Henry Moore Artwork Catalogue
The Morris Singer Foundry Ltd, Basingstoke
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Person TypeFoundry
The Morris Singer Foundry Ltd, Basingstoke
The Morris Singer Foundry was formed in 1927 through the amalgamation of the Morris Art Bronze Foundry, based in Lambeth, with the art foundry business of J.W. Singer & Sons Ltd in Frome, Somerset.
John Webb Singer (1819-1904) started in business in Frome as a watch and clockmaker and jeweller in 1848. The business would become known as Frome Art Metal Works and by the late 1880s was established as a bronze founders casting large and small-scale sculptures. Singer’s sons, Walter Herbert John (1853-1922) and Edgar Ratcliffe (1857-1947), had also joined the business by this time.
The Morris Art Bronze Foundry was established in 1921 by Leonard Grist (1879-1964) with financial backing from specialists in ornamental metalwork and stained glass, William Morris & Co (Westminster) Ltd. Grist had previously worked as foreman at J.W. Singer’s foundry in Frome. He left the Morris Art Bronze Foundry in 1925 to set up the Corinthian Bronze Foundry.
In 1927, increased competition for labour and trade, and difficulties in competing with rivals from their location outside London, resulted in the Singer company selling off their foundry activities to the Morris Art Bronze Foundry to create the new firm Morris Singer.
For many years, Morris Singer operated its sculpture foundry from Dorset Road in Lambeth, with another site for castings at Ferry Lane Works in Walthamstow. In 1967, the company moved to Basingstoke to larger premises. In 1973, it merged with the Paris-based Susse Fondeur, but this was short-lived. For much of the twentieth century, Morris Singer was the leading foundry in Britain. Barbara Hepworth was one of their main clients.
Henry Moore used their services extensively to cast works between 1961 and 1984. These included Standing Figure: Knife Edge 1961 (LH 482); Oval with Points 1968-70 (LH 596); Mirror Knife Edge 1977 (LH 714); Reclining Woman: Elbow 1981 (LH 810); Draped Reclining Mother and Baby 1983 (LH 822); and Mother and Child: Block Seat 1983-84 (LH 838). Morris Singer was also used to produce Moore’s largest work to be cast in bronze, Large Reclining Figure 1983-84 (LH 192b), and his last monumental work, Large Figure in a Shelter 1985-86 (LH 652c) (see All Works for a comprehensive list).
For more information, see:
https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/research/programmes/british-bronze-founders-and-plaster-figure-makers-1800-1980-1/british-sculpture-makers-m
https://www.morrissinger.co.uk/
John Webb Singer (1819-1904) started in business in Frome as a watch and clockmaker and jeweller in 1848. The business would become known as Frome Art Metal Works and by the late 1880s was established as a bronze founders casting large and small-scale sculptures. Singer’s sons, Walter Herbert John (1853-1922) and Edgar Ratcliffe (1857-1947), had also joined the business by this time.
The Morris Art Bronze Foundry was established in 1921 by Leonard Grist (1879-1964) with financial backing from specialists in ornamental metalwork and stained glass, William Morris & Co (Westminster) Ltd. Grist had previously worked as foreman at J.W. Singer’s foundry in Frome. He left the Morris Art Bronze Foundry in 1925 to set up the Corinthian Bronze Foundry.
In 1927, increased competition for labour and trade, and difficulties in competing with rivals from their location outside London, resulted in the Singer company selling off their foundry activities to the Morris Art Bronze Foundry to create the new firm Morris Singer.
For many years, Morris Singer operated its sculpture foundry from Dorset Road in Lambeth, with another site for castings at Ferry Lane Works in Walthamstow. In 1967, the company moved to Basingstoke to larger premises. In 1973, it merged with the Paris-based Susse Fondeur, but this was short-lived. For much of the twentieth century, Morris Singer was the leading foundry in Britain. Barbara Hepworth was one of their main clients.
Henry Moore used their services extensively to cast works between 1961 and 1984. These included Standing Figure: Knife Edge 1961 (LH 482); Oval with Points 1968-70 (LH 596); Mirror Knife Edge 1977 (LH 714); Reclining Woman: Elbow 1981 (LH 810); Draped Reclining Mother and Baby 1983 (LH 822); and Mother and Child: Block Seat 1983-84 (LH 838). Morris Singer was also used to produce Moore’s largest work to be cast in bronze, Large Reclining Figure 1983-84 (LH 192b), and his last monumental work, Large Figure in a Shelter 1985-86 (LH 652c) (see All Works for a comprehensive list).
For more information, see:
https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/research/programmes/british-bronze-founders-and-plaster-figure-makers-1800-1980-1/british-sculpture-makers-m
https://www.morrissinger.co.uk/