Michael Murphy
Born 1858 (Circa)
Active: 1889 - 1912
Country of birth and death: Ireland
Sculptor, modeller, stone and marble carver, teacher
Born in Bawtry, Cork, Ireland. He came to Britain and had a National Scholarship to study at the National Art Training School (1886-88). In his final summer of study, he assisted (together with Ernest Fabian) in a special summer course led by Edouard Lanteri to train fifty teachers from art schools around Britain in clay modelling. The report written by Felix Martin Miller (who was Provisional Superintendent of the class) on 13 August 1888 said that 'Messrs. M. Murphy and E. Fabian, two of the most efficient students of the modelling class...were retained to instruct the class the way [sic] to construct the interior framework necessary to support a clay figure (as many had never modelled before), and to assist in teaching on the alternate days of Mr. Lanteri's attendance.'
After leaving the National Art Training School, Murphy worked as an assistant to Thomas Brock and for the firm of Messrs. Trollope & Sons. He was a teacher of modelling at the Northampton Institute between October 1896 and the end of the academic session in 1901 (he submitted his letter of resignation on 25 February 1901). Latterly Murphy was also listed as teaching stone and marble carving. From the annual reports for the Northampton Institute it appears Murphy was a successful teacher whose classes in modelling were popular and well attended even though they were not part of the required curriculum.
This record includes information from the 36th Annual Report of the Department of Science and Art, 1889, p. 211; from Appendix B of the 39th Report of the Department of Science and Art, 1892, p. 324, and from the 'Technical Education Gazette', September-October, 1900, p. 283. Mapping Sculpture is grateful to Chris Thorpe of City University of London Archive for information about Murphy's teaching at the Northampton Institute.
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 36 Burnaby Street Chelsea London | View on map
1890
Address 13 Uvedale Road SW London | View on map
1893 (Presumed) - 1902
Address 170 Bridge Road Battersea London | View on map
1902 - 1912
Address 23 Hereford Road Springfield Park London | View on map
1911 - 1912 (Presumed)
Exhibitions, Meetings, Awards and other Events
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts (Summer Exhibition), 1768-
1890 - 1894
Exhibited 3 times, one work each year, two portrait busts and one medal.
Institutional and Business Connections
Associate of George Jackson and Sons
Member of Art Workers Guild
1895 - 1912
Resigned 1912.
Personal and Professional Connections
Assistant to Thomas Brock
The precise dates of this work are not supplied but the work took place between Murphy completing his studies at the National Art Training School and 1891 when the report was compiled. [Appendix B of the 39th Report of the Department of Science and Art, 1892, p. 324]
Assisted Edouard Lanteri
1888
As students at the National Art Training School Ernest Fuller and Michael Murphy helped run a summer course to teach teachers from art schools around Britain the art of clay modelling. The course was led by Edouard Lanteri and superintended by Felix Martin Miller.
Worked with Ernest Fuller Fabian
1888
As students at the National Art Training School Fuller and Murphy helped run a summer course to teach teachers from art schools around Britain the art of clay modelling. The course was led by Edouard Lanteri and superintended by Felix Martin Miller.
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 VIII, 1930 Biographical Dictionary of Medallists
Listed as a sculptor who exhibited a medallion at the Royal Academy, London, in 1894. See vol. 8, (1930), p. 88.
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1891
'Sculptor' neither employer nor employed
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901
'Modeller' employer and two of his sons Thomas (born c.1881 in Ireland) and Dennis (born c.1885 in Ireland) were both 'Apprentice Modeller' worker.
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911
'Sculptor, occasionally Modeller or Carver' worker
Sources
Art Workers Guild Annual Reports, 1885-1900
1895, p.23; 1990, p.30.
Art Workers Guild Annual Reports, 1901-1912
1901, p.24 and all lists of members' addresses.
Arts and Crafts Society: Catalogue of the Second Exhibition.
1889
p.199.
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1891
2004
Class: RG12; Piece: 66; Folio: 70; Page: 42; GSU roll: 6095176
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901
2005
RG13
Piece number 79
Folio 130
Page 7
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911
2011
Class: RG14; Piece: 6959; Schedule Number: 200
Citing this record
'Michael Murphy', 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_1241187948, accessed 05 Jun 2023]
