An heraldic lion (Kingdom of Spain)
Spanish School
Category
Art / Sculpture
Date
1874 - 1931
Materials
Marble
Measurements
620 x 200 x 290 mm
Place of origin
Spain
Order this imageCollection
Anglesey Abbey, Cambridgeshire
NT 516611
Summary
Marble, Heraldic Lion with the Royal Arms of Spain (House of Bourbon), Spanish School, probably 1874-1931. A seated lion supporting the royal coat of arms of Spain during the Bourbon dynasty (1700-1808, 1813-68, 1874-1931). Quarterly: the castle of Castile, the lion of León, overall the fleur-de-lys of the House of Bourbon-Anjou, enté en point the pomegranate of Granada, surrounded by the collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece, surmounted by the modern royal crown. In a pair with NT 516612.
Full description
The lions were purchased by Lord Fairhaven on 11 May 1931 from the London dealer Arthur Edwards. They had come into Edwards' hands following a seismic event in Spanish modern history: the deposition of the Bourbon King Alphonso XIII (1886-1941) and the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic (14 April 1931-1 April 1939). The Bourbon dynasty had ruled Spain more or less consistently since 1700, with the exception of the French Occupation (1808-13) and the short-lived succession of the House of Savoy which ended in the First Spanish Republic (1868-74). By 1930 Spain, and the rest of the world, had spiralled into economic crisis. The country was led by the dictator General Primo de Rivera, who enjoyed close support from the King. Alphonso came to be seen as a symbol of oppression and public support for the monarchy fell. In the municipal elections of 12 April 1931 the Republican party won by a landslide victory and Alphonso was forced to flee the country. In response, royal images such as these lions bearing the Bourbon arms were destroyed or removed to make way for republican imagery. The lions are thus an important relic of this political revolution, which ultimately led to the Spanish Civil War. The lions were sold by Edwards to Lord Fairhaven as a 'No. 3188/ Pair of fine old Georgian carved white marble Garden Figures, seated lions, with heraldic shields.' Alice Rylance-Watson 2019
Provenance
Purchased by Huttleston Rogers Broughton, 1st Lord Fairhaven (1896-1966) from Arthur Edwards, 11 May 1931, £35; bequeathed by Lord Fairhaven in 1966 with the house and the rest of the contents.
Credit line
Anglesey Abbey, The Fairhaven Collection (The National Trust)
Makers and roles
Spanish School, sculptor
References
Roper 1964: Lanning Roper, The Gardens of Anglesey Abbey, Cambridgeshire. The Home of Lord Fairhaven, London 1964, p. 62. Christie, Manson & Woods 1971: The National Trust, Anglesey Abbey, Cambridge. Inventory: Furniture, Textiles, Porcelain, Bronzes, Sculpture and Garden Ornaments’, 1971, p. 158.