Carved stone relief of Aesculapius over the entrance of the'Medical School' at the Univerity of Birmingham (c.1938 William James Bloye) (
visit link)
The relief feature the head, upper torso and arms of Aesculapius who hold a staff in his right hand around which is wrapped a serpent, his head is shown in profile and he looking to his left where in his left hand on a plate or tray he holds the head of the serpent. At the base of sculpture is carved the following:
‘FACULTY of MEDICINE’
Superimposed on to Aesculapius is the crest of the University of Birmingham whose ‘Official Blazon is shown below:
‘Per chevron, the chief per pale gules and azure, in dexter a lion rampant with two heads, in sinister a mermaid holding in the dexter hand a mirror and in the sinister a comb Or, the base sable charged with an open book proper, with two buckles and straps and edges of the third, inscribed "Per ardua ad alta". (
visit link)
Aesculapius was the Greco-Roman god of medicine.
(
visit link)
‘William James Bloye ARBSA (8 July 1890 – 6 June 1975) was an English Sculpture in Birmingham either side of WWII.
Life
He studied and later taught at the Birmingham School of Art (his training was interrupted by WWI), when he served in the RAMC from 1915 to 1917, he was eventually succeeded at Birmingham by John Bridgeman), where his pupils included, Gordon Henrickx, Roy Kitchin, Raymond Mason, John Poole and Ian Walters. He also studied stone-carving (letter cutting under Eric Gill around 1921.
In 1925 he became a member of the Birmingham Civic Society, having, at about that time, a studio at 111, Golden Hillock Road, Small Heath Birmingham. As Birmingham’s unofficial civic sculptor, he worked on virtually all public commissions including libraries, hospitals and the University. He often carved bas-relief plagues, typically for public houses in Birmingham, and decorated a number of buildings by the architect Holland W Hobbs.’
At the University of Birmingham, he was the creator of the followings works:
‘Aesculapius’ at the Medical School;
Engineering bas-relief as the Mechanical Engineering Building;
The Bronze Mermaid Fountain and the stone mermaid plaque at the Guild of Students building.
‘He became a member of the Royal British Society of Sculptors: Associate (with the honorific suffix ARBS) in 1934, and fellow (FRBS) in 1938. He also won the latter’s Otto Beit Medal. Retiring from the School of Art in 1956 he moved to Solihull. He died in Arezzo, Italy in 1975.’
(
visit link)
(
visit link)
(
visit link)