Commerce and Industry

The weather threw everything at us today, torrential rain, hail, wind and sun. A bit like the current economic climate.

I returned to Kelvin Way Bridge this morning while the sun was still shining and managed to take a few shots of the statues, Commerce and Industry, 1914-1926. These statues are magnificent and certainly enhance the bridge. I also like how the tree blossom is just starting to come through.

Commerce is represented by a female with a purse and Industry is represented by a man with a large hammer. The sculptor chosen to produce the groups was the Australian born, Paul Raphael Montford , whose London studio had become noted for its production of dynamic public statues and architectural sculpture.

The castings of the statues were delayed for twelve years, due to the outbreak of WWI and the spiralling cost of bronze. Although the full-scale models were finished by 1918, by which time they had been exhibited at the Royal Academy, the long awaited casting was completed by the bronze-founder, A B Burton, of Thames Ditton, and the statues were put into position, by June 1926.