Margaret May Giles RWA, FRIBA
Other names: Mrs. Bernard M. Jenkin from 1898
Born 1868
Died 31 March 1949
Active: 1884 - 1949
Country of birth and death: England
Sculptor, painter, medallist, modeller
Born Clifton, Bristol. She was the daughter of Richard William Giles, barrister and the younger sister of the painter, Frances Giles. Margaret studied at the National Art Training School under Lanteri and her contemporaries included Florence Harriet Steele. She won numerous prizes in the National Art Competitions in the early 1890s and works she exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1895-1900 received favourable mention in 'The Times'. Giles's model for 'Hero' won the Art Union's statuette competition in 1895 and a bronze cast was distributed as a prize in the annual lottery. Her architectural commissions included a frieze for a house in Newgate Street, London (no longer extant). On 16 June 1898 she married Bernard Maxwell Jenkin, a civil engineer and thereafter often worked under her married name.
She was one of the female sculptors that the Royal Society of British Sculptors felt might be included in the 1908 Franco-British exhibition [13 January 1908, Royal Society of British Sculptors: Minutes of Council Meetings, no.I].
There is an entry about Margaret Giles by George P. Landow on the Victorian Web, see http://victorian.lang.nagoya-u.ac.jp/victorianweb/sculpture/giles/hero2.html (accessed 3 January 2012).
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.
The Charities that Soothe and Heal and Bless
'Isoult la Desirous', Forest Lovers
Designed Set of medallions and medals in plaster
Contributed to Set of medallions and medals in plaster
extent of involvement unclear; possibly executed medallions
Designed The constellatons, 'Perseus, Andromeda, and Orion'
This relief panel is in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum. The work was also exhibited at the 'Woman's Exhibition' held at Earls Court in 1900 (information from the V&A's website). See http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O77403/panel-the-constellations-of-perseus-andromeda/ (accessed 3 January 2012)
Sketch in wood and terra-cotta for Wayside Shrine or Memorial
Hero
1901
Decorative Panel
1901 (Presumed)
£42
The Son of Consolation
1907 (Presumed)
£210
The Bellows
1907 (Presumed)
£3 3s.
Child Playing
1907 (Circa)
Ulysses and Euryclea
1907 (Circa)
Old Head
1907
The Late J. W. Barclay, Esq.
1908 (Presumed)
Ave Maria
1911
Mrs Hughes-Stanton
1911
In Memoriam
1911
The Hon. Mr G. W. Kuchler, CIE, Director of Public Instruction, Bengal
1912
A daughter of the marshes
1912
Sleeping Child
1913 (Presumed)
£31 10s.
Sir Frank Marzials, KCB
1913 (Presumed)
G. W. Kuchler, Esq., CIE
1913 (Presumed)
Penelope in Profile
1913 (Presumed)
Those whom the gods love die young
1915 (Presumed)
Engineering Subduing the World
1915 (Presumed)
£15 15s.
Love Subdues the World
1917 (Presumed)
£6
He Died for Freedom and Honour
1918 (Presumed)
£5 5s.
Locations
Address 60 Nevern Square London SW | View on map
1891 (Circa) - 1898 (Circa)
Address 52 1/2 Camden Street Campden Hill London W | View on map
1898 - 1911 (Circa)
Address 59 Campden Street Kensington London | View on map
1911 (Circa) - 1913 (Circa)
Address Stowting Court near Hythe | View on map
1915 (Circa) - 1934 (Circa)
Address The Rowley Gallery 140 Church Street London | View on map
1918
Address 25B Durdham Park Bristol | View on map
1945 (Circa) - 1949
Living here when she died
Studio located at 3 Gainsborough Road Studios Bedford Park London W | View on map
1895 (Circa) - 1897 (Circa)
Exhibitions, Meetings, Awards and other Events
Exhibited at Exhibition of the Bristol Academy, Annual Spring Exhibition for the Promotion of the Fine Arts, The Fifty-Sixth, 1901
'Decorative Panel'
Exhibited at Second Exhibition of The International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers (London), 1899
Multiple works
Exhibited at Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society: Eleventh Exhibition, 1916
Multiple works
Exhibited at Leeds City Art Gallery, The Spring Exhibition, 1896
'The Charities that Soothe and Heal and Bless'
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, The Eighty-Sixth, 1912
Multiple works
Exhibited at Forty-Sixth Exhibition of Works of Modern Artists, The Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts, 1907
'Old Head'
Exhibited at Jubilee Exhibition of Works of Modern Artists, The Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts, 1911
Multiple works
Exhibited at Palace of Arts Empire Exhibition Scotland, 1938
'Hero'
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts (Summer Exhibition), 1768-
1894 - 1945
Exhibited 15 times, 24 works in all
Exhibited at International Exhibition, Glasgow, 1901
1901
Exhibited at Exhibition of the Bristol Academy, Annual Spring Exhibition for the Promotion of the Fine Arts, The Fifty-Sixth, 1901
1901
Exhibited at Exhibition of the Bristol Academy, Annual Spring Exhibition for the Promotion of the Fine Arts, The Sixty-Second, 1907
1907
Exhibited at Exhibition of the Bristol Academy, Annual Spring Exhibition for the Promotion of the Fine Arts, The Sixty-Third, 1908
1908
Exhibited at Exhibition of the Bristol Academy, Annual Spring Exhibition for the Promotion of the Fine Arts, The Sixty-Eighth, 1913
1913
Exhibited at Exhibition of the Bristol Academy, Annual Spring Exhibition for the Promotion of the Fine Arts, The Seventieth, 1915
1915
Exhibited at The Seventy-Second Annual Exhibition of the Royal West of England Academy, 1917
1917
Exhibited at The Seventy-Third Annual Exhibition of the Royal West of England Academy, 1918
1918
Institutional and Business Connections
Professional member of The Royal West of England Academy
1907 (Circa) - 1930
Listed as a Professional Member 'Sculpture'
Student at Royal College of Art (including National Art Training School)
During the 1890s
Personal and Professional Connections
Collaborated with Ethel Alice Chivers Harris
Collaborated with F.A. Crollan
[Assuming that the reference to S.Giles in the 1889 ACES exhibtion catalogue refers to M.GIles].
Collaborated with Maria Ellen Reeks
[Assuming that the reference to S.Giles in the 1889 ACES exhibtion catalogue refers to M.GIles].
Collaborated with William S. Williamson
[Assuming that the reference to S.Giles in the 1889 ACES exhibtion catalogue refers to M.GIles].
Collaborated with J. Watson
[Assuming that the reference to S.Giles in the 1889 ACES exhibtion catalogue refers to M.GIles].
Collaborated with J.C. Holt
[Assuming that the reference to S.Giles in the 1889 ACES exhibtion catalogue refers to M.GIles].
Collaborated with Herbert Henry Grimwood
1889
[Assuming that the reference to S.Giles in the 1889 ACES exhibition catalogue refers to M. Giles].
Descriptions of Practice
Listed as medallist Biographical Dictionary of Medallists, Coin, Gem, and Seal-Engravers, Mint Masters, &c., Ancient and Modern with References to their Works, B.C. 500 - A.D. 1900, Volume VII, 1923 Biographical Dictionary of Medallists
Listed as a contemporary sculptor and medallist. Jenkin exhibited a silver portrait medallion and a silvered copper medallion at the Royal Academy, London, in 1912. See Forrer, vol. 7, (1923), p. 478.
Listed as medallist Biographical Dictionary of Medallists, Coin, Gem, and Seal-Engravers, Mint Masters, &c., Ancient and Modern with References to their Works, B.C. 500 - A.D. 1900, Volume II, 1904 Biographical Dictionary of Medallists
Listed as a contemporary sculptor and medallist. Member of the Society of Medallists and exhibited at its exhibtion in 1897: see Forrer, vol. 2, (1904), p. 267.
Listed as medallist Biographical Dictionary of Medallists, Coin, Gem, and Seal-Engravers, Mint Masters, &c., Ancient and Modern with References to their Works, B.C. 500 - A.D. 1900, Volume VII, 1923 Biographical Dictionary of Medallists
Forrer notes that Giles exhibited medals and medallions in 1894 and 1895. See vol. 7, (1923), pp. 361-363.
Listed under Sculptors Biographical Dictionary of Medallists, Coin, Gem, and Seal-Engravers, Mint Masters, &c., Ancient and Modern with References to their Works, B.C. 500 - A.D. 1900, Volume III, 1907 Biographical Dictionary of Medallists
Listed as a contemporary sculptor and modeller who also produced medallic works. She was a member of the Society of Medallists. See Forrer, vol. 3, (1907), p. 522.
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901
'Sculptor'
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1891
'Art Student (Model & Sculptor)' and her older sister Frances 'Artist in Painting'
Sources
Arts and Crafts Society: Catalogue of the Eleventh Exhibition.
1916
p.260.
Arts and Crafts Society: Catalogue of the Second Exhibition.
1889
p.248.
Arts and Crafts Society: Catalogue of the Sixth Exhibition.
1899
p.36, p.38.
Catalogue for the Eighty-First Annual Exhibition of the Royal West of England Academy, 1926
1926
Catalogue for the Eighty-Fourth Annual Exhibition of the Royal West of England Academy, 1929
1929
Catalogue for the Seventy-Fifth Annual Exhibition of the Royal West of England Academy, 1920
1920
Catalogue for the Seventy-Fourth Annual Exhibition of the Royal West of England Academy, 1919
1919
Catalogue for the Seventy-Ninth Annual Exhibition of the Royal West of England Academy, 1924
1924
Catalogue for the Seventy-Second Annual Exhibition of the Royal West of England Academy, 1917
1917
Catalogue for the Seventy-Seventh Annual Exhibition of the Royal West of England Academy, 1922
1922
Catalogue for the Seventy-Sixth Annual Exhibition of the Royal West of England Academy, 1921
1921
Catalogue for the Seventy-Third Annual Exhibition of the Royal West of England Academy, 1918
1918
Catalogue of the Spring Exhibition, The City Art Gallery, Leeds 1896
1896
Cat. Nos. 546, 558, pp. 49, 50, 72
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1891
2004
RG12 piece 34 folio 23 page 41
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901
2001
Ref: Class: RG13; Piece: 20; Folio: 144; Page: 63
England & Wales, Death Index: 1916-2007
2007
Name: Margaret M Jenkin
Birth Date: abt 1869
Date of Registration: Apr-May-Jun 1949
Age at Death: 80
Registration district: Bristol
Inferred County: Gloucestershire
Volume: 7b
Page: 180
England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index, 1837-1915
2006
Name: Margaret May Giles
Date of Registration: Jul-Aug-Sep 1868
Registration district: Clifton
Inferred County: Gloucestershire
Volume: 6a
Page: 57
International Exhibition Glasgow, 1901,
Official Catalogue of the Fine Art Section
1901
London, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921
2010
Name: Margaret May Giles
Age: 30
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1868
Spouse Name: Bernard Maxwell Jenkin
Spouse Age: 30
Record Type: Marriage
Event Date: 16 Jun 1898
Parish: South Kensington St Jude
Borough: Kensington and Chelsea
Father Name: Richard William Giles
Spouse Father Name: Henry Charles Fleeming Jenkin
Register Type: Parish Register
London Metropolitan Archives, Saint Jude, South Kensington, Register of marriages, P84/JUD, Item 006
Royal Society of British Sculptors. Minutes of Council Meetings No. 1, 1905-1913
19 May 1913
13 January 1908.
The New Sculpture
1983
p. 245
The Times Digital Archive 1785-1985
2008
"Points from Letters." Times [London, England] 16 Jan. 1934: 8. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 3 Jan. 2012 AND "Deaths." Times [London, England] 5 Apr. 1949: 1. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 3 Jan. 2012
The Times Digital Archive 1785-1985
2008
Notices re exhibitions at the Royal Academy: The Times (London, England), Tuesday, Jun 11, 1895; pg. 13; Issue 34600. AND The Times (London, England), Monday, May 25, 1896; pg. 4; Issue 34899. AND The Times (London, England), Friday, Jun 29, 1900; pg. 15; Issue 36181.
Citing this record
'Margaret May Giles RWA, FRIBA', 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=msib2_1203122173, accessed 25 Mar 2023]
