Mermaid Fountain - Birmingham University, UK
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N 52° 26.960 W 001° 55.636
30U E 572903 N 5811557
The mermaid is riding bronze stylised waves on top of a layered bowl, shaped like a scallop shell with bronze lily flowers. Birmingham sculptor William Bloye designed both this fountain and the mermaid relief on the exterior of the Guild of Students.
Waymark Code: WM52X7
Location: United Kingdom
Date Posted: 11/02/2008
Views: 25
This exuberant and impressive fountain is a sculptural version of the mermaid from the University coat of arms, created originally for the precursor of the University of Birmingham, Sir Josiah Mason’s Science College.
The joyful figure offers a warm, welcoming reception to all. Her face is smiling, her arms outstretched and her body curves up to the sky. Perhaps she is simply amused at what is going on around her, being situated directly outside the student bars!
The sculpture was probably made around 1930 but some sources say 1961, though this may be the date it was moved to its present position.
William James Bloye (1890 - 6 June 1975) was an English sculptor, active in Birmingham either side of World War II.
He studied, and later, taught at the Birmingham School of Art, where his pupils included Raymond Mason and Gordon Herickx. He also studied stone-carving and 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 on 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 plaques, typically for public houses in Birmingham.
He became a member of the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists in 1930 (the two 1919 bronze plaques on the RBSA are the earliest known work by Bloye in Birmingham), and the Royal British Society of Sculptors: ARBS in 1934, and FRBS in 1938. Retiring from the School of Art in 1956 he moved to Solihull. He died in Arezzo, Italy in 1975.
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