“Henry Marquess of Waterford: a New Statue of Achilles”

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Henry Marquess of Waterford: a New Statue of Achilles

Wood engraving

“Cast from Knockers taken the vicinity of Sackville Street, Vigo Lane, and Waterloo Place.”

Source, Graves, Mr. Punch’s History of Modern England, volume 1.

Image and text from an Internet Archive online version of a copy of in the University of Toronto Library.— George P. Landow

[This image may be used without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose without prior permission as long as you credit this site, the Internet Archive, and the University of Toronto library.]

The sculpture parodies Westmacott’s Hyde Park larger-than-life bronze statue of Achilles that was intended as a monument to Lord Wellington. Stealing door knockers was a prank or crime of rowdy upper-class young men. Waterloo Place is the site of both the Athenaeum Club and what was originally The United Service Club designed by by John Nash and Decimus Burton (1828), which was originally founded for military officers who had fought in the Napoleonic Wars and now houses the Institute of Directors.

As for Waterford himself, he was known as the "Mad Marquess" and, as a young buck, was notorious for his wild ways. His exploits included stealing the Eton headmaster's whipping block (hence perhaps the heavy whip which he wields instead of a sword) as well as pinching door-knockers. The object that he holds up in his other hand is reminiscent of Goliath's head, as if he himself was another David: but it is only a particularly grotesque version of one of those. Another of the Marquess's pranks gave rise to the expression, "painting the town red." This cartoon of 1841, together with a brief account of its subject, provides the opening sally of Chris Bryant's book about the eccentricities of the British aristocracy.

Bibliography

Bryant, Chris. Entitled: A Critical History of the British Aristocracy. London: Doubleday, 2017.

Graves, Charles L. Mr. Punch’s History of Modern England. 4 vols. London: Cassell & Co.: 1921.

Reynolds, K. D. "Beresford, Henry de la Poer, third marquess of Waterford (1811–1859), reprobate and landowner." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Online ed. Web. 8 June 2019.

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Last modified 30 May 2019