3-003-728 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

New drinking-fountain in front of the Royal Exchange, [City of London], 1861. The '...drinking-fountain...was dedicated to public use by Mr. Samuel Gurney, M.P., whose gift it is. It consists of a pedestal and a circular basin 5 ft. in diameter, composed of polished granite, supported by three dolphins in bronze. Upon the basin is a circular plinth of white marble, forming a base for a half-draped female figure in bronze, representing Temperance, in the act of pouring water from a vase. There are four streams of water - one from the base of the figure and three from the plinth upon which it stands, with so many elegantly-shaped drinking-cups of white metal and gilt inside, chained to the masonry. The fountain [was] erected at a cost of about £300...The work has been done with the permission of the Court of Sewers, who engage to supply it with water; but the property in the fountain itself remains with Mr. Gurney, or the Metropolitan Free Drinking Association, of which he is the chairman. The design is by E. F. Wakefield, honorary secretary to the association, and the modelling by Messrs. Wills Brothers'. From "Illustrated London News", 1861.