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Chamberlain Square Statues....?

One is Josiah Mason as in Mason College and orphanage.
I suppose one is Chamberlain! View looks like a 1904 postcard but was still much the same until 1960's.
 
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Dennis

Don't hold me to this but I think they are, seated at the rear Josiah Mason, standing to the front of him Joseph Priestly, The bearded chap standing to the front John Skirrow Wright, and the gent with his own house in the top right corner George Dawson.
 
In storage currently are the George Dawson, James Watt and Joseph Priestley statues. There's also the modern sitting Thomas Attwood statue.



This was before they were taken down and into storage.



Now in storage



5 years ago I saw these plinths at the Museums Collections Centre. One was of the original Attwood statue



All that is left of Josiah Mason is a bust version on a roundabout in Erdington.



Was the statue of John Bright ever in Chamberlain Square, as it has been inside of the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery for a long time now.

 
Dennis I forgot to add that the statue of John Skirrow Wright wasn't moved from Victoria Square to Chamberlain Square until 1913 so I would imagine the photo dates from around that time. By the way it was moved to storage in 1951 and destroyed in 1957.
 
I'm still struggling with how terribly sad it is that many statues end up hidden in storage (or in the case of Josiah Mason, cut down). These people played a major part in how Birmingham developed. Viv.
 
Vivienne14 said:
I'm still struggling with how terribly sad it is that many statues end up hidden in storage (or in the case of Josiah Mason, cut down). These people played a major part in how Birmingham developed. Viv.
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i struggle with it every day viv....the total lack of respect shown by the powers that be to anything remotely historical about this city is staggering and it wont get any better...i doubt very much if items that have been in storage for years will ever see the light of day again..the photo dennis posted on post 1 makes me want to weep at how wonderful chamberlain square once was.... a place for birmingham to be proud of ..now look at it..i for one would not give it a first glance never mind a second...:(:(

lyn
 
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Viv

The seated statue of Josiah Mason was destroyed in 1951 after William Bloye made a bronze cast of the bust. The work cost £222-08-08 and it was placed in it's position on Orphanage Road in 1952.
 
Question. After assuming that one statue had to be of Chamberlain I feel a little cautious. But to me the Dawson statue in El's photo has its hands in a different position from the statue in Dennis's original picture?
 
There isn't a statue of Joseph Chamberlain, just the Chamberlain Memorial in Chamberlain Square



He was also commemorated with clock towers such as the one at the University of Birmingham.

 
devonjim said:
Question. After assuming that one statue had to be of Chamberlain I feel a little cautious. But to me the Dawson statue in El's photo has its hands in a different position from the statue in Dennis's original picture?
Click to expand...

That is probably because this is the Dawson statue that used to reside in Chamberlain Square.George Dawson.jpg
 
George Dawson. Lots of questions! Why two statues, why is the one in storage not the one that was in Chamberlain Square, where has that statue finished up, lots of non conformist preachers what was special about this one
 
Found some answer to my own questions. Dawson with his preaching inspired Chamberlain to enter public life, so making things better for the ordinary man. Two statues, because the first one was judged as being inferior, so which one is which?
 
I think the Dawson statue in storage is the original one that also stood over the road from Chamberlain Square that after spending many years inside the museum was then placed for a while in Edmund Street from 1975 to 1995 when it was then removed for repair and storage and still remains in storage today. If I read correctly the one in storage is the original and so far I am unable to find anything further about the replacement.

dawson.JPG
 
Think I've said this before somewhere, but these statues don't half move about! Viv.
 
Another thing about statues, you would think by now that those that have the power to site them and move them about would have learned by now if the are placed in positions where the public can gain easy access then they will be vandalised.vandalised.jpg
 
We're very fond of Josiah Mason round here. In fact we had to buy the freehold of our house from his charity. It owns a lot of land around here. JM frequently gets decorated, especially at Christmas. He's been supplied with all sorts of knitted garments too. At least he gets noticed and hasn't been stuffed in a cupboard somewhere.
 
Lady P

They destroyed the full seated image of him that stood or rather sat in Chamberlain Square in 1951. The bronze bust on the Orphanage Rd - Chester Rd crossroads and although it is a relatively new sculpture it has become somewhat a tradition that he gets dressed for different occasions.
 

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Interestingly enough all four of those statues were remade by Bloye in the '50s - Mason, Dawson and Skirrow Wright as bronze busts, and the Priestley statue completely recast in bronze. As people have said, the Josiah Mason bust is up in Erdington; John Skirrow Wright's is in an alcove by the main stairs of the Council House and George Dawson's is in the Museums Collection Centre.
 
That's Thomas Attwood! I saw the original Attwood statue (not that one) at the Museum Collections Centre covered in graffiti.

 
You can see a model of the Joseph Priestley statue at the Birmingham Museum Collections Centre.



The bronze statue seen in 2009.

 
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