James Crosland McClure - Evening and Morning plaques
When I first saw these plaques I was convinced they were by Robert Jackson Emerson or, at least, connected in some way to Emerson. The sculptured figures were very similar to pieces of work I had seen by him.
Bronze or copper plaques - Evening & Morning
Emerson was a student at the Leicester College of Art under Benjamin Fletcher and Joseph Crosland McClure. He later attended evening classes at the Leicester School of Arts and Crafts before becoming a full-time designer, sculptor and painter, eventually going to teach Sculpture at the Wolverhampton Municipal School of Art. He was most successful as a sculptor and his work was illustrated multiple times in The Studio periodical during the early 1900s. I came across Emerson due to his involvement with the firms of Collins and Co and Dryad Metalworks. Emerson produced some beautiful sculptural designs for both firms and was heavily connected to the Leicester Arts and Crafts scene through people like Benjamin Fletcher and William Pick.
When I spotted that label on the back was for a framer in Leicester I was even more convinced that this was a piece by Emerson. The label was for the firm of W. Frank Gadsby who ran Ye Picture Shoppe, 5 Braunstone Gate, Leicester. The firm still exists today and a quick look at their history on their website confirmed that the piece dated from sometime in the 1890s up until the start of the First World War.
W. Frank Gadsby label on reverse of frame
Close inspection of the two plaques highlighted a monogram I had not come across before and it was definitely not Emerson’s. I was on the right lines but I would not have got to the real maker of these plaques without the help of Anthony Bernbaum at The Peartree Collection. He was able to identify the monogram as that of Joseph Crosland McClure. Now it made sense as McClure taught at the Leicester School of Art for several years starting around 1905. Emerson was almost certainly one of his students.
Joseph Crosland McClure monogram on the plaques
Joseph Crosland McClure monogram (Image courtesy of Anthony Bernbaum (The Peartree Collection)).
McClure came from Lancashire and although little is known about his training as a Scupltor, he began teaching modelling at the Liverpool School of Art in the early 1900s before moving to Leicester. The plaques were likely made by McClure during his time in Leicester – sometime around 1905 to 1911. McClure was a successful sculptor who exhibited frequently at the Royal Academy in London during the period between 1900 and 1913. He also exhibited at the International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers in London; Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool; Leeds City Art Gallery; and at the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts.
During this same period his work also appeared frequently in The Studio and other important periodicals.
Academy Architecture, Volume 22, April 1896
The Studio, Volume 24, Issue: 104, November 1901
His best known work is the incredible South African War Memorial situated in Leicester.
Architectural Review, Volume 33, Issue: 4, April 1896
I followed up with some research on MClure’s other known works and was delighted to find that the very same plaques are part of the collection of the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, bequested by a James Smith in 1923. Beautiful objects with a fascinating history which has been great fun to research.