Christopher Columbus
Léon-Joseph Chavalliaud (c.1858-1921)
c.1898
Bronze
The Palm House, Sefton Park, Liverpool.
This is one of the eight statues by Chavalliaud, four in bronze and four in marble, standing on projecting pedestals at each corner of the octagonal Palm House. The subjects, selected and commissioned by Henry Yates Thompson as a gift to the people of Liverpool, represent pioneers in botanical study or the history of gardening, and discoverers who helped open up the natural world.
The inscription on the pedestal here is of special interest, for it identifies Columbus both as "the discoverer of America" and "the maker of Liverpool." In a speech to the people of Liverpool, Thompson explained that his discovery made him "the founder of Liverpool in its great development of American trade." He concluded, "I cannot imagine a more appropriate place for his statue than Liverpool" (qtd. in Cavanagh 197). Interestingly, the statue bears the name of a Parisian foundry.
Photograph and text Jacqueline Banerjee, 2009.
