Statue

Imperial Hotel - statue 06 - Drake

Erection date: 1898

This statue is surely modelled on the Boehm statue of Drake erected at Tavistock with copies at Plymouth and elsewhere.

Site: Imperial Hotel - statues (21 memorials)

WC1, Russell Square

On this site there used to be a sister hotel to Hotel Russell, also designed by Charles Fitzroy Doll and erected in 1898. It was demolished in the 1960's and all that remains are these statues from the Turkish baths (on that page there is a photograph of them in their original location), bells and a galleon that now adorn the central courtyard of the current hotel.
Two groups of statues line the entrance to the underground car-park. There are six life-size, scantily clad allegorical women, two of them clutch books helpfully entitled "Literature" and "Chemistry"; one clutches a mask - indicating "Theatre" but the other three aren't telling. .And there are these 21 Tudor characters, each about 2 foot tall. The 5 bells, in decreasing size are embossed: United Kingdom MCMXII {1912}, India, Canada, Australia, South Africa. The bells and the galleon are on the casino facade. This facade also has a large, working, clock and at the centre of the courtyard there is a fountain, also working. These last two features date with the current building rather than with the statues.

The statues, created for display inside the Turkish baths, are not responding well to the exterior British climate. A layer of paint (possibly intended as protection) is peeling off and they are looking rather sorry for themselves.

Of the 21 statues, 6 of them are repeated so there are 15 personages represented. We have done our best to identify them (poring over Tudor portraits) and have managed 6 with a fair degree of certainty but that leaves 9 un-identified.

Calling all Tudor historians - can you identify these people?

2014: Spitalfields Life reports on a reunion held in a function room at the Imperial Hotel, with lots of photos.  And in some of these photos you can see versions of these statues, in glass cases.   We made a fact-finding visit and located the room as the Elizabethan Restaurant".  The statues are in much better condition than those out on the car-park ramp but there is no additional information: no labels and no sculptor's name on the statues, as far as we could see.

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:
Imperial Hotel - statue 06 - Drake

Subjects commemorated i

Sir Francis Drake

Sea captain, explorer and pirate. Born in Crowndale, near Tavistock, Devon. H...

Read More

This section lists the subjects who helped to create/erect the memorial on this page:
Imperial Hotel - statue 06 - Drake

Created by i

Imperial Hotel, Russell Square

Designed by Charles Fitzroy Doll.  The picture was taken in 1913 after the co...

Read More

This section lists the other memorials at the same location as the memorial on this page:
Imperial Hotel - statue 06 - Drake

Also at this site i

Imperial Hotel - statue 01 - Cromwell

Imperial Hotel - statue 01 - Cromwell

The fur collar, the cap . . . Surely this statue is the man in the Cromwell p...

Read More

Imperial Hotel - statue 02 - Shakespeare

Imperial Hotel - statue 02 - Shakespeare

Beard, balding head . . and the stance and outfit are very similar to those o...

Read More

Imperial Hotel - statue 03 - Elizabeth I

Imperial Hotel - statue 03 - Elizabeth I

Unmistakably Queen Elizabeth I.

Read More

Nearby Memorials

Frieze of Parnassus - Beethoven

Frieze of Parnassus - Beethoven

SW7, Kensington Road

The monument, officially titled the Prince Consort National Memorial, celebrates Victorian achievement and Prince Albert's passions and i...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Burlington House - Michelangelo

Burlington House - Michelangelo

W1, Piccadilly, Royal Academy

This building is commonly known as the Royal Academy (of Arts). The wings of the building are occupied by a number of learned societies, ...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
President Reagan statue

President Reagan statue

W1, Grosvenor Square

Don't know about you but we find this type of inscription very tedious, and suspect a committee, probably more than one, has had a hand i...

2 subjects commemorated, 17 creators
Sigmund Freud statue

Sigmund Freud statue

NW3, Fitzjohn's Avenue, Tavistock Clinic

Nemon sculpted Freud for this statue in 1931 in Vienna and there it was intended to be erected. Both subject and sculptor fled from the N...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Prince Albert - Holborn

Prince Albert - Holborn

EC1, Holborn Circus

Prince Albert, dressed as a field marshal, doffs his hat to the passing traffic in a very jaunty way. This bronze statue is the City of L...

3 subjects commemorated, 1 creator

Previously viewed

John Donne

John Donne

Poet and clergyman.  Born in Bread Street into a literate Catholic family (connected to Sir Thomas More) at a time when the Catholic religion was banned. Appointed private secretary to Sir Thomas E...

Person, Poetry

1 memorial
John Bright

John Bright

Politician.  Worked closely with Richard Cobden in the campaign for the repeal of the Corn Laws.  As a Quaker he was opposed to inequalities between individuals and groups; as a member of a mill-ow...

Person, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Thomas Charles Aldsworth

Thomas Charles Aldsworth

Auxiliary fireman killed in an air raid on Poplar

Person, Emergency Services

War dead non-military, WW2
1 memorial