Bust

Somerset House - 3, Queen Charlotte

Site: Somerset House - 3 portrait relief heads (3 memorials)

WC2, Strand, Somerset House - Strand Block

The three central first floor windows of the Strand Block of Somerset House are each topped, below their pediment, with a relief portrait.  Who are these characters?  We’d put money on the left-hand relief representing King George III.  He was reigning all the time that this building was in construction, 1776 – 1780.  And surely one of the two ladies is Queen Charlotte, his queen from 1761 until her death in 1818.  The relief to the right looks most like other portraits of her so we plump for that one.  And the lady in the middle?  So weather-beaten that her two companion lions are crestfallen at the state of her.  The royal couple had six daughters but the oldest was only 14 in 1780, surely too young.  George III’s mother had died in 1772 so it’s unlikely to be her.  Truly we have no idea and would be pleased to hear from anyone with some knowledge. We might even be wrong about all three.

Candidates for the sculptor of these 3 portrait reliefs are: Agostino Carlini and Giuseppe Ceracchi. They both worked on this facade as detailed at Ornamental Passions.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
Somerset House - 3, Queen Charlotte

Subjects commemorated i

Queen Charlotte

Charlotte Sophia, Princess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz married King George III i...

Read More

This section lists the other memorials at the same location as the memorial on this page:
Somerset House - 3, Queen Charlotte

Also at this site i

Nearby Memorials

Grosvenor Hotel - head 10

Grosvenor Hotel - head 10

SW1, Buckingham Palace Road, Grosvenor Hotel

This 1860 building, by architect James Knowles Snr, is studded with many portrait busts of which we believe only these 14 are representat...

Sir Simon Milton relief

Sir Simon Milton relief

W1, Piccadilly, One Eagle Place

The background depicts a few buildings and we can all ID City Hall. For the others we rely on the ever-informative Ornamental Passions. ...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
William Hogarth bust

William Hogarth bust

WC2, Leicester Square

All four of the Leicester Square busts were removed in the 2010-12 redesign, and we don't know where they went.

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Edward VI at the Bull & Mouth

Edward VI at the Bull & Mouth

EC1, London Wall, Rotunda garden at Museum of London

This bust is at the top of the memorial along with the arms of Christ's Hospital, which Edward founded. The land belonged to Christ's Hos...

2 subjects commemorated
RIPWC - Barret

RIPWC - Barret

W1, Piccadilly, 192-196

The building by E. R. Robson was erected for the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colour, founded in 1831 (the crest in the centre of...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator