Sir William Ernest Reynolds-Stephens VPRBS
Born 8 August 1862
Died 23 February 1943
Active: 1885 - 1942
Country of birth: United States
Country of death: England
Sculptor, medallist, painter, designer of textiles, furniture and furnishings
Born in Detroit, Michigan, USA of British parents. Trained as an engineer before studying art. Died at Vale Royal Hotel, Tunbridge Wells, Kent.
Wealth at death: £10,851 16s. 3d.
Probate date: 18 June 1943
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.
Model of a moulding for bronze or marble
L’âge
1894
Fontaine murale
1894
Sir Launcelot and the Nestling
1901
Guinevere and the Nestling
1901
Joy
1918 (Presumed)
£12 12s.
A Royal Game
1938
The Frog
1938
Locations
Address 33 St Leonard's Terrace Kensington London SW England | View on map
1894
Address 10 Hill Road Abbey Road London NW England | View on map
1896 (Circa) - 1904 (Circa)
Address Harlestone Mortimer Road London England | View on map
1906 (Circa) - 1928 (Circa)
Address 6 Mortimer Place London England | View on map
1918 (Circa) - 1932 (Circa)
Exhibitions, Meetings, Awards and other Events
Awarded Prize for Distinguished Service to Sculpture (Royal Society of British Sculptors), 1923-1949
12 December 1928
Awarded Prize for Distinguished Service to Sculpture (Royal Society of British Sculptors), 1923-1949
12 March 1929
Awarded the gold medal on this date by Sir William Llewellyn at the Royal Society of British Sculptor's annual dinner
Exhibited at Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society: Sixth Exhibition, 1899
'Youth'
Exhibited at Leeds City Art Gallery, The Spring Exhibition, 1897
Multiple works
Exhibited at Manchester Art Gallery, Second Exhibition of Arts and Crafts, 1895
Multiple works
Exhibited at Art Workers Guild, Third Exhibition, 1905
Exhibited at Autumn exhibition of pictures, in oil and water-colours: the eighteenth (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool), 1888
1888
Three Score Years and Ten (cat. no. 1400, bronze, £35); Pigeons (cat. no. 1409, bronze, £75); The late John Palgrave Simpson, Esq. (cat. no. 1410, not for sale).
Exhibited at Autumn exhibition of modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the twenty-second (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool), 1892
1892
A Wall Fountain (cat. no. 1365, bronze, £78 15s.).
Exhibited at Exposition Universelle des Beaux-Arts (Antwerp), 1894
1894
Exhibited at Autumn exhibition of modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the twenty-sixth (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool), 1896
1896
'Happy in beauty, life and love, and everything' (cat. no. 1215, overmantle relief, for sale in marble £52 10s., in metal £36 15s.).
Exhibited at Autumn exhibition of modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the twenty-seventh (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool), 1897
1897
Sleeping Beauty (cat. no. 1328, relief, not for sale).
Exhibited at Autumn exhibition of modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the twenty-eighth (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool), 1898
1898
Happy in Beauty, Life and Love, and everything (cat. no. 1450, low-relief and stand, £157 10s.).
Exhibited at International Exhibition, Glasgow, 1901
1901
Exhibited at Autumn exhibition of pictures & sculpture: the thirty-second (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool), 1902
1902
Castles in the Air (cat. no. 1386, statuette, £1050).
Exhibited at The Royal Scottish Academy Exhibition, 1826-
1904 - 1932
Exhibited at the annual exhibition 4 times: 1904 (1 work), 1911 (1 work), 1929 (2 works) and 1932 (1 work)
Exhibited at The Seventy-Third Annual Exhibition of the Royal West of England Academy, 1918
1918
Exhibited at Palace of Arts Empire Exhibition Scotland, 1938
1938
Exhibited at Exhibition of Castle Art Gallery Pictures and the Sculpture of Sir William Reynolds Stevens (Nottingham Castle Museum), 1944
5 February 1944 - 25 March 1944
Note that the works were exhibited posthumously.
Exhibition committee member for Art Workers Guild, First Exhibition, 1895
Member of exhibition sub-committee
Exhibition committee member for Garden Designs Exhibition (Royal Horticultural Society), 1928
October 1928
In charge of the sculpture section of the exhibition
Involved in Franco-British Exhibition of Science, Art and Industries (London), 1908
2 March 1908
Was appointed part of Royal Society of British Sculptors' sub-committee of selection for the Franco-British Exhibition (2 March 1908, Royal Society of British Sculptors: Minutes of Council Meetings, no. 1).
Judged Competition for a Memorial to "Ouida"
6 July 1908 (Circa)
Reynolds-Stephens was appointed as an assessor for the competition by the Royal Society of British Sculptors [6 July 1908, Royal Society of British Sculptors: Minutes of Council Meetings, no.1]. Communicated result to society [1 March 1909, Royal Society of British Sculptors: Minutes of Council Meetings, no.1].
Selection committee member of Competition for a statue of Field Marshall Lord Haig, London, 1929
1929
Served as an assessor.
Speaker at The pickling, colouring and lacquering of metals, including patina (Art Workers Guild), 1890
Speaker at Reproductive Processes in Sculpture (Art Workers G), 1891
Speaker at Bronze Founding (Art Workers Guild), 1910
Speaker at Chinese Bronzes (Art Workers Guild), 1921
Speaker at The Beginning of Art Societies and their Values To-day (Art Workers Guild), 1936
Took part in The pickling, colouring and lacquering of metals, including patina (Art Workers Guild), 1890
Gave practical demonstration of colouring copper.
Institutional and Business Connections
Committee member of Royal Society of British Sculptors
1921 - 1922
Elected to serve on the Exhibitions Committee.
Donor to Royal Society of British Sculptors
1955
£13877 11s. 8d.
The residue of his estate on the death of Lady Reynolds-Stephens (RBS Archive Newsletter, no. 2, November 2007)
Fellow of Royal Society of British Sculptors
1923 - 1943
Died in 1943.
Lectured at Royal Society of British Sculptors
1923
Lectured on 'Sculpture in Relation to Architecture'.
Member of Art Workers Guild
1888 - 1943 (Presumed)
Committee member 1891-1893, may have held an honorary position in 1912. Resigned in 1929, rejoined in 1936
Member of The Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society
1894 (Presumed) - 1907 (Presumed)
As a Selection committee member in 1901, proposed changes to the rules of the society. Ones that might have affected sculptors included the development of a hanging committee(as a sub-committee of the selection committee), the suggestion that exhibitors should pay for the delivery and removal of their works, and that the exhibition was open to all artists, members or not, who were resident in the UK. The society would also reserve the right to invite foregin or non-resident British artists to exhibit. Of these ammendments, the first and last were carried, the second rejected.
Member of Royal Society of British Sculptors
1904 - 1943
Member of council The British School at Rome
1933
Representative of the Royal Society of British Sculptors up to
Member of council Royal Society of British Sculptors
1919 (Presumed)
Member of council Roads of Remembrance Association
1928
Served as a representative of the Royal Society of British Sculptors, at the request of the Association.
President of Royal Society of British Sculptors
27 February 1922 - 1933
In the 'Annual Report, 1932', (1933), (Royal Society of British Sculptors), it is noted that Stephens 'has announced that he will not stand for re-election. Having served for eleven years, he feels it to be in the interests of the Society to have a younger President'. In 1934 he presented 'a massive two-handled silver loving cup to the Society, which was gratefully accepted by the members'. See 'Annual Report, 1933', (1934).
Received award from Salon of the Société des Artistes Français
1939
Awarded the Gold Medal [Fifty-sixth annual report of the Committee of the Art Workers' Guild, p.19].
Studied at Royal Academy Schools
1885 (Presumed) - 1887 (Presumed)
Stephens was awarded a first prize of £30 for a model of a design in 1885. See Royal Academy, 'Annual Report, 1885', (1886), p. 34. In 1887, he also won a second prize of £20 for a set of three models of a figure from the life. See 'Annual Report, 1887', (1888), p. 32.
Unsuccessful in ballot for election to Royal Academy of Arts
Despite nominations in 1899, 1920, 1927 and 1934.
Vice-president of Royal Society of British Sculptors
1920 - 1921
Worked for Longden & Co.
Personal and Professional Connections
Apprenticed Frank Owen Dobson
1900 (Circa)
Aged about 14, Dobson answered an advertisement placed by Reynolds-Stephens for a 'studio boy'. His jobs were to polish the studio floor, light the fire and assist two other assistants. They were working on a bronze screen for a church in Essex. This was probably the screen for St. Mary the Virgin, Great Warley, Essex. [see 'The Sculpture of Frank Dobson', pp. 16-17]
Nominated by Henry Hugh Armstead
4 April 1899
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominated by Reginald Theodore Blomfield
1 March 1920
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominated by Francis Bernard Dicksee
27 February 1920 - 22 February 1927
Two nominations for RA, in 1920 and 1927, both unsuccessful.
Nominated by William Goscombe John
1 March 1920
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominated by David Murray
1 March 1920
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominated by Frederick William Pomeroy
January 1920
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominated by Frank Short
1 March 1920 - 22 February 1927
Two nominations for RA, in 1920 and 1927, both unsuccessful.
Nominated by Henry Scott Tuke
1 March 1920
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominated by Charles Leonard Hartwell
1922 - March 1922
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominated by John James Burnet
22 February 1927
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominated by George Clausen
22 February 1927
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominated by Philip Connard
22 February 1927
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominated by George James Frampton
22 February 1927
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominated by Charles Leonard Hartwell
22 February 1927
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominated by George Harcourt
22 February 1927
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominated by William Llewellyn
22 February 1927 - March 1934
Two nominations for RA, in 1927 and 1934, both unsuccessful.
Nominated by Malcolm Osborne
22 February 1927
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominated by Walter Westley Russell
22 February 1927 - 22 February 1934
Two nominations for RA, in 1927 and 1934, both unsuccessful.
Nominated by Giles Gilbert Scott
22 February 1927
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominated by Wilfred Gabriel de Glehn
March 1934
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominated by William Russell Flint
March 1934
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominated by William Curtis Green
March 1934
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominated by Sydney Lee
March 1934
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominated by William McMillan
March 1934
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominated by Alfred Turner
March 1934
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominated by George Spencer Watson
March 1934
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominator of Anne Crawford Acheson
For membership of the Royal Society of British Sculptors
Nominator of John Angel
For membership of the RSBS
Nominator of Allan Gairdner Wyon
1919 (Presumed)
For membership of the Royal Society of British Sculptors
Nominator of Harold James Youngman
1921 (Presumed)
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
Seconded by George James Frampton
4 April 1899
For RA; unsuccessful.
Seconder of (Alfred) Adrian Jones
17 June 1912
For membership of the Royal Society of British Sculptors [17 June 1912, Royal Society of British Sculptors: Minutes of Council Meetings, no.1].
Taught Frank Owen Dobson
1902
See H. Cunliffe-Charlesworth 'The Royal College of Art' PhD thesis,(1991), vol. 3, appendix C, p. 589. No source is given.
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 VIII, 1930 Biographical Dictionary of Medallists
Listed as a contemporary sculptor and medallist. Forrer notes that the artist exhibited a bronze medal (produced for the University of London) at the Royal Academy, London, in 1912. See vol. 8, (1930), p. 157.
Sources
Art Workers Guild Annual Reports, 1885-1900
1890, p.6; 1891, p.7; 1895, p.7 and lists of members' addresses 1896-1900.
Art Workers Guild Annual Reports, 1901-1912
1905, p.10; 1910, P.7.
Art Workers Guild Annual Reports, 1913-1933
1921, p.5; 1929, p.11 and all lists of members' addresses 1913-1927.
Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, Rules and Regulations, 1901 [draft, amended and final versions]
1901 (Probable)
Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society: List of Members, 1894
1894
Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society: List of Members, 1897
1897
Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society: List of Members, 1904
1904
Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society: List of Members, 1907
1907
Subscription noted as £1 in arrears.
Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society. List of Members, 1898
1898
Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society. List of Members, 1899
1899
Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society. List of Members, 1900
1900
Arts and Crafts Society: Catalogue of the Sixth Exhibition.
1899
p.24, p.77, pp.61-62, p.86, p.94, p.115, pp.126-127, p.151. Also one reference listed for an item no. 6; page missing, and an item no.478, details of which are not given in the catalogue. No page numbers are given in this database for these incidences.
Autumn exhibition of modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the twenty-eighth, 1898 Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
1898
pp. 45-48.
Autumn exhibition of modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the twenty-seventh, 1897 Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
1897
pp. 44-47.
Autumn exhibition of modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the twenty-sixth, 1896 Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
1896
pp. 45-48.
Autumn exhibition of pictures & sculpture: the thirty-second, 1902 Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
1902
pp. 42-47.
Autumn exhibition of pictures, in oil and water-colours: the eighteenth, 1888 Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
1888
pp. 54-56.
Catalogue for the Seventy-Third Annual Exhibition of the Royal West of England Academy, 1918
1918
Catalogue of the Second Exhibition of Arts and Crafts, City of Manchester Art Gallery, 1895
1895
Cat. No. 207, p. 83
Catalogue of the Spring Exhibition, The City Art Gallery, Leeds 1897
1897
Cat. Nos. 842, 859, pp. 79, 81, 107
International Exhibition Glasgow, 1901,
Official Catalogue of the Fine Art Section
1901
List of Members: Royal Society of British Sculptors
2008
REY/1904-42/4.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
2004
Mark Stocker, ‘Stephens, Sir William Ernest Reynolds- (1862–1943)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Oct 2007 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/38292, accessed 10 July 2009]
Palace of Arts
Empire Exhibition
Scotland
1938
The Fine Art Section of the Empire Exhibition
1938
Royal Academy of Arts Nominations for Associateship, 1866-1906
1906
See entries for 1899.
Royal Academy of Arts Nominations for Associateship, 1906-1927
1927
p.149.
Royal Academy of Arts Nominations for Associateship, 1927-1938
1938
p.61.
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. 3
Royal Society of British Sculptors. Minutes of Council Meetings No. 1, 1905-1913
19 May 1913
2 March 1908; 6 July 1908; 7 December 1908; 17 June 1912.
The fifty-sixth annual report of the committee of the Art-Workers' Guild, 1940
1940
p.19.
The fifty-third annual report of the committee of the Art-Workers' Guild, 1937
1937
p.12, p.19.
The Sculptor, Sir William Reynolds-Stephens, PRBS, 1862-1943. A Biographical Note, 1944
1944
Unpaged.
The Sculpture of Frank Dobson
1994
pp. 16-17
The sixtieth annual report of the committee of the Art-Workers' Guild, 1944
1944
p.9.
Citing this record
'Sir William Ernest Reynolds-Stephens VPRBS', 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_1208257218, accessed 23 Sep 2023]
