Plaque

Cheyne Walk heads - More and Erasmus

No inscription remains legible but we believe we've found the painting used as the model for the head on the right and it's Erasmus.  So we are plumping for: More on the left and Erasmus on the right.

Site: Cheyne Walk - friendship (2 memorials)

SW3, Cheyne Walk, 15

Wikipedia has a page about this house which name-drops many celebrities but none of the 4 depicted in these sculptures. The sundial between these two double portrait plaques is headed "Lead kindly light", words from a Cardinal Newman hymn. Built c.1718 this house is Listed but the entry does not mention any of the items on the front elevation.

Then we found a detailed 2004 archaeological survey of the house which tells us that the portrait heads do not appear in a photograph of the house in the Survey of London (1909, plate 70) so they were erected after 1909, and also suggests that Lord Courtney erected them. That's the Liberal politician Lord Leonard Courtney of Penwith (1832-1918). He was in the house from about 1883 until his death and then his widow stayed until her death in 1929.

We then found the book Life of Lord Courtney by G. P. Gooch which says, in Courtney's widow's words, talking about the changes her husband made to this house: "Then came the sundial — an old one fixed on the front of the house. The motto on it was his choice — ' Lead, kindly light.' But his biggest venture was the two pairs of sculptured heads — Sir Thomas More and Erasmus on one panel, Carlyle and Mazzini on the other."

So that's the heads identified. Only two questions remain: who sculpted them? and why these 4 men rather than anyone else?  We cannot discover the name of the sculptor but the other question turns up an interesting result.

From Byronico we learn that Mazzini lived in a number of different Chelsea addresses at different times (although Cheyne Walk itself does not figure). He was good friends with Thomas Carlyle and would sometimes stay overnight at 24 Cheyne Row. Thomas More lived in Chelsea as is well-documented on about 6 other memorials to him in the area, and Erasmus was a good friend who stayed with him when in London.

So each panel shows the patriarch of a Chelsea household alongside a very good, foreign, friend who was often"put up" in that household.  This pair of paired portraits commemorates, not just 4 illustrious men of history, but also long-lasting male friendship across national borders.

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:
Cheyne Walk heads - More and Erasmus

Subjects commemorated i

Desiderius Erasmus

Catholic priest, social critic, teacher, and theologian. Born Rotterdam, date...

Read More

Sir Thomas More

Born Milk Street. In conflict with Henry VIII over religion he was imprisoned...

Read More

This section lists the other memorials at the same location as the memorial on this page:
Cheyne Walk heads - More and Erasmus

Also at this site i

Cheyne Walk heads - Carlyle and Mazzini

Cheyne Walk heads - Carlyle and Mazzini

Both Mazzini and Carlyle are almost always depicted with a beard but finally ...

Read More

Nearby Memorials

Boy and panyer

Boy and panyer

EC1, Panyer Alley

This naked boy sitting on his pannier (basket) is thought to refer to the bakers in the area selling their wares on the street from a bre...

1 subject commemorated
T. A. Greeves

T. A. Greeves

W4, Newton Grove, 12

T.A. Greeves, 1917 - 1997, architect & artist co-founder of the Bedford Park Society, lived here. Bedford Park Society

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Roman numerals at Christies

Roman numerals at Christies

SW1, King Street, 5

Having been walked on for many decades the plaque is very worn but with David Hopkins' help we believe we now have it transcribed correct...

1 subject commemorated
Kilburn Bridge

Kilburn Bridge

NW6, Kilburn High Road, Kilburn Bridge

The low rise terrace of shops on the west side of Kilburn High Road, immediately north of Coventry Close are addressed 1-12 Kilburn Bridg...

1 subject commemorated
Bradley Lynch

Bradley Lynch

E2, Morpeth Street, Bradley Lynch Court

{Beneath the London Borough of Tower Hamlets crest:} Bradley Lynch 1972 - 1988 Bradley Lynch was a local youth who died at the age of 16 ...

1 subject commemorated, 2 creators

Previously viewed

J. R. Hall

J. R. Hall

J. Lyons & Co. Ltd. staff member who died in WW2.

Person, Armed Forces

War dead, WW2
1 memorial
John Sparkes

John Sparkes

Principal of the Lambeth School of Arts 1858 - 1900. Born as John Charles Lewis Sparkes in Brixton. Began teaching at Lambeth in 1857. Cultivated a special relationship between the school and Doult...

Person, Art, Education, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Surrey Docks fire - first bomb of the Blitz

Surrey Docks fire - first bomb of the Blitz

SE16, Surrey Quays Road, Dock Offices

EU Today writes: "The first bomb of the London blitz landed on the Dockyard Offices on the periphery of what is now the car park for Surr...

4 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
Ronald Falk

Ronald Falk

Born Australia. Actor. We are really only guessing that this is the Ronald Falk on the list of donors for the Olivier statue. We published this item in October 2010. Our colleague, Andrew Behan, h...

Person, Benefactor, Cinema, Theatre, TV & Radio, Australia

1 memorial
Hern or Hurn Cross - Croydon

Hern or Hurn Cross - Croydon

CR0, South End, 1, The Edge Public House

{Beneath a Maltese cross:} Hern or Hurn Cross Near here once stood one of the four manorial boundary crosses of old Croydon. The other cr...

4 subjects commemorated, 2 creators