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

V&A façade - Jones

V&A façade - Jones

SW7, Cromwell Road

Excluding the allegories (such as Knowledge) there are 36 statues on the two public façades of the V&A Museum, on Exhibition Road and...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Frieze of Parnassus - Reynolds

Frieze of Parnassus - Reynolds

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
Frieze of Parnassus - Grinling Gibbons

Frieze of Parnassus - Grinling Gibbons

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
FCO - D unknown

FCO - D unknown

SW1, Horse Guards Road, Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The Foreign Office was completed in 1873 to the 1861 designs of Sir George Gilbert Scott, with Sir Matthew Digby Wyatt for the St James’s...

Burlington House courtyard  - Joshua Reynolds

Burlington House courtyard - Joshua Reynolds

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, 2 creators

Previously viewed

Sir Christopher Wren

Sir Christopher Wren

Born East Knoyle, Wiltshire, died London.  Designer of 54 London churches, of which 13 were destroyed in the Blitz. Part of one of his churches, St Antholin, has ended up in an unexpected location...

Person, Architecture, Race Issues, Seriously Famous

38 memorials
John Bell

John Bell

Sculptor. Born Norfolk though his family home was in Suffolk. On the Albert Memorial the America group is his. Died at home at 15 Douro Place, Victoria Road, Kensington.

Person, Sculpture

2 memorials
Shakespeare's Head

Shakespeare's Head

W1, Carnaby Street, Shakespeare's Head pub

At one time the pub was owned by Thomas and John Shakespeare, who liked to think they were related to the man himself. The statue dates ...

1 subject commemorated
Freemason VCs - W5 - Hanna, Herring, Huffam

Freemason VCs - W5 - Hanna, Herring, Huffam

WC2, Great Queen Street, Freemasons' Hall

The Freemasons commissioned this memorial to mark the 300th anniversary of The United Grand Lodge of England in 2017 and the centenary of...

War served | WW1
4 subjects commemorated