Joseph Herbert Morcom ARCA
Born 31 May 1871
Died 28 February 1942
Active: 1891 - 1902
Country of birth and death: Wales
Sculptor, teacher, business proprietor
Born outside Minera, near Wrexham, Denbighshire. His father, Joseph Bickford Morcom (born c.1844) was captain of the local lead mine and died in 1880. Joseph worked first for a local firm of stonemasons, later securing a position with Norbury, Paterson & Co. of Liverpool. In the early 1890s he enrolled at Liverpool School of Architecture and Applied Art. By 1904 he had been appointed assistant modelling master at the School. He won various awards including first prize at the National Eisteddfod of 1909. In 1910 was appointed modelling master at Leicester School of Art. Fours years later he bought Pearson and Shipley, a firm of Stonemasons and Monumental Sculptors, based in The Newarke which he renamed The Plasmatic Company. Thereafter he continued to work for the firm as well as sculpting independently and teaching at the Leicester School of Art.
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.
Carved Alabaster Pot Pourri Bowl
Contributed to making of Small Tablet. Alabaster Frame, with inscription on slate
Designed Details for Headstone, in bronze
Llewelyn and his dog, Gelert
1910 (Presumed)
£20
Consolation
1910 (Presumed)
£30
Locations
Address 76 New Ferry Road New Ferry Birkenhead | View on map
Address 15 Easton Road The Park New Ferry | View on map
Address 8 Colquitt Chambers 6 Colquitt Street Liverpool | View on map
1907 (Circa) - 1910
Studio located at Studio, The Newark Leicester | View on map
1916 (Presumed)
Exhibitions, Meetings, Awards and other Events
Exhibited at Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society: Eleventh Exhibition, 1916
Multiple works
Exhibited at Leeds City Art Gallery, The Spring Exhibition, 1902
'Bitten'
Exhibited at Leeds City Art Gallery, The Spring Exhibition, 1903
'Whispers of Love'
Exhibited at Leeds City Art Gallery, The Spring Exhibition, 1904
Multiple works
Exhibited at Leeds City Art Gallery, The Spring Exhibition, 1905
'A Captive'
Exhibited at Leeds City Art Gallery, The Spring Exhibition, 1907
Multiple works
Exhibited at Leeds City Art Gallery, The Spring Exhibition, 1908
'Rosebuds'
Exhibited at Autumn exhibition of modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the twenty-ninth (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool), 1899
1899
Dora (cat. no. 1374, plaster bust, £20).
Exhibited at Autumn exhibition of modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the thirty-first (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool), 1901
1901
Bitten (cat. no. 1605, plaster statuette, £8 8s.).
Exhibited at Autumn exhibition of pictures & sculpture: the thirty-second (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool), 1902
1902
Whispers of Love (cat. no. 1426, plaster statuette, £15 15s., for sale in bronze £25).
Exhibited at Royal Cambrian Academy of Art Twenty-Eighth Annual Exhibition, 1910
16 May 1910 - 24 September 1910
Institutional and Business Connections
Associated with Royal Cambrian Academy of Art
1910 - 1913
Morcom was listed as an associate of the RCA between 1910-1913.
Personal and Professional Connections
Collaborated with Alfred C.E. Adcock
Collaborated with Samuel Perkins Pick
Descriptions of Practice
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1891
'Carver in stone and marble'
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901
'Sculptor, teacher of modelling (?) and woodcarving'
Sources
Arts and Crafts Society: Catalogue of the Eleventh Exhibition.
1916
pp.84-85, p.251.
Autumn exhibition of modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the twenty-ninth, 1899 Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
1899
pp. 48-52.
Autumn exhibition of pictures & sculpture: the thirty-second, 1902 Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
1902
pp. 42-47.
Catalogue of the Spring Exhibition, The City Art Gallery, Leeds 1902
1902
Cat. No. 204, pp. 24, 67
Catalogue of the Spring Exhibition, The City Art Gallery, Leeds 1903
1903
Cat No. 359, pp. 38, 78
Catalogue of the Spring Exhibition, The City Art Gallery, Leeds 1904
1904
Cat. Nos. 425, 675, pp. 43, 65, 101
Catalogue of the Spring Exhibition, The City Art Gallery, Leeds 1905
1905
Cat. Nos. 566, 584, pp. 52, 53, 93
Catalogue of the Spring Exhibition, The City Art Gallery, Leeds 1907
1907
Cat. Nos. 595, 597, 731, pp. 50, 58, 80
Catalogue of the Spring Exhibition, The City Art Gallery, Leeds 1908
1908
Cat. Nos. 357, 490, pp. 34, 44, 87
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1891
2004
Class: RG12; Piece: 2914; Folio 16; Page 25; GSU
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901
2005
Class: RG13; Piece: 3383; Folio: 45; Page: 15
Public Monuments and Sculpture Association Artists' Biographies from the Liverpool University Press series, Public Sculpture of Great Britain
Vols 1-9
Terry Cavanagh and Alison Yarrington Joseph Herbert Morcom http://www.uea.ac.uk/~t009/ArtistBiography.htm accessed 19 October 2009
Royal Cambrian Academy of Art Thirtieth Annual Exhibition
1912
Royal Cambrian Academy of Art Thirty-First Annual Exhibition
1913
Royal Cambrian Academy of Art Twenty-Eighth Annual Exhibition
1910
Citing this record
'Joseph Herbert Morcom ARCA', 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=msib5_1209419395, accessed 03 Jun 2023]
