A bronze statue of Mahatma Gandhi by

Fredda Brilliant Fredda Brilliant (7 April 1903 – 25 May 1999) was a Polish sculptor and actress, born in Łódź, Poland. She worked in a variety of media and is recognized as an accomplished sculptor, writer, actor, singer and script writer. Throughout her ...

was unveiled in 1968 at the centre of

Tavistock Square Tavistock Square is a public square in Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden near Euston Station. History Tavistock Square was built shortly after 1806 by the property developer James Burton and the master builder Thomas Cubitt for Fr ...

in London, to mark the impending centenary of Gandhi's birth in 1869.

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

had studied law at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

nearby from 1888 to 1891, before being called to the bar at the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

Description

The statue portrays Gandhi in his later years, sitting in a contemplative pose, with legs crossed in the

lotus position Lotus position or Padmasana () is a cross-legged sitting meditation posture, meditation pose from History of India, ancient India, in which each foot is placed on the opposite thigh. It is an ancient asana in yoga, predating hatha yoga, and ...

and his left hand resting on his ankles, and his bare head with furrowed brows slightly lowered. He is wearing his characteristic

dhoti The dhoti is an ankle-length breechcloth, wrapped around the waist and the legs, in resemblance to the shape of trousers. The dhoti is a garment of ethnic wear for men in the Indian subcontinent. The dhoti is fashioned out of a rectangular p ...

loincloth, with a shawl over the right shoulder. The statue is mounted on a rounded

Portland stone Portland stone is a limestone geological formation (formally named the Portland Stone Formation) dating to the Tithonian age of the Late Jurassic that is quarried on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, England. The quarries are cut in beds of whi ...

plinth, which stands on a square platform with four steps. The plinth bears the inscription "Mahatma Gandhi, 1869–1948". A large alcove hollowed out at the front of the plinth can house tributes, such as flowers or candles. A small plaque was added in 1996, to commemorate the 125th anniversary of Gandhi's birth two years earlier. The Gandhi memorial was erected by the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Committee, with the support and guidance of the

India League The India League was an England-based organisation established by Krishna Menon in 1928. It campaigned for the full independence and self-governance of British India. It has been described as "the principal organisation promoting Indian nationa ...

. It was unveiled by the British Prime Minister

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx (11 March 1916 – 23 May 1995) was a British statesman and Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, from 1964 to 1970 and again from 197 ...

on 17 May 1968, in the presence of the first High Commissioner of India to the UK after independence,

V. K. Krishna Menon Vengalil Krishnan Krishna Menon (3 May 1896 – 6 October 1974) was an Indian academic, independence activist, politician, lawyer, and statesman. During his time, Menon contributed to the Indian independence movement and India's foreign r ...

, and the then-current High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom, Shanti Swaroop Dhavan. It became a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

in 1974. Nearby in Tavistock Square is the

Conscientious Objectors Commemorative Stone The Conscientious Objectors' Commemorative Stone is on the north side of Tavistock Square, Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden. In 1994 a stone commemorating "men and women conscientious objectors all over the world and in every age" ...

installed in 1994, a cherry tree planted in 1967 in memory of the victims of the

bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki On 6 and 9 August 1945, the United States detonated two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively, during World War II. The aerial bombings killed between 150,000 and 246,000 people, most of whom were civil ...

, and a bust of Dame

Louisa Aldrich-Blake Dame Louisa Brandreth Aldrich-Blake (15 August 1865 – 28 December 1925) was a pioneering surgeon and one of the first British women to enter the world of modern medicine. Born in Chingford, Essex, she was the eldest daughter of a curate. L ...

erected in 1926.

Maquettes

A large bronze maquette of the statue was shown on the BBC television programme ''

Antiques Roadshow ''Antiques Roadshow'' is a British television programme broadcast by the BBC in which antiques appraisers travel to various regions of the United Kingdom (and occasionally in other countries) to appraise antiques brought in by local people ( ...

'' in April 2013, valued by

Philip Mould Philip Jonathan Clifford Mould (born March 1960) is an English art dealer, London gallery owner, art historian, writer and broadcaster. He has made a number of major art discoveries, including works of Thomas Gainsborough, Anthony van Dyck, Antho ...

at £20,000. The heirs of Fredda Brilliant auctioned this high maquette, signed and dated 1964, at Woolley & Wallis in Salisbury as part of a sale of works from the artist's studio. Given an auctioneer's estimate of £800 to £1,200, the maquette was sold on 5 June 2019 for £52,000. The sale also included a high plaster version, sold for £13,000, and a high resin version in a lot of two sculptures of Gandhi for £5,000. A high bronze version of the statue had been sold at auction in London in 2014 for £580.

References

Statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Tavistock Square Gardens
Historic England
Statue of Mahatma Gandhi
Images of England, Historic England Archive

''The Independent'', 22 June 1999
Gandhi statue, Bloomsbury
London Remembers
Peace garden at Tavistock Square
atlasobscura.com
Tavistock Square
Bedford Estates
Tavistock Square Gardens
London Parks and Gardens Trust
Golden Jubilee of Mahatma Gandhi statue at Tavistock Square
''Asian Voice'', 22 May 2018
The Cambridge Companion to Gandhi
edited by Judith Brown, Anthony Parel, pp. 213–214
Brilliant response to studio sale
Antiques Trade Gazette, 15 June 2019
Gandhi bronze valued on Antiques Roadshow by Philip Mould to be sold at auction next month
Antiques Trade Gazette, 2019
Maquette for bronze sculpture of Gandhi
''Antiques Roadshow''
"The Studio of Fredda Brilliant
Woolley & Wallis, 16 May 2019
Sale of bronze maquette
Woolley & Wallis, 5 June 2019
Sale of plaster model
Woolley & Wallis, 5 June 2019
Sale of resin model
Woolley & Wallis, 5 June 2019, Woolley & Wallis, 5 June 2019
Sale of small bronze
Roseberys, 18 March 2014 {{DEFAULTSORT:Gandhi, Mahatma, statue, Tavistock Square 1968 sculptures London, Tavistock Square Bronze sculptures in London Outdoor sculptures in London Sculptures of men in London Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Camden Grade II listed statues in London

Description

Maquettes

See also

References