Herbert Maryon

Herbert Maryon

Herbert James Maryon, OBE, FSA, FIIC, was an English sculptor, goldsmith, archaeologist and authority on ancient metalwork. He is best known for his work on the Sutton Hoo ship-burial, which led to his appointment as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. He proposed a widely publicised theory on the construction of the Colossus of Rhodes, influencing Salvador Dalí and others.

About Herbert Maryon in brief

Summary Herbert MaryonHerbert James Maryon, OBE, FSA, FIIC, was an English sculptor, goldsmith, archaeologist and authority on ancient metalwork. He is best known for his work on the Sutton Hoo ship-burial, which led to his appointment as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. Maryon practiced and taught sculpture until retiring in 1939, then worked as a conservator with the British Museum from 1944 to 1961. He proposed a widely publicised theory in 1953 on the construction of the Colossus of Rhodes, influencing Salvador Dalí and others. He left the museum in 1961, a year after his official retirement, and began an around-the-world trip lecturing and researching Chinese magic mirrors. He was the third of six surviving children born to John Simeon Maryon and Louisa Maryon. He had an older brother, John Ernest, and an older sister, Louisa Edith, the latter of whom preceded him in his vocation as a sculptor. In March 1900 Maryon became the first director of the Keswick School of Industrial Art, where he designed numerous Arts and Crafts works. He also designed the University of Reading War Memorial, among other commissions. He frequently led archaeological digs, and in 1935 discovered one of the oldest gold ornaments known in Britain while excavating the Kirkhaugh cairns. His work, much of which was revised in the 1970s, created credible renderings upon which subsequent research relied; likewise, one of his papers coined the term pattern welding to describe a method employed on Sutton Hoo sword to decorate and strengthen iron and steel.

In 1950 Maryon turned to other matters, and Maryon’s work was singled out as “agreeable” by The International Studio, which singled out his work as “frivolous” Maryon died in 1973, at the age of 80. He died in London, and was buried in Kensal Rise, Kent, with his wife and three children, including a son and daughter-in-law, who he had met at school in the 1880s and 90s. His funeral was held at St Paul’s Cathedral, London, on the anniversary of his birth in 1874, and he was buried at St James’ Park, London. His sister Edith Maryon also worked in silversmithing; she died in 1878, and his brother John Ernest died in his second year of life in 1881. Mary on was a keen collector of silverware and silverware, and exhibited many of his own works at the end of 1899. In 1900 he displayed a silver cup and a shield of arms with silver cloisonné at the sixth exhibition of the Arts andCrafts Exhibition Society, an event held at the New Gallery at the Royal Albert Hall. In 1884, he developed a reputation for a group of silver table-cases and clock-cases, and developed a. reputation for finer group of craftsmanship.