The home of Uli Nimptsch – and a Victorian dentist!
One of my recent house histories is a Victorian terraced house along Fulham Road in Chelsea where the first resident was a Victorian dentist. However, after World War II it became the home of Uli Nimptsch, celebrated sculptor responsible for the statue of David Lloyd George that stands opposite Winston Churchill at the entrance to the House of Commons.
Entrance to House of Commons with statue of David Lloyd George
Image courtesy of Parliament UK
The house along Fulham Road was completed in 1846 and was first known as No.10 Lansdowne Villas. The first resident in the house was Mr. George Ash, practicing as a dentist, who lived in the house with his family during the 1850s and 60s. Dentistry during the mid Victorian period was seeing vast improvements, but was still a frightening experience for many. Anaesthetic was first introduced from 1846 and a clockwork drill was invented in 1864, while an official register of Dentists was only established by the Royal College of Surgeons in 1872.
By 1862 the house names and numbers along Fulham Road were reorganised and by the early 1870s Mr Ash and his family had moved away. The house then became the home of a bankers clerk and merchant, Mr. William Williams.
However, by the turn of the 20th century things began to alter in the house and by the 1920s, Miss Laura Henrietta Brown was renting out rooms in the house. Miss Brown was the daughter of Henry Brown, surgeon and apothecary in Ordinary to the Royal Household at Windsor from 1833 to 1868.
Mary Pickford - Illustrated London News May 1929
The electoral registers during the 1930s show that the house was shared by a number of women, including a Mary Pickford, but this is unlikely to have been the Hollywood film star and co-founder of the film studio United Artists, but it was likely to have been the former MP for Hammersmith North. Mary Pickford was recorded in the house in 1930 and 1931 and it was in this year that she won the seat in Hammersmith as conservative candidate. Mary Pickford died suddenly in 1934 at the age of 49.
After the war years, the house became the home of sculptor Uli Nimptsch, his wife Ruth and their son, Peter. Uli Nimptsch was German born and studied in Berlin, as well as in Rome and Paris, but he moved to England from Nazi Germany for the sake of his Jewish wife in 1939.
Uli Nimptsch working on the Lloyd George statue - Illustrated London News December 1962
Uli Nimptsch was most noted for his female nude sculptures in a naturalistic style, but he also worked on biblical and classical mythology, as well as portrait busts, including Paul Oppé and Brendan, Viscount Bracken. However, it was his commission to create an over life size sculpture of former Prime Minister, David Lloyd George for the Houses of Parliament that has given him the most recognition. The sculpture was completed in 1963 and stands prominently by Churchill Arch in the Members’ lobby to the House of Commons, opposite Sir Winston Churchill. A foot on each statue is noticeably worn, as it is the custom for MPs to rub the foot for luck as they walk past. Uli Nimptsch has a number of works held in key galleries across the UK, including The Tate Collection, The British Museum and the Royal Academy. Nimptsch regularly exhibited at the Royal Academy and was elected an RA in 1967. Uli Nimptsch lived in the house until he passed away in 1977.
For the full history of the house – The history of home of Uli Nimptsch
