Author Archives: HIS
White Memorial Fountain
Location: Denny, Stirlingshire, Scotland
In 1892, the White family donated a drinking fountain to the town of Denny. It was erected near Denny Old Parish Church at Broad Street in the junction of Denny Cross.
Two years later, a family member, Mr. James B. White, gave £100 to the Town Council to create a fund from which the accrued interest would pay for annual maintenance of the cast iron fountain.
The relevance of the drinking fountain declined in the early 20th century when it became an obstruction due to an increase in motor traffic, and the waning use of the structure as a source of water. In 1940, Mr. W. T. White of Fort Wayne, Indiana, the only living relative of the donor, was contacted for permission to remove the fountain due to the urgent national need for iron for the war effort. The fountain was removed in 1941.
The fountain manufactured by Messrs. Steven Bros. & Co. of the Milton Ironworks, Glasgow and London (later to be known as McDowall, Steven & Co.’s Milton Works), was from a lamppost design by Charles Henry Driver, an architect and engineer. The structure was seated on a square stone plinth.
A square base housed small demi-lune basins at ground level for dogs, and on four sides a large quatrefoil basin for horses was fed with overflow water. The highly decorated stanchion and central column were decorated with acanthus and floral relief. Lion mascarons, a symbol of guardianship, spouted water from which humans drank using metal cups suspended on consoles. A dolphin, symbolizing guardians of water, flanked each side of the stanchion.
The base of the lamp column contained four mascarons crowned with a shell motif. A Corinthian column supported a central gas lantern surmounted with a knob finial. By 1917 the central lamp had been replaced by three smaller globes. A dedication plaque contained an inscription acknowledging that the fountain had been presented by the White Family.
Glossary:
- Acanthus, one of the most common plant forms (deeply cut leaves) to make foliage ornament and decoration
- Console, a decorative bracket support element
- Column Corinthian, a fluted shaft with flowers and leaves at the capital.
- Demi-lune, half moon or crescent shape
- Finial, a sculptured ornament fixed to the top of a peak, arch, gable or similar structure
- Mascaron, a decorative element in the form of a sculpted face or head of a human being or an animal
- Plinth, flat base usually projecting, upon which a pedestal, wall or column rests.
- Quatrefoil, a type of decorative framework consisting of a symmetrical shape which forms the overall outline of four partially-overlapping circles of the same diameter
- Stanchion, upright bar or post providing support
L’Aigle Fontaine
Location: Vescovato, Corsica
The Piazza Nova or Place de l’Aigle within the village of Vescovato is the location of a cast iron drinking fountain. It is central to the village and the scene of many festivals.
The structure is seated on a circular plinth with a circular base decorated with floral frieze. Arches containing lion mascarons that spout water are located above a two tiered cavetto.
A round column enriched with bas-relief displays a vignette of the sea that includes waves and a dolphin encapsulated in a wreath of reeds, shells and seaweed. A second vignette dedicated to music contains a violin, a flute, a bugle, a pan flute and a triangle attached to a ribbon highlighted with flora. There is also a vignette dedicated to the arts in which music icons (tambourine, horn, flute, castanettes), theatre icons (mask), and sport icons (lacrosse stick) are bound together with a ribbon interspersed with flora.
The cornice consists of a frieze of frolicking putti holding a garland (a putto represents a guardian spirit).
The capital supports the statue of an imperial eagle balanced on a globe. Symbolism was popular in the 19th century and eagles represented salvation. The eagle enrichment was offered in the catalog Ducel / Val d’Osne, pl. 238 No. 10201.
On the rear of the capital is the manufacturer’s stamp; JJ Ducel & Fils A Paris. This could indicate that the fountain was erected prior to 1878 when Ducel was purchased by the Val d’Osne Foundry.
The Eagle Fountain was restored by the Hydroteam Company, and illumination of the structure was installed in 2012.
Glossary
- Bas-relief, sculpted material that has been raised from the background to create a slight projection from the surface
- Capital, the top of a column that supports the load bearing down on it
- Cavetto, Concave moulding
- Cornice, a molding or ornamentation that projects from the top of a building
- Frieze, the horizontal part of a classical moulding just below the cornice, often decorated with carvings
- Mascaron, a decorative element in the form of a sculpted face or head of a human being or an animal
- Plinth, flat base usually projecting, upon which a pedestal, wall or column rests.
- Putto (plural is Putti), a figure in a work of art depicted as a chubby male child, usually nude
Church Street Fountain
Location: Preston, Lancashire, England
A cast iron drinking fountain/horse trough was erected in 1897 at the intersection of Church and Stanley Streets outside H. M. Prison. It was donated in 1897 by Mary Cross, the founder of the Deaf and Dumb School at Brockholes. Sadly, it no longer exists.
Design number 19 was advertised by Walter Macfarlane & Co. to be used as a standalone fountain or placed under a canopy structure. Manufactured by the Saracen Foundry in Glasgow, the font was 10’ 10” high. The wide base with canted corners supported a circular shaft ornamented with water lilies. Four lion jambs supported four highly decorated quatrefoil basins. The stanchion and central column were decorated with floral relief and projecting acanthus. Four consoles protruded from the column to suspend drinking cups on chains. Two elaborate brackets supported lamps. The capital supported the finial, a statue of Samson.
Symbolism was popular in Victorian times. Lions are symbolic of guardianship and Samson is symbolic of strength.
Circa 1900
Glossary
- Acanthus, one of the most common plant forms (deeply cut leaves) to make foliage ornament and decoration
- Capital, the top of a column that supports the load bearing down on it
- Canted corner, an angled surface which cuts of a corner
- Console, a decorative bracket support element
- Finial, a sculptured ornament fixed to the top of a peak, arch, gable or similar structure
- Jamb, a projecting vertical post containing sculpture
- Plinth, flat base usually projecting, upon which a pedestal, wall or column rests
- Quatrefoil, a type of decorative framework consisting of a symmetrical shape which forms the overall outline of four partially-overlapping circles of the same diameter
- Stanchion, an upright bar or post providing support
J. Fitzhugh Thornton Memorial Fountain
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
The drinking fountain topped with the statue of an Indian is located at the traffic circle at Thorton Avenue & Gracely Drive (known as Thornton Triangle) in the Saylor Park neighborhood. It is known by several names: J. Fitzhugh Thornton Memorial, the Fernbank Indian, Sayler Park Indian, and Tecumseh after the Shawnee leader who led the resistance against the American settlement of the Ohio and Indiana territories in the early 19th century.
It was erected on January 15, 1912 in the village of Fernbank in memory of John Fitzhugh Thornton by his wife Eliza. It was dedicated on June 22, 1912.
Source: https://www.gannett-cdn.com
The flood of 1937, which followed the wettest January ever recorded, left 100,000 people homeless. It also left the drinking fountain partially submerged.
In 1940 the structure was struck by a car knocking the statue to the ground. Believed to be irreparable, it was sold to an antiques dealer in Indiana for $10. After a public outcry, funds were raised to purchase the statue from the dealer, and it was reinstalled on April 14, 1941 facing River Road until residents complained that it was facing in the wrong direction.
In 1965 it was again hit by a car causing damage and resurrected on Feb. 9, 1966 with substandard repairs allowing rust to cause deterioration of the statue. A call to restore it in 1979 was not heeded until 2000 when the park department decided to recast the statue in bronze. It was rededicated on October 5, 2003. The statue has been designated a local historic landmark by the City of Cincinnati.
The statue of an Indian was originally a wood carving created by Samuel Anderson Robb who was the leading cigar store Indian peddler. It was carved for William Demuth & Co. who cast it in zinc and advertised it in his catalog as “No. 53 Indian Chief.” In 1873, the J.L. Mott Iron Works purchased the design and listed it in their catalog of statuary. The statue was also offered atop a cast iron drinking fountain.
The fountain was manufactured by J. L. Mott Iron Works and sat on a circular plinth with dimensions of 5ft. 9ins. to the top of the head and 6ft. 6ins. to the top of the feathers. A large square base contained panels for dedication on four sides; the panel at the front of the structure contains the legend, Erected In Memory Of / J. Fitzhugh Thornton / By His Wife / Eliza M. Thornton / January 15, 1912. Above is a lunette containing a frieze with lion mascarons. A column extends above with laurel decoration and guilloche. The capital supports the Indian figure.
In his right hand the Indian Chief holds an arrow, and in his left hand he holds a bow attached to a base near his left foot, which rests on a rock. (This stance is called contrapposto, where one leg bears the weight and the other leg is relaxed.) A tree stump behind his right leg balances the sculpture. He is dressed in a headband containing three feathers, a bear claw necklace, a cloak, a breechcloth (fabric tucked into a belt that covered the front and back), fringed leggings and moccasins.
Glossary
- Capital, The top of a column that supports the load bearing down on it
- Frieze, The horizontal part of a classical entablature just below the cornice, often decorated with carvings
- Guilloche, Decorative engraving technique of two or more bands twisted over each other in which a very precise intricate repetitive pattern
- 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
- Plinth, Flat base usually projecting, upon which a pedestal, wall or column rests.
