Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919), Saturday 15 May 1897, page 30


Statuary for Sydney

Markets.

The new Sydney Mar-kets, which replace the old buildings which for many years partially occu-pied the site in George

street, is a long, rectan-gular building. In the centre of each of the two long sides is an imposing entrance, and above each ot the entrances provision has been made for a group of statuary. Tenders, with accompanying designs,

were invited some months ago by the council for an allegorical group, tender-ers to state their prices for executing the work in bronze, marble, and free stone. The models sub-mitted were placed for public inspection in the vestibule of the Town Hall. A sub-committee, consisting of the Mayor (Alderman I.E. Ives), Mr. Vernon (Government Ar-chitect), and Mr. McRae (City Architect), was ap-pointed to select the most suitable design from the number. After careful inspection three were se-lected, the distinguishing names of which were "Can, No. 1," "Labor om-nia vincit," and "Chi va piano va sano." Of these the first-mentioned design, the work of Mr. W. P. Macintosh, of Hereford street, Forest Lodge, was chosen. It was decided that the statuary should be of marble, and that two

groups of the same design

should be procured at the price specified by the ten-derer, £3150 in all. It is intended that one group shall face George-street, at the main entrance, and that the other group shall face York-street, directly opposite. Asked as to the wisdom of the council's choice, Mr. McRae ex-pressed himself well sat-isfied, though he regretted that it had been decided to have the groups in mar-ble. Bronze would, he thought, have stood out in bolder relief, and would have been well worth the extra cost. The model distinguished by the words "Chi va piano va sano" was executed by Mr. Si-monetti whilst "Labor omnia vincit" was the work of Mr. White, by

Statuary for the Sydney Markets.

MR. W.P. MACINTOSH'S DESIGN, ACCEPTED BY THE CITY COUNCIL.

whom the statue of the late Mr. W. B. Dalley was executed.

The description of the design is as follows: Standing upon a raised pedestal in the centre is a female figure lightly drap-ed in flowing robes, re-presenting the "Guardian Genius of the City," with the symbol of Wisdom in one hand and Justice in the other. She is crown-ed with the civic crown and waratah wreath. At her feet is a shield bear-ing the city crest. On her right is seated a semi-nude, muscular, male fig-ure, representing Labor and Industry, with the ap-propriate symbols, viz., wheat, a ram, fruit, and a beehive, grouped round him. On her left is a corresponding male fig-ure representing Com-merce and Exchange. A ship in full sail is shown on his left. A bag of money its in one of his hands, and the ledger book in the other. Both figures are wreathed with olive, the symbol of Peace.