| PERCY ERSKINE NOBBS | CAC Accession No: 1 |
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DESCRIPTION Drawings, photographs, correspondence and three-dimensional objects relating to the work of the Montreal architect Percy Erskine Nobbs (1875-1964). Included are architectural drawings, drawings of designs for medallions and letterheads, photographs of architectural projects, professional and personal correspondence and other papers, and three-dimensional objects designed by Nobbs.
Nobbs was born in Haddington, Scotland in 1875. Shortly thereafter his family moved to St. Petersburg where he studied at the School of Design. He received a Master's degree from Edinburgh University in 1896 and subsequently became a pupil of Robert Lorimer, a Scottish architect and leader of the Arts and Crafts movement. In 1900 Nobbs successfully completed examinations at the Royal Institute of British Architects and won the Tite Prize, which enabled him to travel to Italy where he sketched and measured buildings. Between 1901 and 1902 Nobbs practiced architecture in London and won a number of architectural competitions. Nobbs commenced his long association with McGill University in 1903 when he began teaching at th
e School of Architecture; in the same year he set up his architectural practice in Montreal. One of his earliest works in Canada was the McGill University Union building. In 1909 he began his partnership with George Taylor Hyde which was to last until Hyde's death in 1944. In 1939 Nobbs retired from teaching architecture at McGill. Throughout his career Nobbs executed a variety of projects including buildings for McGill University, city and country houses, and war memorials.
For further information see the CAC's publication, Percy Erskine Nobbs and His Associates: A Guide to the Archive =Percy Erskine Nobbs et ses associés: Guide du fonds. Montreal: Canadian Architecture Collection, Blackader-Lauterman Library of Architecture and Art, McGill University, 1986. Also see Susan Wagg. Percy Erskine Nobbs : Architecte, Artiste, Artisan = Percy Erskine Nobbs: Architect, Artist, Craftsman. Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1982. The majority of the items were given to the CAC in 1970 by Francis J. Nobbs, the son of Percy Erskine Nobbs. With regard to the furniture, there are four items on loan from McGill University and Marilyn Montblanch donated a table knife which was part of a cutlery set designed by Nobbs for the McGill University Union. Architectural Drawings, 1897-1957, 471 drawings. Drawings ranging in date from Nobbs' early student projects and competition drawings, to designs for McGill University buildings such as the McGill University Union Building and MacDonald Engineering Building, and designs for domestic and ecclesiastical architecture in Montreal.
Other Drawings, 1898-1957, 149 drawings. Non-architectural drawings include studies of ironwork, a drawing of Rouen in France, designs for the Royal Arms of Canada, a letterhead for the R.C.A.F., a war memorial for the Town of Mount Royal, a medallion for the Shawinigan Water and Power Company and a silver dollar for the Royal Canadian Mint.
Photographs, 190516-25, 94 photographs. The photographs in the Nobbs archive document some of his architectural projects including urban domestic architecture, renovations to the interior of Christ Church Cathedral in Montreal, McGill's MacDonald Engineering Building, a proposal for Winnipeg City Hall and a proposal for a war memorial at Lille in France. Documented are plans, exteriors and interiors, models, buildings under construction and perspectives.
Three-dimensional objects, 1906-47, 29 items. The objects designed by Nobbs and presently in the archive include furniture and fittings such as armchairs, tables, and a chandelier, and utensils and plasterwork, including plaster statuettes for war memorials and decorative plasterwork.
Personal projects, 1906-55, 19 cm. Manuscripts, typescripts, and correspondence regarding various personal, non-architectural projects undertaken by Nobbs, in particular the design of his deflected northern lighting system for the National Research Council.
Correspondence - McGill University, 1904-60, 26 cm. Correspondence relating to Nobbs' activities as a professor of architecture at McGill University (1904-40) and details of his subsequent pension arrangements, as well as the honourary Doctor of Letters awarded him by McGill in 1957. Included are student design problems assigned by Nobbs during his years as Professor of Design at the School of Architecture (1928-40).
Addresses, reports and papers, 1899-1957, 26 cm. Manuscripts and typescripts of forty-seven articles, addresses, reports and papers on art, architecture and related topics, some of which were published.
City planning activities, 1926-50, 26 cm. Reports, notes and correspondence stemming from Nobbs's involvement in the Montreal Committee on Housing and Slum Clearance.
Professional associations, 1916-55, 13 cm. Correspondence relating to Nobbs' participation in several professional organizations, specifically the Art Association of Montreal (1916-33), the Royal Institute of British Architects (1927-9), the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (1928-39), the Royal Society of Arts (1938-40) and the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (1955).
Private correspondence, 1893-1953, 13 cm. Letters from several of Nobbs' friends and colleagues, among them Sir Raymond Unwin (1934-40), Professor G. Baldwin Brown (1893-1926), Auckland C. Geddes (1909-53), Bertram Goodhue (1906-35), R. S. Lorimer (1904-24) and Noulan Cauchon (1935).
Nobbs and Hyde | |