Charles Bell Birch was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 sculptor.

Biography

Birch was born in Brixton

Brixton

Brixton is a district in the London Borough of Lambeth in south London, England. It is south south-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....

, son of the author and translator Jonathan Birch (1783–1847) and his wife Esther (née Brooke). As a child he showed artistic promise, and at the age of twelve he was admitted to study at Somerset House School of Design. In the following year, 1845, his father moved to Germany, and Birch attended the Royal Academy in Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

, where he produced his first significant work, a bust of the British Ambassador to Berlin, the Earl of Westmoreland

John Fane, 11th Earl of Westmorland

General John Fane, 11th Earl of Westmorland GCB, GCH, PC , styled Lord Burghersh until 1841, was a British soldier, politician, diplomat and musician.-Background:...

.

He returned to England in 1852 and became a student at the Royal Academy

Royal Academy

The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...

 of Arts, gaining two medals. For ten years he was principal assistant to John Henry Foley

John Henry Foley

John Henry Foley , often referred to as JH Foley, was an Irish sculptor, best known for his statues of Daniel O'Connell in Dublin, and of Prince Albert in London. Both are still considered iconic in each city.-Life:...

 R.A. and from 1852 till his death he exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy, and was elected to the Associateship of the Academy in 1880.

He won a significant prize of 600 pounds in an open competition in 1864 from the Art Union of London for his marble work The Wood Nymph, which was judged to be the "best original figure or group". This was subsequently selected as one of the representative works of British art for the Vienna, Philadelphia and Paris Exhibitions. In 1891 he was one of eight eminent artists who were invited to submit designs for new British coinage.

Adrian Jones

Adrian Jones

Adrian Jones was an English sculptor and painter who specialized in animals, particularly horses. He was born in Ludlow, Shropshire, attending the grammar school there, and initially studied at the Royal Veterinary College; he subsequently joined the army as a veterinary officer, attaining the...

 and Horace Montford were pupils of Birch.

Works (selection)

• Wood Nymph (1864), his first really popular work
• Griffin (1880) on Temple Bar Memorial
• Statue of Lieutenant Walter Hamilton in Dublin (about 1880), now on display in the National Army Museum
  National Army Museum
  The National Army Museum is the British Army's central museum. It is located in the Chelsea district of central London, England adjacent to the Royal Hospital Chelsea, the home of the "Chelsea Pensioners". The National Army Museum is open to the public every day of the year from 10.00am to 5.30pm,...
  
   in Chelsea
  Chelsea, London
  Chelsea is an area of West London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above...
  
  .
• Statue of Benjamin Disraeli (1883) in Liverpool
  Liverpool
  Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
  
  
• Statue of George Brown
  George Brown
  - Politicians :* George Brown, Baron George-Brown , British politician, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs* George Brown, Jr. , U.S...
  
   (1884), one of the Fathers of Confederation
  Fathers of Confederation
  The Fathers of Confederation are the people who attended the Charlottetown and Quebec Conferences in 1864 and the London Conference of 1866 in England, preceding Canadian Confederation. The following lists the participants in the Charlottetown, Quebec, and London Conferences and their attendance at...
  
  , in Queen's Park (Toronto)
• Statue of William Earle (soldier)
  William Earle (soldier)
  William Earle fought in the British Army during the Crimean War and later rose to the rank of Major-General. He was born in Liverpool, the son of a merchant Sir Hardman Earle and his wife Mary , and married Mary Codrington on 21 July 1864...
  
   (1887) outside St George's Hall, Liverpool
• Fountain (1889) in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney
  Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney
  The Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney, Australia, are the most central of the three major botanical gardens open to the public in Sydney....
  
  
• Statue of Queen Victoria (1896), at the north end of Blackfriars Bridge
  Blackfriars Bridge
  Blackfriars Bridge is a road and foot traffic bridge over the River Thames in London, between Waterloo Bridge and Blackfriars Railway Bridge, carrying the A201 road. The north end is near the Inns of Court and Temple Church, along with Blackfriars station...
  
   in London
• Statue of William Ward, 1st Earl of Dudley
  Earl of Dudley
  Earl of Dudley, of Dudley Castle in the County of Stafford, is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, both times for members of the Ward family. This family descends from Sir Humble Ward, the son of a wealthy goldsmith and jeweller to King Charles I...
  
  , (1888) Castle Street, Dudley
  Dudley
  Dudley is a large town in the West Midlands county of England. At the 2001 census , the Dudley Urban Sub Area had a population of 194,919, making it the 26th largest settlement in England, the second largest town in the United Kingdom behind Reading, and the largest settlement in the UK without...
  
  , England
• Bust of Prince Frederick William of Prussia
  Frederick III, German Emperor
  Frederick III was German Emperor and King of Prussia for 99 days in 1888, the Year of the Three Emperors. Friedrich Wilhelm Nikolaus Karl known informally as Fritz, was the only son of Emperor William I and was raised in his family's tradition of military service...
  
  , taken from sittings before his marriage with the Princess Victoria
  Victoria, Princess Royal
  The Princess Victoria, Princess Royal was the eldest child of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert. She was created Princess Royal of the United Kingdom in 1841. She became German Empress and Queen of Prussia by marriage to German Emperor Frederick III...
  
  
• The Last Call, a group representing the attempt to save the Residency at Cabul in 1879
• An equestrian statuette of William III, created for the King of the Netherlands
• A series of illustrations for Lord Byron's poem Lara
  Lara, A Tale
  Lara, A Tale is a rhymed, tragic, narrative-poem by Lord Byron; first published in 1814. The first work composed after Byron abandoned the idea of giving up writing and buying back his copyrights, it is regarded by critics as a continuation of the autobiographical work begun in The Corsair...
  
  created for the Art Union of London (1880)