C. J. Allen

Who was C. J. Allen?

Charles John Allen was a British sculptor, a figure in the New Sculpture movement.

Born in Greenford, Middlesex, Allen studied at the Lambeth School of Art and then apprenticed with the London architectural sculpture firm Farmer & Brindley in 1879 and became the assistant to Hamo Thornycroft for four years. In 1894 Allen moved to Liverpool, where he spent more than thirty years as a respected teacher at the University of Liverpool and Vice-Principal at the Liverpool City School of Art.

Work at:

⁕two allegorical panels for St. George's Hall, Liverpool, 1894

⁕work at the Liverpool University College with architect Alfred Waterhouse, 1895

⁕frieze for the Royal Insurance Building, Liverpool, circa 1897

⁕panels and other work for the Peres Bank, Leicester, circa 1900

⁕the 1906 monument to Queen Victoria, Liverpool, Allen's masterwork

⁕architectural sculpture for the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board Building, 1927

⁕choir stall canopies and the font in Ullet Road Unitarian Church, Liverpool