Harold Parker
Born 27 August 1873
Died 1962
Active: 1905 - 1947
Country of birth: England
Country of death: Australia
Sculptor, wood carver
Born in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. His family moved to Australia in 1876 and he was raised in Brisbane. He began studying drawing and modelling at Brisbane Central Technical College (1889-c.1893) under J. A. Clarke and Godfrey Rivers, as well as wood carving under Cuthbert Vickers. He worked in Sydney in 1893 carving for the New South Wales forestry exhibit at the Chicago exhibition. In 1896 he came to London and studied sculpture under William Silver Frith at the City and Guilds of London Technical Art School where he won various awards, including the City Guild's £100 scholarship. Parker visited Australia after his marriage in 1911 and again in 1921, returning to live there permanently in 1930. He struggled to establish himself in Brisbane and died an almost forgotten sculptor.
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.
Eurydice
1907 (Presumed)
Locations
Address 2 Holland Lane Kensington London | View on map
1909 (Circa) - 1910 (Circa)
Address 37 Holland Park Road London | View on map
1924 (Circa) - 1929 (Circa)
Studio located at Stamford Bridge Studios Wandon Road London | View on map
1901 (Circa) - 1908 (Circa)
Studio 1
Studio located at 3 Pembroke Walk Studios Kensington London | View on map
1910 (Circa) - 1920 (Circa)
Exhibitions, Meetings, Awards and other Events
Exhibited at The Spring Exhibition of The International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers (Twentieth London Exhibition), 1916
'Head of a Girl'
Exhibited at The Eighty-First Autumn Exhibition at the Rooms of the Society, New Street (Royal Birmingham Society of Artists), 1907-1908
'Eurydice '
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts (Summer Exhibition), 1768-
1903 - 1929
Exhibited 19 times, thirty-two works in all (statuettes, portraits, statues, and a model for a figure group on Australia House)
Exhibited at Royal Hibernian Academy Annual Exhibition, 1907
1907
'Narcissus' (statue, British Sculpture, Gallery II, p. 27 (212), lent by the sculptor).
Exhibited at The Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts Annual Exhibition, 1861-1951
1908 - 1919
Exhibited 4 times (an average of one work per show)
Exhibited at The Royal Scottish Academy Exhibition, 1826-
1929
Exhibited at the annual exhibition 1 time: 1929 (1 work).
Selection committee member of Exhibition 20 by the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, 1946
1946 (Circa)
For sculpture section
Institutional and Business Connections
Associate member of Royal Society of British Sculptors
1923 - 1926
Invited to join Royal Society of British Sculptors
2 March 1905 - 3 April 1905
Amongst the suggested second wave of those invited to join 'without further nomination' [2 March 1905, Royal Society of British Sculptors, Minutes of Council Meetings, Vol.I]: but name removed from list following further discussion at next meeting [3 April 1905, Royal Society of British Sculptors, Minutes of Council Meetings, Vol.I]
Member of Royal Society of British Sculptors
1906 - 1926
Member of The Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society
1938 (Presumed) - 1946 (Presumed)
Unsuccessful in ballot for election to Royal Academy of Arts
Despite nominations in 1907, 1920 and 1927.
Personal and Professional Connections
Assistant to Thomas Brock
1911 (Circa)
http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A110141b.htm?hilite=parker%3Bharold accessed 12 December 2009
Assistant to William Goscombe John
1911 (Circa)
http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A110141b.htm?hilite=parker%3Bharold accessed 12 December 2009
Assistant to William Hamo Thornycroft
1917 (Circa)
http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A110141b.htm?hilite=parker%3Bharold accessed 12 December 2009
Fellow committee member with Alan Lydiat Durst
1946 (Circa)
On sculpture section of 'Exhibition 20 by the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society'
Fellow committee member with Herbert William Palliser
1946 (Circa)
On sculpture section of 'Exhibition 20 by the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society'
Nominated by Henry Alfred Pegram
15 January 1906
For membership of the Royal Society of British Sculptors.
Nominated by (Edward) Alfred Briscoe Drury
2 December 1907
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominated by Alfred East
2 December 1907
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominated by George James Frampton
2 December 1907
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominated by William Goscombe John
2 December 1907 - 15 March 1927
Two nominations for RA, in 1907 and 1927, both unsuccessful.
Nominated by David Murray
2 December 1907
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominated by Frederick William Pomeroy
2 December 1907
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominated by Reginald Theodore Blomfield
1 March 1920
For RA.
Nominated by Francis Bernard Dicksee
27 February 1920
For RA.
Nominated by Frank Short
1 March 1920
For RA.
Nominated by Henry Scott Tuke
1 March 1920
For RA.
Seconded by (Edgar) Bertram Mackennal
15 January 1906
For membership of the Royal Society of British Sculptors.
Seconder of George Duncan MacDougald
4 January 1909
For membership of Royal Society of British Sculptors [4 January 1909, Royal Society of British Sculptors: Minutes of Council Meetings, no.1].
Seconder of Leonard Stanford Merrifield
4 January 1909
For membership of the Royal Society of British Sculptors [4 January 1909, Royal Society of British Sculptors: Minutes of Council Meetings, no.1].
Sources
Australian Dictionary of Biography Online
2006
http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A110141b.htm?hilite=parker%3Bharold accessed 12 December 2009.
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901
2001
RG13 piece 71 folio 5 page 1
International Exhibition, Dublin 1907, Fine Art Catalogue
1907
British Sculpture, Gallery II
p. 27, no. 212:'Narcissus'. Statue.
Lent by the Sculptor.
List of Members: Royal Society of British Sculptors
2008
Royal Academy of Arts Nominations for Associateship, 1906-1927
1927
p.13.
Royal Academy of Arts Nominations for Associateship, 1927-1938
1938
p.5.
Royal Society of British Sculptors. Minutes of Council Meetings No. 1, 1905-1913
19 May 1913
2 March 1905; 3 April 1905; 15 January 1906; 4 January 1909.
Citing this record
'Harold Parker', 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_1205192445, accessed 24 Mar 2023]
