Statue

This statue was commissioned by Cassell’s Publishers who moved into 35 Red Lion Square in the 1950s. The statue was on a platform at the front of the building. It was moved sometime after 1981 to Greycoat Place, Victoria and later to Villiers House, The Strand. Thought to have been sold at auction in 1996 and not heard of since.

Cassell's building, now (2019) occupied by the Royal College of Anaesthetists, is still there, on the north corner with Drake Street, as is the, now empty, platform on which Pocahontas disported herself. Most of this block had been destroyed by bombs in May 1941. The foundation stone of the new building at no 35, by Lander, Bells and Crompton, was laid by Sir Winston Churchill, 24 April 1956, and the building was named for him. We visited in 2019 and asked the reception staff if they knew where the foundation stone is. They were helpful but had no information. It certainly was not visible either on the exterior of the building or in the remodelled entrance foyer.

Cassells premises prior to moving to Red Lion Square: in 1851 Cassells rented part of an inn, La Belle Sauvage, where Pocahontas had stayed. The building was demolished in 1873 to make way for a railway viaduct. Cassells built new premises behind, but these were  destroyed in 1941 by WW2 bombing. We don't know where the firm was between 1941 and the 1950s.

2024: Pamela Green informs that the statue was commissioned by Cassell's "to replace Eric Gill’s 'little naked lady. with tiger skin and bow and arrows,' the house Colophon {emblem} lost when their former home in Belle Sauvage Yard was destroyed by German bombing." That site has another two photos of the statue and explains that McFall depicted Pocahontas looking at a tobacco plant as she came from Virginia.

2025: From an information board in the square: "In 1955-56, the ruins of 35 Red Lion Square were transformed by Lander, Bedells and Crompton into Churchill House, with Sir Winston Churchill laying the foundation stone on 23rd April 1956. Commissioned by Cassell's Publishers, the building was enhanced by a bronze statue of a reclining nude Pocahontas by the sculptor David McFall, cast by the Gaskin Foundry. 'La Belle Sauvage' remained on its purpose-built plinth at the front of No. 35 until the 1980s, when it was sold to a private buyer. In 2006, Churchill House was acquired by The Royal College of Anaesthetists, which also purchased No. 34 Red Lion Square in 2009. No. 34 was the former architectural offices of Richard Seifert and Partners, who are reputed to be responsible for more London buildings than Sir Christopher Wren, including Centre Point."