F. W. Pomeroy's statue of Pottery on Vauxhall Bridge

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Pottery

Frederick William Pomeroy

Installed 1907

Bronze

An upstream pier of Vauxhall Bridge, London SWI — the closest statue to the Vauxhall side.

This is one of Pomeroy's four colossal (around twice life-size) statues on the upstream side of Vauxhall Bridge, each weighing about two tons. The bridge itself had been designed by the civil engineers Sir Alexander Binnie and Sir Maurice Fitzmaurice, and was built from 1895-1906. Even now, it is still "the only one of London's Thames bridges to be decorated with sculpture" (Matthews 83). Pomeroy's other three statues are Agriculture, Architecture and Engineering. On the downstream side are four statues of similar dimensions” by Alfred Drury. [Commentary continues below.]

Photographs, captions, and commentary by Jacqueline Banerjee, 2013.

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Nothing could be more appropriate here than a figure representing pottery: the area has a long history of pottery-making, and on the south bank of the Thames at nearby Lambeth were the grand Doulton Pottery studios, showrooms, offices and museum. However, it is hard to appreciate this statue, or indeed any of the other statues, fully in this location.

The statue in situ. It is the furthest right of the four statues shown here, so the most clearly visible fromthe river walk.

Writing in 1920, the architect Sir Reginald Blomfield commented,

The figures themselves are dignified and impressive, but their position on the piers is open to question. It is doubtful whether in any case it is right to put figures below the bridge level and on the face of the piers instead of on the top of them. In this position it is difficult to get them into scale with the bridge itself.... the setting is hardly adequate for the figures, and the only people who can see these figures are the crews of the tugs and barges that go up and down the river.... When the sun is west of the bridge, these figures are hardly visible at a distance, and it ought to be almost a rule in our climate that when bronze is used in the open it should be set against a light background, such as Portland stone. [106-07]

Perhaps the statues should indeed have been differently placed. Compare the effect here with that achieved on the Holborn Viaduct, where the figures can be seen both from Farringdon Street below and when crossing the viaduct itself. But it is a surprise to see these huge Vauxhall statues where they are, and perhaps they would have to have been scaled down if designed for the superstructure. What is certain is that a welcome attempt has been made (in Blomfield's own concluding words) "to treat the bridge as a great public monument" (107).

Related Material

Pomeroy's Agriculture
Pomeroy's Architecture
Pomeroy's Engineering
Vauxhall Bridge (the one built 1895-1906)
Drury's The Fine Arts
Drury's Science
Drury's Education
Drury's Local Government

Bibliography

Blomfield, Reginald. "The Bridges of London, 1815-1920." In London of the Future, ed. Sir Aston Webb. London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1921. Internet Archive. Web. 22 December 2013.

Matthews, Peter. London's Bridges. Princes Risborough: Shire, 2009.

"Sculptures 1909." Academy Architecture and Architectural Review. Vol. 35: 82-83. Open Library. Web. 22 December 2013 (NB Only Drury's statues are featured here).

Last modified 22 December 2013.