About Bayes

Gilbert Bayes (1872-1953) was an English sculptor who worked with materials ranging from bronze, wood, and ceramic, creating pieces such as equestrian statues, the famous Queen of Time clock at the entrance of Selfridges, and the finials of the St Pancras Housing Estates.

Born into a family of artists, Bayes studied at the City and Guilds of London Art School, and the Royal Academy Schools, and was first exhibited at the Royal Academy in London in 1889 at the age of 17. He was also a member of the Art Workers’ Guild and was elected to the position of Master in 1925.

He is perhaps best remembered for his interest in the role of colour in sculpture, where much of his early bronze work featured coloured enamels, and his wooden carvings were painted. This interest initiated his long and successful association with the Royal Doulton Company.

Bayes was passionate that his work should be likeable, to be of interest and invoke a sense of pleasure or satisfaction by its beauty and attractiveness. He strongly believed that the sculptor should always consider his public, and lamented how the modern movement seemed disinclined to.

“What is the function of sculpture today? Is it to give added interest and beauty to our surroundings, to our streets, or is it to give passers by a headache wondering why and wondering what it all means?” 

Bayes in Somers Town – Help save working-class heritage

He believed that art should be accessible, which is reflected in the figures and finials he made for the housing estates of the St Pancras Home Improvement Society (now Origin Housing Group) in the 1930s. About 200 sculpted figures were made overall, executed in coloured and glazed Doultonware, and were almost all still intact in 1980. However, since then, they have all disappeared, occasionally appearing at auctions across the world. The People’s Museum Somers Town was able to retrieve two ‘Tailors’ finials from an auction in Florida, which you can read about here. These finials, and the lunettes that adorned the walls of the estates, were inspired by nursery rhymes and the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen and The Brothers Grimm – entertaining and well-known subject matters for the ordinary people of the housing estates. To help the museum retrieve more finials, please donate and help us save working-class heritage.

Bayes’ children, Geoffrey and Jean Bayes, formed the Gilbert Bayes Charitable Trust  in 1996, which aimed to share with and educate the public on the Arts, and particularly on the works of Gilbert Bayes. The Trust, in 2004, collaborated with the Victoria and Albert Museum to open the Gilbert Bayes Sculpture Gallery in order for his name and work to be more widely recognised and seen, and to provide a valuable study resource for visitors. Further information about his works can be found on their website. See also the article by Louise Irvine, the art expert of the Gilbert Bayes Trust.

Bayes has also been honoured through The Gilbert Bayes Award which is awarded to talented early career sculptors, by the Royal Society of Sculptors.