William Silver Frith
Born 1850
Died 15 August 1924
Active: 1868 - 1924
Country of birth and death: England
Sculptor, wood carver
Born in Leicester, Leicestershire. The son of Henry Frith (c.1820-1863, born in Westminster, London died in Gloucester), sculptor and stone and wood carver. William studied at Lambeth School of Art from the late 1860s and then concurrently at the Royal Academy Schools from 1872. When John Sparkes established the South London Technical School of Art in 1879, Frith succeeded Dalou as tutor of modelling after a couple of months. He held the position from 1880 until his death in 1924 and became one of the most influential teachers of sculpture in the last decades of the nineteenth century and beginning of the twentieth century. Frith's numerous students included: Harry Bates, George Frampton, Frederick William Pomeroy, Sir William Goscombe John and Henry Poole. From 1895 Frith reduced his hours and was assisted by a former student, Thomas Tyrrell (c.1857-1929). Frith's eldest son, Edgar Silver Frith (1890-1974) also became a sculptor and took over the teaching at SLTAS after the death of Tyrrell in 1929.
Wealth at death: £1,706 1s. 6d.
Probate date: 15 January 1925
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.
Contributed to production of A study of drapery in relief
'Arranged by W.S.Frith' [1889 ACES exhibition catalogue].
Locations
Address 336 Clapham Road Lambeth London | View on map
1881 (Circa)
Address 134 Milkwood Road Herne Hill London | View on map
1884 (Circa) - 1887 (Circa)
Address 1 Ashurst Street Battersea London | View on map
1891 (Circa)
Address 2 Bowerdean Street Fulham London | View on map
1901 (Circa)
Address 51 Rushholme Road London SW15 | View on map
1911 (Circa)
Studio located at Elgin Studio Trafalgar Square London | View on map
1888 (Circa) - 1924 (Circa)
Exhibitions, Meetings, Awards and other Events
Beneficiary of Turner Fund (Royal Academy of Arts), 1856-1951
1 November 1923
Listed as a Turner Fund Annuitant in 1922.
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts (Summer Exhibition), 1768-
1884 - 1912
Exhibited 10 times, usually one work per year.
Selection committee member of Japan-Britain Exhibition, 1910
1 November 1909 (Circa)
Frith was part of the organising committee.
Speaker at Monumental Wood Sculpture (Art Workers Guild), 1900
Speaker at The Influence of Mathematics on Sculpture (Art Workers Guild), 1912
Speaker at Stone-carving (Art Workers Guild), 1915
Took part in Wood Carving (Art Workers Guild), 1888
1888
Gave demonstration.
Institutional and Business Connections
Fellow of Royal Society of British Sculptors
1923 - 1924
Died in 1924.
Member of Art Workers Guild
1886 - 1924
Committee member 1888-1880 and 1909-1911. Made honorary member in 1915.
Member of Chelsea Arts Club
1891
Founder member of the Chelsea Arts Club
Member of Royal Society of British Sculptors
1904 - 1924
Member of council Royal Society of British Sculptors
1919 (Presumed) - 1923
Studied at South London Technical School of Art (also Lambeth School of Art and City and Guilds of London Art School)
1869 (Circa) - 1872 (Circa)
From late 1860s to early 1870s [according to Beattie (1983) p. 244]
Studied at Royal Academy Schools
1873 (Presumed) - 1876 (Presumed)
Awarded a silver medal for the best model from the antique in 1873. See Royal Academy 'Annual Report, 1873', (1876), p. 23. In 1876 Frith was awarded a first silver medal for a model of a figure from life: see 'Annual Report, 1876', (1879), p. 24.
Teacher of modeling at South London Technical School of Art (also Lambeth School of Art and City and Guilds of London Art School)
1880 - 1924
From 1895 he reduced his hours and worked extensively as an architectural sculptor
Personal and Professional Connections
Daughter/son/child of Henry Frith
Mother/father/parent of Edgar Silver Frith
Nominator of Percy George Bentham
For membership of the Royal Society of British Sculptors
Nominator of Abraham Broadbent
15 January 1906
For membership of the Royal Society of British Sculptors.
Nominator of Benjamin Sheppard
15 January 1906
For membership of the Royal Society of British Sculptors.
Nominator of Charles Rutland
5 February 1906
For membership of the Royal Society of British Sculptors.
Nominator of Thomas Tyrrell
5 February 1906
For membership of the Royal Society of British Sculptors.
Nominator of Edward George Bramwell
20 March 1911
For membership of the Royal Society of British Sculptors [20 March 1911, Royal Society of British Sculptors: Minutes of Council Meetings, no.1].
Nominator of Percy Bryant Baker
20 January 1913
For membership of the Royal Society of British Sculptors [20 January 1913, Royal Society of British Sculptors: Minutes of Council Meetings, no.1].
Nominator of Alfred James Oakley
1921 (Circa)
For membership of the Royal Society of British Sculptors
Nominator of Edgar Allan Howes
1921 (Presumed)
For membership of the Royal Society of British Sculptors
Nominator of (Henry) Eric John Doudney
1935
For membership of the Royal Society of British Sculptors
Related to E. Roland Bevan
Bevan married William Silver Frith's daughter, Margarita Lucy Frith (1892-1984), in 1927. (W.S. Frith had died three years before the marriage took place.)
Seconder of Frederick Thomas Callcott
15 May 1911
For membership of the Royal Society of British Sculptors [15 May 1911, Royal Society of British Sculptors: Minutes of Council Meetings, no.1].
Descriptions of Practice
Listed under Sculptors Post Office London Directory, 1900 Post Office/Kelly London Directories
1900
p.2371
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1871
'Wood Carver'
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1881
'Sculptor'
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901
'Sculptor' employer
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911
'Sculptor' employer
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1891
'Sculptor' employer
Sources
Art Workers Guild Annual Reports, 1885-1900
1888, p6; 1895, p.20; 1898, p.20; 1900, p.5, p.20.
Art Workers Guild Annual Reports, 1901-1912
1912, p.5.
Art Workers Guild Annual Reports, 1913-1933
1915, p.16; 1924, p.12.
Artists and Bohemians: 100 Years with the Chelsea Arts Club
1992
British Sculpture and Sculptors of To-day
1901
pp. 1, 95, 96 and 157
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1851
2004
HO107 piece 2090 folio 509 page 8
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1871
2004
RG10 piece 663 folio 98 page 6
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1881
2004
RG11 piece 606 folio 45 page 29
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1891
2004
RG12 piece 420 folio 34 page 1
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901
2001
Class: RG13; Piece: 69; Folio: 22; Page: 35
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911
2009
RG14PN2401 RG78PN80 RD26 SD7 ED10 SN20
England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966
2010
Name: William Silver Frith
Probate Date: 15 Jan 1925
Death Date: 15 Aug 1924
Death Place: Surrey, England
Registry: London
List of Members: Royal Society of British Sculptors
2008
FRI/1904-24/5.
Post Office London Directory, 1900 Post Office/Kelly London Directories
1900
p.2371
Royal Society of British Sculptors. Annual Report of Council and Accounts For the Year ending 21 December 1922. To be Presented at the Eighteenth Ordinary General Meeting, 1923
26 February 1923
p. 1
Royal Society of British Sculptors. Minutes of Council Meetings No. 1, 1905-1913
19 May 1913
15 January 1906; 5 February 1906; 1 November 1909; 20 March 1911; 15 May 1911; 20 January 1913; 17 February 1913.
Sculpture of To-day: America, Great Britain and Japan, vol. 1
1921
pp. 92-4, 95, 160, 233
The New Sculpture
1983
p. 24
Citing this record
'William Silver Frith', 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_1207249939, accessed 21 Mar 2023]
