Engineering Department Frieze

Engineering Frieze

  • Artist: William Bloye (1890-1975)
  • Date made: 1954
  • Medium: Stone
  • Research and Cultural Collections
  • Accession number: BIRRC-A0681 
  • Location: Engineering Building. To find this sculpture, you can either use its what three words location or use the campus digital map.

This stylised Art Deco relief by William Bloye is set around the central motif of a lightning bolt and cogwheel, which represents the coming together of electrical and mechanical engineering. The ten figures on either side hold engineering tools, including a drawing board and T-square, plans, books and a lathe. The tutors, differentiated by their academic robes, are the only figures to break free from the upper frame of the relief, demonstrating their authority, a device which Bloye borrows from Egyptian art. At the base of the frieze is an inscription from Lord Alfred Tennyson’s poem Ulysses, ‘To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.’

Stone carved Engineering Frieze by William Bloye in context of Engineering Building covered in ivy
Stone carved Engineering Frieze by William Bloye in context showing flower bed below
Close up detail of left side of stone carved Engineering Frieze by William Bloye showing ten men stood in a row
Close up detail of right side of stone carved Engineering Frieze by William Bloye showing ten men stood in a row

 

Visual description

This stone carved relief is set into the side of the Chemical Engineering Building. It has a raised stone flower bed directly below it, windows above and is set within a red-brick wall covered in ivy.The frieze depicts two scenes separated by a central motif which features a cog in the centre and a lightning bolt breaking through it. Around this circular cog motif is an inscription. It reads ‘Mechanical Engineering’ and ‘Chemical Engineering’ with the two separated by the lightining bold emanating from the circle. The left hand scene features ten carved male figures, nine in casual attire representing students and one in robes repreneting an academic. Students hold objects in their hands, including a rugby ball and a tennis racket visible through the figure’s legs. One holds a book and another holds a set square. There is a table carved into the background which is visible behind the figures.

The right hand scene features ten carved male figures, nine in casual attire representing students and one in robes representing an academic. Students hold objects in their hands, including a scolled plan, books, clipboards and other equipment. There is a technical table carved into the background which is visible behind the figures and one appears to be turning the levers.

At the base of the frieze is an inscription from Lord Alfred Tennyson’s poem Ulysses, ‘To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.’