Framed Silvered Bronze Plaque by Gilbert Bayes*

Item Description

Beautiful silvered bronze plaque designed by the noted English sculptor Gilbert Bayes (1872-1953).

Probably Bayes’s most famous piece is the Queen of Time clock installed in 1931 above the main entrance to Selfridges department store in Oxford Street, London.  Among many important works, he also sculpted the wonderful war memorial ‘Destiny’ which was dedicated in 1920 and can be seen in Albion Gardens, Ramsgate, Kent. 

However, in addition to his large commissions, Bayes was extremely interested in the emerging Arts & Crafts movement towards the end of the nineteenth century and this enthusiasm showed itself with his production of low relief plaques and panels in various designs, mainly in wax and plaster. He also worked in wood, copper, bronze, silver and enamel.

This is one of his hard to find silvered bronze plaques and depicts in wonderfully stylised Art Nouveau form, fishermen and women hauling in their nets. It is signed in the lower right corner together with a date that looks to read 1900 although it is somewhat indistinct.

We have had the plaque sympathetically framed so that it can be hung, but it could easily be removed from the frame if desired. Measuring 42 by a little over 24 cm overall with the plaque itself around 37 X 20 cm. The last photograph shows it before framing.