Walter Gilbert
Born 12 August 1871
Died 23 January 1946
Active: 1902 - 1941
Country of birth and death: England
Sculptor, art metalworker, designer
Born in Rugby, Warwickshire. Son of Henry Edward Gilbert. The Times obituary states he was related to Alfred Gilbert but other sources, for example Richard Ormond, say there was no connection. Walter studied at Birmingham School of Art and then at the National Art Training School (Royal College of Art). Afterwards in France, Belgium, Germany, the USA and India. He is said to have taught at Rugby and Harrow Schools and his address in the Census Returns of 1891 suggests he was drawing master at the former school at this date. From the early 1890s he was an instructor at Bromsgrove School in Worcestershire.
In 1898 he co-founded the Bromsgrove Guild with William Whitehouse (a land owner) and Crouch and Butler (a firm of Architects based in Birmingham). From 1899 Gilbert was a director of the firm and, according to Medhurst, remained at the Guild until 1922. However from 1918 his principal place of employment was H.H. Martyn where he worked as assistant manager until the company was taken over by Maples in 1940.
From the early 1900s Gilbert worked in partnership with Louis Weingartner on a number of commissions for art metalwork. Their collaborations included the gates to Buckingham palace and the Victoria Memorial under the direction of Sir Aston Webb; the reredos at Liverpool Cathedral under Sir Giles Gilbert Scott and the gates to the Grand Temple of the Masonic Peace Memorial, architects H.V. Ashley and Winston Newman. Gilbert also completed a number of decorative schemes for ocean liners and designed the doors for the Government Offices, Edinburgh.
This entry includes information from Phillip Medhurst 'An expanded inventory of architectural sculpture arranged and executed by Walter Gilbert (1861-1946), Louis Weingartner and Donald Gilbert under the auspices of the Bromsgrove Guild and H. H. Martyn & Co. of Cheltenham, England', 2009 (http://www.archive.org/accessed 5 August 2011). There is now a publication by Phillip Medhurst on Gilbert with a definitive gazetteer of his commissions entitled 'Walter Gilbert: The Romance in Metalwork', 2012, ISBN-13 978-1479310876 and ISBN-10 978-1479310875.
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.
Locations
Address 110 Railway Terrace Rugby | View on map
1891 (Circa)
Address Burcot Farm New Bromsgrove | View on map
1901 (Circa) - 1911 (Circa)
His address in both the 1901 and 1911 Cenuses was Burcot, it is not clear whether he was already living at the farm in 1901 or whether he moved within the locality between these dates.
Address 62 and 66 Weaman Street Birmingham | View on map
1931 (Presumed)
Townshend notes that Gilbert and Weingartner developed the Bromsgrove Guild's garden statuary from these premises. See Townshend 'The Bromsgrove Guild of Applied Arts', in Watt 'The Bromsgrove Guild', (1999), p. 35.
Address 2 New Street Birmingham | View on map
1941 (Presumed)
Exhibitions, Meetings, Awards and other Events
Exhibited at Leeds City Art Gallery, The Spring Exhibition, 1902
'Pair of Fire Dogs'
Exhibited at Leeds City Art Gallery, The Spring Exhibition, 1906
'Door Knocker'
Exhibited at Liverpool autumn exhibition of modern pictures: the fourteenth (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool), 1884
1884
Icarus (cat. no. 2216, exhibited in Room D, not for sale).
Institutional and Business Connections
Directed Bromsgrove Guild
1898 - August 1918
Founder of the Guild in partnership with William Whitehouse (land owner) and Crouch and Butler (Birmingham Architects). Gilbert directed the firm from 1899 onwards: See Townshend 'The Bromsgrove Guild of Applied Arts', in Watt 'The Bromsgrove Guild', (1999), pp. 11-12. Gilbert worked on various commissions including the metal light fittings for the Unitarian Memorial Church, Wallasey, Cheshire, a Guild comission (p. 14). On the 1 July 1906 Gilbert and Whitehouse disolved their partnership and on the 9 July William McCandlish became Gilbert's new partner.
In September 1918 Gilbert became an employee of H. H. Martyn's of Cheltenham where he acted as assistant manager of the sculpting and architectural decoration business (p. 37).
Manager of H. H. Martyn & Co.
1918 - 1940
He was an assistant manager at the company
Member of Bromsgrove Guild
Principal of Bromsgrove School of Art
23 February 1898 - December 1900
Appointed as Headmaster with a salary of £150 p.a. Ran the art and metal work departments and supervised work in iron and wood carving. Studied at the School under Benjamin Creswick. See Townshend 'The Bromsgrove Guild of Applied Arts', in Watt 'The Bromsgrove Guild', (1999), p. 10. Gilbert resigned in December 1900 (see p. 17).
Studied at Birmingham Municipal School of Art, Central School
1890 (Circa) - 1893 (Circa)
Studied at the School under Benjamin Creswick. See Townshend 'The Bromsgrove Guild of Applied Arts', in Watt 'The Bromsgrove Guild', (1999), p. 9.
Personal and Professional Connections
Collaborated with Louis Weingartner
1903 (Circa) - 1930
Based on research by Philip Medhurst.
Collaborated with Charles Thomas Wheeler
1916 (Presumed)
Gilbert is listed as the designer of 'the obverse of one of the medals issued to commemorate the Naval Victory of Jutland Bank, 31. May 1916. The medal was awarded the Third Prize in the Competition instituted by Sir Arthur J. Evans in connection with the Royal Numismatic Society.' The verso of of the medal was executed by 'C. Wheeler' (presumably Charles Wheeler). See vol. 7, (1923), p. 361.
Mother/father/parent of (Hubert) Donald MacGeogh Gilbert
Partnership with William McCandlish
9 July 1906
See Townshend 'The Bromsgrove Guild of Applied Arts', in Watt 'The Bromsgrove Guild', (1999), p. 27.
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 VII, 1923 Biographical Dictionary of Medallists
Listed as the designer of 'the obverse of one of the medals issued to commemorate the Naval Victory of Jutland Bank, 31. May 1916. The medal was awarded the Third Prize in the Competition instituted by Sir Arthur J. Evans in connection with the Royal Numismatic Society.' The verso of of the medal was executed by 'C. Wheeler' (presumably Charles Wheeler). See vol. 7, (1923), p. 361.
Listed under Sculptors Kelly's Directory of Birmingham with its suburbs and Smethwick, 1931 Kelly's Trades Directories
1931
Listed under Sculptors Kelly's Birmingham Trades and Professional Directory, 1941 Kelly's Trades Directorires
1941
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1891
'Teacher of Drawing'
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901
'Metal worker' employer
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911
'Iron & Bronze founder sculptor & metalworker plasterworker, President cabinet making company, Director wholesale lumber company' last two bracketed 'Canada', employer
Sources
Catalogue of the Spring Exhibition, The City Art Gallery, Leeds 1902
1902
Cat. No. 491, p. 47
Catalogue of the Spring Exhibition, The City Art Gallery, Leeds 1906
1906
Cat. No. 443, p. 79
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1891
2004
Class: RG12; Piece: 2458; Folio 15; Page 23; GSU roll: 6097568
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901
2005
Class: RG13; Piece: 2799; Folio: 128; Page: 11
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911
2011
RG14PN17789 RG78PN1088 RD382 SD1 ED17 SN110
England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index, 1837-1915
2006
1871 Jul-Aug-Sept, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire County, District Rugby, Volume 6d, page 468
Kelly's Birmingham Trades and Professional Directory, 1941 Kelly's Trades Directorires
1941
p. 1813.
Kelly's Directory of Birmingham with its suburbs and Smethwick, 1931 Kelly's Trades Directories
1931
p. 1466.
Liverpool autumn exhibition of modern pictures, 1884 Walker Art Gallery
1884
pp. 129-132.
The Bromsgrove Guild. An Illustrated History, 1999
1999
pp. 9-11, 14-15, p. 27, p. 35 and p. 41.
The Times Digital Archive 1785-1985
2008
The Times, Friday, Jan 25, 1946; pg. 7; Issue 50359; col E
Mr. Walter Gilbert
Category: Obituaries
Citing this record
'Walter Gilbert', 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=msib4_1217252088, accessed 30 May 2023]
