Benjamin Disraeli (detail of the garter)
Charles Bell Birch
1883
Bronze
Other views and related material
Photograph, caption, and commentary below by Jacqueline Banerjee 2009
Disraeli looks dignified and solemn here, the drape of his cloak showing off a fine, tightly buttoned left leg, with the ceremonial garter of the Knight of the Garter worn just below the knee, as it should be. The cloak is much plainer and hence less cumbersome than that shown in Mario Raggi's sculpture of him in Parliament Square, which shows Disraeli in a similar pose.
This memorial in Liverpool was largely raised from within the city's Conservative Club. There was some controversy about its placing, in case a position between Thomas Thornycroft's equestrian statues of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert should make it look as though they were his "heraldic supporters" (Cavanagh 267)! More complaints came later, because Thomas Brock's Gladstone Memorial had to be put in a less prominent position at the back of St George's Hall, in St John's Gardens — despite the fact that Gladstone was actually born in Liverpool.
Reference
Cavanagh, Terry. Public Sculpture of Liverpool. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 1997.
Last modified 23 January 2009