This marble statue of English novelist Charles Dickens is located close to the junction of Dickens Drive and Loch Avenue in Centennial Park. It is one of eleven statues acquired as decoration for the new park created in 1988 and was installed in 1891. Most of the remaining statues in the park, including this statue, were removed in 1972 and placed in storage. It had gone missing and in the process had lost its head and other parts due to vandalism. When finally found, the head, finger, scroll and quill had to be reconstructed using old photos and the statue. The restored statue was unveiled for the 199th birthday of Dickens last year and was again honoured last week with 200th birthday celebrations. It is one of only two known life-size representations of Charles Dickens in the world due to an injunction in his will requesting that no public memorials be erected in his honour.
Excellent Jim.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad they had found the missing parts. :) Very nice.
ReplyDeleteAlexander
Alex's World! - http://www.kakinan.com/alex
Perfect for the celebration of his life this year. I didn't know about the memorial thing in his will, although I've been reading a lot of articles about the "birthday" .
ReplyDeleteInteresting post and very timely. I wonder if there is any legal effect to a clause in a will like that.
ReplyDeleteGood one, Jim. I cannot understand the mentality of people who destroy and deface art.
ReplyDeleteJust as well it was restored quite well.
Great post for the day, Jim, and very interesting! I, too, am glad they found the missing parts! Enjoy your week!
ReplyDeleteSylvia
Very interesting post. I wonder why he did not want any memorials? Very happy they found the rest of Charles and put him back together again. Kind of sounds like Humpty Dumpty fell off the wall. Sorry, I just had to say that.
ReplyDeleteeileeninmd, apparently he wanted to be buried and die as a private man. He wanted his books to stand as his monument, which they do.
ReplyDeleteGood framework! Nice job
ReplyDeleteVery interesting. Our eldest daughter who loves classic literature, made us a chocolate birthday cake to celebrate Charles Dicken's 200th birthday - apparently he was very fond of chocolate. I'm also told one of his sons is buried at Moree.
ReplyDeletePieces of Sunshine, two of his sons migrated to Australia and the other link was that a number of characters in his books went to Australia.
ReplyDeletethat was so interesting
ReplyDeletelovely capture! love your skies!
A good job too. It was the best of times ... that they restored it.
ReplyDeleteNicely captured!
ReplyDeleteA modest man Mr. Dickens hey Jim!
ReplyDeleteNice to get the statue together as one piece. Happy Valentine's Day.
ReplyDeleteHe certainly was a serious looking chap. But then again that seems to be a prerequisite to qualify for a sculpture in his era.
ReplyDeleteHi there - very topical - and the item about his will is a new little piece of trivia!
ReplyDeleteStewart M - Australia
I didn't even realise that there was a marble statue of Charles Dickens in Centennial Park. And if I had heard the name Dickens Drive, I would not have thought of Charles Dickens. So the 200th birthday celebrations.will do Dickens a lot of good :) Many thanks.
ReplyDeleteJim I wish I had a day spare to duck out to Moree, his son Edward is buried there.
ReplyDeleteGreat post for the current celebrations, and I am so glad that he has his head again.
Great shot. Love to visit this place.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that there are only two scupltures of Dickens, since his books are still so popular.
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