Statues - Hither & Thither

 

Description

The Royal Insurance Building has allegorical group over the main entrance in North John Street and figurative friezes in North John Street (one panel), Dale Street (three panels) and Princes Street (one panel).

Allegorical group: Royalty with Kingly Power and Honour supported hy Plenty and Justice. Justice is represented by a young boy (!) with sword and scales.

Princes Street:

The Benefits Derived from Life Insurance. The central figure is Wisdom, she comforts a widow and holds out a book for a youth to read. To the left stands a man with a scythe and a sheaf of corn: thus, heeding Wisdom's counsel leads to material abundance. On the right side are a frail old man and a naked (= helpless) young boy whom Wisdom has entrusted to the care of Commerce, a woman carriing a sailing ship.

Dale Street:

The Sciences, showing those sciences that have minimised the risks to, and assisted the development of, the various forms of business which rely on Insurance. The central figure is Biology; to her left are Chemistry and Electricity, and to her right Mathematics and Engineering.	Mercury stretching his arms out to control the flow of water from four uptilted urns held by the Powers of Nature.
The Fine Arts, Music and Drama. In the centre Genius, Minerva-like figure, on the left side stand figures representing music and drama, and on the right painting and architecture.

North John Street:

The Direct and Indirect Results of Fire Insurance. In the centre Invention, offering to the fireman on her left a model of a fire-engine with which to protect the property of the Church - symbolised by a choirboy with a church and and a bishop - and of the town - the mayor with a model of the Town Hall. On the left a fireman carries an infant on his right arm, while its mother leans against his shoulder for support. He reaches past the mother to take a model of an extending ladder from Invention.

Sculptor

• Charles John Allen (1862-1956), British sculptor, a figure in the New Sculpture movement (Wikipedia).

Sources & Information

• Wikipedia, Royal Insurance Building, Liverpool.
• Terry Cavanagh, Public Sculpture of Liverpool. Liverpool University Press, 1997, pp. 120-121.
• The Victorian Web, Charles John Allen (1862-1956).

Tags

Locatie (N 53°24'27" - W 2°59'20") (Satellite view: Google Maps)

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