This month we focus in on an allegorical sculpture entitled ‘The Feeding of the Five Thousand’ by Devon artist Norman Yendell (1905-1984).

About the sculpture

The sculpture The Feeding of the Five Thousand is carved in wood and represents the biblical tale from John 6 in the Bible, which records the miracle of Jesus using just five loaves and two fish to feed a crowd of five thousand people.

The design of the sculpture is semi abstract, but the loaves and fishes placed in front of a cross, simply and effectively depict the biblical story. The warm wood and soft curves also give the sculpture a tactile quality.

You can see the sculpture in the Mary Harris Memorial Chapel, on the University's Streatham Campus.

About the Artist

Norman Yendell was born in St Thomas area of Exeter, Devon in 1905. By 1911, records show that he and his family lived in Sidwell Street, Exeter where his father also had a business as a ladies’ and gentlemen’s tailor.

Yendell spent his working life as a dentist rather than as an artist. In 1924 he is recorded as working at Guy’s hospital, at which time he was probably undergoing training. He qualified in 1927 and he based his dental practice in Barnfield Crescent in central Exeter.

In 1938 he married Agnes Brockbank Graham, whose family were prominent Quakers and whose brother Richard Brockbank Graham, was a conscientious objector during WWII.

The Exeter & Plymouth Gazette, on 6 April 1939 reported that Norman Yendell was active in the creation of a new committee, led by the Mayor of Exeter, to support refugees coming to the city. The article records that Yendell suggested how the Society of Friends (Quakers) could help these displaced people. In August 1941 the North Devon Journal recorded Norman and his wife Agnes were speakers on the subject of peace and pacifism at an inaugural weekend school of the Society of Friends of North Devon.

Yendell clearly had a strong religious and ethical compass which no doubt had a bearing on the prominence of biblical and mystical themes in his sculptures.

After his retirement from his career as a dentist, Norman Yendell enjoyed the creativity involved in making sculptures. Nevertheless he was undoubtedly a creative person throughout his life, exemplified by the publication by MacMillan of a book of his poems in January 1934, entitled Reply to Reason and other Poems.

In 1971 the University hosted an exhibition of Norman Yendell’s sculptures.

Norman Yendell died in 1984, at Longdown near Exeter.

Thanks to:

Crediton Parish Church

Gale Newspaper Archive Search

The Exeter & Plymouth Gazette (6 April 1939)

North Devon Journal (31 July 1941)