The Court Favourite Sculpture, Flagstaff Gardens, West Melbourne
Gould, Meredith1985
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Total copies: 1
Title:
The Court Favourite Sculpture, Flagstaff Gardens, West Melbourne
Creator:
Date of work:
1985
Reference number:
BIF-CITY 102942
Level of description:
Item from Collection: Heritage Collection (HC)
Type of materials:
Graphic materialsTextual material
Part of:
Series: Central City (BIF-CITY)
Access restrictions:
UnrestrictedOpen access.
Use restrictions:
UnrestrictedPlease contact City of Melbourne Libraries about obtaining permission to reproduce images.
General notes:
Period: Inter-WarConstruction date: 1930Creator: Paul R. MontfordMaterials: Bronze statue, dressed granite and basalt base..ASSOCIATED RESEARCH ADDED BY GRAEME BUTLER:.NEWSPAPERS (TROVE)The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954)Thursday 6 February 1930 - Page 11https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/203108548CITY STATUARY.Presentation by Cr. B. Marks. Flagstaff Gardens, William-street, have been recently beautified by the erection of a statue by Mr. P. Montford, entitled. The Court Favorite, which was presented to the city by Cr. B. Marks. Yesterday the statue was formally handed over by Cr. Marks to the Lord Mayor, on behalf oi the citizens, the ceremony being witnessed by a large number of spectators. Those present included Messrs. Montford, Moloney, M.P.; Everard, M.L.A.; H. H. Smith, M.L.C.; Alderman Tread well and Cr Kent Hughes, who is chairman of the parks and gardens committee of the City Council. In handing over the statue to the Lord Mayer, Cr. Marks said it had originally been executed to commemorate the memory of his late brother, Mr. J, Marks. He hoped it would not be long before the Flagstaff Gardens possessed more statuary.The Lord Mayor then unveiled the statue. Mr. Montford, he said, had ex- celled himself in this work. In recent years the parks and gardens committee had mode great improvements to these gardens. It was a good thing that we had citizens such as Cr. Marks who were prepared to spend large sums of money so that the citizens would have something beautiful to look upon.Alderman Treadwell and Cr. Kent Hughes responded on behalf of the City Council. Cr- Hughes said this was the third example of Mr. Montford’s generosity to be erected in Melbourne parks. Due to Mr Montford's generosity they had obtained the three works for the price of one. Mr. Moloney said the City Council was to be commended for its action in popularising the works of Australian artists. The Commonwealth Government had hundreds of pictures hidden away at Canberra to which the public should have access.See illust. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/4066986Camperdown Chronicle (Vic. : 1877 - 1954)Tuesday 18 January 1938 - Page 5https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/30146060MR. PAUL R. MONTFORD DEATH OF A NOTED SCULPTOR Mr Paul Montford, the well known sculptor died in a private home in Melbourne on Saturday night. Shortly before Christmas Mr. Mont- ford became ill while finishing a figure for the New South Wales 150th Anniversary celebrations. He was admitted to hospital and did not rally. Paul Montford was a son of the late Mr. Horace Montford, a London sculptor, and was born in London on 1st November 1868. He is survived by a widow, two grown-up daughters and a son of 14. Canberra, New South Wales and Victoria all possess examples of Mr. Montford’s art, for he was a prolific worker, with many calls on his time. His Christian names foreshadowed his career, but his first activities were with paint and canvas.As a student in the National Gallery Schools (Lon don)he won five prizes in one year including the traveling scholarship gold medal. He visited Rome, Madrid and finally Paris, where he decided on sculpture as a means of expression.For 35 years he worked and exhibited in England, doing many commissions for statues of celebrities and for decorative figure groups. Then came the war for which he was too old to enlist, followed by a period when commissions of importance went to returned soldiers sculptors. Eventually the Montford family left for Australia and Australia became the richer through force of cirumstances. He showed his excellent quality early in the Camperdown war memorial and the W. B. Chaffey bronze statue at Mildura. Afterwards came eight busts of well-known men at Canberra, and I panels in bas-relief for the Canberra memorial, done in co-operation with Mr. L. Dadswill, of Sydney.In Victoria his best known work is the decorative figures on the Shrine of Remembrance, but his statues also grace gardens, banks and law courts Well known of these are the Adam Lindsay Gordon statue in Spring street, a cast of which won him the gold medal of the Royal Society of British Sculptors for the best work of the year in 1934. The Court Favorite, in Flagstaff Gardens, and a bronze nymph in Alexandra Gardens.One of his most popular works is the figure of a boy which stands in the grounds of the Scout training centre at Gembrook.Notable features: A bronze statue by Paul R. Montford standing on a heavy rectangular granite and moulded basalt pedestal, presented to the City of Melbourne by Councillor Baron Marks.
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Record types:
Research and reports
Record number:
1197893
| Type | Reference No. | Extent | Status/Desc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original | 102942 | 1 JPEG : 877 KB ; A4 | Single Item (May not be issued, may not be reproduced) |