Poets' Fountain
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The Poets' Fountain was a public fountain with sculptures that was installed on a
The sculpture cost £5,000, the gift of Mrs Maria Mangini (sometime Mangin) Brown of
The fountain included a basin, with seated bronze statues representing the muses of
). The statue of Shakespeare was between the figures of Tragedy and Comedy, Milton between Tragedy and History, and Chaucer between Comedy and History.The structure was topped by a gilded statue above representing a winged Fame, holding a laurel and blowing a trumpet (also oriented to point towards Hyde Park). In all, it was about 26 feet (7.9 m) high. Thomas worked on Milton, and designed the bronze seated muse of Tragedy. The statues of Chaucer, the muse of Comedy and Fame were all done by Hamo. Hamo considered that the sculpture of Fame was his best public work.
The fountain was inaugurated on 9 July 1875, at the junction of Hamilton Place and (old) Park Lane. It suffered bomb damage during the Blitz and was removed in 1948, possibly as part of the proposals to widen Park Lane. Most parts are lost, believed to have been destroyed, but the statue of Fame was rescued by Osbert Sitwell. It is displayed in the garden at Renishaw Hall in Derbyshire, where it is known as the Angel of Fame; it was regilded in 2002.
References
- Edward Walford, 'Apsley House and Park Lane', in Old and New London: Volume 4 (London, 1878), pp. 359–375. British History Online [accessed 20 March 2018].
- The Invisible “Sculpteuse”: Sculptures by Women in the Nineteenth-century Urban Public Space—London, Paris, Brussels, Marjan Sterckx
- British Sculptors of the Twentieth Century, Alan Windsor
- Poets' Fountain, Exploring London
- Fountain (lost): Poets' Fountain – Chaucer, Shakespeare & Milton, London Remembers
- Details of work: Poets' fountain, A Biographical Dictionary of Sculptors in Britain, 1660–1851
- Details of Sculptor: Thomas Thornycroft, A Biographical Dictionary of Sculptors in Britain, 1660–1851
- Poets Fountain, Courtauld Institute of Art
- The Gardens at Renishaw, Derbyshire Life and Countryside, 25 July 2011
External links
- Garden Angel at Renishaw Hall, Getty Images
- Poets Fountain, Park Lane, Mayfair, Greater London, Historic England ViewFinder