The memorial to Sir Arthur Sullivan, Embankment Gardens, London

Sir Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900) was the composer half of “Gilbert and Sullivan” who wrote a series of comic operas in the late 19th century that have been performed to great acclaim ever since. Sullivan was also a composer of note in other fields, particularly choral church music. His best-known contribution in this genre was probably the hymn tune to “Onward Christian Soldiers”. 

The Gilbert and Sullivan operas were staged at the Savoy Theatre in London’s Strand, so it is appropriate that the memorial to Sir Arthur stands in the Embankment Gardens facing in the direction of the Savoy Hotel and Theatre, although his bronze bust, if granted the gift of sight, would find that his view was obscured by high buildings. 

The memorial is conventional enough in concept, in that it is a bust on a stone plinth, but there are features that make it somewhat unusual. 

At the base of the plinth, to one side, is an extra piece of bronze consisting of a mandolin, a mask of Pan, and a score of one of Gilbert and Sullivan’s works, namely The Yeoman of the Guard. 

However, what catches the eye to a far greater extent is the figure of a young woman clasping the plinth in a pose that conveys great distress. Even more remarkable is the fact that her emotional state has caused her costume to fall to her waist, leaving her upper portion naked. 

One has to ask – why? The figure of the girl was not originally modelled with the Sullivan memorial in mind, having been made in Paris in 1899 when Sir Arthur was still alive, but somebody clearly thought that it would convey the sorrow that many people felt at the loss of the great man. Whether they would be adequately represented by a half-naked young woman is a matter for conjecture. 

It might have been thought that the figure was reminiscent of one of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas, namely Patience, which features “rapturous maidens” draping themselves over the object of their affection, the poet Reginald Bunthorne who was loosely modelled on Oscar Wilde. If that is so, potential opera-goers need to be reassured that – in the vast majority of performances – all such maidens stay fully dressed throughout the show! 

At all events, the afterthought of adding the maiden to the plinth has resulted in what is probably one of the more erotic memorials to be found in London!

© John Welford

The statue of Hodge in Gough Square, London

London teems with statues and memorials to famous men and women, but sometimes one can happen across one that commemorates an animal, one such being the life-sized bronze of “Hodge” in Gough Square, which is just north of Fleet Street.

The statue of Dr Johnson’s cat “Hodge”

17 Gough Square was the home of Dr Samuel Johnson (1709-84). Johnson was no great lover of men but was extremely fond of his cats, of which he had several. Hodge’s claim to fame was that he got a mention in James Boswell’s “Life of Samuel Johnson”.

Boswell, who did not like cats, thought he would please Johnson, during a visit to Gough Square, by remarking that Hodge was “a fine cat”. Johnson replied that he had had other cats whom he preferred but then thought that Hodge was giving him a less than friendly look. He therefore tried to make it up to him by saying: “but he is a very fine cat, a very fine cat indeed”.

The statue, which is on a plinth of Portland stone in Gough Square (pedestrianised) shows Hodge sitting on top of a copy of Dr Johnson’s famous “Dictionary of the English Language”.

Also on the dictionary is an empty oyster shell, which reflects the fact that oysters were Hodge’s favourite food – they were considerably cheaper in the 18^th century than they are now and were regarded as the food of poor people rather than the rich. Johnson bought Hodge’s oysters in person, because he thought it demeaning to his manservant to ask him to fetch the cat’s food.

The statue (by John Bickley) dates only from 1997 and it serves a double purpose, which is symbolised by the dictionary. Inscribed on the plinth is a Latin phrase which translates as “He refined and corrected”, the “he” being Major Byron Caws, who worked with H W Fowler on the “Concise Oxford Dictionary”, first published in  1911. The statue was erected by Major Caws’s grandson and thus commemorates two lexicographers as well as the “very fine cat” of the older one.

© John Welford

La Délivrance, a statue in north London

It is always a good idea for drivers to keep their eyes on the road, but sometimes that is not so easy. One such distraction in North London is offered by a 16-foot-high bronze statue of a naked woman standing on tiptoe with arms outstretched, holding a sword that points straight upwards. It stands on a small patch of grass close to the junction of Regent’s Park Road and the North Circular Road.

Known locally simply as “the naked lady” its proper title is “La Délivrance”. It was the work of French sculptor Emile Guillaume (1867-1942) and commemorates the victory of Allied forces against Germany at the First Battle of the Marne in September 1914. This battle saved Paris from being overrun by the Germans but led to four years of costly trench warfare in north-east France and Belgium.

So what is a memorial to a battle near Paris doing in leafy Finchley?

The bronze is actually one of eleven that were originally cast in France in 1919 with the intention that one should stand in each of the cities worst affected by the German occupation. However, the nudity of the statue caused problems and not every city was willing to accept the offering.

The sculptor exhibited a copy in Paris, where it was seen and bought by Harold Harmsworth, the first Lord Rothermere and co-founder of the “Daily Mail” newspaper. He wanted to present it to the Urban District of Finchley. There was considerable disagreement over where it should be sited, and the current location, right on the edge of Finchley, was Lord Rothermere’s choice, as it was on the route he followed when going to visit his mother.

The statue was unveiled by David Lloyd George, former Prime Minister, on 20^th October 1927. It raised a few eyebrows and led to much condemnation in the editorials and letters pages of the local press, as being thought inappropriate for a genteel North London suburb, but nobody could challenge the will of a powerful press baron such as Lord Rothermere.

So there the statue remains to this day, plonked down on a road junction many miles from the site of a battle in which British troops played only a minor part. It would not be there at all were it not for a sudden whim on the part of a newspaper magnate.

© John Welford

The statue of Eros, Piccadilly Circus, London

The statue of Eros in Piccadilly Circus is one of the best-known “sights of London”, especially since it ceased to be in the middle of a roundabout at one of the capital’s busiest junctions. It has several features of interest that relate to its construction and significance.

A memorial to a remarkable man

The statue is part of a memorial to the 7^th Earl of Shaftesbury (1801-85) who worked to improve conditions for children who worked in factories and mines. Shaftesbury Avenue, which is one of the streets that leads into Piccadilly Circus, was also named in his honour.

Anthony Ashley Cooper came from a highly privileged background but was horrified when he discovered the conditions under which some of the poorest people in Victorian England were forced to earn a living. He was particularly concerned with the plight of children, some as young as seven or eight, who were forced to work for long hours in unsafe and insanitary conditions in mines and factories.

It seems incredible to us today that he faced strong opposition to his proposal to limit the working day of children aged nine (and up to 13) to only ten hours, but that was the case. Eventually he won through, and he also instigated major reforms in education for the poor and in provision for people with severe mental illnesses.

The statue of Eros

The statue dates from 1893 and was the work of Sir Alfred Gilbert. He used as his model a 16-year old boy who was his studio assistant.

Oddly enough, the statue is not really “Eros” at all. The image of a winged boy armed with a bow and arrow, who makes people fall in love when an arrow finds its mark, is a familiar one from works of art going back to classical times. However, the statue in Piccadilly Circus was intended to portray the “Angel of Christian Charity”.

Sir Alfred had already created a statue of Anteros, who is Eros’s twin brother in Greek myth, and he simply made another Anteros when asked to produce a suitable memorial to Lord Shaftesbury. Anteros, as the god of selfless love, was a far more suitable image to commemorate a man who displayed that sentiment so openly, but in the public mind the statue was always that of Eros, the much less appropriate god of physical love!

The name Eros is the root of “erotic”, and there is a strange coincidence in that this district of London has long been associated with love of a much earthier kind than is commemorated by the memorial. Only a few yards away are the remnants of London’s former red light district, with its still existing peepshows, massage parlours and other such entertainments.

Sir Alfred may also have had in mind a pun on Lord Shaftesbury’s name, given that the figure is seen “burying a shaft”.  Needless to say, this supposed meaning has nothing at all to do with the origin of the name of the town in Dorset from which the family took its title.

A novel feature of the statue is that it was cast in aluminium (the first public memorial ever to have been made from this material) and is thus very light in weight. Despite being seven feet tall it could be carried around Sir Alfred’s studio by one person.

The lightness of the statue is one reason why it can be displayed as it is. It stands atop an elaborate fountain, supported on the ball of one foot with the other leg extending in one direction and the bow arm in the other, and the two huge wings stretching upwards and outwards. Had the statue been cast in bronze it is doubtful if Eros’s ankle could have stood the strain of wind and weather for more than a century.

That said, the statue did require repair in 1993 after a drunken reveller climbed up the fountain on New Year’s Eve and swung from the outstretched leg!

© John Welford

Take a seat between two great men!

There is a short stretch of New Bond Street, in London’s fashionable West End, that is pedestrianised. (It is very short – just a few yards between the junctions with Clifford Street and Grafton Street). There is a bike rack here, a couple of trees, and a bench on which to rest your weary limbs as you pause during your upmarket shopping spree between Watches of Switzerland and Aspreys.

But wait – there’s not much room here! The bench is already occupied by two familiar looking gentlemen! There is just room to squeeze between them, and many tourists do exactly that to have their photos taken between Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, who are the gentlemen in question.

This imaginative piece of street sculpture, called “The Allies” was created by an American sculptor, Lawrence Holofcener, and placed here by the Bond Street Association in May 1995 to commemorate fifty years of peace since the end of World War II.

Some people might object that the allies should have included Joseph Stalin, given that the Soviet Union’s sacrifices were greater than those of any other nation during the war, and that the three allies famously sat together at the Yalta conference in February 1945, but Joe Stalin taking a rest in New Bond Street? That would have been more than a bit incongruous, given Stalin’s record and the fact that this area is oozing with conspicuous capitalism, which the Communist leader would hardly have found to his liking.

As it is, a smiling Roosevelt sits in a relaxed pose and Churchill, cigar in hand, leans towards him as if trying to catch the President’s latest quip. Stalin would have been a complete party-pooper, apart from taking up room that a star-struck tourist would probably like to occupy!

©John Welford

The Angel of the North, Gateshead

Although it has only been in place since 1998, the Angel of the North has become a familiar landmark and an iconic symbol for the north-east of England. It is the best-known sculpture by British artist Antony Gormley (born 1950), and is one of the few pieces of British modern art to be regarded with almost universal acclaim.

  

The Angel is a steel structure that stands 65 feet (20 metres) tall with a “wingspan” of 175 feet (54 metres) that is similar to that of a jumbo jet. It stands on a grassy mound near the junction of the A1 and A167 to the south of Gateshead, and can be seen by north-bound travellers on the A1, rising above the trees (it is not so easy to see when driving south). When first seen, you know that you are entering “Geordieland” and are being welcomed with “open wings”.

The site of the Angel is a former coalmine, the products of which fuelled the prosperity of Gateshead in the 19^th and 20^th centuries, but the last pits closed in the 1970s amid a period of industrial and social decline. The Angel therefore serves as a memorial for the region’s past industries and the people who worked in them, but it is also a symbol of more recent regeneration. The mound on which the Angel stands is actually where the pithead baths used to be, and the structure is fixed on piles that go 72 feet (22 metres) into the ground. It therefore links the earth and the sky very effectively.

The Angel weighs 200 tons and must withstand the high winds that frequently blow in from the North Sea across this exposed site.

The project dates from a commission that Antony Gormley was given in 1994 to create a feature that would complete the reclamation of the colliery site, and it was four years later that the steel sections began to arrive, having been manufactured by Hartlepool Steel Fabrications, a company renowned for making sections for bridges and oil rigs. The ribbed body and wings therefore resemble the steelwork to be found on such constructions. The building of the Angel was engineered by Ove Arup and Partners.

The Angel was built from Corten steel, which is an alloy that weathers to a natural rust-red that adds a warm colour. Although the Angel has no face, her body is shaped in a female form, and the wings are angled slightly inwards to suggest an embrace.

The Angel can only be visited on foot, and car parking in the vicinity is limited. Visitors must park in a lay-by on the A167 and walk back to the Angel. They can then stand underneath the Angel’s wings and clamber over its massive feet. There is no visitor centre, and only an information board to give basic facts about the statue. The Angel therefore speaks for herself and is not spoilt by the trappings of tourism.

The Angel of the North, due to its position, can claim to be the most frequently seen piece of art in the United Kingdom. Apart from the 150,000 visitors a year, 90,000 people see it every day as they drive along the A1. It is also clearly visible from trains on the East Coast main line railway as they approach Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Despite its relative newness, it is now firmly established, along with the Tyne Bridge, as an enduring symbol of Tyneside.

© John Welford

The statue of Achilles, Hyde Park, London

The statue of Achilles in London’s Hyde Park has several unusual features, not least being that it has nothing to do with Achilles!

The “Achilles” statue in Hyde Park

London’s Hyde Park features a number of statues, some of which carry interesting stories. The Achilles statue certainly counts among the latter.

This statue stands in the south-east corner of the park, close to Hyde Park Corner at the southern end of Park Lane. It is an enormous bronze of a naked warrior, armed with a sword and holding a round shield. A cloak is draped over one arm and his armour has been set upright on the ground next to his right leg.

Why Achilles? That is a good point, because there is nothing Greek about it. The armour is that of a Roman legionary and the statue was copied from one in Rome of a horse tamer on the Monte Catallo.

Another interesting thing about “Achilles” is that it was set up as a monument to honour the Duke of Wellington (who was very much alive at the time), although it does not bear the slightest resemblance to the victor of Waterloo and was never intended to.

This is the “Ladies’ Trophy”. It was sculpted by Sir Richard Westmacott and erected in 1822, having been paid for by subscriptions collected from the women of Great Britain. It was cast from bronze that had been melted down from cannons captured during the Peninsula campaign of the Napoleonic Wars.

The statue is appropriately located close to Wellington’s London home, Apsley House, and the Wellington Arch, which was originally sited closer to Apsley House than it is now.

There is a story to the effect that a French military veteran, who was upset by all the Wellington tributes that appeared in London following the Napoleonic Wars, breathed a sigh of relief when this particular offering was put in place. Referring to his hero Napoleon, he exclaimed “At last! He is avenged!” when the “Iron Duke” had apparently metamorphosed into “Bronze Achilles”!

There was some embarrassment caused when the statue was first unveiled, in that the Ladies’ Trophy featured a strong young man in all his naked glory, although with a close-fitting fig leaf to hide his most obvious masculine feature, if only just! Did the ladies really know what they were going to get when they ordered this statue? Maybe they did!

© John Welford

The statue of Peter Pan, Kensington Gardens, London

The much-loved statue of Peter Pan in London’s Kensington Gardens looks out over the northern end of The Long Water, not far from Bayswater Road.

  

The location of the statue is significant, because the writer James M Barrie (1860-1937) lived in nearby Bayswater Road and often took walks in Kensington Gardens. It was on one of these walks that he met the children of the Llewelyn Davies family, with their nurse. He became friends with the boys and began telling them stories, which eventually turned into Barrie’s famous play “Peter Pan” (1904).  The story of these encounters was the main theme of the 2004 film “Finding Neverland” which starred Johnny Depp as J M Barrie.

The statue dates from 1911 and was commissioned by Barrie himself. The sculptor was Sir George Frampton (1860-1928). The model for Peter was the actress Nina Boucicault (1867-1950) who had played the character of Peter in the first production of the play (traditionally, Peter has always been played by a woman).

Barrie stipulated that the statue should be placed in position overnight so that it would appear to regular walkers in the Gardens that it had sprung up “as if by magic”.

The figure of Peter stands, blowing his pipe, on top of a rough-looking plinth that closer inspection shows to be populated by a number of fairies, rabbits, squirrels and mice. It is therefore a “fun” piece of sculpture that children love to visit in order to spot all the animals and fairies and count how many there are. The ears of the creatures have been rubbed smooth by the small hands of generations of youngsters, which is exactly what Barrie would have wanted.

Visitors to London can therefore walk along the same paths that J M Barrie and the “Lost Boys” walked more than a century ago and experience a little bit of magic of their own. It is undoubtedly one’s of London’s best-loved pieces of street art.

© John Welford