James Frank Redfern

Born 14 January 1837
Died 13 June 1876

Active: 1859 - 1876

Country of birth and death: England

Architectural sculptor, sculptor

Born in Hartington, Derbyshire. (His birth date is often given as 1838 but this has been revised in light of his baptism record for 22 January 1837.) He was the son of William Redfern (c.1799-1846), a stone mason and builder. James's father died when he was only six and his mother supported the family as a dressmaker. The young boy showed a precocious talent for drawing and carving, and his early efforts included copies in alabaster of sculptures by Edward Hodges Baily and John Graham Lough.

In about 1856 Redfern's work came to the attention of the politician and author Alexander Beresford Hope. This introduction was almost certainly made by Benjamin Webb who had been had been made perpetual curate at Sheen in Staffordshire on Beresford Hope's recommendation (a village close to where Redfern was living). Webb was also secretary and editor of the 'Eccelsiologist'. Beresford Hope supported the aspiring young artist's education by introducing him to the leading London stained glass designer, John Clayton. It was in Clayton's studio that Redfern learnt the basics of anatomy and art and also began to exhibit at the Royal Academy. His first work accepted for the Summer Exhibition was 'Cain and Abel' in 1859. In the late 1850s Redfern briefly entered the Royal Academy Schools, but then in 1860, at the suggestion of Clayton and with the support of Beresford Hope, he studied for six months in Paris.

On his return in late 1860 or early 1861, Beresford Hope declined to continue supporting Redfern's education and so the young artist set out to establish an independent practice. Over the next sixteen years, he exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy. Redfern also showed works at the Society of British Artists in 1864 (two statuettes of the Prince and Princess of Wales) and at the Royal Aquarium in 1876 (a wood nymph).

However, Redfern's main area of practice was architectural and ecclesiastical sculpture. Contacts in the firm of Clayton and Bell and also in the Cambridge Camden Society Society (chiefly Benjamin Webb and Beresford Hope) gave him valuable introductions to several leading architects. These included Sir George Gilbert Scott and George Edmund Street who became two of his most important patrons. Other architects who gave Redfern commissions were William Burges, George Bodley, and Charles Buckeridge. The great majority of Redfern's works were widely admired but he encountered occasional opposition, notably in regard to the statues of the Virgin and Child and of four doctors for the north porch of Bristol cathedral. Redfern executed these works towards the end of his life under the direction of George Edmund Street. However, the statues were not approved by the cathedral Chapter, which ordered their summary removal and several were defaced in the process.

Redfern had a number of assistants and was employing three men in 1871. He is reported to have had a poor head for business, and frequently complained of being underpaid for his work. In consequence the competing demands of a busy practice, financial anxieties, and the row over the statues for Bristol cathedral took a toll on his health and he died at the age of 38 after a short illness.

This entry includes information from ‘James Redfern, Sculptor’, The Church Quarterly Review, Vo. 62, London, 1906, pp. 334-356. The dates of his father's life are taken from the Derbyshire burial index.

Wealth at death: £800 0s. 0d.
Probate date: 30 June 1876

Citing this record

'James Frank Redfern', 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_1523780910, accessed 29 Jan 2023]