Leonard Bentley
Piccadilly Circus: 1893
This is a Magic Lantern slide showing the view looking east towards Coventry Street and on the left, Shaftesbury Avenue. The photograph is full of detail but unfortunately the bill at the London Pavilion is indecipherable, at this time it was used for its original purpose as the West End’s Music Hall. There are two police officers walking past the London Pavilion, the one in front is a sergeant and the officer following is a police constable. The police constable is wearing the 1864 pattern tunic with eight silver buttons and no breast pockets, this pattern was replaced in 1897 with a five silver button tunic with two breast pockets. However, the clue to the date of the photograph is the low wall surrounding the Shaftesbury Memorial. The low wall was an afterthought by one of the numerous committees tasked with the erection of the Memorial, Sir. Alfred Gilbert, the sculptor of “Anteros”, the God of Selfless Love and brother of “Eros”, was against the idea and was also against the idea of a drinking fountain being incorporated. He did not attend the unveiling ceremony on 29th June 1893 and washed his hands of the project a short time later. The day after the unveiling, six of the eight drinking cups which were chained to the fountain had been stolen or damaged, this set the tone surrounding the Memorial which attracted idlers and gangs of young boys who plastered the Memorial with mud and rubbish. The London County Council provided a park keeper to keep order for several months after the unveiling. In April 1894 the Improvements Committee at the London County Council decided to remove the low wall which did not fit in with the Memorial, the work was carried out in the summer months of 1894. For one member of the public the features of “Anteros” proved a constant reminder of his youth. In April 1940 a Daily Mirror journalist, prompted by the removal of the statue because of the war, went to a Solicitor’s Office in Craven Street, just off the Strand and spoke to the solicitor’s clerk. Mr. Angelo Colarossi was the model for the statue which is now known as “Eros”, Mr. Colarossi was a sixteen-year-old assistant in the studio of Sir. Alfred Gilbert at the time of the commission and remembered long days on tip toe whilst Sir. Alfred sculpted the statue. He died in February 1949 aged 74 years, he was barely five feet tall and still had his youthful figure. My bet is that the date of the photograph is summer 1893 shortly after the unveiling, it makes sense that this most famous of London’s landmarks should have been recorded by a Magic Lantern Slide manufacturer whilst public interest was current.
Piccadilly Circus: 1893
This is a Magic Lantern slide showing the view looking east towards Coventry Street and on the left, Shaftesbury Avenue. The photograph is full of detail but unfortunately the bill at the London Pavilion is indecipherable, at this time it was used for its original purpose as the West End’s Music Hall. There are two police officers walking past the London Pavilion, the one in front is a sergeant and the officer following is a police constable. The police constable is wearing the 1864 pattern tunic with eight silver buttons and no breast pockets, this pattern was replaced in 1897 with a five silver button tunic with two breast pockets. However, the clue to the date of the photograph is the low wall surrounding the Shaftesbury Memorial. The low wall was an afterthought by one of the numerous committees tasked with the erection of the Memorial, Sir. Alfred Gilbert, the sculptor of “Anteros”, the God of Selfless Love and brother of “Eros”, was against the idea and was also against the idea of a drinking fountain being incorporated. He did not attend the unveiling ceremony on 29th June 1893 and washed his hands of the project a short time later. The day after the unveiling, six of the eight drinking cups which were chained to the fountain had been stolen or damaged, this set the tone surrounding the Memorial which attracted idlers and gangs of young boys who plastered the Memorial with mud and rubbish. The London County Council provided a park keeper to keep order for several months after the unveiling. In April 1894 the Improvements Committee at the London County Council decided to remove the low wall which did not fit in with the Memorial, the work was carried out in the summer months of 1894. For one member of the public the features of “Anteros” proved a constant reminder of his youth. In April 1940 a Daily Mirror journalist, prompted by the removal of the statue because of the war, went to a Solicitor’s Office in Craven Street, just off the Strand and spoke to the solicitor’s clerk. Mr. Angelo Colarossi was the model for the statue which is now known as “Eros”, Mr. Colarossi was a sixteen-year-old assistant in the studio of Sir. Alfred Gilbert at the time of the commission and remembered long days on tip toe whilst Sir. Alfred sculpted the statue. He died in February 1949 aged 74 years, he was barely five feet tall and still had his youthful figure. My bet is that the date of the photograph is summer 1893 shortly after the unveiling, it makes sense that this most famous of London’s landmarks should have been recorded by a Magic Lantern Slide manufacturer whilst public interest was current.