Henry Poole RA
Born 28 January 1873
Died 15 August 1928
Active: 1894 - 1928
Country of birth and death: England
Sculptor, watercolourist
Born in Westminster. He was the son of Samuel Poole (born c.1839 in London), sculptor. Henry's brother, Samuel Poole Jnr. (born c.1871) was a painter. Henry studied at South London Technical School of Art c.1888 and then at the Royal Academy Schools between 1892-7. He was a pupil of Harry Bates and George Frederic Watts. Poole worked with the architect E.A. Rickards on many public buildings and monuments including Westminster Central Hall and Cardiff City Hall. For the latter building Poole created one of his most important sculptures, Giraldus Cambrensis (Gerallt Gymro), the Norman-Welsh clergyman and chronicler. Poole was made Professor of Sculpture at the Royal Academy Schools in 1921 and worked there till his sudden death in 1928.
There are architectural sculptures by Poole on buildings in Bethnal Green, Deptford, and Rotherhithe. Among Poole's other commissions are: statues of Lord de Vesci, Earl Cowper, and Sir Daniel Cooper; statuary groups for the United Kingdom Provident Institution, Strand, London; the Council Chamber, Birmingham; the King Edward Memorial, Bristol; the bronze lions for the Shanghai Bank (later recast by William Wagstaff in Hong Kong for the additional branch of the bank opened in 1935); a statue of St. George in the Chapel of St. Michael and St. George, St. Paul's Cathedral; the war memorial at Evesham; the memorial to Captain Albert Ball, V.C. airman, Castle Green, Nottingham; and, a late work, the ten foot bronze winged figure for Selfridge's, London.
Wealth at death: £3,896 8s. 9d.
Probate date: 6 October 1928
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.
Studio assistant in creation of Physical Energy
Throne for the King, Prince and the Chancellor of the Order
Memorial plaque of William Blake
Collaborated on Portsmouth Naval Memorial
1924 (Circa)
Poole created the sculpture
Collaborated on Plymouth Naval Memorial
1924 (Circa)
Poole created the sculpture
Collaborated on Chatham Naval Memorial
1924 (Circa)
Poole created the sculpture
Designed Proposed memorial to John Cabot
Welsh Unity and Patriotism
1904 (Presumed)
The Landing of Cabot
1913 (Presumed)
Giraldus Cambrensis
1917 (Presumed)
Locations
Address 46 Grosvenor Road Westminster London England | View on map
1891 - 1901
Living with father at this address whilst an art student, still at this address when working on own account in 1901
Address 2 Fernshawe Road Chelsea London England | View on map
1928
Living here at the time of his death.
Studio located at 4 Wentworth Studios Manresa Road London SW England | View on map
1906 (Presumed) - 1907
Studio located in 1 Wentworth Studios Manresa Road London SW England | View on map
1910 (Circa) - 1928
Worked at St Paul's Cathedral London England | View on map
In addition to creating original works for the Cathedral, Poole contributed to the conservation of the building, working on many of the carved friezes and capitals and particularly on the colossal figures of St. Jude and St. Simon on the southern pediment. [Macartney, Leicester galleries catalogue 1930].
Exhibitions, Meetings, Awards and other Events
Exhibited at Memorial Exhibition of Sculpture by the Late Henry Poole, RA (Leicester Galleries), 1929
Multiple works
Exhibited at Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society: Eleventh Exhibition, 1916
'Lead Fountain Figure'
Exhibited at Franco-British Exhibition of Science, Art and Industries (London), 1908
Multiple works
Exhibited at Leeds City Art Gallery, The Spring Exhibition, 1909
'A Miner'
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts, The One Hundred and Fifty-Ninth (Summer Exhibition), 1927
'The Little Apple'
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts (Summer Exhibition), 1768-
1894 - 1928
Exhibited 22 times, about 36 works in all plus 6 sculptures shown posthumously in 1929
Exhibited at International Exhibition, Dublin, 1907
1907
British Sculpture, Gallery II:
'Quita' (marble head), p. 28 (220a), lent by Mrs Harry Bates; 'St Sebastian', p. 29 (238), lent by the sculptor.
Exhibited at The Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts Annual Exhibition, 1861-1951
1910 - 1929
Exhibited 6 times (2 posthumously) an average of two works per show
Exhibited at The Royal Scottish Academy Exhibition, 1826-
1912 - 1927
Exhibited at the annual exhibition 2 times: 1912 (1 work) and 1927 (1 work)
Exhibited at Exhibition of the Bristol Academy, Annual Spring Exhibition for the Promotion of the Fine Arts, The Sixty-Eighth, 1913
1913
Exhibited at The Seventy-Second Annual Exhibition of the Royal West of England Academy, 1917
1917
Exhibited at Memorial Exhibition of Sculpture by the Late Henry Poole, RA, 1930
1930
Exhibition committee member for The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts, The One Hundred and Fifty-Fifth (Summer Exhibition), 1923
10 April 1923 - 21 April 1923
Responsible for the arrangement of sculpture. See Royal Academy, 'Annual Report, 1923' (1924), p. 27.
Won prize Competition for Architectural Sculpture for Cardiff City Hall
Won prize Competition for the Statue of King Edward and the Fountains at Bristol
Won prize Landseer Scholarships (Royal Academy of Arts), 1884-1950
1894
Institutional and Business Connections
Chairwoman/chairman of Chelsea Arts Club
1915 - 1917
Committee member of Royal Academy Schools
1924 - 1927
Served on the Schools Committee in 1924, 1926 and 1927. See Royal Academy, 'Annual Report, 1923', (1924), p. 31.
Elected ARA Royal Academy of Arts
22 April 1920 - 5 December 1927
Elected RA in 1927.
Elected RA Royal Academy of Arts
5 December 1927 - 15 August 1928
Died in 1928. Poole's Diploma Work, a marble head entitled 'Young Pan', is listed in the Royal Academy, 'Annual Report, 1928', (1929), p. 76.
Fellow of Royal Society of British Sculptors
1923 - 1928
Died in 1928.
Member of Chelsea Arts Club
1904 - 1928
Was apparently "a popular member of the club", and as chairman played a key role in keeping the Club going during the First World War. Afterwards he was instrumental in reviving the annual ball, spending a considerable amount of time devising decorations for these events and other revels. [Leicester galleries catalogue 1930]. After his death, the club sent £50 to his widow and established a fund to erect a permanent memorial. This took the form of a fountain with a figure of cupid riding on a scallop shell cast in lead. The sculpture was by Poole and the surround was designed by the architect and member of the Club, Leonard Holcombe Bucknell. The fountain was unveiled on 25 March 1930. [See Cross, 1992]
Member of Royal Society of British Sculptors
1905 - 1928
Amongst those 'Invited to join without the formality of proposal and seconding' [January 10 1905, Royal Society of British Sculptors, Minutes of Council Meetings, Vol.I]. Died in 1928.
Member of Art Workers Guild
May 1906 - 1928 (Presumed)
Member of The Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society
1916 (Presumed)
Member of council Royal Society of British Sculptors
1926 - 1927
Member of council Tate Gallery
September 1927 - August 1928
Professor of sculpture at Royal Academy of Arts
1921 - 1927
Listed as \'Master of the Sculpture School\'. See Popp and Valentine, \'Royal Academy of Arts Directory of Membership\', (1996), p. 96.
Student at South London Technical School of Art (also Lambeth School of Art and City and Guilds of London Art School)
1888
Student at Royal Academy Schools
26 January 1892 - January 1897
These dates are provided by Popp and Valentine, \'Royal Academy of Arts Directory of Membership\', (1996), p. 96.
In 1894, Poole won a first prize of £50 and a silver medal for a set of three models of a figure from the life. In the same year, Poole was awarded a Landseer Scholarship for sculpture. See Royal Academy, 'Annual Report, 1894', (1895), pp. 28-29.
Visitor at Royal Academy Schools
1921
Listed as a Visitor to the School of Sculpture from 1921. See Royal Academy, 'Annual Report, 1920', (1921), p. 31.
Personal and Professional Connections
Championed by Mervyn E. Macartney
1929
In foreward to 1930 Leicester Galleries exhibition catalogue.
Collaborated with Mervyn E. Macartney
Worked together on St Paul's Cathedral.
Daughter/son/child of Samuel Poole
Friends with Francis Derwent Wood
Wood and Poole would go on sketching tours with E.A.Rickards, the architect, and Arnold Bennett [1927 Leicester Galleries catalogue].
Granddaughter/grandson/grandchild of Henry Poole Senior
Nominated by (Edward) Alfred Briscoe Drury
2 December 1907
For RA.
Nominated by George James Frampton
2 December 1907
For RA.
Nominated by William Goscombe John
2 December 1907
For RA.
Nominated by Frederick William Pomeroy
2 December 1907
For RA.
Nominated by Reginald Theodore Blomfield
1 March 1920
For RA.
Nominated by Francis Bernard Dicksee
27 February 1920
For RA.
Nominated by William Llewellyn
February 1920
For RA.
Nominated by Frank Short
1 March 1920
For RA.
Nominated by Henry Scott Tuke
1 March 1920
For RA.
Nominator of Alfred Turner
22 April 1920
For RA.
Nominator of Frederick John Wilcoxson
1921 (Presumed)
For membership of the Royal Society of British Sculptors
Nominator of Ferdinand Victor Blundstone
11 April 1922
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominator of Jacob Epstein
19 May 1925
For RA; unsuccessful. Nomination withdrawn at unspecified date.
Nominator of Edgar Allan Howes
1 November 1927
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominator of Alfred Frank Hardiman
1 November 1927
For RA.
Nominator of Charles Thomas Wheeler
1 November 1927
For RA.
Nominator of E. Roland Bevan
26 April 1928
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominator of (Arthur) Eric Rowton Gill
4 April 1928
For RA.
Pupil of Harry Bates
Pupil of George Frederic Watts
Work copied by William Wheatley Wagstaff
1933 (Circa) - 1935
Wagstaff was commissioned to make new casts of the lions that Poole had created for the Shanghai Bank. The second set of lions were placed outside the branch of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank in Des Vouex Road, Hong Kong (building unveiled October 1935).
Worked with E.A. Rickards
On many projects including Westminster Central Hall and Cardiff City Hall
Descriptions of Practice
Listed under Sculptors 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 IV, 1909 Biographical Dictionary of Medallists
Listed as a contemporary sculptor and medal-chaser. Exhibited a relief at the Royal Academy Exhibition in 1901. See Forrer, vol. 4, (1909), p. 667.
Listed under Sculptors The London Directory, 1930 Post Office/Kelly London Directories
p. 1354
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901
'Sculptor' working on own account
Sources
Art Workers Guild Annual Reports, 1901-1912
1906, p.8.
Artists and Bohemians: 100 Years with the Chelsea Arts Club
1992
Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society: Rules and List of Members, 1920
1920
p.5.
Catalogue for the Seventy-Second Annual Exhibition of the Royal West of England Academy, 1917
1917
Catalogue of the Memorial Exhibition of Sculpture by the Late Henry Poole RA
1930
Catalogue of the Spring Exhibition, The City Art Gallery, Leeds 1909
1909
Cat. No. 253, pp. 26, 84
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901
2005
Class: RG13; Piece: 92; Folio: 123; Page: 1
England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966
2010
Name: Henry Poole
Probate Date: 6 Oct 1928
Death Date: 15 Aug 1928
Death Place: Middlesex, England
Registry: London, England
International Exhibition, Dublin 1907, Fine Art Catalogue
1907
British Sculpture, Gallery II
p. 28, no. 220a:'Quita'. Marble Head.
Lent by Mrs. Harry Bates.
p. 29, no. 238:'St. Sebastian'.
Lent by the Sculptor.
List of Members: Royal Society of British Sculptors
2008
Royal Academy of Arts Nominations for Associateship, 1906-1927
1927
p.12, p.177, p.204, p.232.
Royal Academy of Arts Nominations for Associateship, 1927-1938
1938
p.141, pp.143-144, pp.149-150.
Royal Society of British Sculptors. Minutes of Council Meetings No. 1, 1905-1913
19 May 1913
10 January 1905; 2 March 1908.
Sculpture of To-day: America, Great Britain and Japan, vol. 1
1921
pp. 105-07
Superb Buildings erected by E. Turner and Sons, Ltd, Builders and Contractors, Penarth Road, Cardiff
April 1929
p.14
The London Directory, 1930 Post Office/Kelly London Directories
1930
p. 1354
Who was Who
December 2007
‘POOLE, Henry’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007 [http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whowaswho/U201726, accessed 21 Jan 2009]
Citing this record
'Henry Poole RA', 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_1210171348, accessed 23 Sep 2023]
