Studio: international art (14.1898)

Studio-Talk

STUDIO-TALK.

(From, our own Correspondents.)

LONDON.—The singularly fine statue of
the Queen, which Mr. George Framp-
ton, A.R.A., has designed for Calcutta,
is to be placed under an enormous
canopy, fifty feet high by about forty
feet wide, built of Portland stone. The figure,
which is some two and a half times larger than
life, stands with its pedestal twenty-seven feet high.
Certain details of the material employed and the
significance of the accessories may be worth setting
down. The figure itself is to be in light bronze,
the sceptre of ivory with gold ornaments, the orb
of blue lapis-lazuli, surmounted by a golden figure
of St. George; the crown and wreath will also be
in gold, and the cushion behind the figure

BACK OF STATUE ILLUSTRATED ON PREVIOUS PAGE

BY GEORGE FRAMPTON, A.R.A.

GENEALOGICAL TREE IN COLOURED MARBLE
FORMING PORTION OF A TABLET IN
GREAT HAMPDEN CHURCH
(See -tage 124)

enamelled, probably in pale blue and
white. The robes are those pertaining
to the Order of the Star of India which
her Majesty wore when she assumed
the title of Empress. The lion and
tiger side by side on the back of the
statue typify respectively the British
Kingdom and the Indian Empire.
Two figures at the top represent Art
and Literature and Justice. The
capitals which support them are carved
to represent English oak leaves, and
a typical Indian tree, which is a
sacred symbol of the native religion.
Roses ornament the throne behind
the head of the Queen. The base,
which will be of richly coloured
marble, will bear the Royal arms in
enamel, supported by bronze figures of
two Indians. It is fortunate that a
woik of art, at once novel in treatment
and remarkably stately in its concep-
tion, should represent the flourishing
condition of English modern sculpture
in our Indian empire; but it is impos-
sible to avoid feeling a slightly jealous
regret that so fine a work should leave
the country, and a wish that a replica
might be commissioned for some British

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