Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Statler Fountain

This statue is located at Statler Park, Stuart Street at Park Square and was designed by Ulysses Anthony Ricci (1888-1960). The sculpture was a gift of the Hotel Statler Company, Inc. and was presented to the city in 1930 as part of a beautification project for the Park. Originally, water flowed from the cup the figure holds, into the raised bowl, and then into the basin. The fountain is no longer operable. A bronze dedication plaque originally on base is now missing. The preceding statement is no longer true and refers to the state of the fountain when I last posted it in 2008, which you can see here. The fountain has been recently refurbished (2011) by the same company that restored and refurbished the Brewer Fountain.

The sculpture is a bronze, art deco fountain in the shape of a Roman tripod brazier. A woman in classical robes stands in the middle of the upper bowl holding a cup from which water originally flowed. The large bowl is decorated with signs of the zodiac in relief; the lip edge is decorated with egg and dart molding. The legs are decorated with semi-draped male figures above grotesque decorations and terminate in lions' paws. The basin at foot of the fountain is now a planter.

2 comments:

Laura said...

The fountain is clearly operable and the basin is not used as a planter. Am I misinterpreting your caption?

Clueless in Boston said...

Thank you for caching this faux pas Laura. I have updated the post.