Mrs Phyllis Muriel Cowan Archibald Clay
Other names: née Archibald
Born 1880
Died 9 March 1947
Active: 1902 - 1930
Country of birth and death: England
Sculptor
Born in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. She was the daughter of Edmund D. Archibald (born c.1851 in Hampstead) a professor mathematics who taught in the Education Department in Bengal before 1881 and was running a school in Tonbridge that year. Phyllis studied at Glasgow School of Art (her mother came from there and was with her children in Scotland in 1901). On 18 December 1911 Phyllis married Charles Clay, journalist c.1856-1941. They lived in Surrey where he died, leaving her £7397 11s. 4d. Phyllis moved to Grasmere, Westmoreland in the 1940s and died there in 1947.
She executed a number of commissions, including: Industry and Science for the warehouse of William McGeoch & Co. Ltd., Glasgow (1905); the figure sculpture (with Richard Ferris) for the exterior of the Royal (formerly National) Bank of Scotland, Glasgow (1906-7); a memorial tablet to A.H Charteris at Kirk O'Field incorporating a bust; and the figures for the choirstall in the Congregational Church, Whitchurch (1910).
Wealth at death: £24,227 0s. 0d.
Probate date: 17 July 1947
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.
'Jocund day stands tiptoe on the misty mountatin tops'
The Pillar of Salt
£15 15s.
The Moon
1923 (Presumed)
£33
May have been re-made for exhibition in 1928
Portrait of the Late Lady Archibald
Model of 'Charity' for Trinity Church Convalescent Home
1903
Adam and Eve
1911
Fred
1915
p. 65
The Pillar of Salt
1915
David Dancing before the Ark of the Lord
1923
Spring
1929 (Circa)
Eve
1931
Locations
Address Grosvenor House Tonbridge | View on map
1881
Address 20 Kew Gardens Kelvinside Glasgow | View on map
1901 (Circa) - 1909
Address 5 Rue de Bagneux Paris | View on map
1909 - 1911
p. 65
Address 1 Northcote House 120 Heath Street London NW | View on map
1911 - 1913
Address 12 Wildwood Rise London | View on map
1914 - 1925
p. 65
Address 1 Lungarno Guicciardini Florence | View on map
1925 (Circa) - 1926
Address Thyme Cottage Bletchingley | View on map
1928 (Circa) - 1941 (Circa)
She was still living here at the time of her husband's death
Exhibitions, Meetings, Awards and other Events
Exhibited at The Spring Exhibition of The International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers (London), 1913
''We remembered Zion''
Exhibited at Twenty-second Exhibition of the International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers (London), 1917
'The Pillar of Salt'
Exhibited at The Summer Exhibition of the International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers (Twenty-third London Exhibition), 1918
'Winnie'
Exhibited at The Spring Exhibition of The International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers (Twenty-fifth London Exhibition), 1919
'The Pillar of Salt'
Exhibited at The Annual Exhibition of the International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers (Twenty-eighth London Exhibition), 1922
'Catherine and John'
Exhibited at Leeds City Art Gallery, The Spring Exhibition, 1908
'Portrait of the Late Lady Archibald'
Exhibited at Forty-Second Exhibition of Works of Modern Artists, The Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts, 1903
'Model of 'Charity' for Trinity Church Convalescent Home'
Exhibited at Jubilee Exhibition of Works of Modern Artists, The Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts, 1911
'Adam and Eve'
Exhibited at The Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts Fifty-Fourth Annual Exhibition, 1915
'Fred'
Exhibited at The Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts Sixty-Second Annual Exhibition, 1923
'David Dancing before the Ark of the Lord'
Exhibited at The Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts Seventieth Annual Exhibition, 1931
Multiple works
Exhibited at Aberdeen Artists' Society Exhibition of Works of Modern Artists, 1929
'Spring'
Exhibited at The Spring Exhibition of The International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers (Twentieth London Exhibition), 1916
'Jocund day stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops'
Exhibited at The Eightieth Annual Exhibition of the Royal West of England Academy, 1925-1926
2 November 1925 - 6 February 1926
Exhibited at The Eighty-Third Annual Exhibition of the Royal West of England Academy, 1928-1829
29 October 1928 - 2 February 1929
Institutional and Business Connections
Associate member of Royal Society of British Sculptors
1923
End date of associateship unknown.
Received bursary from The Glasgow School of Art
1905 - 1906
Bursaries for Modelling.
Student at The Glasgow School of Art
Received a Free Studentship
Personal and Professional Connections
Nominated by John Angel
1923 (Presumed)
For membership of the Royal Society of British Sculptors
Nominated by Allan Gairdner Wyon
1923 (Presumed)
For membership of the Royal Society of British Sculptors
Studied under Johan Keller
1906 - 1907
Phyllis took a day life class in modelling with Johan Keller
Studied with William Reid Dick
1906 - 1907
They were in the same life class in modelling taught by Johan Keller
Descriptions of Practice
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911
'Sculptor'
Occupation given in 1901 Scotland Census
1901 (Circa) - 1909
'Art Student'
Sources
1901 Scotland Census
2007
Piece: 646
Folio: 121
Page: 39
Aberdeen Artists' Society. Twentieth Exhibition of Works of Modern Masters, 1929
November 1929
p. 71
Annual Report of The Glasgow School of Art 1898
January 1898
Received a Free Studentship
Catalogue for the Eightieth Annual Exhibition of the Royal West of England Academy, 1925
1925
Catalogue for the Eighty-Third Annual Exhibition of the Royal West of England Academy, 1928
1928
Catalogue of the Spring Exhibition, 1913, held at the Grosvenor Gallery, 51a New Bond Street., W.
1913
p.12.
Catalogue of the Spring Exhibition, The City Art Gallery, Leeds 1908
1908
Cat. Nos. 483, 488, pp. 43, 44, 72
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1881
2004
RG11 piece 915 folio 47 page 48
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911
2009
RG14PN592 RG78PN22 RD8 SD1 ED2 SN19
England & Wales, Death Index: 1916-2007
2007
Name: Phyllis M C Clay
Death Registration Month/Year: 1947
Age at death (estimated): 66
Registration district: Westmorland South
Inferred County: Westmorland
Volume: 1b
Page: 730
England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index, 1837-1915
2006
Name: Phyllis Muriel C Archibald
Year of Registration: 1880
Quarter of Registration: Apr-May-Jun
District: Tonbridge
County: Kent, Sussex
Volume: 2a
Page: 646
England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966
2010
Name: Charles Clay
Probate Date: 23 Jul 1941
Death Date: 23 Feb 1941
Death Place: Surrey, England
Registry: Carlisle AND Name: Phyllis Muriel Cowan Clay
Probate Date: 17 Jul 1947
Death Date: 9 Mar 1947
Death Place: Westmorland, England
Registry: London, England
List of Members: Royal Society of British Sculptors
2008
List of Members: Royal Society of British Sculptors
2008
Prospectus of The Glasgow School of Art, Session 1905-06
1905
Prospectus of The Glasgow School of Art, Session 1913-14
1913
Listed under Associates of the School as 'Professional Sculptor'
Public Sculpture of Birmingham: Including Sutton Coldfield
Public Monuments and Sculpture Association, National Recording Project
1998
pp. 360, 446, 476
Citing this record
'Mrs Phyllis Muriel Cowan Archibald Clay', 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_1220117285, accessed 30 Jan 2023]