ANIMAL STATUES IN LONDON 10
Animal Statues in London 10
V & A Museum
Tipu's Tiger is a life-size carved wooden automaton representing a tiger devouring a European in 1790s dress. A crank handle operates the man's jointed arm and simulates roars and groans. The casing suggests south Indian craftsmanship, while the mechanical parts are European. The model belonged to Tipu Sultan - the Tiger of Mysore - a sworn enemy of the British, who knew him as Tippoo Sahib. It was acquired by the East India Company following Tipu's death in 1799 at the Battle of Seringapatam.
One of Tipu Sultan's descendants was the WWII SOE agent Noor Inayat Khan who has her own statue in London (see London Statues - Women) ...
Victoria Park - Bonner Road Entrance
Dogs of Alcibiades
The statues are of Molossian hounds, donated to Victoria Park in 1912 by Lady Aignarth in memory of her husband Horatio. They were vandalised in 2011. Luckily, they were replicas, the originals having been removed in 2009 for restoration following years of decay caused by weather and pollution. In 2012 the original statues were reinstalled. The dogs have no tails ...
Alcibiades was an ancient Athenian statesman and friend of Socrates. Having been accused of impiety, he is said to have cut off the tails of his prized dogs and paraded them through the streets to distract his critics.
Edward Bonner was twice Bishop of London in the 16th century. He was instrumental in Henry
VIII's schism from Rome and later known as "Bloody Bonner" for the persecution of heretics under the Catholic reign of Mary I. There appears to be no connection between Bonner and the dogs - apart from the fact an alternative spelling of his name was Boner.
Grosvenor Square
These two dogs belonged to Robert Grosvenor, who oversaw the transformation of marshland into Belgravia - one of London's most prestigious neighbourhoods. Belgravia is named after the family’s Cheshire village of Belgrave.
The pooches are talbot dogs, introduced to this country by the Normans as hunting dogs. Now extinct, they are considered the ancestors of the modern bloodhound. They also feature on the Grosvenor coat of arms (and have tails) ...
St Martin’s Place
Edith Cavell statue
The large lion relief is on the back of the memorial statue of Edith Cavell, the Red Cross nurse executed by the Germans during the First World War.
Lothbury Street
Beckton Bus Station
Horses (2009) by Brian Yale
Giltspur Street
The Stag is an old pub sign that has been here since the 17th century. The original pub, The Stag, was a coaching inn which was rebuilt after the Great Fire of London. It is now a Grade II listed building, but no longer a pub.
New Palace Yard
Jubilee Fountain
The Jubilee Fountain in New Palace Yard was installed to mark Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee and was unveiled by her on May 4,1977. It was created by Walenty Pytel, a Polish-born sculptor known for his welded metal depictions of birds and animals. The structure, around eight metres tall, is made of galvanised strips of steel topped with a gilded St Stephen's Crown.
The sculpture features six heraldic animals representing the continents of the Commonwealth: lion, Africa; unicorn, Europe; tiger, Asia; eagle, Americas; kangaroo, Australia; penguin, Antarctica.
The statue can just be made out, when the trees are bare, by peering through the railings in Bridge Street. However, you get a much better view of this and statues of other beasts - like the one below and Maggie Thatcher - by booking a tour of the Houses of Parliament.
St Katherine's Dock
The entrance to Ivory House is flanked by two elephant sculptures. They directly reference the Victorian ivory trade, which once centred on the warehouse here. The building, completed in 1858, handled huge quantities of ivory - around 200 tons a year at its peak.
Somerset House
The full title of this Grade I-listed sculpture is George III and the River Thames by John Bacon. George, in Roman attire, stands next to a lion representing Britain and a strange-looking fish representing Britain's naval power. So it's basically 18th-century propaganda - classical imagery used to elevate the monarchy. It was completed around the time George III began to show signs of the madness that was to blight the end of his reign.
Kingston
Leaping Salmon (1980) by David Wynne
The Three Salmon formed part of the original coat of arms of the Borough of Kingston in 1572. Their use dates back to a reference to three salmon fisheries in the Domesday Book of 1086. Wynne spent many wet hours in Galway studying salmon leaping. Click here for more David Wynne sculptures.
Gloucester Road Underground Station
Pond Life: Albertopolis and the Lily by Monster Chetwynd (formerly known as Spartacus Chetwynd and Marvin Gaye Chetwynd)
Chetwynd's installation - bear with me here - reveals "the entwined histories of Gloucester Road station and the vast programme of cultural development that followed the Great Exhibition of 1851". She became fascinated by the giant Amazonian water lily which, with its network of ribbed veins, inspired Joseph Paxton's design for the Crystal Palace, home of the Exhibition.
The circular sculptures, each four metres in diameter, sit along the length of a disused platform. They are populated with creatures which appear to be constructing sections of the Crystal Palace. A salamander holds an Amazonian lily pad as a parasol ...
Chiswick House and Gardens
Yet more lions!
Uganda High Commission, Trafalgar Square
Grey Crowned Cranes - the national symbol of Uganda
Treehouse Hotel, Langham Place Troubadour Theatre, Canary Wharf
Ryder's sculptures often represent mystical creatures. Her iconography includes the character of the Lady Hare, which she sees as a counterpart to the Minotaur of ancient Greek mythology.
Old Billingsgate
Old Billingsgate Market is the name given to what is now a hospitality and events venue based in the Victorian building that was originally Billingsgate Fish Market, the world's largest fish market in the 19th century. It is Grade II listed, so some original fishy features remain, including the iconic weather vane ...
In 1982, Billingsgate Fish Market was relocated from central London to the Isle of Dogs, where there is easier road access. The plan is for it to move again by 2028 - to a new site at Albert Island in the Royal Docks, Newham.
New Spitalfields Market (fruit, vegetable, and flower market), which moved to Leyton in the 1990s will also relocate to Albert Island, as will Smithfield Meat Market, the last remaining wholesale market in Central London.
Covent Garden Market (fruit, vegetable and flower market) relocated to Nine Elms in 1974.
Little Trinity Lane
The Barge Master and Swan Marker of the Vintners' Company (2007) by Vivien Mallock
The statue commemorates the role of the Vintners' Company in "swan marking" on the Thames, a tradition where the company, along with the Dyers Company, catches and rings swans annually.
Epsom High Street
Evocation of Speed is a bronze sculpture by Judy Boyt, located opposite Wetherspoons Assembly Rooms. It depicts two horses - Diomed, the winner of the first Epsom Derby in 1780, and Galileo, the 2001 Derby winner - neck and neck at the finishing line. Diomed, the horse on the left, is modelled after oil paintings of the time, showcasing 18th-century tack and jockey attire, while Galileo is depicted in modern racing style with short stirrups.
Boyt has been commissioned to create many sculptures, particularly of horses, including Rebellion which stands high above Middlesex Street - twice life-size, but still easily missed. See Animal Statues in London 4.
SPORTING GREATS, Castle Green, Dagenham
Bobby Moore and Alf Ramsey, captain and manager of England's 1966 World Cup winning team, born in Barking and Dagenham respectively.
Beverley Gull, triple swimming gold medallist at the 1988 Paralympics, and Jason Leonard, former England Rugby Union prop, were both residents of Dagenham and Barking.
Added to London Statues - Performing Arts ...
Political campaigner and singer-songwriter Billy Bragg was born in Barking. Probably his best-known composition is A New England, Kirsty MacColl's biggest solo hit - with the memorable lines:
"I loved you then as I love you still
Though I put you on a pedestal, you put me on the pill"
Billy shares this Portrait Bench with Ian Fisher, a soldier who lost his life serving in Afghanistan in 2013, and an unidentified sewing machinist at Ford's Dagenham car plant.
In 1968, strike action against unequal pay by Ford sewing machinists contributed to the establishment of the 1970 Equal Pay Act, an important step forward in gender equality in the workplace. The story was told in the 2010 movie Made in Dagenham.
two repeated paragraphs!! youyou needneed aa subsub editoreditor xx
ReplyDeleteGood spot Paul! Fixed.
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