Phoebe Gertrude Stabler ARBS
Other names: née McLeish
Born 1879
Died 6 December 1955
Active: 1910 - 1946
Country of birth and death: England
Sculptor, modeller, potter's modeller, black and white
Born in West Bromwich. Stabler was the daughter of James McLeish (born c.1849), a boiler inspector for insurance company c.1881. Her older sisters, Minnie (born c.1877) and Annie (born c.1878), were born in Liverpool and became jewellery designers. Phoebe studied at the School of Architecture and Applied Art, University College, Liverpool (1901-4) and at the Royal College of Art.
In 1906 she married the silversmith, Harold Stabler. From around 1910-12 Phoebe began designing and modelling pottery figures. Some of these were manufactured by her husband Harold in Hammersmith. After the First World War she made designs for the Ashtead Pottery and the firm Carter, Stabler, Adams (later the Poole Pottery) in which Harold was a partner. Phoebe and Harold collaborated on a number of projects in ceramics, of which the war memorial at Durban is the most striking example.
Although Stabler is best known for her pottery figures, during the 1920s and 1930s she was also well known for her stone carvings and was an important contributor to the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley, 1924. For their stand at the exhibition, the Concrete Utilities Bureau (London) engaged Stabler to make work demonstrating the sculptural properties of concrete. Other artists also engaged on the project were Gilbert Bayes.
Phoebe also produced a significant body of black and white work which was reproduced in periodicals such as the: 'Arts and Crafts', the 'Studio', the 'Burlington Magazine', and the 'Architectural Journal'.
Wealth at death: £23,971 10s. 2d.
Probate date: 29 March 1956
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.
Statuette of plaster, coloured
Mother
1911 (Presumed)
Granny
1911 (Presumed)
The Dreamer
1917 (Presumed)
£31 10s.
Dancing Faun
1918 (Presumed)
£10 10s.
Shy
1918 (Presumed)
£16 16s.
The Piping Boy
1918 (Presumed)
£4 4s.
Mischief
1926
Joy
1931 (Circa)
Youth
1933 (Circa)
The Dancing Lady
1933 (Circa)
Mother and Child
1935 (Circa)
Seated Figure
1935 (Circa)
Head of a Dreamer
1938
Dancing Lady
1938
Locations
Address 71 Egerton Road Wavertree Liverpool | View on map
1901 (Circa)
Address 34 Upper Mall Hammersmith London | View on map
1910 (Circa) - 1955
Exhibitions, Meetings, Awards and other Events
Exhibited at Eleventh Annual Exhibition of the International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers (London), 1911
Multiple works
Exhibited at Tenth Annual Exhibition of the International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers (London), 1910
'Pick-a-back'
Exhibited at Twelfth Annual Exhibition of the International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers (London), 1912
'Granny'
Exhibited at Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society: Ninth Exhibition, 1910
'Statuette of plaster, coloured'
Exhibited at Exhibition 20 by the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, 1946
'Sheila'
Exhibited at Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society: Eleventh Exhibition, 1916
'Three Plaster Figures'
Exhibited at The Eighty-Fifth Autumn Exhibition at the Rooms of the Society, New Street (Royal Birmingham Society of Artists), 1911-1912
'Granny'
Exhibited at The Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts Eighty-Second Annual Exhibition, 1943
'Lady Precious Pearl'
Exhibited at Aberdeen Artists' Society Exhibition of Works of Modern Artists, 1935
'Seated Figure'
Exhibited at Aberdeen Artists' Society Exhibition of Works of Modern Masters, 1933
'Youth'
Exhibited at Aberdeen Artists' Society Exhibition of Works of Modern Artists, 1926
'Mischief'
Exhibited at Aberdeen Artists' Society Exhibition of Works of Modern Artists, 1931
'Joy'
Exhibited at Palace of Arts Empire Exhibition Scotland, 1938
1938
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts (Summer Exhibition), 1768-
1911 - 1946
Exhibited 21 times, twenty-eight works in all (statuettes, busts, groups, and plaques in bronze, lead, marble and ceramic). In 1922 she exhibited a collaborative work executed with her husband Harold Stabler ('Architectural figure' glazed faience, cat. no. 1422)
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
Associate member of Royal Society of British Sculptors
1923 - 1955
Expressed wish to resign in 1940.
Member of The Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society
1920 (Presumed)
Student at School of Architecture and Applied Art (Art Sheds), Liverpool
1901 (Circa) - 1904 (Circa)
Student at Royal College of Art (including National Art Training School)
1904 (Presumed) - 1911 (Presumed)
Personal and Professional Connections
Collaborated with A. Manfredi
Nominator of Anne Crawford Acheson
For membership of the Royal Society of British Sculptors
Nominator of Maggie Richardson Mitchell
1927 (Presumed)
For membership of the Royal Society of British Sculptors
Shared studio with Harold Stabler
1910 (Circa) - 1946
Wife/husband/spouse of Harold Stabler
They were married in 1906
Descriptions of Practice
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901
'Wood Carver' and here sister, Annie (born c.1878), 'Sculptor'
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911
'Artist' working on sculpture at home, her husband, Harold, is described in the same way, though also an employer
Sources
Aberdeen Artists' Society. Nineteenth Exhibition of Works of Modern Masters, 1926
November 1926
p. 81
Aberdeen Artists' Society. Twenty-first Exhibition of Works of Modern Masters, 1931
November 1931
p. 69
Aberdeen Artists' Society. Twenty-second Exhibition of Works of Modern Masters, 1933
November 1933
p. 67
Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society: Members and Craftsmen
1946 (Probable)
p.49.
Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society: Rules and List of Members, 1920
1920
p.7.
Arts and Crafts Society: Catalogue of the Eleventh Exhibition.
1916
p.77, p.84, p.106, p.123, p.215, pp.244-245, p.247, p.260.
Arts and Crafts Society: Catalogue of the Ninth Exhibition.
1910
p.125, p.127.
Catalogue for the Seventy-Second Annual Exhibition of the Royal West of England Academy, 1917
1917
Catalogue for the Seventy-Third Annual Exhibition of the Royal West of England Academy, 1918
1918
Catalogue: Exhibition 20, by the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, held at the Royal Academy, Piccadilly, London, W1
1946
p.15, p.38.
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901
2005
Class: RG13; Piece: 3504; Folio: 67; Page: 22
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911
2011
RG14PN235 RG78PN8 RD3 SD2 ED9 SN177
England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index, 1837-1915
2006
Oct-Nov-Dec 1879
West Bromwich
Phoebe Gertrude McLeish
Vol. 6b Page 709
England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966
2010
Name: Phoebe Gertrude Stabler
Probate Date: 29 Mar 1956
Death Date: 6 Dec 1955
Death Place: Middlesex, England
Registry: London, England
List of Members: Royal Society of British Sculptors
2008
Palace of Arts
Empire Exhibition
Scotland
1938
The Fine Art Section of the Empire Exhibition
1938
The Art Sheds, 1894-1905
1981
Entry on Phoebe McLeish, unpaged
The Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts, Catalogue, 1943
1943
p. 24
The Times Digital Archive 1785-1985
2008
The Times, Friday, Dec 09, 1955; pg. 13; Issue 53399; col C
Mrs. Phoebe Stabler
Category: Obituaries (accessed 20 February 2010)
Citing this record
'Phoebe Gertrude Stabler ARBS', 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_1204574221, accessed 02 Oct 2023]
