In 1862, Redmond Barry, a Judge of the Victorian Supreme Court, and a man who promoted the interests of Victoria's cultural institutions, purchased a pair of statues of lions in London, to be displayed at the Public Library in Swanston Street (now known as the State Library of Victoria.) In October 1863 they featured in an illustration of the vestibule of the Public Library.
The Lions in 1863
Vestibule of the Public Library, published in The Australian News for Home Readers, October 21, 1863.
State Library of Victoria IAN21/10/63/1
The Lions were later installed on either side of the flight of steps leading to the main entrance of the Library.
The Lions, pictured with Sir Redmond Barry's statue, 1887.
Statue of Sir Redmond Barry. Photographer: Charles Rudd
State Library of Victoria image H39357/111
Forty years after they were installed there was a move to have the Lions replaced. The Before Felton website notes that - The statues were already targeted for replacement by 1907, when Bernard Hall [the Director of the National Gallery of Victoria, which shared the Library building] entered into correspondence with famed French sculptor Auguste Rodin (1840-1917), about the possibility of his producing one or two large bronze lions for the library steps. Hall had already selected two Rodin sculptures in the first batch of Felton Bequest acquisitions in 1905 (when he and Rupert Bunny met the sculptor at his Paris studio). In a letter to Rodin of March 1907, Hall described the existing statues at the top of the library steps as “decrepit” and “falling to pieces,” and sent a photo of the intended site. This project fell through; but in 1909 the NGV purchased a small bronze of Rodin’s “Crying lion” (Le lion qui pleure).
Even earlier than this, John Swan, R.A. (1847-1910), English painter and sculptor was reported to have been commissioned to provide replacements for the Lions. The Argus of November 7, 1925, noted -
The spacious approach to the Public Library presents a most favourable site for sculptural decoration. What has been done already so well does not, however, by any means exhaust the possibilities of the position. The late John Swan, R.A., had designed and partly modelled a wonderfully fine pair of animal bronzes (a speciality of his) to take the place of the zinc productions which for so long tried to look like representations of lions and to act as decorations for this part of the terrace. His death, unfortunately, prevented this commission from being carried out, and his "Lion Roaming" and "Lioness Removing Her Cubs to Higher Ground" (a variation of his "Deluge" group) were lost to us. The site calls for some such artistic emphasis, and we can but hope that nothing less fine will be allowed to take their place, even if we have to wait half a century.
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One of the Lions in 1918
Statue of Joan of Arc, outside the State Library of Victoria, taken 2/3/1918.
State Library of Victoria image H5361
From 1924 there were various newspaper articles reporting on the status of the Lions -
The Argus, August 29, 1924 - Among the subjects considered at the meeting of the trustees of the Melbourne Public Library yesterday afternoon, when the president (Dr. Leeper) presided, was the question of removing the statuary lions which guard the entrance to the museum. These statues, which were erected in 1862, are now in a dilapidated condition. The matter was referred to the building committee for report.
The Sun News-Pictorial, September 1, 1924 - Monuments of Neglect - The king of the jungle would feel rather downcast if he met this lion full of cracks guarding the entrance to the museum. The trustees of the Melbourne Public Library are considering the question of removing the statues erected in 1862.
The Sun News-Pictorial, October 25, 1924 - Board a Swanston-street tram, alight at the wrought-iron gates of the library and art gallery, walk up the shallow steps, past the weather-beaten stone lions and statues of St. George and Joan of Arc.
The Trustees made their decision and the fate of these tired, dilapidated Lions was sealed and they were removed from the Public Library forecourt and delivered to the Zoo in Royal Park.
Karen Rawady, historian at Zoos Victoria, has provided Vanished Victoria with information about this process -
From the minutes of the Zoological and Acclimatisation Society of Victoria.
December Meeting 1924: "Two metal lions at the entrance to the library might be done away with, Mr Armstrong, Secretary of the Public Library Trustees informed him; if Zoo wants them, trustees said they could have them. Wilkie inspected them, several big cracks in the figures. Offer of metal lions accepted with thanks."
February Meeting 1925: "Lions received from the public library, dilapidated, but when position found, they can be fixed up."
The State Library of Victoria website notes that they were displayed at the Zoo until the early 1960s and then removed as part of a major clean-up and haven’t been sighted since. However Ms Rawady speculates that they may never have been on display at the Zoo - There is no further mention of the metal lions in the minutes or annual reports. The Society was quite strapped for cash in the 1920s so this might explain both why they accepted the donation from the Library in the first place but also why they may never have found a position in the grounds if there was no money to fix them up.....I have not seen the metal lions in any of the photos in our collection so far.
We are now left with two mysteries - were the Lions ever on display at the Zoo and secondly, where are they now?
Should you have any information about this item's history or location, please leave a comment below or see 'Contact us' tab for anonymous emailing.
We had a cake made of the lion statue and plinth for our 2024 AGM. This cake is all edible, and was amazing. It was made by Atomic Cakes in Spotswood
Acknowledgment
We are grateful to Karen Rawady for her information. The minutes of the Zoological and Acclimatisation Society of Victoria, as quoted, were published in The Zoo Story: the animals, the history, the people by Catherine de Courcy (Penguin Books, 1995).
References -
Before Felton: Collection of the State Library of Victoria to 1904, complied by John Gregory https://www.beforefelton.com/
State Library of Victoria website https://www.slv.vic.gov.au/visit/history-our-building
The Argus, August 29, 1924, read here.
The Sun News-Pictorial, September 1, 1924, read here.
The Sun News-Pictorial, October 25, 1924, read here.
The Argus, November 7, 1925, read here.
The Sun News-Pictorial, December 21, 1934, read here.
Weekly Times, January 12, 1935, read here.
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