The Gold Smelters

Sculpture in London

51°31′17″N 0°05′50″W / 51.521394°N 0.097184°W / 51.521394; -0.097184

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.

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.
  2. ^ "Memorial: Barbican frieze". London Remembers. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  3. ^ a b "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.

External links

  • Media related to The Gold Smelters at Wikimedia Commons
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Key: † No longer extant, on public display or in London (see List of public art formerly in London)
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