Statue of Sherlock Holmes, London

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Sherlock Holmes
Statue Of Sherlock Holmes-Marylebone Road.jpg
Artist John Doubleday
Year1999;25 years ago (1999)
TypePedestrian statue
MediumBronze
Subject Sherlock Holmes
Location London, NW1
United Kingdom
Coordinates 51°31′21″N0°09′24″W / 51.52250°N 0.15659°W / 51.52250; -0.15659

A statue of Sherlock Holmes by the sculptor John Doubleday stands near the supposed site of 221B Baker Street, the fictional detective's address in London. Unveiled on 23 September 1999, the sculpture was funded by the Abbey National building society, whose headquarters were on the purported site of the famous address. As no site was available on Baker Street itself the statue was installed outside Baker Street tube station, on Marylebone Road. Doubleday had previously produced a statue of Holmes for the town of Meiringen in Switzerland, below the Reichenbach Falls whence the detective fell to his apparent death in the 1893 story "The Final Problem".

Contents

Description

The 3-metre-high (9.8 ft) statue depicts Holmes wearing an Inverness cape and a deerstalker, attributes first given to him by Sidney Paget, the illustrator of Arthur Conan Doyle's stories for The Strand Magazine , [1] and holding a calabash pipe (which appears to be a later addition).

It is located outside Baker Street tube station on Marylebone Road, two blocks from the detective's fictional home at 221B Baker Street, [2] and near the Sherlock Holmes Museum between numbers 237 and 241.

History

In 1927 G. K. Chesterton was the first person to suggest that a statue of Holmes be sited in London, but his efforts came to nothing. [3] A new campaign was begun by the Sherlock Holmes Society of London in 1996. [3] Before then the society had, according to its president Anthony Howlett, spent "a decade or two debating whether we should put a statue smack in the middle of Baker Street, and the traffic be damned". [2] The Sherlock Holmes Statue Company Limited was set up to manage the project. In 1998, Abbey National agreed to fund the statue because of their connection with Holmes. (Their headquarters were at 215−229 Baker Street and they employed a member of staff to respond to any letters addressed to Holmes at 221B.) [3]

John Doubleday, the sculptor of the first statue of Holmes at Meiringen, was given the commission for the London statue on 31 March 1998. [3] After the plans to install the statue were announced some local residents and the St Marylebone Society spoke out against the work, saying that it was "not very appropriate. It should have been in Baker Street itself, which is much quieter." [1] The statue was unveiled by Lord Tugendhat, the chairman of Abbey National, on 23 September 1999. [3]

Talking Statues plaque for the statue of Sherlock Holmes Talking Statue plaque for the statue of Sherlock Holmes outside the Baker Street station in London.jpg
Talking Statues plaque for the statue of Sherlock Holmes

Since 2014, Doubleday's sculpture has been one of a series of "Talking Statues" across London where passers-by can receive a simulated telephone call from the statue's subject by scanning a QR code or visiting a link. The Holmes statue is voiced by the actor Ed Stoppard with a script written by the English novelist Anthony Horowitz which humorously gives details relating to the statue's appearance. [4]

Other statues of Sherlock Holmes

Before London received its statue of Sherlock Holmes examples had already been installed in 1988 in Meiringen, also in 1988 in Karuizawa (Japan) [5] and in 1991 on the site of Conan-Doyle's birthplace in Edinburgh. [6] In 2007, a statue of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson was erected in Moscow near the British embassy. [7]

Related Research Articles

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Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and logical reasoning that borders on the fantastic, which he employs when investigating cases for a wide variety of clients, including Scotland Yard.

<i>A Study in Scarlet</i> 1887 detective novel by Arthur Conan Doyle

A Study in Scarlet is an 1887 detective novel by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle. The story marks the first appearance of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, who would become the most famous detective duo in English literature. The book's title derives from a speech given by Holmes, a consulting detective, to his friend and chronicler Watson on the nature of his work, in which he describes the story's murder investigation as his "study in scarlet": "There's the scarlet thread of murder running through the colourless skein of life, and our duty is to unravel it, and isolate it, and expose every inch of it."

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Final Problem</span> Short story by Arthur Conan Doyle featuring Sherlock Holmes

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">221B Baker Street</span> Address of the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes

221B Baker Street is the London address of the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, created by author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In the United Kingdom, postal addresses with a number followed by a letter may indicate a separate address within a larger, often residential building. Baker Street in the late 19th century was a high-class residential district, and Holmes's apartment would probably have been part of a Georgian terrace.

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The Sherlock Holmes Museum is a privately run museum in London, England, dedicated to the famous fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. It is the world's first museum dedicated to the literary character Sherlock Holmes. It opened in 1990 and is situated on Baker Street, bearing the number 221B by permission of the City of Westminster, although it lies between numbers 237 and 241, near the north end of Baker Street in central London close to Regent's Park.

The stories of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle have been very popular as adaptations for the stage, and later film, and still later television. The four volumes of the Universal Sherlock Holmes (1995) compiled by Ronald B. De Waal lists over 25,000 Holmes-related productions and products. They include the original writings, "together with the translations of these tales into sixty-three languages, plus Braille and shorthand, the writings about the Writings or higher criticism, writings about Sherlockians and their societies, memorials and memorabilia, games, puzzles and quizzes, phonograph records, audio and video tapes, compact discs, laser discs, ballets, films, musicals, operettas, oratorios, plays, radio and television programs, parodies and pastiches, children's books, cartoons, comics, and a multitude of other items — from advertisements to wine — that have accumulated throughout the world on the two most famous characters in literature."

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<i>221B Baker Street</i> (video game) 1986 video game

221B Baker Street is a 1986 video game published by Datasoft, based on an earlier board game of the same name. The game was inspired by the exploits of Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional detective Sherlock Holmes and derives its title from the detective's residence at 221B Baker Street in London. The original board game was created and copyrighted by American writer Jay Moriarty in 1975.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dr. Watson</span> Fictional character, associate and friend of Sherlock Holmes

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<i>The Speckled Band</i> (1931 film) 1931 film

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References

  1. 1 2 Watson-Smyth, Kate (21 February 1999). "Sherlock Holmes and the mystery of the missing statue is solved" . The Independent. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
  2. 1 2 Reid, T.R. (22 September 1999). "Sherlock Holmes honored with statue near fictional London home". The Day. The Washington Post. pp. A4. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Horrocks, Peter. "The Statue of Sherlock Holmes at Baker Street Station". The Sherlock Holmes Society of London. Archived from the original on 10 November 2014. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
  4. "Talking Statues London : SHERLOCK HOLMES". www.talkingstatueslondon.co.uk. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  5. "The Statue of Sherlock Holmes in Japan". Japan Sherlock Holmes Club. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
  6. "Sherlock Holmes statue reinstated in Edinburgh after tram works". BBC News. 22 August 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  7. "Moscow honours legendary Holmes". BBC News. 30 April 2007. Retrieved 20 April 2019.