Blackall Simonds
Terracotta sculpture by George Blackall Simonds - 1886
Terracotta bust of Blackall Simonds by George Simonds, 1886
George Simonds (1843-1929) was a member of the Reading brewery family and also a sculptor of national and international significance. During his lifetime he completed over 200 statues, including the one many consider to be his masterpiece, 'The Falconer' in New York Central Park. He is also responsible for the life-size statue of Queen Victoria in Town Hall Square and the Maiwand Lion in Forbury Gardens, both in central Reading. He was classically trained and, following studies in Dresden and Brussels, spent ten years working in Rome where he met his American-born wife. In 1884 he was involved in the formation of the Art Workers Guild in London. He retired in 1903 and became a director of H.& G. Simonds and Chairman in 1910 after the death of his brother, also assuming the name Blackall.
This portrait bust of George's brother, Blackall Simonds, was part of the boardroom fixtures at Simonds Brewery. Blackall (1839-1905) trained as an engineer and architect with Sir John Fowler and Sir Benjamin Baker, designers of the Forth Bridge. In 1870 he designed new concrete buildings for the brewery, one of the earliest such uses in Britain, and in 1901 built his own Arts and Crafts house (Bradfield House) which he willed to Bradfield School, where he had been a pupil. He served as an Alderman and became Mayor of Reading in 1882, and remained Chairman of the family brewery until his death. Despite takeovers by Courage and later Scottish & Newcastle, and a move to Worton Grange, the boardroom fixtures including his portrait remained largely intact. In 2010 when the Reading Brewery at Worton Grange finally closed the bust was given to the Simonds family who kindly donated it to the Museum in 2014.
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