George Frederick Morris Harding PRUA, RHA, ARBS
Born 29 April 1874
Died 15 January 1964
Active: 1912 - 1958
Country of birth: England
Country of death: Ireland
Sculptor
Born in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. Harding was trained in the studio of his uncle, Harry Bates, ARA (1850-99) and also worked under J.M. Swan, RA (1847-1910). Early works include the memorial G.K. Vansittart-Neale, at the Church of All Saints, Bisham, Buckinghamshire and a marble study of 'Polar Bears at Play', 1909 which he later presented to Queen's University, Belfast.
In 1924 Harding was invited by Sir Charles Nicholson, consulting architect for St. Anne's Cathedral in Belfast, to execute architectural carvings for the new building. On the strength of this commission, Harding relocated to Belfast and worked on Belfast Cathedral for some twelve years. During this time he carved the capitals for seven columns in the nave and several groups on the portals of the West Front.
In addition, Harding exhibited regularly, usually portraits and studies of animals. Other commissions in Belfast included: the front and side chapel reredos for St. Peter's Church, Antrim Road; the Royal Coat of Arms at Telephone House; lioness with cubs over the doorway at the Masonic Hall, Crumlin Road; the Civil Service War Memorial in the Old Parliament Buildings; and coats of Arms for the old Government House, Hillsborough, Co Down, commissioned by the Duke of Abercorn and Earl Granville. In 1938 he executed a frieze 45.7 metres long, 1.2 metres deep with fifteen panels, for the Northern Ireland Government's pavilion at the Glasgow Empire Exhibition, and was assisted by Poppy Mollan and John Luke.
Harding was an admirer and close friend of the Belfast-based sculptor, Sophia Rosamond Praeger (1867-1954) who also contributed carvings to Belfast Cathedral. They shared the St. Brigid's Studios between 1929-46.
He was elected a member of the Royal Society of British Sculptors in 1919, a member of the Society of Animal Painters in 1921, an academician of the Ulster Academy of Arts in 1931 and then its president between 1947-57. Harding was also elected an Associate and full member of the Royal Hibernian Academy in 1933. Other civil honours followed including OBE in 1950 and an honorary Master of Arts degree from Queen's University in 1958. Harding died at his home in Holywood.
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.
The Victor
1919 (Circa)
Polar bear
1922
Leopard and Cub
1929 (Presumed)
Polar Bear, Barbara
1929
Leopard, Death in the Trees
1929
The Very Revd The Dean of Belfast
1929
Lord Kelvin
1929
Polar Bear Watching Seal Holes
1929
Tiger at Play
1930 (Presumed)
£52 10s.
Death in the Trees
1930 (Presumed)
£52 10s.
Barbara
1930 (Presumed)
£52 10s.
Eileen
1930 (Presumed)
£35
A Study
1930
Fragment
1930
Wild Boar
1931 (Presumed)
£40
Jaguar and Macaw
1931 (Presumed)
£55
Study
1931 (Presumed)
Captain Crichton
1931 (Presumed)
Jaguar and Macaw
1931
Leopard Hunting
1932 (Presumed)
£57
Bear Cubs
1932 (Presumed)
Font, St Peter's Church, Antrim Road, Belfast
1932
The Ascension into Heaven
1932
Polar Bear and Seals
1933 (Presumed)
Benweed
1933 (Presumed)
Portraits
1933 (Presumed)
The Bolahaum
1933 (Presumed)
Design for a British Speed Trophy
1933
The Fairy House
1933 (Presumed)
The Hunters
1934 (Presumed)
£42
Leopards Hunting
1934
Working Model for The Font in Saint Peter's Church, Antrim Road
1934
Miss Agnes Travers
1935 (Presumed)
Decoration for a Modern Fireplace
1935 (Presumed)
£15
Miss Helene Little
1935
Leopard and Pamyolin
1936
Marie Lydia Moore
1937 (Presumed)
Eve
1937 (Presumed)
£21
Jimmy Warnock
1937
Reading Lamp
1938
Whinns in Bloom
1938
John
1938 (Presumed)
Brenda
1938 (Presumed)
Motherhood
1939
Figured Panel
1939
Working Model for Stone Decoration over Doorway on the New Masonic Hall, Crumlin Road
1940
Lioness with cubs
1940
The Toilet
1940
Model for an Overdoor
1941 (Presumed)
Motherhood
1941 (Presumed)
£5 5s.
In the Trees
1942 (Presumed)
£21
Design for a Memorial Panel
1942 (Presumed)
Motherhood
1944
Mrs James Jackson
1945
Leopard
1945
Trinket Tray
1946 (Presumed)
James Lloyd McQuitty
1946
Life
1947
Polar Bears feeding on a Mammoth
1947
Half-size Working Model for the Arms of the Duke of Abercorn, KG, KP
1948
Half-size Working Model for the Arms of His Excellency Earl Granville, KCVO, CB, DSO
1949
Alderman Thomas (Tommy) Henderson, MP
1950
Working Model for a Tomb for the 7th Marquess of Londonderry, KG, PC, MVO
1950
Polar Bears at Play
1951
Leopard in Tree
1951
Crouching Leopard
1951
Locations
Address The Studio, 104 Church Road Holywood | View on map
Address 1B Greville Place London NW6 | View on map
1907 (Circa) - 1912 (Circa)
Studio located at The Studio, Portsdown Place Maida Vale London | View on map
1915 (Circa) - 1928 (Circa)
Studio located at St. Brigid's Studios Holywood | View on map
1929 (Circa) - 1946 (Circa)
Exhibitions, Meetings, Awards and other Events
Exhibited at The Exhibition of The Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, The Ninety-Sixth, 1922
Multiple works
Exhibited at The Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts Fifty-Eighth Annual Exhibition, 1919
'The Victor'
Exhibited at The Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts Sixty-Second Annual Exhibition, 1923
'Polar bear'
Exhibited at Exhibition of The Royal Ulster Academy of Arts, 1950
1950
Exhibited at Exhibition of The Ulster Academy of Arts, 1949
1949
Exhibited at Exhibition of The Ulster Academy of Arts, 1948
1948
Exhibited at Exhibition of The Ulster Academy of Arts, 1944
1944
Exhibited at Exhibition of The Ulster Academy of Arts, 1940
1940
Exhibited at Exhibition of The Ulster Academy of Arts, 1939
1939
Exhibited at Exhibition of The Ulster Academy of Arts, 1938
1938
Exhibited at Exhibition of The Ulster Academy of Arts, 1937
1937
Exhibited at Exhibition of The Ulster Academy of Arts, 1936
1936
Exhibited at Exhibition of The Ulster Academy of Arts, 1935
1935
Exhibited at Exhibition of The Ulster Academy of Arts, 1934
1934
Exhibited at Exhibition of The Ulster Academy of Arts, 1933
1933
Exhibited at Exhibition of The Ulster Academy of Arts, 1931
1931
Exhibited at 48th Annual Exhibition of The Belfast Art Society, 1929
1929
Exhibited at Exhibition of Contemporary Ulster Art (Festival of The Arts, Belfast), 1951
1951
Exhibited at 49th Annual Exhibition of The Belfast Art Society, 1930
Exhibited at Exhibition of The Ulster Academy of Arts, 1945
1945
Exhibited at Exhibition of The Ulster Academy of Arts, 1946
1946
Exhibited at Exhibition of The Ulster Academy of Arts, 1947
1947
Exhibited at Autumn exhibition of modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the thirty-first (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool), 1901
1901
Sibylla (cat. no. 1544, bronzed plaster bust, for sale in bronze, £25).
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts (Summer Exhibition), 1768-
1907 - 1930
Exhibited 14 times, fifteen works (primarily statuettes and animal sculptures)
Exhibited at Royal Hibernian Academy Annual Exhibition, 1929
1929
Exhibited at Royal Hibernian Academy Annual Exhibition, 1930
1930
Exhibited at Royal Hibernian Academy Annual Exhibition, 1931
1931
Exhibited at Royal Hibernian Academy Annual Exhibition, 1932
1932
Exhibited at Royal Hibernian Academy Annual Exhibition, 1933
1933
Exhibited at Royal Hibernian Academy Annual Exhibition, 1934
1934
Exhibited at Royal Hibernian Academy Annual Exhibition, 1935
1935
Exhibited at Royal Hibernian Academy Annual Exhibition, 1937
1937
Exhibited at Royal Hibernian Academy Annual Exhibition, 1938
25 April 1938 - 11 June 1938
Exhibited at Royal Hibernian Academy Annual Exhibition, 1941
31 March 1941 - 17 May 1941
Exhibited at Royal Hibernian Academy Annual Exhibition, 1942
30 March 1942 - 16 May 1942
Exhibited at Royal Hibernian Academy Annual Exhibition, 1946
15 April 1946 - 11 May 1946
Lectured on Some Impressions of a Wondering Artist (Ulster Arts Club), 1931
1931
Institutional and Business Connections
Associate member of Royal Society of British Sculptors
1923 - 1932
Harding's name was removed from the Roll of Members in 1932, for not meeting the arrears of his subscriptions.
Elected RHA Royal Hibernian Academy of Arts of Painters, Sculptors, Architects and Engravers
1933 - 1951 (Circa)
Member of Royal Society of British Sculptors
1913 - 1932
Proposal seems to have been received in 1912; more career information and examples of work requested [19 February 1912, Royal Society of British Sculptors: Minutes of Council Meetings, no.1]. Candidature considered further [18 March 1912, Royal Society of British Sculptors: Minutes of Council Meetings, no.1]. Was passed on finally following supporting letter from Goscombe John [15 April 1912, Royal Society of British Sculptors: Minutes of Council Meetings, no.1].
Member of Royal Ulster Academy
1927
Paid membership subscription to The Ulster Unit
1934
£2
President of Royal Ulster Academy
1947 - 1948
Personal and Professional Connections
Assisted by Frank J. McAleenan
Assisted on memorial tomb for the Marchioness of Londonderry.
Assisted by John Luke
1938
Assisted on panels for frieze for Ulster Pavillion at the Glasgow Empire Exhibition. Responsible for 12 out of 15 panels.
Friends with Ivor Beaumont
Friends with Sophia Rosamond Praeger
Niece/nephew of Harry Bates
Sponsor of William Goscombe John
15 April 1912
Sent letter in support of Harding's application to join the Royal Society of British Sculptors [15 April 1912, Royal Society of British Sculptors: Minutes of Council Meetings, no.1].
Worked with Gilbert William Bayes
On stone carvings for Whitla Hall, Queen's University, Belfast.
Worked with Sophia Rosamond Praeger
1925 - 1937
both commissioned for carving work for St Anne's Cathedral, Belfast.
Sources
Belfast: an illustrated architectural guide, 1987
1987
pp. 63, 92
Catalogue of The Exhibition of Contemporary Ulster Art, 1951
1951
Catalogue of The Exhibition of The Royal Ulster Academy of Arts in the Museum and Art Gallery Stranmillis, Belfast, 1950
1950
p. 14, 20
Catalogue of The Exhibition of The Ulster Academy of Arts in Old Museum Buildings Belfast, 1940
1940
p. 3
Catalogue of The Exhibition of The Ulster Academy of Arts in The Municipal Art Gallery, Botanic Gardens Park, Belfast, 1931
1931
p. 14, 21
Catalogue of The Ulster Academy of Arts Exhibition in The Old Museum Buildings, 7 College Square North, Belfast, 1936
1936
p. 12, 13
Dictionary of Irish Artists: 20th Century, 1996
1996
p. 168
List of Members: Royal Society of British Sculptors
2008
Royal Hibernian Academy of Arts, Catalogue of the One Hundred and Eighth Exhibition, 1937
1937
Royal Hibernian Academy of Arts, Catalogue of the One Hundred and Fifth Exhibition, 1934
1934
Royal Hibernian Academy of Arts, Catalogue of the One Hundred and First Exhibition, 1930
1930
Royal Hibernian Academy of Arts, Catalogue of the One Hundred and Fourth Exhibition, 1933
1933
Royal Hibernian Academy of Arts, Catalogue of the One Hundred and Ninth Exhibition, 1938
1938
p.29
Royal Hibernian Academy of Arts, Catalogue of the One Hundred and Second Exhibition, 1931
1931
Royal Hibernian Academy of Arts, Catalogue of the One Hundred and Seventeenth Exhibition, 1946
1946
Royal Hibernian Academy of Arts, Catalogue of the One Hundred and Sixth Exhibition, 1935
1935
Royal Hibernian Academy of Arts, Catalogue of the One Hundred and Third Exhibition, 1932
1932
Royal Hibernian Academy of Arts, Catalogue of the One Hundred and Thirteenth Exhibition, 1942
1942
Royal Hibernian Academy of Arts, Catalogue of the One Hundred and Twelfth Exhibition, 1941
1941
Royal Hibernian Academy of Arts, Catalogue of the One Hundred and Twenty-Second Exhibition, 1951
1951
Royal Hibernian Academy of Arts, Catalogue of the One Hundredth Exhibition, 1929
1929
Royal Society of British Sculptors. Minutes of Council Meetings No. 1, 1905-1913
19 May 1913
19 February 1912; 18 March 1910; 15 April 1912.
Who was Who
December 2007
HARDING, George Frederick Morris’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007 [http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whowaswho/U57126,
Citing this record
'George Frederick Morris Harding PRUA, RHA, ARBS', 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_1220269304, accessed 29 May 2023]
