Statue

V&A façade - Gibbons

Erection date: 1909

Inscription

Grinlg. Gibbons

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!

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This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
V&A façade - Gibbons

Subjects commemorated i

Grinling Gibbons

Born Rotterdam. Wood carver and sculptor. Other works in London: a marble fon...

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

Created by i

W. S. Frith

Sculptor. William Silver Frith. Born Leicester. Other London work: Metropolit...

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

Also at this site i

Nearby Memorials

Henry Purcell statue

Henry Purcell statue

SW1, Broadway

The form of the statue is similar to that of the 'Green Man' carvings in churches.

1 subject commemorated, 3 creators
St John of Wapping  - charity girl

St John of Wapping - charity girl

E1, Scandrett Street, 6 - 8

2 subjects commemorated
Jose de San Martin statue

Jose de San Martin statue

SW1, Belgrave Square, Opposite Halkin Street

The statue is behind a locked gate, so we cannot tell if there is an inscription on the plinth at the rear.

1 subject commemorated, 6 creators
Deus Lunus

Deus Lunus

SE18, Number 1 Street, Woolwich Arsenal

This badly deteriorated statue could be anyone. We have found a reference to it as a statue of a barbarian. It was dug up by British troo...

1 subject commemorated
Frieze of Parnassus - Homer

Frieze of Parnassus - Homer

SW7, Kensington Road

The monument, officially titled the Prince Consort National Memorial, celebrates Victorian achievement and Prince Albert's passions and i...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator