[PHOTO] Edward VII in Queen's Park

[rfmcdonald]

Edward VII in Queen's Park
Originally uploaded by rfmcdpei

Viewers can get an idea of the size of this statue of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, Toronto's Queen's Park, from the young child standing next to it. One of several Queen's Park statues, this statue of King Edward VII on his horse Kildare was originally placed in Delhi but then put in storage. This, as a blog commenter noted, changed.

I believe the sculptor was Sir Bertram Mackennal,RA, an Australian born sculptor who principally worked in Britain and was a friend of King George V, the sucessor to Edward VII. Mackennal obtained commissions for monuments following the death of King Edward VII. An equestrian statue was commissioined for Melbourne in 1911 and unveiled 1920 at a cost of 6,000 pounds.(WW I requirement for foundry work had interrupted casting) Subsequently a version was made for India (1919) and in 1921 another for London. The Indian statue in New Delhi was put into storage following Indian independence. In 1968 a Torono businessman took it home and offered it to his city if it would pay for reinstillation. This was refused and so the statue sat on a grass mound in Queen's Park Toronto. (Latter details quoted from Colin Ward, "Fringe Benefits" New Statesman and Society 11Oct 1995 Vol 8 issue 378 p 30.)

Another commenter makes a correction, saying that the statue was sculpted by "Sir Thomas Brock,RASc London 1919 and the statue was produced by A B Burton Founder, Tames Ditton," and a quick Googling, suggests that this is the case.