South & West Africa Gate -- -- Victoria Memorial, Buckingham Palace, Westminster, London, UK - Figurative Public Sculpture on Waymarking.com

In 1902, when plans for grand Memorial to Britain's recently deceased Queen Victoria were being drawn up by Sir Aston Webb, each dominion was asked to provide a gate leading to the roundabout in which the main central monument would be erected.

The South and West Africa gate is one of three gates into Buckingham Palace given by former Imperial possessions. The Canada, Australia, and the South and West Africa gates all mark formal entrances into the grounds of Buckingham Palace.

The waymarked gate was given by the people of the Dominion of South Africa in honor of their recently deceased monarch, Queen Victoria. The gate is made up of two pillars on sidewalks along The Mall. The stone columns are topped with ornate figurative sculptures of a boy and an animal representing indigenous wildlife unique to Africa.

For these plinths, each one is topped with a boy holding a shield with the coat of arms of South Africa. However, these plinths differ in that behind the boy on the west side walk, an ostrich sits near him, stretching out his neck. Across The Mall on the eastern plinth, the boy stands with a snarling lioness.

The three gates, together with a soaring monumental fountain and set in a roundabout comprise the 1908 Queen Victoria Memorial that dominates the front entry to Buckingham Palace.

From the London Sculpture blog: (visit link)

"Flanking the third gate, the South Africa figure holds as well as his shield, a large branch bearing luscious fruit, and crouched down under it, with neck stretched out and turned enquiringly towards and in front of the figure, is an ostrich. Worn and crumbling as the sculpture is, the pose of that neck remains perfect. West Africa stands over a planted crop of some long-leaved plant, and holds a bunch of it bundled in one arm – it is seemingly sweetcorn, or perhaps cassava. The elbow of that arm almost rests on the top of a snarling big cat; a lioness, or more likely a cheetah or leopard. The sculptors were Alfred Drury, and Derwent Wood; the signatures can still be discerned on the bases of some of the statues. Alas, all of these gatepost groups are becoming worn, for they are prominent and unprotected, and made of Portland limestone. What a contrast with the similar-looking pots on the posts along the front of Buckingham Palace, made of imperishable Coade Stone."

Name or use 'Unknown' if not known: South and West Africa gate Figure Type: Combination of two figure types Artist Name or use 'Unknown' if not known: Alfred Drury & Derwent Wood Date created or placed or use 'Unknown' if not known: 1911 Materials used: stone Location: Buckingham Palace, Victoria Memorial

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