Statues - Hither & Thither

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Eastgate / Priory gate

Alfred Tennyson

Somersby, Lincolnshire, 1809 - Lurgashall, Sussex, 1892
English poet; the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign
(Wikipedia)

George Frederic Watts
1905

Description

In a biography of Watts, an author describes the infinished statue (as quoted in the Lincolnshire Echo):

At the time I write, there is standing at the end of the garden at Limmerslease, a vast shed, used for a kind of sculptor's studio, in which there stands a splendid but unfinished statue, on which the veteran of the arts is even now at work. It represents Tennyson, wrapped in his famous mantle, with his magnificent head bowed, gasing at something in the hollow of his hand. The subject is 'Flower in the Crannied Wall.' There is something very characteristic of Watts in the contrast between the colossal of the figure and the smallness of the central object.

Nothing is said about the dog. Another newspaper wrote "The great shaggy wolfhound at his feet only accentuates the total impression of grace and strength."

The statue was unveiled by Lady Brownlow ( Lady Adelaide Chetwynd-Talbot), the wife of Adelbert Brownlow-Cust, 3rd Earl Brownlow, Lord Lieutenant of Lincolnshire, on 15 July 1905.

Inscription(s)

TENNYSON

flower in the crannied wall,
i pluck you out of the crannies,
i hold you here, root and all, in my hand,
little flower - but if i could understand
what you are, root and all, and all in all,
i should know what god and man is.

restoration was cartied oud in 1970
through the generosity of
mrs. maud scorer and mrs. edyth cowan
who commissioned the work in memory of
their late husbands, mr. eric scorer, clerk
of the peace and mr. a.f. cowan, f.r.c.s.(ed)
the statue is now in the care of
lincoln corporation.

"over all one statue in the mould
of arthur made by merlin"
alfred lord tennysin p.l.
born 1809 - died 1892
george frederick watts o.m: r.a.
born 1817 - died 1904

Sculptor

George Frederic Watts (Marylebone 1817 - London 1904),
British painter and sculptor (Wikipedia).

Sources & Information

Lincolnshire Echo, 23 April 1904; Sheffield Daily Telegraph, 17 July 1905; Dundee Evening Telegraph, 20 July 1905 (British Newspaper Archive).

Locatie (N 53°14'6" - W 0°32'7") (Satellite view: Google Maps)

Item Code: gbem062; Photograph: 26 June 2023
Of each statue we made photos from various angles and also detail photos of the various texts.
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© Website and photos: René & Peter van der Krogt

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