The Brownlow Trophy from the Machine Gun Corps
Gilbert Bayes (London 1872 – London 1953)
Category
Art / Sculpture
Date
1917
Materials
Bronze
Measurements
460 x 230 x 230 mm
Place of origin
London
Order this imageCollection
Belton House, Lincolnshire
NT 435353
Summary
Bronze on a bronze and wood base, The Brownlow Trophy from the Machine Gun Corps, Gilbert Bayes, 1917. The figure of Adelbert Wellington Brownlow Cust, 3rd Earl Brownlow (1844-1921) stands atop a dome on a fluted spreading base. He wears a greatcoat with its lapels upturned slightly, boots with spurs, and a peaked cap with a General Officer’s cap badge. He holds a pair of binoculars in one hand and gloves in the other. The base is decorated with four friezes: two show the Machine Gun Corps with their artillery, one shows the insignia of a Brigadier General, with laurel leaves painted green and ‘MGC’ ‘1917’ inscribed, and the fourth shows the Cust coat of arms, with ‘Esse Quam Videre’ (‘To be, rather than to seem’) inscribed on banners. On the base a panel of blue enamel is inscribed: ‘presented by the | machine gun training centre | to the earl brownlow pc adc | as a memento of many kindnesses’.
Full description
The 3rd Earl Brownlow had a distinguished political and military career. At the time this trophy was presented he was the Lord Lieutenant of Lincolnshire (1867-1921), Volunteer Aide-de-Camp to George V (having previously served Queen Victoria and Edward VII) and Honorary Colonel of the Lincolnshire Yeomanry and 4th Volunteer Battalion of the Hertfordshire Regiment. Lord Brownlow’s ancestral home, Belton House, was the depot and training ground for The Machine Gun Corps during the First World War. From 1915 to 1919 the park was transformed into ‘a small tented town with railway tracks and training grounds for the artificers and engineers’, accommodating up to 20,000 men. Brownlow and his wife Lady Adelaide Chetwynd-Talbot, Countess Brownlow (1844-1917), continued to live at Belton during the war and were active supporters of the Lincolnshire Regiments and Red Cross as well as benefactors of the Belton Military Hospital, set up in the park. To keep up morale, they regularly hosted entertainments and bestowed gifts on the soldiers like woolen socks, cigarettes and sweetmeats. Commemorating Lord and Lady Brownlow’s valuable contribution to the war effort, the Machine Gun Corps presented Lord Brownlow with this bronze statuette by Gilbert Bayes (1872-1953) in 1917, the year of Adelaide’s death. The Brownlow Trophy, as it is known, was given with the following letter: ‘Dear Lord Brownlow, I am writing on behalf of all ranks in the Machine Gun Corps, who hope that you will accept the accompanying small memento from them. It is a small token of the appreciation of all ranks for the many kindnesses you have shown them, the thoughtfulness which has provided them with many items of comfort, and the facilities you have given them for their recreation in every shape and form. Yours sincerely, (signed) Brigadier General’ Lord Brownlow’s thanks were relayed with this note: 'Lord Brownlow wishes to express his gratitude to the officers, N.C.O's and Men of the Machine Gun Corps for the beautiful gift handed to him in their names by the Brigadier General. This touching appreciation of his endeavours to promote the happiness and welfare of all ranks is most deeply valued by him, and he considers the valuable present they have given to him one of his most precious possessions. Gilbert Bayes is a renowned figure in the War Memorial Movement. Although medically unfit to serve himself, he produced heroic and monumental sculptures commemorating the huge loss of life across allied forces throughout the Great War.
Provenance
Given to Adelbert Wellington Brownlow Cust, 3rd Earl Brownlow (1844-1921) by The Machine Gun Corps, 1917. Purchased with a grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) from Edward John Peregrine Cust, 7th Baron Brownlow, C. St J. (b.1936) in 1984.
Credit line
Belton House, The Brownlow Collection (acquired with the help of the National Heritage Memorial Fund by the National Trust in 1984)
Marks and inscriptions
Recto: Presented by the Machine Gun Training Centre to the Earl Brownlow, P.C. A.D.C. as a memento of many kindnesses (Left side of figure) /MGC 1917. Right side of figure - ESSG VEDERE.
Makers and roles
Gilbert Bayes (London 1872 – London 1953), sculptor