The Gold Smelters

The Gold Smelters,[1] also known as the Barbican Frieze,[2] Bryer's Frieze,[3] Gold Refiners,[4] or abridged as Gold Smelters,[5] is an outdoor frieze relief by J. Daymond, installed along Aldersgate Street in London, United Kingdom. It was saved from a building demolished in the 1960s and re-erected in its present location by the Corporation of London in 1975.

The Gold Smelters
The relief in 2014
ArtistJ. Daymond
LocationLondon, United Kingdom
Coordinates51.521394°N 0.097184°W / 51.521394; -0.097184

Description

The medium relief depicts twelve figures engaged in gold refining trade, plus a cat. The relief is part of a large concrete block mounted on a brick plinth. A nearby plaque reads, THIS FRIEZE WAS REMOVED FROM NUMBER 53 AND 54 / BARBICAN WHEN IT WAS DEMOLISHED IN 1962 AND RE / ERECTED BY THE CORPORATION OF LONDON IN 1975 / NUMBER 53 AND 54 WERE THE PREMISES / OF W. BRYER & SONS GOLD REFINERS AND ASSAYERS / WHOSE TRADE IS DEPICTED IN THE FRIEZE. THE BUILDING / WAS ONE OF THE FEW WHICH SURVIVED WHEN THE AREA / WAS LARGELY DESTROYED BY INCENDIARY BOMBS IN / DECEMBER 1940.[3]

References
  1. Ward-Jackson, Philip (2003). Public Sculpture of the City of London. Public Sculpture of Britain. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. pp. 4–5.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  2. "Memorial: Barbican frieze". London Remembers. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  3. "Bryer's Frieze, Barbican, Aldersgate St". Public Monuments and Sculpture Association. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  4. "Gold Refiners – Aldersgate Street, Barbican, London, UK". Waymarking. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  5. "Gold Smelters". The Victorian Web. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.