This head and asymmetrical part-shoulders bronze bust of Admiral Sir William Milbourne James was one of two official War Artists Advisory Committee commissions to the sculptor Frank Dobson (1886-1963). It was originally lodged with the Imperial War Museum, from whom it was transferred as a permanent loan in November 1947.
It is signed 'Dobson / 41' and shows the sitter in full-dress uniform with decorations, but only the left shoulder and epaulette complete.
James was a younger son of Major William James, a cavalry officer, and his wife Effie, daughter of the painter Sir John Everett Millais. When he was four, Millais used him as model in the celebrated painting later known as 'Bubbles' and famous as an advertisement for Pears' Soap. (It was originally entitled 'A Child's World' at the Grosvenor Gallery in 1886 and was first sold to Sir William Ingram for publication by the 'Illustrated London News' before he resold it to T. J. Barratt of Pears for 2000 guineas.) James was familiarly known by the nickname 'Bubbles' for the rest of his life and its currency when he was commander-in-chief at Portsmouth during World War II is shown in Richard Eurich's painting of Portsmouth after air raids. In this the graffito, 'Good old Bubbles', appears daubed on a wall.
James joined the Navy in 1895 and by 1913 was second in command of the battleship 'Queen Mary' under Reginald (Blinker) Hall, transferring to become flag commander to Doveton Sturdee in 'Benbow' early in 1916, including at Jutland. In 1917, as a captain, he was posted to serve again under Hall, then Director of Naval Intelligence, during which time he also began to develop as both a poet and a writer.
In 1923 he became deputy director of the Royal Naval Staff College at Greenwich and director in 1925, his study of the American War of 1775-83, 'The Royal Navy in Adversity' (1926) being based on his lectures there. From late 1928, as a rear-admiral, he was chief of staff to Admiral Chatfield, first in the Atlantic and then the Mediterranean Fleets. In 1932 he commanded the battle-cruiser squadron, being promoted to vice-admiral, and in 1935-38 became deputy chief of naval staff in London, and admiral in the latter year.
After commanding at Portsmouth from 1939 to 1942, he became both chief of naval information and Conservative MP for Portsmouth, but retired before the 1945 election. His later life was spent as a writer of many books, most but not all on naval subjects including biographies of Nelson and St Vincent.
Dobson, the sculptor, is regarded as an important transitional figure between the traditional figurative school and the modern British movement represented by Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth. He had a long and varied artistic career, only latterly concentrating on sculpture, and became a Royal Academician in 1951. He had already been made CBE in 1947 and at Moore's suggestion was appointed head of sculpture at the Royal College of Art from 1946 until his retirement in 1953.