Burns Memorial Drinking Fountain in Dalkeith, Scotland was restored, relocated and unveiled on 25 January 2017. See photos here
Monthly Archives: January 2017
Market Square Fountain
Location: Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
At the main gate to the Market Square stands the historic drinking fountain originally located at Five Corners. Joseph Heywood who owned 5 acres of property at this location installed a drinking fountain/horse trough there in 1885 to quench the thirst of tired horses hauling loads from rural Saanich to Victoria. It was replaced with another fountain in 1937 by Maurice Humber to celebrate the city’s 75th anniversary.
An informative plaque on the structure details its history.
Market Square Main Gate Fountain
This Historic Fountain Was Originally Erected Near The Turn Of The / Century At ‘The Edge Of Town’ Known As The Five Corners / Government Douglas Gorge And Hillside Streets / The Three Level Fountain Provided Water For Parched Travellers / And Their Thirsty Horses, As Well As Smaller Animals Such As Dogs / And Pigs On Their Way To Market/ The Fountain Was Removed To The City Work Yards In 1950 Where / It Languished Until It Was Restored When These Nine Heritage / Buildings Were Refurbished In 1975 To Create Market Square.
Seated on a square plinth is a single pedestal with attic base containing a small demi-lune basin on two sides for the use of dogs. Two large demi-lune fluted horse troughs located above supplied the dog basins with overflow water. The front of the fountain has an extended arm supporting a basin for human use. A panel with bas-relief displays the figure of a classically robed woman holding a cup. Egg and dart moulding sits below the cornice.
Glossary:
- Attic base, a column base with two rings
- Bas-relief, sculpted material that has been raised from the background to create a slight projection from the surface
- Demi-lune, half moon or crescent shape
- Egg and dart, a carving of alternating oval shapes and dart or arrow shapes
- Fluted, a long rounded groove
- Pedestal, an architectural support for a column or statue
- Plinth, flat base usually projecting, upon which a pedestal, wall or column rests.
Bascom Memorial Drinking Fountain
Location: Prospect Park Troy, NYS, USA
Henry Clay Bascom was a prominent business man, owner of the Vedder Pattern Works, a candidate for Governor of New York State, and a well-known Prohibitionist. His wife, Ellen Lucina Forbes Bascom, was a member and president of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union of Lansingburg, New York. She donated a drinking fountain to the City of Troy in memory of her husband, “I wish to tender hereby to the city of Troy a memorial to the late H. Clay Bascom to take the form of a drinking fountain for man and beast to be erected in Prospect Park, where I trust its pure and cooling waters may symbolize the principles which were so dear to the one whose memory it will commemorate.”
It was erected in Prospect Park in 1907 south of the Warren mansion on the west side of Prospect Avenue. An engraved dedication on the front of the fountain read: H. Clay Bascom Memorial Fountain, Presented to the City of Troy by Ellen F. Bascom, 1907.
Circa 1910
The 15’ 3” tall cast iron structure manufactured by J. L. Mott Iron Works of New York was seated on a square base. A large fluted demi-lune trough for horses was located at the front of the fountain with a trough for dogs at ground level which was filled with overflow water.
On four sides, there was a lunette containing a lion mascaron within armoria, flanked by acanthus. Two demi-lune basins on opposite sides offered refreshment to humans; and anchored adjacent to the basins were drinking cups suspended on chains. Faucets were operated by pressing metal buttons which released a flow of water over a system of coils encased in ice to provide cool refreshment. A column extending above repeated the mascaron with fleur de lys. A laurel frieze was situated beneath the cornice. (In 1908 a citizen donated two consoles bearing globe lanterns.)
The capital supported a statue of Hebe, the Greek goddess of youth, classically dressed in flowing robes. Standing contrapposto she held a pitcher at her right side and a bowl in her raised left hand. The figure five feet in height was sculpted by Bertel Thorwaldsen.
Deterioration of the cast iron structure prompted its removal in 1943.
Glossary
- Acanthus, one of the most common plant forms (deeply cut leaves) to make foliage ornament and decoration
- Armoria, shield, coat of arms, crest
- Capital, the top of a column that supports the load bearing down on it
- Console, a decorative bracket support element
- Contrapposto, stance where one leg bears the weight and the other leg is relaxed
- Demi-lune, half moon or crescent shape
- Fluted, a long rounded groove
- Frieze, the horizontal part of a classical moulding just below the cornice, often decorated with carvings
- Lunette, the half-moon shaped space framed by an arch, often containing a window or painting
- Mascaron, a decorative element in the form of a sculpted face or head of a human being or an animal
Glossary
- Acanthus, one of the most common plant forms (deeply cut leaves) to make foliage ornament and decoration
- Armoria, shield, coat of arms, crest
- Capital, the top of a column that supports the load bearing down on it
- Console, a decorative bracket support element
- Cornice, a molding or ornamentation that projects from the top of a building
- Demi-lune, half moon or crescent shape
- Fluted, a long rounded groove
- Frieze, the horizontal part of a classical moulding just below the cornice, often decorated with carvings
- Lunette, the half-moon shaped space framed by an arch, often containing a window or painting
- Mascaron, a decorative element in the form of a sculpted face or head of a human being or an animal
Gourock’s Lost Drinking Fountains
Location: Gourock
These two lost cast iron drinking fountains, for which I have been unable to find information on erection dates or other history, were manufactured by Walter Macfarlane’s Saracen Foundry in Possilpark, Glasgow, Scotland.
The fountain located in Kempock Street was replaced by the early 1950s with a car park for the Ashton Café.
Source: Facebook/Gourock and District in old photos
Source: Facebook/Gourock and District in old photos
Source: Facebook/Gourock and District in old photos
The second drinking fountain was located on the Promenade and was very similar with the exception of the crane terminal.
Source: Facebook/Gourock and District in old photos
Design number 7 standing 5 ft 8ins featured a single pedestal basin with four pilasters rising from an octagonal plinth. Four salamanders descended the fountain pedestal as a symbol of courage and bravery.
The basin, 2 ft 6 ins in diameter, had a scalloped edge and decorative relief. The interior surface was engraved, and a sculptured urn was terminated by the figure of a crane, a symbol of vigilance. Four elaborate consoles supported drinking cups on chains. Water flowed from a spout into the drinking cup by pressing its edge against a projecting stud below the spout. The self-closing valve allowed for operation with only one hand.
Glossary:
- Console, a decorative bracket support element
- Plinth, flat base usually projecting, upon which a pedestal, wall or column rests
- Terminal, statue or ornament that stands on a pedestal
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