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Dublin - Baile Átha Cliath
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Parliament Street / Essex Quay, D2
(Sunlight Chambers)

History of Cleaning Clothes and Other Activities

Edward Ould & Conrad Dressler
1902

Description

Sunlight Chambers, a commercial office building, was designed by architect Edward Ould in an Italianate style and was named after Lever Brothers' Sunlight detergent brand. The building is marked by faience panels that depict 'History of Cleaning Clothes etc' or 'History of Soap Production'. However, this is not entirely accurate. The lower frieze shows the different ways of cleaning clothes, the upper frieze different human activities such as field bolting, fishing and bridge building. Between the various panels are allegorical female figures, most of which are not clear what they represent. Finally, there are four medallions with bust portraits of women, one of which is recognised as the sculptor's wife.
They are designed by Dressler and made at his Medmenham Pottery in Buckinghamshire.

Upper frieze: Different human activities

Dublin - Baile Átha Cliath - History of Cleaning Clothes etc
Early arable farming.
Harvesting fruit and felling trees.

Transport by horse and cart.
Masonry construction of a bridge

Arable farming with a horse-drawn plough.
Fishing.

Lower frieze: History of Cleaning Clothes

Dublin - Baile Átha Cliath - History of Cleaning Clothes etc
Drying laundry on tree branches.
Folding and storing clothing.

Water supply with a donkey cart.
Getting water from a masonry well.

Washing clothes in a river.
Washing clothes with hot water in a washtub.

Allegorical figures

Upper frieze:

Dublin - Baile Átha Cliath - History of Cleaning Clothes etc
Woman pouring wine, with a foot on a skull.
Woman with cornucopia
Woman with sword.

Lower Frieze:

Dublin - Baile Átha Cliath - History of Cleaning Clothes etc
Woman with grapes.
Women with scales and sword: Justice

Bust portraits of women

Dublin - Baile Átha Cliath - History of Cleaning Clothes etc
Nita Maria Schonfeld Resch (Budapest 1864 - Cleveland OH 1928), the artist's wife.

Sculptors

Conrad D'Huc Dressler (London 1856 - Saint-Brévin l'Océan, Loire, 1940), British sculptor (Wikipedia – M.H. Spielmann, British sculpture and sculptors of today, 1901).
Edward Ould (1852 - 1909), English architect (Wikipedia).

Sources & Information

Neal Doherty, The Complete Guide to the Statues and Sculptures of Dublin City (Blackrock: Orpen Press, 2015), no. C22.
Wikipedia, List of public art in Dublin.
Wikipedia, Sunlight Chambers, Dublin.
Robert Prescott Walker, 'Conrad Dressler and the Medmenham Pottery'. The Journal of the Decorative Arts Society 1850 - the Present, No. 18, omnium gatherum (1994), pp. 50-60.
Archiseek, 1902 - Sunlight Chambers, Parliament Street, Dublin.
The Victorian Web, "The History of Hygiene," Sunlight House, Dublin, by Conrad Dressler.

Locatie (N 53°20'43" - W 6°16'3") (Satellite view: Google Maps)

Item Code: ie350; Photograph: 21 June 2023
Of each statue we made photos from various angles and also detail photos of the various texts.
If you want to use photos, please contact us via the contact form (in Dutch, English or German).
© Website and photos: René & Peter van der Krogt

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Early arable farming.	Harvesting fruit and felling trees.
Transport by horse and cart.	Masonry construction of a bridge
Arable farming with a horse-drawn plough.	Fishing.

Drying laundry on tree branches.	Folding and storing clothing.
Water supply with a donkey cart.	Getting water from a masonry well.
Washing clothes in a river.	Washing clothes with hot water in a washtub.