230
NOTES AND QUERIES. [ii s. m. MAR. 25, 1911.
QUEEN ELIZABETH'S STATUE IN
THE ROYAL EXCHANGE.
(11 S. iii. 187.)
IT is"Jnot generally remembered that there have been three buildings on the same site and called the Royal Exchange, and that all of them have been decorated with statuary.
The original " Britain's Burse," built by Sir Thomas Gresham in 1566, and named by Queen Elizabeth the Royal Exchange when she visited it on 23 January, 1570, was burnt to the ground in the Great Fire of 1666. The covered walks were adorned with statues of the English kings ranged in niches in the upper story ; and a statue of Gresham stood near the north end of the Western Piazza. The founder's statue, the grass- hopper vane, and the Turkish honestones alone survived the conflagration. The vane and the honestones survive to this day.
The second Exchange, designed by Jar- man, was completed in 1669. There were statues of Charles I. and II. on either side of the entrance in Cornhill by Buehell, the sculptor of the fantastic figures on Temple Bar. These were replaced on the second front to the same building designed by George Smith, and are now preserved in Gresham College. The interior of the build- ing had 24 niches, 19 of which were filled with apocryphal statues in stone of the kings and queens of England, standing dressed in their robes and with their regalia, except Charles II. and George II., who were in- congruously dressed like the Caesars. These were subsequently painted and gilded by public subscription. The statues of George I. and II. were by Rysbrach, and that of George III. by Wilton ; the remainder were by C. G. Cibber, the Danish sculptor. Four vacant niches should have included Ed- ward II., Richard II., Henry IV., and Richard III., but these monarchs were omitted as either being usurpers or having deprived the City of its charter. There was also a statue in the S.W. corner of Sir John Barnard, M.P. for the City, and the statue of Gresham which survived the Fire. In the centre of the area was another statue of Charles II. in Roman costume, executed by Gibbons, and erected in 1684, which is the one MB. CECIL CLARKE mentions as now standing in the S.E. corner of the present building.
A second front to this building"was com-
pleted in 1821. Bushell's statues of Charles
I. and II. were placed on either side ; and
on the tower \\ere a statue of Sir Thomas
Gresham, four busts of Queen Elizabeth,
the City arms supported by a griffin, and
two sculptured panels representing Queen
Elizabeth proclaiming the original building,
and Britannia seated amidst the emblems
of commerce, accompanied by the polite
arts, manufacture, and agriculture.
Fire again destroyed the building on 10 January, 1838. Almost all the royal statues were destroyed, as well as that of Gresham, which had so miraculously escaped on the former occasion. The present Royal Exchange was erected in its place by Mr. lite, and opened on 28 October, 1844, by Queen Victoria. Of its statuary, the 17 figures in the pediment were executed by Richard Westmacott, R.A. ; those of Sir Hugh Myddelton and Richard Whitting- ton by Carew. That of Sir Thomas Gresham in the tower is by Behnes, and the Queen Elizabeth statue by Watson.
In Gresham College is a statue of Sir Thomas Gresham, which one would like to think of as the original that stood in Britain's Burse ; but no information is to hand as to where it came from, except that it was in the second Exchange. It might therefore be the statue mentioned above as being on the ' second front of the second Exchange. Could any of your readers enlighten me on this point ? F. W. BAXTER.
170, Church Street, Stoke Newington, N.
Queen Elizabeth's statue by Watson was provided when the present building was erected, 1840-44. At the same time statues of Gresham and Myddelton, by Joseph and Carew respectively, were placed in other niches ; but that of Charles II. in the south-west corner formerly stood in the quadrangle of the second Exchange, and survived the fire of 1838 (Cunningham, ii. 709 ; Wilson's ' New Royal Exchange,' 1844, 103). ALECK ABRAHAMS.
[A note by MR. ABRAHAMS on Gresham College and the Royal Exchange is in type and will appear next week.]
MOZART'S WORKS (11 S. iii. 187). Miss CONSTANCE SMITH is a little vague in her inquiry. Of sonatas Mozart wrote 17 for pianoforte solo, 5 for pianoforte four hands, and 1 for two pianofortes ; 43 for pianoforte and violin, and 17 for the organ. It is probably concerning the first of these that she seeks information.
