Manual Ref* SUbaSU007 Show 3 images 619
Title*

Resting Reapers
County Suffolk   District Council Babergh 
Civil Parish or equivalent Sudbury  Town/Village* Sudbury 
Road Market Hill 
Precise Location Parapet of the Corn Exchange building, now the library, at the bottom of the market square. 
OS Grid Ref TL874412  Postcode CO10 
Previous location(s)  
Setting Parapet of the former Corn Exchange, overlooking the market square.  Access Public 
Artist/Maker Role Qualifier
H.E. Kendall  Architect(s)  and 
Unknown  Sculptor(s)   

Commissioned by

 The Sudbury Corn Exchange Committee 

Design & Constrn period

 August - December 1841. 

Date of installing

 December 1841 

Exact date of unveiling

 27/12/1841 

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:

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
Statue  Coade Stone  H: 150cm x W: 300cm x D: 80cm 
Base  Coade Stone  H: 120cm x W: 330cm x D: 100cm 
Sheaves of corn (x6)  Coade stone or terracotta  H: 150cm x W: 40cm x D: 40cm 
Fish  Cast iron black  H. 1.60 W. 2 metres 

Work is
Extant Not Sited Lost

Owner/Custodian

 Sudbury Town Council 

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:

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 The key stone over the doorway on the insides: A.D.1841 H.H.E. KENDALL ARCHITECT 
Inscriptions  

Description (physical)

 Statue of two reapers, sitting in front of several sheaves of freshly cut corn, one holds a scythe, his companion rests his hand on a plough. They are set on the parapet of a mid 19th century building, whose stuccoed front is based on Roman triumphal arches. Four sheaves of corn are set on the blocks above the Doric columns, with two further sheaves at the back. The roundel above the doorway includes two fish. The figures were molded from artificial stone, not carved, but at this late date it is uncertain that it was manufactured by Coade, who closed in 1840, selling their molds the following year. Pevsner has suggested that the artist was F.L.Coates of Lambeth,who, as Philip Ward-Jackson, has noted in correspondence, September 2020, was probably misreading of Coade. 

Description (iconographical)

 The 'resting reapers' are set on Sudbury's former Corn Exchange. The sheaves are a reminder of what was traded in the building, whilst the reaper rest once their job is done. The references to harvest are are completed by the fish set above the doorway. These suggest a biblical reference to Christ’s miracle (Mark 6 30-44) of the feeding the five thousand with loaves and fishes. In 1963 Sudbury Town Council threatened to demolish the Corn Exchange, which was saved by a group of citizens lead by Alan and Andrew Philips. 

Photographs

 Date taken:  27/1/2008
Date logged:  27/3/2007

Photographed by:
Sarah Cocke

On Site Inspection

 Date:  25/3/2007

Inspected by:
Paul White

Sources and References

 East Anglian Daily Times, 17/6/1981. Bury and Norwich Post, 29/12/1841. Corn Exchange to Branch Library; Sudbury, Building Appraisal number 15, by Palmer, A. (available from Bury St. Edmunds Record Office, Under Sudbury General Box 2.) Information from Andrew (Lord) Phillips; Nikolaus Pevsner, revised Enid Radcliffe, Suffolk, 1974, p. 454 

Database

 Date entered:  15/6/2007

Data inputter:
Paul White