Statue

V&A façade - Bacon

Erection date: 1909

Inscription

John Bacon

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!

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

Subjects commemorated i

John Bacon the Elder

Awarded the first gold medal for sculpture by the Royal Academy in 1769. Othe...

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

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 - Bacon

Also at this site i

V&A façade - Chippendale

V&A façade - Chippendale

Not sure whether the statue represents junior or senior.

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Nearby Memorials

Frieze of Parnassus - Roubiliac

Frieze of Parnassus - Roubiliac

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The monument, commissioned by Queen Victoria and designed by George Gilbert Scott, was built 1864-72, and the statue of Albert was instal...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Richard Green

Richard Green

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1st Guards

1st Guards

W1, Hyde Park Corner

Unusually the model for this statue is known: Webber. Our thanks to his great grandson, Simon North, for letting us know.

1 subject commemorated, 3 creators
Colonial Office - S02 - Russell

Colonial Office - S02 - Russell

SW1, Whitehall, Foreign Office

Statues Hither and Thither has been invaluable in identifying some of the busts and most of the statues. The statues are not labelled and...

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Henry VIII statue

Henry VIII statue

EC1, West Smithfield, St Bartholomew's Hospital

This is apparently the only statue of King Henry the VIII on public display in London It was erected in this new gatehouse in 1702 to ack...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator