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Statues and their history
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Message 1.Â
Posted by Caro (U1691443) on Wednesday, 4th May 2011
Over the centuries it has been common at least during certain periods for large (or smaller) statues of people to adorn our towns and cities. For the purposes of this post and questions I am not thinking of war memorial or cemetery things, but statues in open town space. I associate these especially with the 19th century, and of people in positions of political or military power mostly – Queen Victoria, Nelson, etc. I recall one of George IV or perhaps of him as Prince Regent in some southern town which was very praising of him, and gave a slightly different perspective from the overweight over-adorned person we are familiar with. It was large – so was one to some obscure poet in Scotland that I had never heard of, and which was just sitting perched very tall on a hill in a rather obscure place. Wish I could remember his name. There have also been statues to more mythical figures, Britannia or the virgin Mary. We saw dozens in Malta to various heroes and religious figures.
In more recent times (or have these been the case throughout the centuries?) there have been more statues of generic people – a group of miners at Meadowhall in Sheffield, woman and children sometimes, rural groups, etc. And I liked the modern sculptures at some of Britain’s old religious cathedrals and abbeys – one of St Cuthbert at Lindisfarne, one of the nativity people in Sheffield Cathedral etc. Attractive and more discreet than in earlier times.
But I am reminded of all these statues because someone has died in New Zealand and they are thinking of putting up a statue to her. This isn’t a figure of power at all, but she is real. She was apparently a vagrant woman well known in Wellington for sitting on the street drinking and abusing people, and had done this for the past 30 years, becoming a beloved figure. At the age of 62 she has died and her funeral was large with politicians and all sorts of people there. Her family, who have not spoken to her for 15 years – probably for valid reasons – wonder why more help couldn’t have been given to her in her lifetime, as she was severely alcoholic.
I have never heard of a statue to such a person and wonder if there are examples in Britain (or wherever you are) of very ordinary people like this being given this honour.
I also wonder how far back this form of honouring people goes. As I have said I associate it with the 19th century, but surely it goes back much further than that. What are the earliest statues in Britain? Did the Romans statuize people? Egyptians? Chinese?
Cheers, Caro. -
Message 2
Posted by somewhatsilly (U14315357) on Wednesday, 4th May 2011
Caro, I've just very recently come across the story of the statue of - and please don't be offended anyone but this is the name given to it - 'The good darkie'.
If you've got login access this is the paper I read
but if not this gives an adequate idea of the story.
The first paper looks into the meanings attached to this statue over the years and suggests that amongst some constituencies in the US, this statue encapsulates a 'solution' to racial tensions by evoking a return to some idealised golden age of inter racial harmony!
Was this the statue of the poet? -
Message 3
Posted by Jak (U1158529) on Wednesday, 4th May 2011
There's a statue of "Molly Malone" in Dublin. I heard it was called "The tart with the cart".
The one of Boadicea on the embankment in London always slays me. The inscription is: "Regions Caesar never knew, thy posterity shall sway" - or something like that. -
Message 4
Posted by Caro (U1691443) on Thursday, 5th May 2011
Well, ferval, I didn't think it was because I remembered the statue as going very tall into the sky. Turns out that I was right it wasn't Jame Hogg, but it wasn't tall either, and it wasn't actually a statue. I spent half an hour googling this afternoon trying to find it, and then when my husband came home, he cleverly pinpointed it immediately. "Glencoe". And then he got his map and there it was written - D MacIntyre. But I had muddled two monuments - one to someone of the MacDonalds killed at Glenco, which went high and pointed into the sky. The one of Duncan Ban MacIntyre was circular.
We have a photo almost identical to this one.
We used to have a statue in our wee town. It was to an early settler and was in white Oamaru stone and some people, who seemed to feel their status as descendants of other early settlers was somehow diminished by this, daubed it was red paint twice, so it is in storage somewhere. Shame really.
Cheers, Caro. -
Message 5
Posted by White Camry (U2321601) on Thursday, 5th May 2011
Caro,
But I am reminded of all these statues because someone has died in New Zealand and they are thinking of putting up a statue to her. This isn’t a figure of power at all, but she is real. She was apparently a vagrant woman well known in Wellington for sitting on the street drinking and abusing people, and had done this for the past 30 years, becoming a beloved figure. At the age of 62 she has died and her funeral was large with politicians and all sorts of people there. Her family, who have not spoken to her for 15 years – probably for valid reasons – wonder why more help couldn’t have been given to her in her lifetime, as she was severely alcoholic.Â
I was in New Zealand last week but I neither heard nor read any news like that. Have you a link? -
Message 6
Posted by islanddawn (U7379884) ** on Thursday, 5th May 2011
I also wonder how far back this form of honouring people goes. As I have said I associate it with the 19th century, but surely it goes back much further than that. What are the earliest statues in Britain? Did the Romans statuize people? Egyptians? Chinese?Â
Museums all over the world are full of statues, statuettes and busts. Ranging in age from 30,000 BC up until relatively modern eras, such as those by Michealangelo.
Ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans went into statues in a big way, public buildings, forums and temples had many ranging from gods, rulers to other note worthy people.
Roman homes and gardens also sported their fair amount, the wealthy would even commission statues or busts of themselves, even if they hadn't done anything particularly outstanding. Most towns across the Roman Empire would also have had statues erected in market places of famous Romans such as Julius Caesar, Pompey or simply the Emporer of the time.
Here is a 3D reconstruction of Rome, looking through it we can see just how many statues were scattered about the place.
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Message 7
Posted by M_M Returns - Doomed to die because of 606 closure (U14483798) on Thursday, 5th May 2011
Well here in Edinburgh we have Grefriars Bobby a statue of a dog who sat by its masters grave.
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Message 8
Posted by somewhatsilly (U14315357) on Thursday, 5th May 2011
How far back does it go well, it all depends on what you mean by statue. If you mean a 3d representation of a human being, how about the upper paleolithic venus figures, do they count in your definition? 35 000BCE 's pretty old but they are quite wee.
So after that I would guess we're in Anatolia, Gobleki Tepe and such like.
The square headed columns are a bit odd looking but they've got arms so they've been interpreted as probably human.
After that it all goes a bit mad with statues being knocked up all over the place. -
Message 9
Posted by Silver Jenny (U12795676) on Thursday, 5th May 2011
Caro, interesting thread.
This statue is evocative of a time when so many left Britain to start life in an unknown land.
This one makes passers by stop and reflect.
A pcture of Grey Friars 'Bobby'
And, just because he is one of my heroes, I give you Captain James Cook.
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Message 10
Posted by somewhatsilly (U14315357) on Thursday, 5th May 2011
Like your first choice, Jenny, this is another to emigrants, forced in this case, from Helmsdale in Sutherland. I find the woman looking back for her last sight of home touching.
I'll spare you the picture of the man responsible atop his gigantic pillar. -
Message 11
Posted by raundsgirl (U2992430) on Thursday, 5th May 2011
Another faithful dog:
My son knew Graham slightly. When he disappeared we waited, with diminishing hope. We couldn't understand why there was no sign of Ruswarp.
And this statue from the National Memorial Arboretum. Behind it is a semi-circle of wooden stakes, each representing a soldier 'shot at dawn'. The statue faces 6 cypress trees which represent the firing squad. I find it almost unbearably poignant.
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Message 12
Posted by Caro (U1691443) on Thursday, 5th May 2011
Here's a couple of links, White Camry. But it wasn't Wellington as I said, but Auckland.
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Message 13
Posted by Caro (U1691443) on Friday, 6th May 2011
Hello Silver Jenny and others,
I went looking for statues of James Cook in New Zealand and there just seem to be two – one in Christchurch and one in Gisborne. The one in ChCh may well no longer be there – Victoria Square is in the central area hit by the earthquake. No, it has survived: Others haven’t, like the statue of Robert Falcon Scott, sculpted by his widow.
“The city's older statues have fared poorly, while contemporary public art is largely undamaged. The statue of Rolleston outside the Canterbury Museum fell backwards off its plinth. The Scott statue on Oxford Tce snapped at the ankles and was thrown off its pedestal to the ground. The final casualty in this trio of Victorian legends is the Godley statue, which was also thrown from the pedestal.
But other statues survived intact, including William Moorhouse in the Botanic Gardens, James Fitzgerald on Rolleston Ave and Queen Victoria and James Cook in Victoria Square.â€
This site
talks of the statues in Christchurch and there is one of a gnome, celebrating the International year of the Gnome. (I don’t remember this.)
In my nearest city Dunedin the main statue is to a Scottish icon, Robert Burns. One of his nephews was an early settler of Dunedin. There seem to be a lot of sculptures in New Zealand of Peter Pan and Tinkerbell.
Thanks for the one of Greyfriars Bobby. I am a sucker for a sentimental story and have always loved the one of Bobby, which tends to make me cry a little.
White Camry, forgot to ask whereabouts you went in NZ. I live way down south.
Cheers, Caro. -
Message 14
Posted by Temperance (U14455940) on Friday, 6th May 2011
I wonder if the statue of the late Diana, Princess of Wales and Dodi al Fayed (plus albatross) is still in place at Harrods (Elevator Three)? Al Fayed recently flogged his posh shop to Qatar Holdings for £1.5 billion: was the bronze sculpture of the mother of our future king included with all the other fixtures and fittings, or has it been moved somewhere else? Hopefully there is no plan to put the Dodi 'n' Di monstrosity next to the Michael Jackson statue at Craven Cottage.
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