Bronze horse heads with chains
County Hall
South Bank, Lambeth
London, September 2014
“The first architectural sculptures to be commissioned for County Hall were the ornamental bronze mooring-rings of horses' and lions' heads on the embankment wall. As has already been mentioned, these were modelled by the sculptor Gilbert Bayes (1872–1953), brother of Walter John Bayes, the Principal of the Westminster School of Art. Bayes, who worked extensively for the Lambeth firm of Doulton, was an exponent of the 'New Sculpture' and interested in the use of mixed media. Knott had suggested him for the embankment wall job, and in October 1909 he was one of three artists invited to submit models for the mooring-rings or ‘dolphins’, the others being Courtney Pollock and Hubert Paton. Not surprisingly, Knott preferred Bayes's model. The casting was carried out by J. W. Singer & Sons, who regularly worked for Hamo Thornycroft and other prominent sculptors. In 1911 the Builder published a drawing by Knott's assistant, J. R. Leathart, of one of the two horse's heads. In 1910 Bayes exhibited his ‘Sigurd’ at the Royal Academy, and it was bought by the Chantrey Bequest and is now in the Tate Gallery. ” (Architectual sculpture and decorative treatment, Survey of London Monograph 17, County Hall)
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