''Blind Beggar and his Dog'' is a

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

statue of 1958, by the sculptor

Elisabeth Frink Dame Elisabeth Jean Frink (14 November 1930 – 18 April 1993) was an English sculptor and printmaker. Her ''Times'' obituary noted the three essential themes in her work as "the nature of Man; the 'horseness' of horses; and the divine in ...

, based on the famous ballad The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green. It stands in the enclosed garden of Tate House, a residential development for the elderly on the

Cranbrook Estate The Cranbrook Estate is a housing estate in Bethnal Green, London, England. It is located next to Roman Road and is based around a figure of eight street called Mace Street. The estate was designed by Francis Skinner, Douglas Bailey and an elde ...

in the London district of

Bethnal Green Bethnal Green is an area in the East End of London northeast of Charing Cross. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the common land, Green, much of which survives today as Bethnal Green Gardens, beside Cambridge Heat ...

. It is a Grade II* listed structure.

History

The legend of the blind beggar became popular in

Tudor times The Tudor period occurred between 1485 and 1603 in England and Wales and includes the Elizabethan period during the reign of Elizabeth I until 1603. The Tudor period coincides with the dynasty of the House of Tudor in England that began with t ...

and has many variants. One version tells of an English knight, Simon de Montford, who is blinded at the

Battle of Evesham The Battle of Evesham (4 August 1265) was one of the two main battles of 13th century England's Second Barons' War. It marked the defeat of Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, and the rebellious barons by the future King Edward I, who led the ...

in 1265. Reduced to poverty, he begs

alms Alms (, ) are money, food, or other material goods donated to people living in poverty. Providing alms is often considered an act of virtue or Charity (practice), charity. The act of providing alms is called almsgiving, and it is a widespread p ...

at Bethnal Green, while his beautiful daughter Besse is wooed by four suitors, three of whom are discouraged by her father's seeming inability to provide a dowry. The fourth recognises Besse's innate nobility and marries her anyway, whereupon he receives a dowry from the beggar's still-wealthy father. Bethnal Green's civic

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

bears the images of Besse and her blind father and the legend is commemorated in many place names in the area, including that of the

The Blind Beggar The Blind Beggar is a pub on Whitechapel Road in the East End of London, England. Due to its location close to Whitechapel Station, the pub is generally described as being in Whitechapel; it is however located just on the Bethnal Green side of ...

public house on

Whitechapel Road Whitechapel Road is a major arterial road in Whitechapel, Tower Hamlets, in the East End of London. It is named after a small chapel of ease dedicated to St Mary and connects Whitechapel High Street to the west with Mile End Road to the east. ...

. Post-war reconstruction of Bethnal Green, which had suffered severely in

the Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

was led by the architectural team of ''Skinner Bailey & Lubetkin'', the successor to Berthold Lubetkin's

Tecton Group The Tecton Group was a radical architectural group co-founded by Berthold Lubetkin, Francis Skinner (architect), Francis Skinner, Denys Lasdun, Michael Dugdale, Anthony Chitty, Val Harding, Godfrey Samuel, and Lindsay Drake in 1932 and disbanded ...

. The Cranbrook estate was the last and the largest of the three housing estates they designed. The sculpture of the Blind Beggar was commissioned by Bethnal Green Council in 1957, and was awarded to the then 27 year-old sculptor Elisabeth Frink. It was first sited on Roman Road, from where it can still be seen, but was moved to its intended, Tate Garden, location in 1963.

Description

The statue is in bronze, and is 8 feet high. It stands on an "elevated fountain (plinth) of overlapping stone sections".

Pevsner Pevsner or Pevzner is a Jewish surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Aihud Pevsner (1925–2018), American physicist * Antoine Pevsner (1886–1962), Russian sculptor, brother of Naum Gabo * David Pevsner, American actor, singer, da ...

describes the statue as "appealingly vulnerable and serious". It was given a Grade II* heritage listing in 1998.

Notes

Sources

External links

* {{Portal bar, London, Visual arts Bronze sculptures in the United Kingdom Buildings and structures completed in 1958 Statues in London Dogs in art Grade II* listed buildings in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Grade II* listed monuments and memorials Monuments and memorials in London Outdoor sculptures in London Sculptures of men in the United Kingdom Sculptures by Elisabeth Frink Bethnal Green