Bust

Caxton Hall - head 2 - Caxton

Normally both Chaucer and Caxton are shown with full beards but the facial hair on head number 6 looks slightly more like Chaucer's, which leaves this as Caxton. And we found one image of him beardless at Tenanbaum.

Site: Caxton Hall (12 memorials)

SW1, Caxton Street, 10, Caxton Hall

The foundation stone is low down at the right hand side of the building. Above each of the two statues is a bust, both of the Greek god variety rather than any particular mortal.

The 8 terracotta portraits, numbered left to right, are above the ground floor windows. We have identified 4 with varying degrees of confidence and we think the others probably include: John Locke, Isaac Newton, John Wesley. But with only hair style, facial hair and collars to go on it's just a guessing game. Have a go, bearing in mind that you are looking for men considered laudable in 1882. And dead - we don't think living men were ever honoured in this way.

Sorry our photos are not too good, but then, we have to say, the terracotta portraits are not the best quality themselves, though not as bad as this one.

Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
Caxton Hall - head 2 - Caxton

Subjects commemorated i

William Caxton

Probably born Tenterden, Kent. Printer, in 1474, producing the first book pr...

Read More

This section lists the other memorials at the same location as the memorial on this page:
Caxton Hall - head 2 - Caxton

Also at this site i

Caxton Hall - foundation stone

Caxton Hall - foundation stone

The Town Hall Westminster This foundation stone was laid March 29th 1882 by t...

Read More

Caxton Hall - head 1 - Milton

Caxton Hall - head 1 - Milton

But look at head 8 too, that's also a candidate for Milton.

Read More

Caxton Hall - head 4 - unidentified

Caxton Hall - head 4 - unidentified

Possibly John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester. His hat is spot on (possibly sta...

Read More

Nearby Memorials

Roundel 4

Roundel 4

EC2, King Street, 28

These roundels, below the second floor windows, are numbered from the left. Under other windows are: "T. C. C.", "1868", "H.H.". Number ...

Colonial Office - B01 - Henry II

Colonial Office - B01 - Henry II

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...

1 subject commemorated, 2 creators
ICI - 2 - Mendeleeff

ICI - 2 - Mendeleeff

SW1, Millbank, 9, Imperial Chemical House

For an idea of what this area used to be like see this 1894ish map. It was all redeveloped following the 1928 flood. This block was desig...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
12 Croydon - Lord Tennyson

12 Croydon - Lord Tennyson

CR9, Katharine Street, Croydon Public Library

Built in 1892 by Charles Henman Jr. this heavily decorated group of buildings makes up Croydon's Municipal buildings complex. The buildin...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
William Whiteley - bust

William Whiteley - bust

KT12, Whiteley Village

The Listing text says the statue and the relief are of copper, not the more usual bronze. The front of the plinth below the seated lady s...

2 subjects commemorated, 1 creator

Previously viewed

Sir Edward Henry

Sir Edward Henry

Metropolitan Police Commissioner 1903 - 1918, pioneer of fingerprint identification and saw the introduction of dogs into the force. Born Shadwell. Trained for the Indian Civil Service and went th...

Person, Armed Forces, Indian Sub-continent

1 memorial
Palace Gates Line

Palace Gates Line

The line was constructed by the Great Eastern Railway with a temporary terminus at Noel Park and Wood Green before being opened to Palace Gates. A connection to Bowes Park on the Hertford Loop Line...

Place, Transport

1 memorial
South African War

South African War

N5, Highbury Fields

We are told by the people at The Register of the Anglo-Boer War that this war actually ended on 31 May 1902. The memorial gives 1903 as t...

War dead | Other war
111 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
John Beaufoy Randall
War dead, WW1
1 memorial
Caesar Czarnikow

Caesar Czarnikow

Sugar broker. Born Carl Julius Caesar Czarnikow in Sondershausen, Germany. He came to Britain in 1854, and established his sugar brokerage firm, C. Czarnikow, in 1862, which by the time of his deat...

Person, Commerce, Germany

1 memorial