Chancellor's Court Friezes

Mining and Metallurgy, Learning, Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering (left to right)

  • Artist: Robert Anning Bell (1863-1933)
  • Date made: 1905-1909
  • Medium: Ceramic
  • Research and Cultural Collections
  • Accession number: BIRRC-A0566a-d 
  • Location: Aston Webb Building - Chancellor's Court. To find this sculpture, you can either use its what three words location or use the campus digital map.

     

Robert Anning Bell was a central figure in the Arts and Crafts movement. He was commissioned by the University to create a ceramic frieze to top each block in Chancellor’s Court. The friezes illustrate detailed scenes of engineering, metalwork and mining, trades that formed the industrial landscape of the Midlands. They were also the subjects originally taught inside these buildings, asserting the importance of science and industry at the University. The central frieze, above the entrance to the Aston Webb building, depicts a classical representation of the Goddess of Learning handing over the baton of scholarship to figures in academic robes. This signifies the fact that every student who graduates from the University of Birmingham will receive their degree in the Great Hall, inside this very building.

Civil Engineering ceramic frieze by Robert Anning Bell with domes of Aston Webb Building above
Learning ceramic frieze by Robert Anning Bell with domes of Aston Webb Building above
Mechanical Engineering ceramic frieze by Robert Anning Bell with domes of Aston Webb Building above
Civil Engineering ceramic frieze by Robert Anning Bell in context of Chancellor's Court

 

Visual description

Four friezes made of ceramic tiles are installed at height, just below the roofline of each domed block in Chancellor’s Court. They run the length of each building and are long and narrow in appearance. Each frieze is split into three scenes separated by ornately decorated columns. The friezes are deep red-brown and light cream in appearance, with the red-brown colour creating the background to the scene and the cream creating the lines and shading of the image depicted.

From left to right.

The ceramic frieze on the left called 'Mining and Metallurgy’ features three scenes showing a range of activity relating to mining. The left scene shows seven men carrying pickaxes, shovels and lanterns and two pushing what appears to be a heavy, deep cart. The central scene depicts five men with mallets and other metal-working tools, working metal using two anvils and a stone furnace is visible on the right-hand side. The right scene shows six men with shovels, mallets and a mechanised drill digging out materials from the ground and moving them into a wheel barrow.

The second ceramic frieze from left, called ‘Learning’, is above the entrance of the Great Hall and features three scenes representing academia. The left scene depicts three men in robes in profile looking inwards towards the central scene. The central scene is larger than the other two and depicts seven figures, three either side facing inwards towards a robed seated figure who is handing over materials to a kneeling figure to the right. The right scene depicts three men in robes in profile looking inwards towards the central scene.

The second ceramic frieze from right, called 'Civil Engineering’ features three scenes representing activity relating to civil engineering. The left scene depicts seven men carrying or using surveying equipment, and several pushing wheelbarrows. A viaduct is visible in the background. The central scene features seven men unravelling cabling from a large circular wooden wheel on the left-hand side. There are electrical cable lines and telegraph poles visible in the background. The right scene features nine men, using pickaxes and shovels to break up the ground to lay a large pipe and two consulting a paper plan on the right-hand side. A suspension bridge is visible in the background. 

The ceramic frieze on the right, called ‘Mechanical Engineering’, features three scenes representing activity relating to mechanical engineering. The left scene features five men who are loading materials into a furnace, several consulting a plan and another using machinery. The central scene depicts four men using large-scale equipment, the pair on the right hold large spanners and are tightening a large nut. The right scene features four men operating a single, complex piece of machinery with a turning wheel on the far right.