Description:
Around the outside of the Palm House in Sefton Park are statues of Christopher Columbus, Captain Cook, Gerardus Mercator, Henry the Navigator, Charles Darwin, Carl Linnaeus, John Parkinson, and Andre le Notre.
Material: Bronze and marble.
Captain Cook is described as a lively advancing figure, he is depicted with a map and scope in his hand.
History:
Sculpted in 1898 by the French sculptor Leon-Joseph Chavalliaud (1859-1919), who came to England in the 1890s to work for the British firm of decorative casting, Farmer and Brindley.
The Palm House was formerly opened on 5.8.1896, and was presented to the City by Henry Yates Thompson.
The statues were removed in 1990, while the Palm House was being refurbished. The statues were renovated at the Merseyside Conservation Centre.
The Palm House re-opened in September 2001.
Inscription:
(which gives the birth month of Captain Cook as February, whereas it should be October)
CAPTAIN COOK
JAMES COOK BORN IN CLEVELAND, YORKSHIRE FEBY 1728
KILLED BY SOUTH SEA ISLANDERS FEBY 1779
THE EXPLORER OF AUSTRALASIA
CONSTANTLY AT SEA FROM HIS
YOUTH, HE PASSED THROUGH ALL THE
STATIONS BELONGING TO A SEAMAN
FROM AN APPRENTICE BOY IN THE
COAL TRADE TO A POST CAPTAIN IN
THE BRITISH NAVY
GPS Coordinates: 53.383373, -2.934937
Heritage Listing:
Historic England
Palm House, Sefton Park, Liverpool, England
Grade II – listed 12th July 1966.
List entry Number: 1292339
References:
Cook’s Log, page 738, vol. 13, no. 3, (1990).
Website: www.liverpoolmonuments.co.uk/statue/cook03.html
Website: http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/speel/place/lpoolsefton.htm
Website: http://vanderkrogt.net/statues/object.php?record=gbnw002&webpage=ST
Image gallery (click to enlarge)