Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
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LS1 3HE
A Troublesome Trowel
Inside a rather unassuming box was a disassembled metal trowel and fragments of a leather holster. The objects were part of the Leeds School of Art Archive. There was no label or other documentation. What was the story of this utilitarian but exquisitely crafted item? The answer would reveal itself very slowly after many hours of research.
Inscription and Owls
On the object itself, the only clues were that it had the initials LEC and an owl motif gilded on its surface. The LEC, identified as the Leeds Education Committee, was a local council committee that oversaw education throughout Leeds after its formation by the 1902 (Balfour) Education Act. The owl has been associated with Leeds since the first Leeds Corporation, established in 1626, adopted the owl motif from the arms of Sir John Savile of Howley Hall, Yorkshire, MP and Alderman of the original council. First thoughts centred on the trowel playing a part in the laying of a foundation stone for the 1903 Leeds School of Art on Vernon Street or some other college or school under the auspices of the Leeds Education Committee. Further research along these lines yielded no results.
Photographic Developments
Much later, a sepia-tinted photograph emerged from a group of art school photographs; it had been staged with great care and depicted the trowel alongside a round object, a cabinet and fabric. It is difficult to date the picture, but stylistically it belongs to the early 20th century; it seems reasonable to assume it is a contemporary image. It depicts a selection of artwork produced at the Leeds School of Art. Certainly, cabinet making and fabric design were among the subjects taught at the school. The evidence suggested that the trowel was a student's work.
Leeds School of Art artwork, c. 1909
Golden Winner
The answer to the mystery came from the discovery of a double-page spread in the October 1909 issue of The Builder. The feature was a detailed photograph of the trowel and leather bag in their original state, the winning entry in that year's National Art School Competition. The maker was Silas Paul, the winner of a Gold Medal for his Presentation Trowel and Leather Bag, created in wrought and chiselled steel and damascened in gold and silver. The prestigious win may explain why the school retained and carefully photographed the object. Following the win, it was exhibited in Leeds, and someone in London offered to buy the trowel and send it to Australia as an example of contemporary metalworking. Paul insisted that the trowel and bag remain in Leeds.
The Builder, Trowel, 1909
Who was Silas Paul?
Silas Paul was a student at the Leeds School of Art from 1907 to approximately 1911. He was a City of Leeds Senior Art Scholarship holder from 1907 to 1909. In 1908, he won an Owen Jones prize for a wrought iron grille and lamp. He won a Travelling Scholarship in 1910 and travelled to Spain to study iron and other metalworking techniques and practices. In 1915, he was an Art Teacher, although it is unclear where he was teaching, perhaps in Leeds. By 1921, Paul had moved to St Pancras in London, where he worked as an Art Metal Worker at J Kaye & Sons in High Holborn. He was designing and making in Brass, Copper and other metals. His wife, Elsie, and young family were still in Leeds in 1921. By 1939, Paul had moved away from art metalwork and was instead described as a Lock Representative in the St Pancras area. His early promise had dissipated in the harsh realities of making a living through his art. He died in 1948 in Camden. However, his exquisite artistry remains, as does his legacy, in Leeds, where he wished his most celebrated piece to be.
