(Dead) Fish Fountain - Fredericksburg VA - Converted Fountains on Waymarking.com

A lead fish fountain is mounted on the northeastern wall of the gardens at Chatham Manor across the Rappahannock River from Fredericksburg, VA. The fish emerges from a wave with his tail curled up behind him. The wave forms a basin for the water which the fish shoots out of his mouth. The sculptor is unknown and no date is listed. The fountain is non-functional.

Chatham Manor was originally built in the late 1700s. It went through several owners and changes over the next 150 years, including devastating damage during the Civil War, until the 1920s when Daniel and Helen Devore bought the property and began its restoration. They hired a landscape architect who extensively used statuary on the grounds, most notably in the gardens as accents and to draw visitors along the paths.¹

According to Chatham a landscape introduction, the National Park Service acquired Chatham in 1976. Many of the lawn ornaments and statues were put up for auction since the NPS only considered structures prior to 1863 to be of historical significance. Most of the decorations and statues along the wall were sold. In the 1980s, the NPS began a restoration of the gardens under Reed Engle, their regional landscape architect. He sourced many replacement statues from Kenneth Lynch & Sons who supplied the originals to the Devores.² The fountain may be one of those replicas. It is impossible to tell from old photographs.

Chatham is open daily from 9 AM to 4:30 PM. Admission is free.

¹ Gardens lost in time « HORTUS 2
² Chatham a landscape introduction, pg. 89

Setting: Outside Place: Historic Residence (NPS HQ) Use: Ornamentation and historic reference

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