“Queen Victoria,” Calcutta (Kolkata), India, by Marshall Wood

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Queen Victoria

Marshall Wood

Unveiled: 1 January, 1878 by the Viceroy, Lord Lytton.

Marble

This statue, a replica of those executed by Wood for Melbourne and Ottawa in 1874, depicts the Queen as a Roman goddess. It was funded through the private patronage of Mahtab Chand Bahadur, Maharaja Dhiraj of Burdwan. (Steggles, Statues of the Raj)

The statue stands as originally intended, in the Indian Museum on Chowringhee Road, Calcutta (Kolkata)

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Queen Victoria

British India (homepage)

Calcutta (homepage)

Photographs and text by Robert Freidus and Jacqueline Banerjee.

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It was a popular piece. The version of it in Ottawa stands in the Canadian Library of Parliament, and has been described as "a larger-than-life white marble likeness of a young and imperial Queen Victoria that stands 2.33 m high and weighs 1550 kg." ("Restoration..."). Interestingly, during a recent restoration project, it was found that "certain elements had once been gilded or gold-painted, specifically low carved relief decoration such as the vitruvian scroll along the edge of her outer robe, details of sandal straps, as well as whole carved elements including crosses and fleurs-de-lys of the diadem, acorns, and portions of her sceptre" (again, "Restoration..."). The copy in Melbourne also stands in an important place. When reporting the sculptor's unexpected and premature death in 1882, the Argos, Melbourne, explained that it was first exhibited at the Public Library, but had now "found a permanent resting place at Parliament House." The report adds, "Replicas somewhat varied in detail, have, we believe, since been furnished to Sydney and Adelaide (28 July 1882, p. 6). It seems that these countries preferred a likeness of "a young and imperial" queen to one of Queen Victoria in later life.

The Indian version, which still has pride of place at the top of the main stairs in Walter Granville's stately Indian Museum in Kolkata, has the added attraction of a bronze bas-relief on the pedestal (see below). This shows a formal presentation ceremony in a typically crowded Indian context, and appears to be signed” by the sculptor in the left-hand corner.

Bibliography

"The Late Mr Marshall Wood." Trove Digitised Newspapers and More. Web. 1 February 2013.

"Restoration of a Marble Sculpture from the Library of Parliament." Canadian Conservation Institute. Web. 1 February 2013.

Steggles, Mary Ann. Statues of the Raj. Putney, London: BACSA [British Association for Cemeteries in South Asia], 2000.

Last modified 2 February 2013