Statue

V&A façade - Caxton

Erection date: 1909

Inscription

William Caxton

Site: Victoria & Albert Museum façade (38 memorials)

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 Cromwell Road. This building was designed by Aston Webb and built 1899-1909. Each statue has the subject's name on a label beneath the feet and the sculptor's name inscribed in the wall of the niche to the right of the statue. Starting in Cromwell Road and reading right to left:

Group of 6 British architects:
Chas. Barry
W. Chambers
Chrisr. Wren
Inigo Jones
John Thorpe
Wykeham

Group of 5 British painters:
J. E. Millais
Ld. Leighton
G. F. Watts
J. Constable
J. M. W. Turner

And flanking the entrance:
Queen Alexandra (to the right)
King Edward VII (to the left)

Albert (below the arch)
Victoria (in the arch)

On either side of the arch, at eye level there is a foundation stone:
Stone laid by Edward VII (to the right)
Stone laid by Victoria (to the left)

Group of 5 British painters:
R. Cosway
G. Romney
T. Gainsborough
J. Reynolds
W. Hogarth

Group of 6 British sculptors:
Alfred Stevens
John H. Foley
F. L. Chantrey
John Flaxman
John Bacon
Grinlg. Gibbons

And around the corner in Exhibition Road:

Group of 5 British craftsmen:
William Morris
Roger Payne
J. Wedgwood
T. Chippendale
Thos. Tompion

Group of 5 British craftsmen:
Huntingn. Shaw
George Heriot
William Caxton
William Torel
St. Dunstan

Note that there are more Johns than women but that's not difficult since, excluding royalty, there are no women!

This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
V&A façade - Caxton

Subjects commemorated i

William Caxton

Probably born Tenterden, Kent. Printer, in 1474, producing the first book pr...

Read More

This section lists the subjects who helped to create/erect the memorial on this page:
V&A façade - Caxton

Created by i

Paul Raphael Montford

Sculptor. Born in Kentish Town to father Horace. Other works in London: Batte...

Read More

This section lists the other memorials at the same location as the memorial on this page:
V&A façade - Caxton

Also at this site i

V&A façade - Chippendale

V&A façade - Chippendale

Not sure whether the statue represents junior or senior.

Read More

Nearby Memorials

Frieze of Parnassus - Michelangelo - painter

Frieze of Parnassus - Michelangelo - painter

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
Edward VII statue on Caxton Hall

Edward VII statue on Caxton Hall

SW1, Caxton Street, 10, Caxton Hall

The foundation stone is low down at the right hand side of the building. Above each of the two statues is a bust, both of the Greek god v...

1 subject commemorated
Queen Anne statue, St Paul's

Queen Anne statue, St Paul's

EC4, St Paul's Churchyard

The 4 female figures around the base represent: Britannia, France, America, Ireland. It was during Queen Anne's reign that the rebuildin...

1 subject commemorated, 6 creators
Abraham Lincoln statue

Abraham Lincoln statue

SW1, Parliament Square, Canning Green

Copy of the statue in Lincoln Park, Chicago (other copies being in Mexico City, Los Angeles and Cambridge, Mass.).  This is not the first...

1 subject commemorated, 2 creators
Jenner statue

Jenner statue

W2, Kensington Gardens, Italian Garden

This statue was unveiled by Prince Albert in 1858 in Trafalgar Square. It was moved to Kensington Gardens (the first statue erected here)...

1 subject commemorated, 2 creators

Previously viewed

Captain John Smith

Captain John Smith

EC4, Bow Churchyard

We thank Jamie Davis for finding this link to the British Pathe news film of the unveiling, where we note that the statue is veiled by a ...

2 subjects commemorated, 5 creators
Frederick Neuner

Frederick Neuner

N8, The Broadway

There is a clock dial on each of the four facades, and they are all working - August 2004 anyway. Above each dial is inscribed "1895". B...

1 subject commemorated
Dick Whittington

Dick Whittington

Born in Pauntley, Gloucestershire, second son of a wealthy man. Thrice Lord Mayor of London: 1397, 1406 and 1420 (actually four times but two were consecutive). Three times Master of the Mercers' C...

Person, Literature, Lord Mayor, Politics & Administration, Theatre

8 memorials
Shakespeare - EC2

Shakespeare - EC2

EC2, Noble Street, St Olave's churchyard, Silver Street

Unveiled by actor Fiona Shaw to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's birth.

2 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
Thomas Hancock

Thomas Hancock

Inventor and founder of the British rubber industry.  Born Wiltshire.  After schooling he moved to London and is recorded in1815 as a coach builder in Pulteney Street with a shop in St James's Stre...

Person, Science

1 memorial