Topic: Wendy Statue - 1951
Topic type:
King Edward Park, Hawera
Wendy Statue
Bronze statue of Wendy Darling, the young girl immortalised in J.M.Barrie's story of Peter Pan and Wendy (1911)
Well-known English sculptor, Ferdinand Victor Blundstone (1885-1951), was commissioned to design the statue. His studio though, was destroyed in an air raid during World War II and the work was completed by Gilbert Baynes. The statue was constructed at the works of Morris-Sing and Company, South Lambeth. It was shipped to New Zealand freight free aboard the Shaw Savill cargo liner Forsdale.
A memorial to James Ernest Campbell (Hawera mayor 1933 - 39) it was unveiled on 9 July 1951. The statue's design is after the style of Sir George Frampton's famous Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, London.
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Wendy, holding high a lantern, is accompanied by two elves (or gnomes) - one playing a lute, the other a fiddle - four fairies, two hares, a raven, a rooster, a fox, an owl, two hedgehogs, two ducks, two toads, three squirrels and families of rabbits and mice.
The statue is signed at the base
F V BLUNDSTONE
SCULPTOR
LONDON
Plaque at base of Statue
IN MEMORY OF
JAMES ERNEST CAMPBELL
MAYOR OF HAWERA 1933-39
THIS BRONZE STATUE WAS
PRESENTED TO THE
CITIZENS OF HAWERA
BY HIS WIFE MARION CAMPBELL
