Manual Ref* NFnrNOR132 Show 2 images 173
Title*

Architectural sculpture on Burlington Buildings
County Norfolk   District Council Norwich City Council 
Civil Parish or equivalent Norwich City Council  Town/Village* Norwich 
Road Orford Place 
Precise Location 7-13 South side 
OS Grid Ref TG232084  Postcode NR1 
Previous location(s)  
Setting On building  Access Public 
Artist/Maker Role Qualifier
J. Owen Bond  Architect(s)   

Commissioned by

  

Design & Constrn period

 1904 

Date of installing

  

Exact date of unveiling

  

Category
Abstract Animal Architectural
Commercial Commemorative Composite
Free Functional Funerary
Heraldic Military Natural
Non-Commemorative Performance Portable
Religious Roadside, Wayside Sculptural
Temporary, Mobile Other  

Object Type
Building Clock Tower Architectural
Coat of Arms Cross Fountain
Landscape Marker Medallion
Mural Panel Readymade
Relief Shaft Sculpture
Statue Street Furniture War Memorial
Other Object Sub Type: Reclining statues

Subject Type
Allegorical Mythological Pictorial
Figurative Non-figurative Portrait
Still-life Symbolic Other

Subject Sub Type
Bust Equestrian Full-length
Group Head Reclining
Seated Standing Torso
Part Material Dimension
Reclining female figures  Stone  Approx. L 80 cms 

Work is
Extant Not Sited Lost

Owner/Custodian

 Not known 

Listing status
Grade I Grade II* Grade II Don't Know Not Listed

Surface Condition
Corrosion, Deterioration Accretions
Bird Guano Abrasions, cracks, splits
Biological growth Spalling, crumbling
Metallic staining Previous treatments
Other  
Detail: The sculpture is set behind wire netting to prevent bird guano

Structural Condition
Armature exposed Broken or missing parts
Replaced parts Loose elements
Cracks, splits, breaks, holes Spalling, crumbling
Water collection Other
Detail:

Vandalism
Graffiti Structural damage Surface Damage
Detail:

Overall condition
Good Fair Poor

Risk
No Known Risk At Risk Immediate
Signatures/Marks On corner above cartouche : J. Owen Bond architect. Norwich Above: 1904 
Inscriptions On entablature BURLINGTON BUILDINGS 

Description (physical)

 Burlington Buildings is a striking Renaissance inspired speculative office building with a curved facade, and corner tower towards Red Lion Street under development from 1899. It would have competed handsomely with Skipper and Boardman's buildings on Red Lion Street before it was fenced in by the uninspired rear facade of Debenhams. Three pairs of reclining females - in each case one with a book coupled with a companion holding a cornucopia - rest on the arched frames of first floor windows. They lie with their backs to the keystones under jutting balconies. 

Description (iconographical)

 The paired figures are a distant variation on the reclining statues of Michelangelo's Medici tombs in S. Lorenzo, Florence. Their attributes - a book and a cornucopia - suggest the prosperity which will follow from the learning of the clients who leased offices in Burlington buildings, 

Photographs

 Date taken:  25/4/2006
Date logged: 

Photographed by:
Sarah Cocke

On Site Inspection

 Date:  15/7/2006

Inspected by:
Richard Cocke

Sources and References

 BOE I 306 

Database

 Date entered:  27/9/2006

Data inputter:
Richard Cocke