Benjamin Creswick
Encyclopedia
Life
Benjamin Creswick was born in Sheffield, the son of a spectacle-maker. He started his working life as a knife-grinder, but took up sculpture with the encouragement of John RuskinJohn Ruskin
John Ruskin was the leading English art critic of the Victorian era, also an art patron, draughtsman, watercolourist, a prominent social thinker and philanthropist. He wrote on subjects ranging from geology to architecture, myth to ornithology, literature to education, and botany to political...
. In 1887 he modelled a terracotta frieze showing the processes of knife-grinding for the exterior of Cutlers' Hall, in Warwick Lane in the City of London. In the same year he made a frieze for Henry Heath's shop in Oxford Street
Oxford Street
Oxford Street is a major thoroughfare in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, United Kingdom. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, as well as its most dense, and currently has approximately 300 shops. The street was formerly part of the London-Oxford road which began at Newgate,...
, London, showing hat-makers at work.
Creswick worked on various projects with A.H. Mackmurdo, such as the decoration of Pownall Hall in Cheshire, and contributed to the display by Mackmurdo's Century Guild
Century Guild of Artists
The Century Guild of Artists was an English group of art enthusiasts that were active between 1883 and 1892. It was founded in 1882 by Arthur Heygate Mackmurdo. The Century Guild aimed to preserve the artistic trade and the authenticity of the craftsmen behind it. The members were forerunners...
at the Inventions Exhibition in 1885, though he did not join the guild until the following year.
He spent some time in Liverpool and Manchester, before moving to Birmingham, where he was Master of Modelling and Modelled Design at the Birmingham School of Art
Birmingham School of Art
The Birmingham School of Art was a municipal art school based in the centre of Birmingham, England. Although the organisation was absorbed by Birmingham Polytechnic in 1971 and is now part of Birmingham City University's Birmingham Institute of Art and Design, its Grade I listed building on...
from 1889 to 1918. He exhibited at the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists
Royal Birmingham Society of Artists
The Royal Birmingham Society of Artists or RBSA is a learned society of artists and an art gallery based in the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham, England. it is both a registered charity. and a registered company The Royal Birmingham Society of Artists or RBSA is a learned society of artists and an...
in 1914 and was responsible for a number of architectural sculptures, which can still be seen on Birmingham buildings.
He lived at a house called Elmwood, in Jockey Road, Sutton Coldfield
Sutton Coldfield
Sutton Coldfield is a suburb of Birmingham, in the West Midlands of England. Sutton is located about from central Birmingham but has borders with Erdington and Kingstanding. Sutton is in the northeast of Birmingham, with a population of 105,000 recorded in the 2001 census...
.
Works
- Boldmere Swimming Club memorial (1921) - now inside the swimming baths entrance of Wyndley Leisure Centre in Birmingham
- Bust of John RuskinJohn RuskinJohn Ruskin was the leading English art critic of the Victorian era, also an art patron, draughtsman, watercolourist, a prominent social thinker and philanthropist. He wrote on subjects ranging from geology to architecture, myth to ornithology, literature to education, and botany to political...
- Carved figures on the choirstalls, Wallasey Memorial Unitarian ChurchWallasey Memorial Unitarian ChurchWallasey Memorial Unitarian Church is a redundant church in Manor Road, Liscard, Wallasey, Wirral, England . It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building, and is under the care of the Historic Chapels Trust.-History:...
, MerseysideMerseysideMerseyside is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 1,365,900. It encompasses the metropolitan area centred on both banks of the lower reaches of the Mersey Estuary, and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral, and the city of Liverpool... - Terracotta frieze on the facade of Cutlers Hall, Warwick Lane, LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
(1887)