Bust: Hoe Street - medallion of a hatless man
Site: 3 unidentified medallion portraits (3 memorials)
E17, Hoe Street, 105
This shop front has, like a lot of shop fronts of this period, atop the flanking pillars, decorative capitals and corbels. On this shop front amongst the usual foliage we find three portrait reliefs. The woman looks like an off the shelf item. The other two look, well, being kind, hand-made by someone not practiced at modelling the human visage. In summary:
Left:
Above the corbel: '1902'
On the corbel: medallion portrait of a woman surrounded by rose leaves and a bloom.
On the capital: medallion portrait of a man with a hat surrounded by oak leaves and acorns.
Right:
Above the corbel: 'AD'
On the corbel: medallion portrait of a hatless man surrounded by three-leaved clover.
On the capital: fruit
At one stage we thought the two on the left might represent Queen Victoria (d.1901) and Prince Albert Victor (d.1892) just because the 1902 date would make sense, but the woman's headdress has a medieval look which rather suggests the portrait is purely decorative, not representing any individual.
