Bust

These 4 portrait medallions are above the ground floor windows. We have numbered them left to right (west to east); two men and two women, from their costumes, c.1500-1700. But are they portraits or generic ornamental heads? Nowhere can we find any serious discussion on these heads, let alone identifications.

British Architects inform that this 1880 building, designed by Thomas Chatfeild Clarke (note the unusual spelling), was commissioned by the London and Lancashire Life Assurance Company.

Claxity examine this Listed Grade II building closely but make no comment on the relief heads. "The current building was commissioned by the London & Lancashire Life Assurance Co. which was based here until the late 1920s.  This company operated under various guises from 1862 to 2007, having been absorbed the Commercial Union in 1968. From 1930 to 1958, this building housed the London offices of the Yorkshire Insurance Company and was known as York House.  Established in 1824 and trading for much of its history under the emblem of York Minster, it was absorbed in 1968 by General Accident assurance.  The descendants of both those insurers ultimately have flowed into the Aviva insurance conglomerate."

in June 2021, thinking that the heads looked like copies of paintings, we asked the National Portrait Gallery if they could help. They kindly replied, saying that none of the heads were familiar to them.

We have to assume that the lack of any information identifying the heads probably means they are not intended to be identifiable portraits. But let us know if you think differently.

The building's left-most bay is built over a passageway into Sun Court. Hanging above the entrance to this passage is a bright sign, showing our Head 3 and 'Sun Court'.  Just a graphical whim or a choice that means something?