# Albert Toft

Albert Toft (3 June 1862 – 18 December 1949) was a British sculptor.
Toft's career was dominated by public commemorative commissions in bronze, mostly single statues of military or royal figures. The Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1897, Boer War to 1902, and then World War I to 1918, provided plentiful commissions. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography describes Toft as one of the major figures of the "New Sculpture" movement following on from William Hamo Thornycroft and George Frampton. Toft described his work as 'Idealist' but he also said of himself that "to become an idealist you must necessarily first be a realist."
His father was a notable modeller in ceramics, and his brother was the landscape artist Joseph Alfonso Toft.

## Biography

Toft was born in Handsworth, then in Staffordshire, and now a suburb of Birmingham. His parents were Charles Toft (1832–1909) and Rosanna Reeves. His father was a senior modeller at Mintons, and then the chief modeller at Wedgwood pottery. He had also taught modelling at Birmingham School of Art for some years to 1873.
Toft trained at Wedgwood, and attended art schools in Hanley, Staffordshire and Newcastle upon Tyne. In 1881 he won a scholarship to study sculpture at the South Kensington Schools under Professor Édouard Lantéri. He received silver medals in his second and third years.
From 1885 onwards Toft exhibited at the Royal Academy and some of his most notable works exhibited at the Royal Academy included Fate-Led (1890, now at Walker Art Gallery), The Sere and Yellow Leaf (1892), Spring (1897, now at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery), The Spirit of Contemplation (1901; Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle) and The Metal Pourer (1915). In 1915 his sculpture The Bather was purchased using the Royal Academy's Chantrey Fund. His 1888 bust of William Ewart Gladstone for the National Liberal Club was modelled from life and acclaimed as one of the best. In 1900 Toft received a bronze medal at the Universal Exhibition in Paris.
He created monuments to Queen Victoria for Leamington Spa, Nottingham, and South Shields, and to Edward VII in Birmingham and Warwick. He designed the coronation medal of George V and Queen Mary (1911) and a statuette of W. S. Penley playing Charley's Aunt for Royal Doulton (1913). He also published a book, Modelling and Sculpture in 1911, which was reprinted in 1949.
He made a series of war memorials, starting with the South African War Memorial in Cardiff (1910), and then many after the First World War, including the Royal Fusiliers War Memorial in London (1922), and four statues for the Birmingham Hall of Memory (1923–24).
In 1891 Toft was elected to the Art Workers Guild and in 1938 he was elected a fellow to the Royal Society of British Sculptors.
He died in Worthing.

## Public monuments and memorials

| Image | Title / subject | Location and coordinates | Date | Type | Material | Dimensions | Designation | Wikidata | Notes |
| | George Wallis | National Art Library, Victoria and Albert Museum | 1889 | Bust | Terracotta | 61.5cm high | | | |
| | Major Jonathen White | Nottingham Castle | 1891 | Bust on pedestal | Bronze and granite | | | | Major White (1804–1889) served in the Robin Hood Rifles. |
| More images | Henry Richard | Tregaron, Ceredigion | 1893 | Statue on pedestal | Bronze and granite | 5.5m high | Grade II | Q29495968 | |
| More images | Philip James Bailey | Nottingham Castle | 1901 | Bust and panel | Bronze | | | | |
| More images | Queen Victoria | Town Hall, Royal Leamington Spa | 1901 | Statue on pedestal | Sicilian marble and Aberdeen granite | 3 metres high statue on a 4 metres high pedestal | Grade II | Q26661547 | |
| More images | The Spirit of Contemplation | Laing Art Gallery | 1901 | Statue | Bronze | | | | |
| More images | Charles Mark Palmer | Jarrow, Tyneside | 1903 | Statue on pedestal with panels | Bronze and Portland stone | | Grade II | Q26637979 | |
| More images | Queen Victoria | Memorial Park, Nottingham | 1905 | Statue on pedestal | Marble and granite | | Grade II | Q26560473 | |
| More images | Boer War memorial | Christchurch Park, Ipswich | 1906 | Statue on pedestal with plaques | Bronze and stone | | Grade II | Q26530640 | |
| More images | Boer War memorial | Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham | 1906 | Sculpture group on tapered pedestal with reliefs and plaques | Bronze and granite | 6M tall | Grade II* | Q26162445 | |
| More images | South African War Memorial | Cathays Park, Cardiff | 1909 | Sculptures on pedestal & base | Bronze and Portland stone | | Grade II* | Q17741148 | |
| | Memorial to Alistair Mackenzie | St James's Church, Abinger Common, Abinger | 1910 | Wall tablet | | | Grade II* | | |
| More images | King Edward VII Memorial | Centenary Square, Birmingham | 1913 | Statue on pedestal | Stone | | Grade II | Q6411498 | |
| More images | Queen Victoria | South Shields | c. 1913 | Statue on pedestal | Bronze and granite | | Grade II | Q26525766 | Originally erected with four supporting figures, now located elsewhere in South Shields |
| | The Bather | Victoria and Albert Museum | 1915 | Statue | Marble | | | | On loan from the Tate |
| More images | City and Midland Bank War Memorial | Upper Bank Street, Canary Wharf, London | 1921 | Two sculptures, 14 inscribed panels and pediment | Bronze and marble | | | Q112127933 | Sculptures represent St George and the Recording Angel. |
| More images | War memorial | Granville Square, Stone, Staffordshire | 1921 | Statue on pedestal with plaques | Bronze and stone | | Grade II | Q26513651 | |
| More images | War memorial | Sandon Estate, Sandon, Staffordshire | 1921 | Statue on pedestal with plaques | Bronze and stone | | | Q104245206 | |
| More images | War memorial | Chadderton Town Hall, Greater Manchester | 1921 | Statue on obelisk and base | Bronze and granite | | Grade II | Q26320858 | |
| More images | Royal Fusiliers War Memorial | Holborn, London | 1922 | Statue on pedestal | Bronze and Portland stone | | Grade II* | Q7374415 | |
| More images | War memorial | Euston Place, Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire | 1922 | Statue on inscribed pedestal | Bronze and Cornish granite | | Grade II | Q26661550 | |
| More images | Streatham War Memorial | Streatham, London | 1922 | Statue on pedestal | Bronze and stone | | Grade II | Q32946115 | |
| | Savage Club war memorial | National Liberal Club, London | 1922 | Plaque | Stone | | | | |
| More images | War memorial | Benenden, Kent | 1923 | Sculpture on pedestal | Bronze and stone | | Grade II | Q26371278 | |
| More images | Thornton-Cleveleys War Memorial | Thornton Cleveleys, Lancashire | 1923 | Statue on pedestal | Bronze and granite | | Grade II | Q108695758 | |
| More images | Oldham War Memorial | Grounds of St Mary's Church, Oldham, Lancashire | 1923 | Sculpture group on pedestal and base | Bronze and granite | | Grade II* | Q22115519 | Architect, Thomas Taylor |
| | GKN War memorial | Thimblemill Recreation Ground, Smethwick | 1924 | Statue on pedestal and steps | Bronze and stone | | Grade II | | |
| More images | The Armed Forces and Nursing Services | Hall of Memory, Birmingham | 1923 | 4 Sculptures | Bronze | | Grade I | Q5642705 | |
| More images | 41st Division, Royal Fusiliers War Memorial | Flers, Somme, France | 1932 | Statue on pedestal | Bronze and stone | | | | Figure is a version of the Holborn memorial statue. |
| More images | Frank Brangwyn | National Museum Cardiff | 1937 | Bust | Bronze | 59.0cm | | | |
| More images | World War II Midland Bank Staff Memorial | Canary Wharf, London | Unveiled 1950 | Reliefs and panels | Stone and marble | | | Q112127933 | Originally located in Poultry in the City of London |

## Other works

* Two figures for the Union Assurance war memorial
* Memorial to Charles Swinnerton Heap, unveiled 1901, relocated to Walsall Town Hall in 1905.
* Bronze study of the actress Ellaline Terriss, 1901, held in a private collection.
* Children of the Sculptor, 1904, this study by Toft of three of his children is held in a private collection.
* Tomb effigy in marble of Sir John Robinson, 1930, St Anne's Church, Worksop
* Maternity, held in a private collection, this work is said to show the influence of the Lantéri-Dalou tradition.
* Fate-led, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool.

## Gallery

* Royal Fusiliers War Memorial, Holborn, London
* The Nursing Service, Birmingham Hall of Memory.
* The Air Force, Birmingham Hall of Memory.
* The Royal Navy, Birmingham Hall of Memory.
* The Army, Birmingham Hall of Memory.
* Antigone.
* Recording Angel statue for London Joint City and Midland Bank war memorial