William George Simmonds

Born 3 March 1876
Died 23 August 1968

Active: 1905 - 1968

Country of birth: Turkey

Country of death: England

Sculptor, wood carver, ivory carver, puppet maker and puppet master

Born in Constantinople (Istanbul), Turkey. He was the son of John Simmonds, architect. William studied painting at the Studied under Walter Crane at the Royal College of Art (1893–9), where he was a Royal Exhibitioner (1897), and then at the Royal Academy Schools 1899-1904. Between 1906-10 he worked as an assistant to the painter, Edwin Austin Abbey RA (1852-1911) helping him with the mural paintings for the Pennsylvanian State Capitol (1905–10). Simmonds was married in 1912 to Evelyn Peart (daughter of Benjamin Peart) who was an embroiderer and fellow member of ACES. He began to make sculpture in 1913, choosing domestic and farm animals for his subjects.

During the First World War, Simmonds worked as a mechanical draughtsman for Colonel R.E. Crompton in tank design (1914-16) and then for Captain de Haviland in aircraft design (1916–18). He first exhibited carvings at the Alpine Club Gallery in 1921. These works were in ivory, ebony and other woods, he went on to specialise in carvings of horses, particularly shire horses, in various woods. Simmonds was a skilled maker of marionettes and a puppet master who put on occasional performances in London. He and Evelyn lived in Stroud, Gloucestershire for many years and Simmonds died there in 1968.

Purchases of his works by museums include: Water colour (Chantrey Bequest, 1907), Tate Gallery; Horses Grazing, wood (National Arts Collection Fund, 1925), Leicester Art Gallery; Farm Team, wood (Lewis ‘A’ Fund, 1929), Tate Gallery; Cat, wood, Carlisle Art Gallery, 1936; Old Horse, wood (Chantrey Bequest, 1937), Tate Gallery; Cart Horse Foal, alabaster, Sheffield Art Gallery, 1938; Autumn Calf, painted oak, Cheltenham Art Gallery, 1952; other principal works: Ducks, wood, Charles Rutherston Collection, Manchester; Black Mare, wood lacquered, George Eumorphopoulos Collection; White Calf, marble.

Citing this record

'William George Simmonds', 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_1208259787, accessed 30 May 2023]