William Leslie Bowles

William Leslie Bowles (26 February 1885 at Leichhardt, Sydney, Australia – 21 February 1954 at Frankston, Victoria) was an Australian sculptor and medallist.[1] [2] [3]

Education

He started at Kangaroo Point State School, Brisbane. After studying at the Brisbane Technical College Leslie Bowles won 1910 a scholarship for studies in Great Britain. There he met other sculptors like Sir Bertram Mackennal, and he was a student at the Royal Academy.

Life

Bowles was a soldier in the First World War. He lived in England until his marriage with Mary Lees of Kelso in 1924. Australia. Then they lived in Prahran, Melbourne. He was survived by his wife.

Work
The reverse of the Australian Florin 1951 was designed by William Leslie Bowles to commemorate the 50 Years of the Commonwealth of Australia. This coin carries the standard obverse designed by Thomas Humphrey Paget

He started work in Mackennal's studio. After the war he worked and exhibited in England. Later in the Twenties in Australia, William Leslie Bowles was employed at Melbourne Exhibition Building on the Australian War Memorial. In 1926 he had become a member of the Royal Society of British Sculptors. He became mainly connected with the design of large monuments, nevertheless he was also invited to design Australian coins and medals.

Bowles designed the sculpture of Sir John Monash which stands at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne.[4] He designed several sculptures at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, including the Man with the donkey (a tribute to John Simpson and his donkey).[5] He designed the memorial for the 9th Battalion (AIF) in the crypt of Brisbane's Anzac Square. Bowles designed decorative bronze window panels for the Queensland Commonwealth Bank Building in Queen Street, Brisbane (built 1927-1930) with his work depicting the trinity images of Industry, Agriculture and Commerce.[6] He designed sculptures of "Diana and her hounds" and others for Fitzroy Gardens in Melbourne in 1935.[7] He designed the King George V memorial in Melbourne.[8] He designed engravings for Australian banknotes released in 1953.[9]

Notes
  1. "William Leslie Bowles". Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain & Ireland 1851–1951. Retrieved 2 October 2013.
  2. "William Leslie Bowles". Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 2 October 2013.
  3. Underhill, Nancy D. H. "Bowles, William Leslie (1885–1954)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 2 October 2013.
  4. "SIR JOHN MONASH MEMORIAL. - The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954) - 27 Nov 1937". Trove. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
  5. "Leslie Bowles, National Portrait Gallery". www.portrait.gov.au. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
  6. Fisher, Rod (29 September 2008). "'Nocturnal demolitions': The long march towards heritage legislation in Queensland". Australian Historical Studies. 24 (96): 55–69. doi:10.1080/10314619108595869.
  7. "Art Deco Ladies Found In And Around The Streets Of Melbourne". Family Getaways Melbourne. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
  8. "King George V Memorial". City Collection. 8 October 2019. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
  9. Murphy, John (2016). NOTABLE AUSTRALIANS HISTORICAL FIGURES PORTRAYED ON AUSTRALIAN BANKNOTES. https://museum.rba.gov.au/exhibitions/notable-australians/pdf/notable-australians.pdf: Reserve Bank of Australia. ISBN 978-0-6480470-0-1.
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