Person    | Male  Born 1844  Died /12/1930

J. Starkie Gardner

Sculptor of, and historian on, decorative ironwork. Also wrote on geology and botany and collected fossils. His company, based in Lambeth, did all the metal work at 2 Temple Place, inside and out, including the weather vane, the railings and the bulldog sign (*). Metalworker to King Edward VII for whom he made gates for Holyrood Palace. More details at GLIAS. We could not find a picture of Gardner so here is a picture of one of his books.

* The Victorian Web says that Gardner did the bulldog sign on the exterior. But via Facebook Tessa Stevenson has pointed out that the Bulldog Trust only took on the building in 1999. Looking at the sign (Victorian Web has a photo) the dog itself bears no Gardner traits while the bracket and the arch above the dog are very Gardner. Tessa has tracked down some facts and we find the results of her research convincing:
The original building had carved urns and Astor's armorial shield over an elaborate pair of iron gates with decorated piers, but no ornamental sign (see the 1920s photo from the Astor sale catalogue, reproduced in ‘Two Temple Place’ by Barbara Bryant ISBN 978-0-9570628-2-5 page 25). In the 1920s the Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada, who owned the building 1919-28, commissioned Gardner to create an ornamental sign (ibid page 86), presumably the insignia of the company. This was then replaced by the Society of Incorporated Accountants when they purchased the building in 1928 (see the pamphlet ‘Incorporated Accountants Hall, Its History and Architecture’ by J R Willis Alexander, 1935 edition, pages 15 and 16). Seems likely that they kept Gardner's bracket/arch and just replaced the sign. And that the Bulldog Trust did the same when they took over in 1999.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials created by the subject on this page:
J. Starkie Gardner

Creations i

Sante Maria weather vane

Made of beaten copper.  War-damaged in 1944 it was restored and re-erected in...

Read More

Other Subjects

Basketmakers Company

Basketmakers Company

Established by an Order of the Court at Aldermen on 22 September 1569, a Royal Charter being granted in 1937. Today it supports the trade in this country and helps to foster links with the craft ac...

Group, Craft / Design, Liveries & Guilds, Politics & Administration

0 memorials
Buddy Bear

Buddy Bear

The Buddy Bear project was conceived in Berlin by Klaus and Eva Herlitz and Roman Stoblin (a bear was chosen as it is a symbol on the city's coat of arms). There are now similar statues in many cit...

Animal, Craft / Design, Germany

1 memorial
'Father' Henry Willis

'Father' Henry Willis

Organ builder. Born north-west London. His first London workshop was in Foundling Terrace, Gray's Inn Road. Then when he got the commission to build the large organ for the Great Exhibition he move...

Person, Craft / Design, Music / songs

1 memorial
Mortlake Tapestry Works

Mortlake Tapestry Works

Barnes History has a nice hand-drawn map with a pin showing the location of these Tapestry Works, and it gives the history of the site. John Dee (1527 -1608) lived in a house on this site (with a l...

Building, Craft / Design

1 memorial
Metropolitan Works

Metropolitan Works

From their website: "Metropolitan Works – now part of CassWorks – is London’s leading Creative Industries Centre, helping students, designers and manufacturers develop ideas...."

Group, Craft / Design

1 memorial

Previously viewed

Royal Socity of Chemistry

Royal Socity of Chemistry

Formed as a merger of the Chemical Society, the Royal Institute of Chemistry, the Faraday Society and the Society for Analytical Chemistry. It carries out research, publishes journals, books and da...

Group, Science

6 memorials
Islington Council

Islington Council

The Islington Book of Remembrance is an impressive undertaking: the database has a list of memorials in Islington. There are also lists of Conflict / Event / Incident, each with an associated list ...

Group, Politics & Administration

71 memorials