The Statues
Today, the only freestanding statue on the Square is the statue of Sir Thomas Jackson. Additionally, a 2.7 m high blind-folded statue of Themis, the Greek Goddess of Justice and Law, stands on top of the pediment of the Legislative Council Building, and is facing the Square. The statues that have been historically on display on the square include:
- statue of Queen Victoria. Unveiled on May 28, 1896. It is now in Victoria Park.
- statue of Prince Albert, added before 1902.
- statue of Edward VII, added before 1902 (or donated by Catchick Paul Chater and unveiled in 1907 by the Duke of Connaught).
- statue of the Duke of Connaught. Donated by Catchick Paul Chater and erected in 1902. It was moved to the waterfront at Connaught Road Central and Pedder Street in 1907, near Blake Pier.
- statue of Sir Thomas Jackson, 1st Baronet, the chief manager of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. Unveiled on 24 February 1906 by the Governor Sir Matthew Nathan.
- statue of the Prince of Wales who later became King George V. Donated by John Bell-Irving, a director of Hongkong Electric Company and unveiled in 1907 by the Duke of Connaught.
- statue of Queen Alexandra.
- statue of Queen Mary. Donated by Hormusjee Naorojee Mody as "a genuine token of the loyalty and esteem of the Parsis for their King and Queen".
- statue of Sir Henry May, 15th Governor of Hong Kong. Unveiled on May 3, 1923.
- the HSBC WWI memorial statue, "Fame". Unveiled on May 24, 1923.
In addition, statues of royalty and colonial administrators located outside of Statue Square included:
- statue of Sir Arthur Kennedy, in the Botanical Gardens (picture). Erected by public subscription following his death at sea in 1883, it was unveiled in November 1887 by the newly arrived Governor William Des Vœux and stood "above the second terrace looking down on the fountain". It was removed during the Japanese occupation, and never recovered.
- statue of King George VI, in Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens. Erected in 1941 and still standing.
Read more about this topic: Statue Square
Famous quotes containing the word statues:
“But have you wine and music still,
And statues and a bright-eyed love,
And foolish thoughts of good and ill,
And prayers to them who sit above?”
—James Elroy Flecker (1884–1919)
“America loves the representation of its heroes to be not just larger than life, but stupendously, awesomely bigger than anything else. If blue whales built statues to each other they’d be smaller then these.”
—Simon Hoggart (b. 1946)