Statues - Hither & Thither |
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Bath
Somerset South West England Orange Grove |
Rebecca Fountain |
Various sculptors
1861 and 1986 |
Marble statue of a woman in Eastern costume, pouring water from a pitcher into a bowl supported by pillars and carries the inscription 'WATER IS BEST'. The bowl stands on a pedestal in which a niche in which a small bronze sitting angel is placed holding a bag spouting water. This statuette is dated 1986.
There was a controversy about the sculptor. In the article about the inauguration is written "the modelling and cutting had been performed by Mr. Shepherd, of the Kingston Marble Works, and his able assistant Mr. Walker.' At the weekly meeting of the Bath City Act Committee of 15 July "a letter was read from Mr. Sheppard, of the Kingston Marble Works, complaining that the name of Mr. Walker, who was employed by him to sculpture the figure of 'Rebecca,' had been placed upon the above fountain, whereas he considered that his (Mr. Sheppard's) name alone should have appeared. As the name of Mr. Walker was placed upon the fountain with the sanction of the Temperance Committee, by whom the structure was erected, the Board declined to intertere." Later, R. Walker advertises as being the 'the modeller and sculptor of Rebecca for the Temperance Society's drinking fountain.
On the pedestal:
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