John Birnie Philip
Born 23 November 1824
Died 2 March 1875
Active: 1841 - 1875
Country of birth and death: England
Sculptor, architectural sculptor
Born in London, the son of William Philip, a tailor. He studied at the Government School of Design from 1841. When his tutor, John Rogers Herbert, RA opened a new school in Maddox Street, John Birnie Philip became one of his pupils.
He started by working for Pugin in the wood carving shop at the Houses of Parliament but then opened his own studio. Birnie Philip's principal commissions were for architectural, funerary and church monuments. Among his more prominent works were the reredos for Ely Cathedral (1854), a series of eight statues in gilt Caen stone of English monarchs for the Royal Gallery at Westminster Palace (1861-9), five choir screen figures and reredos ornaments for Lichfield Cathedral, Staffordshire (1864), 'Peace', a drinking fountain in collaboration with Farmer and Brindley for West Smithfield Gardens, London, cast by Elkington and Co. (1871-73) and statues for the facade of Burlington House (1870). However his principal patron was the architect, Sir George Gilbert Scott for whom he made the largest and most important groups of sculptures. These include the reredos for St George's Chapel, Windsor (1863), several statuary groups for the facade of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (sculpture executed between 1867 and 1874), and an important series of works for the Albert Memorial (1864-72) (the architects and sculptors friezes, allegories of geometry, geology, physiology and philosophy, as well as eight figures of angels).
A number of sculptors worked for Philip who later went on to become successful artists in their own right or working in collaboration with others. Among these were Edwin Roscoe Mullins (1848-1907) and Robert Glassby (1835-92). Philip's principal modeller was the Italian sculptor, Ceccardo Egidio Fucigna, who completed the unfinished works in the studio when his employer died of bronchitis in 1875.
There were close connections between John Birnie Philip, his family and the painter James McNeill Whistler. Philip's daughter Beatrix (1857-1896) married first in 1876 the Aesthetic Movement architect and designer E. W. Godwin with whom she had a son, Edwin Godwin, who became a sculptor. Two years after E.W. Godwin's death in 1886 she married Whistler (11 August 1888). He had paid for her to retrain in Paris (she had studied in her father's workshop and with Godwin) and taught her etching after their marriage. Beatrix also designed jewellery and stained glass. Another daughter of John Birnie Philip, Rosalind (1873-1958), acted as companion, model, secretary and house keeper for Whistler after Beatrix's death in 1896, and was appointed the artist's executrix at his death. She was assisted in housekeeping for the painter by her mother, Frances Philip (1824-1917) who also posed for Whistler.
Wealth at death: £3,000 0s. 0d.
Effects under £3,000
Probate date: 17 April 1875
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.
Made Crimean War Memorial, near Westminster Abbey, London
Made Memorial of the Late Sir Charles Hotham, Melbourne Cemetery, Melbourne
Locations
Address 1 Roehampton Place Vauxhall Bridge Road London England | View on map
1858 (Circa) - 1863 (Circa)
Address West Pavilion Hans Place London England | View on map
1867 (Circa) - 1870 (Circa)
Address Merton Villa King's Road London England | View on map
1871 (Circa) - 1875
Exhibitions, Meetings, Awards and other Events
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts (Summer Exhibition), 1768-
1858 - 1875
Exhibited 13 times, 22 works in all.
Exhibited at Liverpool autumn exhibition of modern pictures: the fourth (Free Public Library and Museum, Liverpool), 1874
1874
In the Vineyard, South of Spain (cat. no. 1081, terracotta, £50 or £60).
Exhibited at Liverpool autumn exhibition of modern pictures: the fifth (Free Public Library and Museum, Liverpool), 1875
1875
Homeward Bound (cat. no. 1107, £130 - exhibited posthumously).
Personal and Professional Connections
Apprenticed Thomas Stirling Lee
Collaborated with George Gilbert Scott
Collaborated with John Richard Clayton
1860 (Circa)
Employed as studio assistant Edwin Roscoe Mullins
Employed as studio assistant Ceccardo Egidio Fucigna
Fucigna was Philip's chief assistant modeller and completed a number of unfinished works on his employer's death in 1875.
Employed as studio assistant Robert Glassby Snr
1864 (Circa)
Glassby assisted Philip in carving the sculpture on the government offices, Whitehall
Grandmother/grandfather/grandparent to Edward Godwin
John Birnie Philip's daughter, Beatrix Birnie Philip (1857-96) was the mother of Edward Godwin. His father was the architect, E.W. Godwin (1833-86). Beatrix married the painter, James McNeill Whistler after E.W. Godwin's death.
Nominated by William Calder Marshall
4 July 1870
For RA; unsuccessful.
Seconded by Solomon Alexander Hart
4 July 1870
For RA; unsuccessful.
Descriptions of Practice
Listed under Sculptors Post Office London Directory, 1860 Post Office/Kelly London Directories
p. 1803
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1851
'Sculptor'
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1861
'Sculptor master'
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1871
'Sculptor'
Sources
A Biographical Dictionary of Sculptors in Britain, 1660-1851
2009
pp. 977-9
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1851
2005
HO107 piece 1481 folio 133 page 46
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1861
2005
RG09 piece 51 folio 38 page 2
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1871
2004
RG10 piece 80 folio 71 page 44
England & Wales, FreeBMD Death Index, 1837-1915
2006
Name: John Birnie Philip
Estimated birth year: abt 1825
Year of Registration: 1875
Quarter of Registration: Jan-Feb-Mar
Age at Death: 50
District: Chelsea (1841-1981)
County: Greater London, London, Middlesex
Volume: 1a
Page: 235
England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966
2010
Name: John Birnie Philip
Probate Date: 17 Apr 1875
Death Date: 2 Mar 1875
Death Place: Middlesex, England
Registry: Principal Registry
Liverpool autumn exhibition of modern pictures, 1874 Walker Art Gallery
1874
pp. 42-43.
Liverpool autumn exhibition of modern pictures, 1875 Walker Art Gallery
1875
pp. 41-42.
Post Office London Directory, 1860 Post Office/Kelly London Directories
1860
p. 1803
Royal Academy of Arts Nominations for Associateship, 1866-1906
1906
See entries for 1870.
The Builder, Vol. 18, 13 October 1860
13 October 1860
p. 655
The Builder, Vol. XV, 3 October 1857
3 October 1857
p. 564
The Correspondence of James McNeill Whistler, 1855-1903 including The Correspondence of Anna McNeill Whistler, 1855-1880
http://www.whistler.arts.gla.ac.uk/correspondence/people/biog/?bid=Phil_JB&initial=P (accessed 6 April 2013)
Citing this record
'John Birnie Philip', 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_1246458432, accessed 23 Sep 2023]