Joseph Edwards
Born 5 March 1814
Died 9 January 1882
Active: 1837 - 1881
Country of birth: Wales
Country of death: England
Sculptor, studio assistant
Born at Ynysgau, Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorgan, Wales. He was the son of John Edwards, stone cutter. Joseph assisted his father from an early age, producing his first stone tablet at the age of seven.
When he was twenty-one Joseph moved to London with a letter of introduction to William Behnes. He was taken on as a studio assistant and two years later (1837) entered the Royal Academy Schools. In 1838 Edwards left Behnes' studio to work for Patrick MacDowell and assisted him in the production of the 'Triumph of Love' and 'Virginius'. Edwards began assisting Matthew Noble in 1860 and on the latter's death in 1876 was asked to supervise the completion of his outstanding works. This was a substantial task and on its completion Edwards found himself in straightened circumstances. However, with the assistance of his friends, Thomas Woolner and George Frederic Watts, Edwards became a Turner annuitant, receiving financial aid from the Royal Academy.
Throughout his career, Edwards also worked on his own account primarily as a sculptor of funerary monuments and portrait busts. He was a slow and painstaking worker with the result that he was often underpaid for his commissions. Among Edwards' pupils were Frederick Winter and Walter Merritt. They were commissioned to produce a memorial to Edwards for Highgate Cemetery. He died at 40 Roberts Street, Hampstead Road, London. Edwards lived and worked at nos. 40 and 42 for most of his career.
This entry is based on research by Sylvia Allen published in Roscoe (2009) and Peter Lord (2004). Edwards' long association with Matthew Noble was mentioned in the latter's obituary in the 'Art Journal', September 1876, pp. 275-6.
Wealth at death: £473 11s. 5d.
Probate date: 7 March 1882
Works
Dates are usually the year a work was exhibited so may differ from date of production.
New entries have been made each time a work was exhibited. Click here for more information.
Medallion of J. Ewing Ritchie, Esq.
Monument to William Hawkins and Mary, his Wife
The last dream
1851
Medallion of a lady
1851
Locations
Address Diana Place Euston Road London | View on map
1838 (Circa)
At number 8 Diana Place
Address Grafton Street St Pancras London | View on map
1841 (Circa)
No house number given
Address 40 Robert Street Hampstead Road London | View on map
1844 (Circa) - 1878 (Circa)
In Post Office London Directory and probate calendar listed at both no. 40 and no. 42, he died at no. 40
Exhibitions, Meetings, Awards and other Events
Beneficiary of Turner Fund (Royal Academy of Arts), 1856-1951
19 July 1881
Elected as 'Turner Annuitant' in 1881. See Royal Academy, 'Annual Report, 1881', 1882, p. 23.
Exhibited at Amgueddfa Genedlaethol Cymru National Museum of Wales Exhibition of Works by Certain Modern Artists of Welsh Birth or Extraction, 1913
Multiple works
Exhibited at The International Exhibition, London, 1862
Multiple works
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts, The Eighty-Fourth, 1852
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts, The Eighty-Seventh, 1855
p.53
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts (Summer Exhibition), 1768-
1838 - 1878
Exhibited 28 times, showing a total of seventy works (usually between 2 and 4 per year).
Exhibited at Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations (London), 1851
1851
Institutional and Business Connections
Member of Institute of British Sculptors
1856 (Circa) - 1861 (Circa)
Personal and Professional Connections
Pupils included Walter Merrett
After Edwards' death in 1882 Merrett and fellow student, Frederick Winter, were commissioned to make a memorial to their teacher for Highgate Cemetery.
Pupils included Frederick Winter
After Edwards' death in 1882 Winter and fellow student, Walter Merrett, were commissioned to make a memorial to their teacher for Highgate Cemetery.
Studio assistant to William Behnes
1835 - 1838
Either assistant or pupil
Studio assistant to Patrick MacDowell
1838
Edwards assisted MacDowell in making the ‘Triumph of Love’ and ‘Virginius’
Studio assistant to Matthew Noble
1860 - 1876
After Noble's death in 1876, Edwards completed his outstanding commissions and disposed of the plaster models in the studio
Teacher to William Lorando Jones
1836
Descriptions of Practice
Listed under Sculptors Post Office London Directory, 1851 Post Office/Kelly London Directories
p. 1364
Listed under Sculptors Post Office London Directory, 1860 Post Office/Kelly London Directories
p. 1803
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1841
'Sculptor'
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1851
'Sculptor', a John Crofs (or Crofts, or Cross) a 'Historical Painter' also at this address
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1861
'Sculptor'
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1881
'Sculptor'
Sources
A Biographical Dictionary of Sculptors in Britain, 1660-1851
2009
pp. 406-9
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1841
2004
HO107 piece 686 folio 7/20 page 35
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1851
2004
HO107 piece 1493 folio 226 page 13
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1861
2004
Class: RG9; Piece: 95; Folio: 102; Page: 73; GSU roll: 542572
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1881
2004
Class: RG11; Piece: 177; Folio: 99; Page: 18; GSU roll: 1341038
Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851
1968
p. 141-142
England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966
2010
Name: Joseph Edwards
Probate Date: 7 Mar 1882
Death Date: 9 Jan 1882
Death Place: Middlesex, England
Registry: Principal Registry
International exhibition 1862, official catalogue, fine art department
1862
Joseph Edwards, Merthyr Sculptor
1895
List of Members: Institute of British Sculptors (or Sculptor's Institute)
2008 (Circa)
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
2004
See: Peter Lord, ‘Edwards, Joseph (1814–1882)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/60088, accessed 22 Jan 2009]
Post Office London Directory, 1851 Post Office/Kelly London Directories
1851
p. 1364
Post Office London Directory, 1860 Post Office/Kelly London Directories
1860
p. 1803
Rules of the Institute of Sculptors
1861
p. iv
The Builder, Vol. XII, No. 598, 22 July 1854
22 July 1854
pp. 387, 388
The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts, The Eighty-Fourth, 1852
1852
The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts, The Eighty-Seventh, 1855
1855
p.53
Citing this record
'Joseph Edwards', 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=msib1_1203345998, accessed 31 Mar 2023]
