The Falconer Statue

The Falconer Statue. Central Park. , This elegant bronze statue by British Sculptor George Blackall Simonds (1843-1929) depicts a young falconer in Elizabethan garb holding aloft a falcon poised for release. , The Falconer is representative of the rich sculptural collection Central Park inherited in the 19th century. The original Falconer was created for Trieste, Italy, and shown in 1875 at the Royal Academy in London, England. It appears that George Kemp (1826-1893), a wealthy, Irish-born, New York merchant admired the sculpture so much that he commissioned a full-scale replica for Central Park. It was dedicated on May 31, 1875 on a cylindrical granite pedestal, perched on a natural rock outcropping, south of the 72nd Street transverse road, and east of the park's West Drive. , Born in Reading, England, to a prosperous family of brewers, Simonds attended Saint Andrew's College (later Bradfield College). Demonstrating early promise as a sculptor, he studied art in Dresden, Germany and Brussels, Belgium. Then for 12 years he resided in Rome, Italy. Simonds himself was an avid falconer, and in an official portrait made of him as chairman of the family brewery, Sir Oswald Brimley depicted him with a falcon. , Simond's other work includes a monumental lion sculpture he created in 1886 for the Forbury Gardens in Reading, England, which commemorates British veterans of the Afghan War of 1880. His depiction of Queen Victoria, created for her golden jubilee of 1887, stands outside Reading Town Hall. Another casting of The Falconer that stands in Lynch Park in Beverly, Massachusetts, is a gift reportedly of Robert Evans, a native of Beverly, who had admired the sculpture while convalescing at a New York hospital near Central Park. , The Falconer has had a checkered history, having suffered extensive damage from weathering and vandals. In danger of toppling, then monument was shored up by the Parks Department in 1937. A new falcon was fashioned and attached in 1957, but further vandalism forced the City to move the sculpture to storage for safekeeping. In 1982, the entire arm and falcon were replaced, and the statue was reinstalled. The Falconer was conserved and repatined in 1995 by the Central Park Conservancy, as part of its mission to restore and preserve the park for present and future generations. , City of New York Michael R. Bloomberg, Mayor , Parks and Recreation Adrian Benepe, Commissioner , March 2004 , www.nyc.gov/parks