad, in Winders Road, Battersea. Little is known of Parlanti’s later work except for his castings for the automotive artist, Frederick Gordon-Crosby, including a prototype model for the Jaguar brand in about 1937. Ercole wrote 'Casting a Torso in Bronze by the Cire Perdue Process', published in 1953 by Alec Tiranti Ltd. His son, Conrad (1903-84), was in business independently as a metal craftsman and in 1955 moved to the United States.

This entry includes information from Jacob Simon's 'British bronze sculpture founders and plaster figure makers, 1800-1980', National Portrait Gallery (http://www.npg.org.uk/research/programmes/british-bronze-founders-and-plaster-figure-makers-1800-1980-1/british-bronze-founders-and-plaster-figure-makers-1800-1980-p.php) and from the website created by Steve Parlanti http://www.parlantibronzefoundries.co.uk/. There is also a published account of the firm in 'The Parlantis: Art Bronze Founders of Fulham' by Steve Parlanti (2010). All three contain more detailed accounts of the history of the foundry and its casting records.

Citing this record

'Ercole James Parlanti', Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851-1951, University of Glasgow History of Art and HATII, online database 2011 [http://sculpture.gla.ac.uk/view/person.php?id=ann_1356905966, accessed 20 Jan 2021]