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Title
Gower Memorial (Falstaff, Hamlet, Lady Macbeth, Prince Hal)
Date
1876–1878
Medium
bronze & stone
Accession number
CV37_JB_S003
Acquisition method
presented to Stratford by Lord Gower
Work type
Monument
Owner
Stratford-on-Avon District Council
Custodian
Stratford-on-Avon District Council
Work status
extant
Listing status
Grade II* (England and Wales)
Unveiling date
10th October 1888
Listing date
25/10/51
Access
at all times
Inscription description
the pedestal below has panels with inscribed quotations from Shakespeare between pilasters capped by bronze wreaths: (north face, from Henry V, Act 1, scene i) CONSIDERATION LIKE / AN ANGEL CAME, / AND WHIPT THE OFFENDING / ADAM OUT OF HIM; (east, from Henry IV, Part 2 Act I, scene ii) I AM NOT ONLY WITTY IN / MYSELF, BUT THE CAUSE / THAT WIT IS IN OTHER MEN; (south, from Macbeth, Act V, scene v) LIFE’S BUT A WALKING SHADOW / A POOR PLAYER / THAT STRUTS AND FRETS / HIS HOUR UPON THE STAGE / AND THEN IS HEARD NO MORE; (west, from Hamlet, Act V, scene ii) GOOD NIGHT SWEET PRINCE / AND FLIGHTS OF ANGELS / SING THEE TO THY REST. The plinth faces are also inscribed: (south) THIS MONUMENT / WAS UNVEILED ON 10TH OF OCTOBER 1888 / BY LADY HODGSON WIFE OF SIR ARTHUR HODGSON KCMG / IN THE FIFTH YEAR OF HIS MAYORALTY; (west) THIS MONUMENT / WAS REMOVED FROM THE / MEMORIAL THEATRE GARDENS / TO THIS SITE IN THE YEAR / 1933; (north) RONALD GOWER / TO / STRATFORD-UPON-AVON.' a bronze plaque fixed to the south face reads: THESE FIGURES WERE DESIGNED AND MODELLED BY LORD RONALD GOWER, WHO / PRESENTED THE MONUMENT TO THE TOWN OF STRATFORD-UPON-AVON IN 1888. / THE WORK WAS EXECUTED IN PARIS AND TOOK TWELVE YEARS TO COMPLETE. / ASSOCIATED WITH LORD RONALD IN HIS TASK WERE HIS ASSISTANT, MONSIOUR L. MADRASSI; / THE FIRM OF TASSEL, WHO MADE ALL THE FIGURES SAVE THAT OF HAMLET, WHICH WAS / ENTRUSTED TO MESSIEURS RAUX AND MARLEY; AND THE HOUSE OF DE CAUVILLE / AND PERZINKU, WHO CAST THE WREATHS, THE MASKS, THE FRUIT AND THE FLOWERS. / THE STONE USED IN THE MONUMENT IS PARTLY BOXGROUD BATH, PARTLY YORK. THE GROUP / WAS ERECTED ON ITS ORIGINAL SITE BY MR. FREDERICK TAYLOR, CONTRACTOR, UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF THE ARCHITECTS, MESSIEURS PEIGNIET AND MARNAY, OF PARIS.