Statue

V&A façade - Chambers

Erection date: 1909

Inscription

W. Chambers

Site: Victoria & Albert Museum façade (38 memorials)

SW7, Cromwell Road

Excluding the allegories (such as Knowledge) there are 36 statues on the two public façades of the V&A Museum, on Exhibition Road and Cromwell Road. This building was designed by Aston Webb and built 1899-1909. Each statue has the subject's name on a label beneath the feet and the sculptor's name inscribed in the wall of the niche to the right of the statue. Starting in Cromwell Road and reading right to left:

Group of 6 British architects:
Chas. Barry
W. Chambers
Chrisr. Wren
Inigo Jones
John Thorpe
Wykeham

Group of 5 British painters:
J. E. Millais
Ld. Leighton
G. F. Watts
J. Constable
J. M. W. Turner

And flanking the entrance:
Queen Alexandra (to the right)
King Edward VII (to the left)

Albert (below the arch)
Victoria (in the arch)

On either side of the arch, at eye level there is a foundation stone:
Stone laid by Edward VII (to the right)
Stone laid by Victoria (to the left)

Group of 5 British painters:
R. Cosway
G. Romney
T. Gainsborough
J. Reynolds
W. Hogarth

Group of 6 British sculptors:
Alfred Stevens
John H. Foley
F. L. Chantrey
John Flaxman
John Bacon
Grinlg. Gibbons

And around the corner in Exhibition Road:

Group of 5 British craftsmen:
William Morris
Roger Payne
J. Wedgwood
T. Chippendale
Thos. Tompion

Group of 5 British craftsmen:
Huntingn. Shaw
George Heriot
William Caxton
William Torel
St. Dunstan

Note that there are more Johns than women but that's not difficult since, excluding royalty, there are no women!

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:
V&A façade - Chambers

Subjects commemorated i

Sir William Chambers

Architect. Though born in Gothenburg, Sweden where his father was a merchant,...

Read More

This section lists the subjects who helped to create/erect the memorial on this page:
V&A façade - Chambers

Created by i

Gilbert Bayes

Born 6 Oval Road, Camden Town. Also did the bronze group with clock at the en...

Read More

This section lists the other memorials at the same location as the memorial on this page:
V&A façade - Chambers

Also at this site i

V&A façade - Chippendale

V&A façade - Chippendale

Not sure whether the statue represents junior or senior.

Read More

Nearby Memorials

Sir Charles Napier statue

Sir Charles Napier statue

WC2, Trafalgar Square

Criticised at the time as the "worst piece of sculpture in England".

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
FCO - D unknown

FCO - D unknown

SW1, Horse Guards Road, Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The Foreign Office was completed in 1873 to the 1861 designs of Sir George Gilbert Scott, with Sir Matthew Digby Wyatt for the St James’s...

James II statue

James II statue

WC2, Trafalgar Square, National Gallery front garden

Sculpted by Grinling Gibbons or one of his pupils this is considered a very fine statue. It is a pair with that of Charles II, James's br...

1 subject commemorated, 2 creators
Holborn Viaduct - Walworth

Holborn Viaduct - Walworth

EC4, Holborn Viaduct

The sword he sports represents the one which removed Tyler's head, the original of which (the sword, not the head) is on display at the F...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Robert Bentley Todd

Robert Bentley Todd

SE5, Bessemer Road, King's College Hospital

The statue was originally erected in the great hall of the old King's College Hospital, near Lincoln's Inn Fields. and then in 1863, move...

2 subjects commemorated, 1 creator