George Kruger Gray

George Kruger Gray (25 December 1880 – 2 May 1943) was an English artist, best remembered for his designs of coinage and stained glass windows.

Personal life

He received his tertiary education at the Bath School of Art (today Bath School of Art and Design a department of Bath Spa University). There he won a scholarship to the Royal College of Art in London from which he graduated with the Diploma in Design in his birth name George Edward Kruger.

During the First World War, George Kruger served with the Artists Rifles and a camouflage unit of the Royal Engineers. Here he was hiding military items, and made dummy objects to irritate enemy forces.

In 1918, after his marriage to (Frances) Audrey Gordon Gray, he changed his name to George Kruger Gray.

After the war, he carried on with his career as an artist. In 1923, he exhibited his numismatic works at the Royal Academy of Arts. He won a great reputation and orders to design the coinage for Great Britain.

In 1938, he became a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE)[1]

He specialized not only in the design of numismatic items. He also designed and made lead-glass windows for churches, universities etc. He illustrated books, and made posters and cartoons.

George Edward Kruger Gray died in Chichester, West Sussex, on 2 May 1943.

Coinage

Australian New Guinea 1936 Silver Shilling by George Kruger Gray
George Kruger Gray's design of the 1st New Zealand 1 Shilling Silver coin with a Maori warrior presenting his Taiaha l.

Other works

Kruger Gray was a well known artisan of his time, and produced a number of coats of arms, including the version used by The University of Western Australia from 1929 to 1963.[2] He also designed the Flag of the Colony of Aden.

He also designed what became an important distinction given to the Royal Naval Patrol Service in the form of an exclusive silver badge. Officers and men of the Patrol Service were awarded this badge after a total of six months service at sea. It could also be awarded beforehand to those showing worthy conduct while engaged in action.

Winston Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty, 1939 wrote in the following minute:

FIRST LORD to FORTH SEA LORD I am told that the Minesweepers men have no badge. If this is so it must be remedied at once. I am asking Mr. Bracken to call for designs from Sir Kenneth Clark within one week, after which production must begin with the greatest speed, and distribution as the deliveries come to hand.

The design of the badge measured roughly the size of an old shilling. The design had to symbolise the work of both the minesweeping and the anti-submarine personnel. The finished design took the form of a shield upon which a sinking shark, speared by a marline spike, was set against a background made up of a fishing net with two trapped enemy mines. This was flanked by two examples of the nautical knot and at the top the naval crown. Beneath the badge was a scroll bearing the letters M/S-A/S (Minesweeping Anti-Submarine).

The shark symbolised a U-boat and the marline spike the tool of the Merchant navy. The net and the mines were both symbols of the fishermen who now found themselves at war seeking a new deadly catch. Never before had one section of the Royal Navy been similarly honoured.

His design for an insignia to denote the award of a "King's Commendation for Brave Conduct" was accepted and used for a period from 1943.

References

  1. "George Edward Kruger Gray CBE" in Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture, retrieved on 6 October 2013
  2. The University of Western Australia Coat of Arms

External links

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