Pontefract's Old Town Hall, where the photography exhibition was, was sited at one end of the Market Square. Completed in 1785, it had a market hall and gaol on the ground floor with an Assembly Room above. In its lifetime it has served as a magistrates' court and a fire station. It's now used as a conference centre and for weddings and functions. It was sporting a large Union Jack, no doubt related to King Charles' Coronation.
The exhibition was in the Nelson Room, so called because it houses a large plaster relief panel of the death of Nelson by Irish sculptor John Edward Carew. This was the original mould for a bronze relief made for Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square in London. It was given to Pontefract by Benjamin Oliveria, the town's MP in the 1850s, who was a friend of Carew. See HERE for more about that. I have to say it was rather magnificent, though owing to the exhibition stands I couldn't stand far enough back to get all the corners in the frame.
What a beautiful bas relief! Or maybe just sculpture, since it's not that much in relief!
ReplyDeleteThere's a lot of carving skill there. Beautiful place
ReplyDeleteThere is a lot of detail in that sculpture.
ReplyDeleteThe mould is quite impressive.
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