Manufacture by John Hancock. 1864-75. Portland stone, 1.35m high x 1.83 wide. National Westminster Bank, “The Gibson Hall” (built as The National Provincial Bank of England). 15 Bishopsgate, corner of Threadneedle Street, London. Note that the manufacturing depicted here involves handwork with traditional, human-powered technologies — the men work the potters wheel, the women spin thread, both sexes, in other words, employing technologies generally surpassed and long displaced” by the textile factory and mass-produced earthen ware by the time the plaques were carved. [The order of Hancock's relief panels moving from south to north: The Arts, Commerce, Science, Manufactures, Agriculture, and Navigation]
Photographs and caption by Robert Freidus. Formatting, perspective correction, and commentary by George P. Landow. 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 the Victorian Web in a print one.]
Bibliography
Ward-Jackson, Philip. Public Sculpture of the City of London. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2003.
Last modified 29 June 2011