Details of Sculptor

Surname

Kirk

Alternative Surname

First Name

William Boyton ARHA

Initial of Surname

K

Year of Birth/Baptism

1824

Flourished

Year of Death

1900

Biographical Details

He was born on 29 May 1824, the second son of Thomas Kirk. As a boy he showed a marked talent for sculpture and his father wished to place him as an apprentice with Sir Francis Chantrey. Chantrey however refused to take him, saying that his father would be his best teacher. He attended the Royal Dublin Society Schools in 1839 and also worked in his father’s studio in Jervis Street. In 1845 he entered Trinity College, but he left without taking his degree. He made his first appearance as an exhibitor at the Royal Hibernian Academy in 1844. His 1846 exhibit Iris ascending received an enthusiastic public response: ‘For a young man and his first public attempt it is astonishing; a lightness almost atmospheric is given to solid matter and a classic grace and feeling which evince great promise’ (AU, 1846, 231) (2). It was purchased by the Royal Irish Institution and reproduced in bronze by the Art Union of London.
In 1848 Kirk moved to England and for several years lived and worked in Worcester. During this period he was employed by the Royal Worcester factory making models for the famous Shakespeare dessert service, exhibited at the Dublin Exhibition of 1853 and for parian ware figures and busts (4-14, 20, 25, 26). He exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1848 and 1857 and was elected ARHA in 1850.
In 1860 Kirk entered the church and he later held livings at Birkenhead and Ashton-under-Lyme. He resigned as an associate of the RHA in 1873 and was made an honorary member in the same year. After his ordination he occasionally made busts including those of Dr Ellicot, Bishop of Gloucester, Dr Ryle, Bishop of Liverpool and Lord James Butler (21, 22, 23). His last work, a figure of Jael, was exhibited in Dublin 1874 (41). Kirk also wrote poetry and a work about the antiquities of the Ashton-under-Lyme area. He died there on 5 July 1900.
Literary References: Strickland 1, 1913, 593-594; Crookshank 1966, 311; Gunnis 1968, 230; Avery and Marsh 1985, 328-37; Atterbury 1989, 262