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Statues and Sculptures
Statues and sculptures
Statues and sculptures were used in the Victorian period to accentuate intersections between roads and paths and to add interest to drives and gardens.
Originally there were more than 31 statues in Centennial Park. Vandalism and theft have reduced their number to two.
One of the original sculptures, a woman and child in classical pose, sits atop a sandstone column west of the Column Garden.
Brought to the park in 1890, the column is from the portico of the old Australian Museum. The statue was made by the famous Luxembourg pottery company, Villeroy and Boch.
Another survivor from the Park’s early days is the Italianate ‘We won’ statue in the Cannon Triangle.
Cast in 1893 by Italian sculptor Tommaso Sani, this striking 2.1 metre bronze artwork is of an heroic footballer with Apollo’s face.
The figure stands on a cylindrical pedestal decorated with panels of rugby-playing cherubs. Eight small bronze lions surround the statue. The two cannons guarding the sculpture are from the Crimean War.
On the corner of Parkes and Hamilton Drives, a 2.4 metre bronze statue of Sir Henry Parkes greets people arriving through the Paddington Gates.
Parkes was one of the founders of Centennial Park. Created by sculptor Alan Somerville and unveiled in 1996, this statue replaces the original which was destroyed in the early 1970s.
The Griffins
Two griffin sculptures were originally installed on Parkes Drive in the 1890s, at the junction of Hamilton Drive near the statue of Sir Henry Parkes. The griffins guarded each side of the main entry road leading down from Paddington Gates.
They were originally manufactured by Villeroy and Boch and made of ceramic. They sat on the same on sandstone plinths they sit on today.
By 1946 the griffins were in poor condition. Each sculpture was missing detail including the head, wings and feet. The surface coating of the sculptures and the mouldings on the top coping stones of the plinths had also eroded. In 1971 the griffins were removed for safekeeping to the Centennial Parklands Depot.
Although referred to as griffins, winged lions, such as the ones seen in Centennial Parklands, are not true griffins, but are a hybrid known as ‘gryphonic’. True griffins have the face, beak, talons and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion.
In symbolism, the griffin combines the symbolic qualities of both the lion and the eagle. It is the king of birds and lord of the air united with the king of beasts and lord of the earth.
The eagle parts of the griffin represented the saints with their thoughts, aspirations and souls lifted towards God. Its lion half stood for their courage in the arena and in the continuing struggle against sin, evil, and the Devil. Because of the griffin’s strength and powers of sight, it was believed to guard hidden treasures.
