Three decorative heads
| Browse information by: Location Makers General Information Classification Object Parts Object Condition History References Photographs |  Author: Anthony McIntosh Copyright for Photograph: Creative Commons |
Location
| Street: | Stoke Abbott Road |
| Town: | Worthing |
| Parish: | Worthing |
| Council: | Adur District Council |
| County: | West Sussex |
| Postcode: | BN111HE |
| Location on Google Map | |
| Object setting: | On building |
| Access is: | Public |
| Location note: | North elevation, facade of Assembly Hall |
| In the AZ book: | West Sussex |
| Page: | 171 |
| Grid reference: | H2 |
| The A-Z books used are A-Z East Sussex and A-Z West Sussex (Editions 1A 2005). Geographers' A-Z Map Company Ltd. Sevenoaks. | |
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Makers
| Name : | D.J. Brandon Jones |
| Name : | C. Cowles Voysey |
| Role: | Architect |
| Qualify: | and |
| Name : | Laurence Henderson Bradshaw |
| Role: | Sculptor |
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General Information
| Construction period: | Town Hall and Assembly Rooms erected in 1933-4 |
| Unveiling date: | 1935 |
| Work is: | Extant |
| Owner custodian: | Worthing Borough Council |
| Description: | Three medallions with wave-shaped bases depicting heads in relief modelled on antique tragic masks |
| Iconographical description: | Based on classical masks depicting tragedy. |
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Classification
| Categories: | Sculptural, Architectural |
| Object type1: | Medallion |
| Object type2: | Relief |
| Object type3: | Sculpture |
| Subject type1: | Figurative |
| Subject subtype1: | Head |
| Subject type2: | Symbolic |
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Object Parts
| Part 1: | Decorative heads |
| Material: | Empire stone (artificial stone) |
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Object Condition
| Overall condition: | Good |
| Risk assessment: | No known risk |
| Date of on-site inspection: | 06/11/2007 |
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History
| History: | Laurence Henderson Bradshaw Archive (1899-1978) Henry Moore Institute, Leeds
Laurence Henderson Bradshaw was born in April 1899 at Wallasey. He was a sculptor, engraver and painter. Bradshaw was involved with the British Soviet Friendship Society, the Royal Society of British Sculptors, and was elected Master of the Art Workers Guild, 1958. He was the official war artist for the Norwegian government in World War Two and was rewarded for his contribution to the arts with a civil list pension from the British government. Laurence Bradshaw’s major, but also the most controversial work, is the Karl Marx Memorial of 1956. He also made many portrait busts and carried out public commissions, particularly in conjunction with architects. His designs for theatre scenery are housed in the Victoria and Albert Museum. The material in the archive was presented by Mrs Eileen Bradshaw, Lawrence Bradshaw’s widow, in October 1994. There have been a number of small additions to the archive up to August 1995, including the Karl Marx Memorial maquette. The archive now includes correspondence, drawings, photographs, newspaper cuttings, and other printed material relating to his work. Architect of Worthing Town Hall and Assembly Hall (erected1933-4) was Charles Cowles Voysey (1889-1981), with detailing by John Brandon-Jones http://eng.archinform.net/arch/7109.htm Bradshaw also worked with Voysey on Cambridge Guild Hall (see Bradshaw archive) Laurence Bradshaw archive, Henry Moore Institutue,Leeds Fawn Cuttings Book no. 13 53/1994/A/1/4 Letter dated March 21st 1935 from Norman Longley- payment to LB for Worthing Assembly Hall: 3 Empire stone heads North Elevation £120 Buffet decorations (Mr Voysey’s order) £250 Mr Voysey’s order for 2 bronze bas-reliefs £135 Listing details ‘The Assembly Hall to the rear derives from the Scandinavian Modernist style with Art Deco overtones. 2 storeys red brick. Cornice of bricks set endwise. 5 bays, the 3 centre ones projecting with 3 Art Deco style stone tragic masks over waves above 1st floor windows.’ ‘Listed Buildings in Worthing’ Worthing Borough Council www.worthing .gov.uk/cgi-bin/htm 22/11/07 Sources: Henry Moore Institute, Laurence Henderson Bradshaw archive BR/C1/1 Work at assembly hall, Worthing Jul.1935; BR/P1 photograph Roundel, Worthing Town Hall, 1931-2; BR/P3 photographs Worthing Town Hall n.d. Bradshaw, a politically active Communist, also won the commission for sculpting the Karl Marx Monument in Highgate Cemetery. He had begun his career as an assistant of Frank Brangwyn in the early 1920s and was later a member of the Art Workers Guild. On March 18, 1978, ''Soviet Weekly'' (London, G.B.) published the following sorrowful news titled ''Laurence Bradshaw'': ''SOVIET WEEKLY deeply regrets to report the death in London last week of the noted sculptor Laurence Bradshaw, a long standing friend of our paper and for many years a prominent leader of the movement for friendship with the USSR. Mr Bradshaw was chairman of the British-Soviet Friendship Society. A fellow of British Sculptors, he was perhaps best known for his monumental statue of Karl Marx in Highgate Cementry. Mr Bradshaw was 78.'' (http://www.tween.org/IgorMikhailusenko.html) Sources: Laurence Henderson Bradshaw Archive (1899-1978) Henry Moore Institute, Leeds Interview with Mrs Eileen Bradshaw, Braintree, Essex 4.10.08 Lindey, Christine, ‘The Man who Moulded Marx’ The Morning Star, 4 April 2007, p.9 |
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References
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Photographs
Author: Anthony McIntosh Copyright: Creative Commons |  Author: Anthony McIntosh Copyright: Creative Commons |
 Author: Anthony McIntosh Copyright: Creative Commons |  Author: Anthony McIntosh Copyright: Creative Commons |
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