John William Wenlock Rollins [commonly known as John Wenlock Rollins] was born in Feckenham, Worcestershire, England in 1861, He studied at Birmingham School of Art; the South London Technical Art School, where he was taught by William Silver Frith (1850-1924); and, from 1886 to 1890 at the Royal Academy Schools in London. During his time at the RA Schools he was awarded prizes in the National Competition in 1885 and 1886. Rollins subsequently worked as a sculptor. He assisted Thomas Stirling Lee (1857-1915) in the design of the panels for St. George's Hall in Liverpool in 1892 and Charles Henman (1814-1884) with the decorative carvings for Croydon Municipal Buildings in Croydon, Surrey in 1894-95. Other commissions in which he was engaged included a series of large statues for the new General Hospital in Birmingham in 1896-97; a statue of Queen Victoria for the front of the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast in c.
Rollins exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy in London between 1887 and 1913. He also exhibited at the New Gallery, Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours, and Royal Institute of Oil Painters in London; Aberdeen Artists' Society; Bristol Academy; Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts; Royal Birmingham Society of Artists; Leeds City Art Gallery; and the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool. He was elected a member of the Royal Society of British Sculptors in 1906.
Commenting on his work, M. H. Spielmann observed "Mr. Rollins’ work is well modelled and carved, and shows undoubted power of decoration. There may be an occasional touch of not unpleasing affectation, and now and then a tendency to heaviness – but these characteristics must not be counted as defects in work that must show individuality in its decorative realisation". His work "is well built up and finely arranged, and displays that solidity and suggestion of strength so valuable in architectural sculpture." British Sculpture and Sculptors of To-day. (London: Cassell & Company, 1901 p. 142).
His address was given as 360 The Green Kennington Road London in 1887; 52 Gloucester Crescent London in 1888; 36 Bartholomew Road London in 1889
1889; Charles Street, Headless Cross, Feckenham, Worcestershire in 1891; 66 Glebe Place Chelsea London in 1893; 72 Cheyne Walk Chelsea London in 1900 and 1906 ; and Address 14 Wetherby Place South Kensington London in 1910 and 1940. His studios were located at Cedar Studios Glebe Place London in 1891 and 1904; and 6 Wetherby Mews London in 1911 and 1913. Rollins died in London on 6 June 1940.
Text source: Arts + Architecture Profiles from Art History Research net (AHRnet) https://www.arthistoryresearch.net/
