A statue of

George Carteret Vice Admiral Sir George Carteret, 1st Baronet ( – 14 January 1680 N.S.) was a royalist statesman in Jersey and England, who served in the Clarendon Ministry as Treasurer of the Navy. He was also one of the original lords proprietor of the ...

stands in

Saint Peter Saint Peter; he, שמעון בר יונה, Šimʿōn bar Yōnāh; ar, سِمعَان بُطرُس, translit=Simʿa̅n Buṭrus; grc-gre, Πέτρος, Petros; cop, Ⲡⲉⲧⲣⲟⲥ, Petros; lat, Petrus; ar, شمعون الصفـا, Sham'un ...

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...

. A work of the sculptor Laury Dizengremel, it was erected in Saint Peter's Square in 2014, to mark the 350th anniversary of the founding of

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

by Carteret. The idea for erecting the statue was conceived by John Refault,

Constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...

of Saint Peter, who secured over £36,000 of public funds towards its erection.

History

In June 2020, following the

murder of George Floyd On , George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was murdered in the U.S. city of Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old white police officer. Floyd had been arrested on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill. Chauvin knelt on Floyd's n ...

and the widespread removal and destruction of monuments connected to systemic racism, the statue was defaced with white paint, ostensibly due to Carteret's involvement with the

Royal African Company The Royal African Company (RAC) was an English mercantile (trade, trading) company set up in 1660 by the royal House of Stuart, Stuart family and City of London merchants to trade along the West Africa, west coast of Africa. It was led by the J ...

. The company has been called "the single most prolific trader of slaves". In response to petitions and calls for the statue to be put in a museum, Richard Vibert (Constable of Saint Peter) committed to discussing the possibility of placing a plaque next to the statue explaining Carteret's connections with the slave trade. In August 2020 the statue was attacked again by vandals who threw red paint and chains over it. The sculptor writes, “I deplore this controversy. I wish I never had anything to do with it. I wish I’d never made that sculpture but I did, so now that I’ve made it the best thing I can think of is shove it in a museum – that sounds like a good idea with an interpretation that gives the full picture of this guy.”

References

2020 controversies Arts in Jersey Saint Peter, Jersey 2014 sculptures Sculptures of men Statues of military officers Statues of politicians Vandalized works of art in New Jersey {{Sculpture-stub

History

See also

References