Reverend Allan Gairdner Wyon
Born 1 June 1882
Died 26 February 1962
Active: 1901 - 1956
Country of birth and death: England
Sculptor, medallist, die-engraver
Born in St. Pancras, London. Son of Allan and his wife, Harriet Gairdner. In the Census Returns on 1901 (when he was aged 18) his name his given as 'Allan W. Wyon'. He worked primarily as a sculptor, and was also the last member of the family to work as a die-engraver.
He trained at the Royal Academy Schools, and worked as assistant to the sculptor William Hamo Thornycroft. He married the painter Eileen May Wyon. His works include the East Wind for Charles Holden's new headquarters for London Underground at 55 Broadway (1926–9).
On his father's death he took his place as head of the die-engraving firm, but under him it ceased to operate, and in 1933 the dies were transferred to John Pinches. He continued to design and model medals, however, into the 1950s. He died in 1962. [see Attwood (2004) and census data]
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.
Lord Frederic Leighton
1933 (Presumed)
C.R. Ashbee
1933 (Presumed)
Pax Dolorosa
1918 (Presumed)
£84
Sheela
1919
Elaine, daughter of Norman Carter Esq.
1920 (Presumed)
Locations
Address 2 Langham Chambers Portland Place London England | View on map
1908 - 1913
Address 80 Boundary Road St. John's Wood London England | View on map
1914 (Circa) - 1934 (Circa)
Address Trevean Essa Road Saltash England | View on map
1934 - 1936
Address St. Peter's Vicarage Newlyn England | View on map
1937 - 1951 (Presumed)
Exhibitions, Meetings, Awards and other Events
Exhibited at Royal Hibernian Academy Annual Exhibition, 1919
Multiple works
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts (Summer Exhibition), 1768-
1908 - 1956
Exhibited 29 times (26 times up to 1951), an average of two works per year.
Exhibited at The Royal Scottish Academy Exhibition, 1826-
1916 - 1932
Exhibited at the annual exhibition 10 times: 1916 (2 works), 1919 (1 work), 1920 (3 works), 1921 (2 works), 1922 (2 works), 1924 (2 works), 1925 (2 works), 1927 (2 works), 1931 (1 work) and 1932 (1 work)
Exhibited at The Seventy-Third Annual Exhibition of the Royal West of England Academy, 1918
1918
Exhibited at The Seventy-Fifth Annual Exhibition of the Royal West of England Academy, 1920
1920
Speaker at Can Photography ever be an Art? (Art Workers Guild), 1925
Speaker at Fundamental Unity of Aim in the Various Arts (Art Workers Guild), 1926
Speaker at Italian Gardens (Art Workers Guild), 1926
Speaker at Is Portrait Painting a Science or an Art? (Art Workers Guild), 1926
Speaker at Flaxman (Art Workers Guild), 1927
Speaker at Landscape in Japanese Art (Art Workers Guild), 1927
Speaker at Buddhist Art in Java (Art Workers Guild), 1927
Speaker at The Norwich School (Art Workers Guild), 1928
Speaker at A Sculptor's View of History (Art Workers Guild), 1928
Speaker at Coins and Medals (Art Workers Guild), 1928
Speaker at Chinese Painting (Art Workers Guild), 1928
Speaker at Alfred Stevens (Art Workers Guild), 1928
Speaker at The Law and the Artist (Art Workers Guild), 1928
Speaker at Gainsborough (Art Workers Guild), 1929
Speaker at Animals in Art (Art Workers Guild), 1929
Speaker at Reversal of Architectural Judgements in our Lifetime (Art Workers Guild), 1929
Speaker at Brancusi and Abstractionist Sculpture (Art Workers Guild), 1929
Speaker at Carpeaux and His Times (Art Workers Guild), 1929
Speaker at Pisanello (Art Workers Guild), 1930
Speaker at Modern Architectural Sculpture (Art Workers Guild), 1930
Speaker at Mantagna [sic] (Art Workers Guild), 1930
Speaker at Lesser Known Sculptors of Florence (Art Workers Guild), 1931
Speaker at The Artist and Scientist View of Truth (Art Workers Guild), 1932
Speaker at Religion and Its Relation to Art (Art Workers Guild), 1939
Speaker at Geological Formation in Landscape (Art Workers Guild), 1925
Speaker at Translucent Glass for Decoration (Art Workers Guild), 1925
Speaker at Chinese Painting (Art Workers Guild), 1928
Institutional and Business Connections
Associate member of Royal Society of British Sculptors
1923 - 1926 (Presumed)
Became fellow in 1926.
Donor to Art Workers Guild
1933
Gave a bust of Ashbee and a plaque relief portrait of Leighton, of his own creation, to add to collection of Past-Master portraits [AWG annual report for 1933, p.8].
Fellow of Royal Society of British Sculptors
1926 - 1950 (Presumed)
Became honorary member in 1950.
Honorary member of Royal Society of British Sculptors
1950 - 1956 (Circa)
Resigned before 1956.
Member of Art Workers Guild
1919
Wyon was thanked for his services as Honorary Secretary to the Guild at its 1930 Annual General Meeting [AWG annual report for 1930, p.11].
Member of Royal Society of British Sculptors
1919 - 1956 (Circa)
Resigned before 1956.
Wyon's first application for membership was proposed by W. R. Stephens and seconded by Gilbert Bayes. Wyon is listed in the 1919 Annual Report as a new member.
Member of The Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society
1946 (Presumed)
Member of council Royal Society of British Sculptors
1924 - 1929
Received award from Art Workers Guild
1931
'A presentation was made by the Guild to Bro. Allan G. Wyon (on his retirement as Honorary Secretary) of a shagreen and silver cigarette box, suitably inscribed, and made by Bro. Paul Cooper' [AWG annual report for 1931, p.6].
Studied at Royal Academy Schools
1905 - 1910
These dates are given in Forrer, vol. 6, (1916), pp. 580-581.
In 1908, Wyon won a second prize silver medal for a model of a bust from the life, and a one year Landseer Scholarship for sculpture. See 'Annual Report, 1908', (1909), p. 33. In 1909, Wyon won a £30 first prize for a model of a design, and a first prize of £20 for a set of four models of a figure from the life. See 'Annual Report, 1909', (1910), p. 34.
Teacher of modeling at Camberwell School of Art
September 1918 - June 1923
Listed as a teacher of evening classes in modelling from life and ornament.
Personal and Professional Connections
Assistant to William Hamo Thornycroft
1910 - 1911
Wyon worked as assistant sculptor to Thornycroft. See Forrer, vol. 6, (1916), p. 581.
Collaborated with Laurence Arthur Turner
1933
Turner made and donated oak panel, as mount for plaque relief portrait of Leighton by Wyon, to add to collection of Past-Master portraits [AWG annual report for 1933, p.8]
Daughter/son/child of Allan Wyon
See Forrer, vol. 6, (1916), p. 580.
Made bust of Charles Robert Ashbee
1933 (Presumed)
Presented to AWG in 1933 to add to collection of Past-Master portraits [AWG annual report for 1933, p.8].
Made portrait of John Leighton
1933 (Presumed)
Plaque relief portrait, presented to AWG in 1933 to add to collection of Past-Master portraits [AWG annual report for 1933, p.8].
Nominated by William Ernest Reynolds-Stephens
1919 (Presumed)
For membership of the Royal Society of British Sculptors
Nominated by Gilbert William Bayes
1919 (Presumed)
For membership of the Royal Society of British Sculptors
Nominator of Phyllis Muriel Cowan Archibald Clay
1923 (Presumed)
For membership of the Royal Society of British Sculptors
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 VI, 1916 Biographical Dictionary of Medallists
Listed as a sculptor and medallist. Exhibited sculptures at the Royal Academy in 1908, 1911, and 1912. Produced ecclesiastical and other seals and many medals; Forrer lists works produced between 1907 and 1912. See Forrer, vol. 6, (1916), pp. 580-581.
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901
'Art Student'
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911
'Sculptor and Medallist' and an employer working partly at home
Sources
Art Workers Guild Annual Reports, 1913-1933
1925, pp.7-8; 1926, p.5, p.7; 1927, pp.4-5; 1928, pp.6-10; 1929, pp.7-9; 1930, pp.7-8, p.11; 1931, p.6, p.11; 1932, p.12; 1933, p.8. All lists of members' addresses 1919-1933.
Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society: Members and Craftsmen
1946 (Probable)
p.58.
Catalogue for the Seventy-Fifth Annual Exhibition of the Royal West of England Academy, 1920
1920
Catalogue for the Seventy-Third Annual Exhibition of the Royal West of England Academy, 1918
1918
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901
2005
RG13 piece 122 folio 126 page 26
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911
2011
RG14PN526 RG78PN18 RD7 SD1 ED12 SN129
List of Members: Royal Society of British Sculptors
2008
London County Council Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts, Peckham Road, S.E. Prospectus and Time-Table for the Session 1918-1919 Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts Prospectuses
1918
Unpaged time table.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
2004
Philip Attwood, ‘Wyon family (per. c.1760–1962)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/64499, accessed 5 Feb 2010]
Royal Hibernian Academy of Arts, Catalogue of the Ninetieth Exhibition, 1919 RHA Annual Exhibition Catalogues
1919
p. 28 (369)
Royal Society of British Sculptors. Annual Report of the Council, for the Year Ending 31 December 1950, to be Presented at the Forty-Seventh Annual General Meeting, 1951
February 1951
p. 3.
Royal Society of British Sculptors. Minutes of Council Meetings No. 2, 1913-1922
1922 (Presumed)
25 March 1919
The fiftieth annual report of the committee of the Art-Workers' Guild, 1934
1934
p.43.
The fifty-second annual report of the committee of the Art-Workers' Guild, 1936
1936
p.44.
The fifty-sixth annual report of the committee of the Art-Workers' Guild, 1940
1940
p.15.
The fifty-third annual report of the committee of the Art-Workers' Guild, 1937
1937
p.47.
The sixty-eighth annual report of the committee of the Art-Workers' Guild, 1951
1951
p.31.
Citing this record
'Reverend Allan Gairdner Wyon', 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_1208277616, accessed 21 Sep 2023]
