Liverpool by its imports supplies the country with food and corn (panel on the façade of St. George's Hall, Liverpool) by Conrad Dressler (1856-1940). 1882-1901. Istrian stone. Three rather voluptuous but demure beauties have been gathering fruit and grain. Liverpool in the middle seems to have just plucked a piece of fruit.
The National Prosperity series on Saint George's Hall
Terry Cavanagh entitles the series “National Prosperity” (261) and Benedict Read “The Story of Liverpool” (331). These six panels are on the east façade of St George's Hall, to the right of the central portico. They were commissioned in 1895, and Conrad Dressler's two panels, which proved the most contentious, were finally installed in June 1901: the other is Liverpool imports cattle and wool for food and clothing. Designed by three different sculptors, the "Prosperity" set lacks the unity of concept of the "Progress of Justice" series, which were all” by Thomas Stirling Lee, and each panel is probably best judged individually. The remainder of the "Prosperity" set, including the other one” by Dressler, is as follows:
- Liverpool, a municipality, employs Labour and encourages Art
- Liverpool collects produce and exports the manufactures of the country
- Liverpool imports cattle and wool for food and clothing
- Liverpool,” by her shipwrights, builds vessels of commerce
- Liverpool, a fishing village, gives her sons the boat and the net
Related Material
Photograph by Jacqueline Banerjee. [You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the photographer and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite it in a print document.]
Bibliography
Cavanagh, Terry. The Public Sculpture of Liverpool. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 1996.
Read, Benedict. Victorian Sculpture. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1982.
Last modified 31 October 2015