King Edward VII Drinking Fountain, originally with a bronze bas-relief portrait medallion, Shadwell, by Sir Edgar Bertram Mackennal, K.C.V.O., R.A., 1863-1931. 1922. Stone on a granite base, with a drinking fountain on one side, and integral seating. Photographs above, from different angles, by Anthony McIntosh / Art UK, available to reproduce on a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial licence (CC BY-NC). [Click on the images to enlarge them.]
The drinking fountain stands on the site of the old fish market in Shadwell, and was conceived of as part of the local memorial to King Edward, for the people in this area. As seen above, it is sited on a terrace axis to a path across the grassy parts to the riverside, and is a prominent feature in the Edward VII Memorial Park, The Highway, London E1W 3H.
Left two: (a) and (b) Two photographs by Colin D. Brooking, showing the terrace aspect, towards the Thames, from a different angle, and (b) a closer view of the drinking fountain on this former entrance side. Right: The impressively wide steps up to the terrace, photographed by Anthony McIntosh / Art UK again.
The inscription reads: GRATEFUL MEMORY OF / KING EDWARD THE SEVENTH / THIS PARK IS DEDICATED TO /THE USE AND ENJOYMENT OF THE / PEOPLE OF EAST LONDON FOR EVER / OPENED BY / KING GEORGE THE FIFTH / 1922
Cropped from a photograph of 2006 (credit: Fin Fahey
on Wikimedia), showing the bronze relief in place.
A Lutyens citation for the stone monolith was included by Deborah Edwards in her catalogue raisonné on MacKennal's works, but only in the CD-ROM that came with the edition. Since then neither the author nor her publisher has been able to confirm its source, and the Lutyens Trust do not regard the attribution as bona fide. In a contemporary pamphlet put out by the London County Council, Opening of the King Edward Memorial Park, Shadwell, by His Majesty the King, Saturday, 24the June, 1922, the long delays to the scheme are explained, and the monument is attributed solely to Mackennal (p. 6). Should Deborah Edwards's citation turn up as confirmed, the attribution here would, of course, be changed.
Bibliography
Edwards, Deborah, et al. Bertram Mackennal - The Fifth Balnaves Foundation Sculpture Project, introduced by by Benedict Read. Sydney: Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2007 [attribution to Lutyens on an attached CD-ROM edition only].
Opening of the King Edward Memorial Park, Shadwell, by His Majesty the King, Saturday, 24th June, 1922. London County Council, 1922 (provideed by Colin D. Brooking).
Created 14 August 2023