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George Dawson Statue And Busts

ellbrown

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Some of the George Dawson sculptures I've seen in Birmingham over the years.

I saw this bust of George Dawson in the Shakespeare Memorial Room at the Library of Birmingham.



Near it was this description:

George Dawson, first president of the Birmingham Shakespeare Club, and a noted Birmingham philanthropist and politician, this terracotta model was probably a study for the statue of Dawson in Great Charles Street.

During 2016 on the 400th Anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare, the bust (maybe the same one as above) was in a special Shakespeare exhibition that was on at the Library of Birmingham from April to September 2016.




The first bust I saw of George Dawson was at the Birmingham Museum Collections Centre in 2012.



Outside the Shakspeare Memorial Room is this larger bust of George Dawson.




Also to be found at the Birmingham Museum Collections Centre, seen in 2012 is the statue of George Dawson. It used to be in Chamberlain Square, but has been in storage for a long time.

 
Some of the George Dawson sculptures I've seen in Birmingham over the years.

I saw this bust of George Dawson in the Shakespeare Memorial Room at the Library of Birmingham.



Near it was this description:



During 2016 on the 400th Anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare, the bust (maybe the same one as above) was in a special Shakespeare exhibition that was on at the Library of Birmingham from April to September 2016.




The first bust I saw of George Dawson was at the Birmingham Museum Collections Centre in 2012.



Outside the Shakspeare Memorial Room is this larger bust of George Dawson.




Also to be found at the Birmingham Museum Collections Centre, seen in 2012 is the statue of George Dawson. It used to be in Chamberlain Square, but has been in storage for a long time.

My photograph of William Dawson appears to be the third one shown above. It was taken in the early 1960's in Small Heath Park (though we always called it Victoria Park). It was by the main gate on Coventry Road. Almost in variably he had a dog end between his lips.

Geo01.jpg
 
What happened to this memorial ? The Chamberlain Memorial Fountain is still there, but the Dawson memorial seems to have been lost along the way. It used to stand in front of the clock tower. Viv.

CF4B8646-5EA1-462B-891F-41664E0E8096.jpeg
 
It is still at the Birmingham Museum Collections Centre, and has been for many years. On my two visits it was with all those classic cars and fire engines.

This was in 2012, so 8 years ago, but probably hasn't been moved Viv.



thanks for pics,and input Eb....not much dust in there is there.:grinning:
 
Maybe they clean it, but the photos are not looking close at the surfaces. You can see it on free open days there, or on organised ones. On my last visit, I could not see the other statues that went into storage apart from the old Thomas Attwood one.
 
They must have ‘disposed’ of the structure he stood within ! Or maybe it was reused somewhere else ? Viv.
 
Are we talking about the statue in #1? The one in #5 is a different pose. I'm a bit confused, as usual! Do they save the plinths as well as the statues?
Lovely photos, thanks ellbrown and Viv.
rosie.

Edit, Sorry I'm looking at the wrong one, there used to be one inside the memorial.
 
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8 years ago was at least 3 old plinths with graffiti on them at the Museum Collections Centre. I don't know who the two outer ones were for. The one in the middle was from the original Thomas Attwood statue.




Maybe there was two Dawson statues?
 
After further research now found out what happened. Source: History West Midlands(if you want to read the whole article it is here https://historywm.com/file/historywm/new-dawson-website-35757.pdf )

But in summary .....
The original statue was designed by Thomas Woolner with a canopy designed by J. H. Chamberlain. It was intended to represent Dawson speaking in the main square surrounded by the figures of Bunyan, Carlyle, Cromwell and Shakespeare (presumably these are the figures depicted around the canopy).

But it was not a popular statue - it was felt Dawson was a much more progressive and rebellious speaker, not someone to be enclosed within an old-fashioned medieval niche !

So another statue was made (must be the one in storage) by F J Williamson. But this was all cleared away for the Festival of Britain in 1951.

Viv.

14569B35-836B-45F9-B208-BE792FF14104.jpeg8619F1DC-C807-49C1-914F-122783045E55.jpeg
 
I notice there is another thread about the various busts and statues of Geo Dawson so I shall now merge this thread with that one. Viv.

Edit. Threads now merged.
 
The Thomas Woolner statue was the one at the Museum Collection Centre that I saw. Must be the rejected statue.
 
The John Bright statue is inside of the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery. You would see it if heading up the stairs from the Chamberlain Square entrance. Was sculpted by Bruce A Joy.



There is also a bronze bust of John Skirrow Wright in the Council House. It was cast by William Bloye from a marble statue by Francis John Williamson (now lost).

 
In 1950, it was planned that the George Dawson gothic canopy illustrated in post #15 would be moved to Calthorpe Park. See last para in attached clipping. Did this happen ? Is it stil, there ? Viv.
 

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