A SEDDON MEMORIAL.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIV, Issue 124, 2 June 1910, Page 3

A SEDDON MEMORIAL.

FOR OBSERVATORY HILL.

Post Correspondent.)

LONDON, April 22. At long and last the figure for the Seddon tomb on Observatory Hill in Wellington, is ready to be shipped. It will leave by the Arawa for Wellington next week. The monument, which is to be paid I for by the Government of New Zea- j land, was entrusted to Mr Henry I Poole, a young sculptor who had al- j ready executed some noteworthy j pieces. In his early professional life j he was for seven years assistant to i Mr Harry Sates, the well-known! sculptor, and later for two years to j G. F. Watts. Since entering the field on his own he has done a great deal; of architectural sculpture, including the decorations for the Cardiff Town Hall and the Wesleyan Hall at Westminster. His monuments include one of Earl Cowper, the distinguished j Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, who was attacked at the time of the Fenian outrages in Phoenix Park, and with whose death in 1905 the earldom became extinct. This monument is at Lady Cowper's seat at Panshanger, in Hertfordshire. Another notable statue is that of the late Viscount de Vesci, at the family seat, Abbeyleix, Queen's County, Ireland. The bronze at present under notice is about eight feet in height, weighs two tons, and stands on an octagonal pedestal. The female figure, which represents the State mourning for her dead, is a strikingly effective one, \ the wind-blown drapery being most ■

appropriate for the breezy position which the statue will occupy in Windy Wellington. The gown has fallen from the left shoulder, which droops, and in the left hand is a wreath of mourning leaves. The right hand holds a scroll of State with the seals dependent. The right foot rests upon two hooks, and a small twig breaks the hardness of the pedestal. There can be little doubt that the people of New Zealand will be satis-' fied with the work. The bronze was cast by Alessandro Parlanti at his art foundry at Parsons Green, S.W. Mr Ppole was a good deal interrupted in his work by the necessity for consulting persons who are interested in New Zealand, but the delay so caused will not be regretted in the result. Mr Hall-Jones saw the figure frequently in the course of modelling, and Lord Ranfurly and Lord Onslow, former Governors of New Zealand, both visited the studio and made suggestions from time to time. Finally, Mrs Morice and Dr Morice, who were in England, took a keen interest in the work, which they had hoped to see completed before they left for New Zealand at the end of February.