Equestrian statue of Queen Victoria in Liverpool UK

CountryUK
Town:Liverpool
Year of creation:1870
Rider(s):Victoria Queen

1819–1901) succeeded William IV in 1837 as monarch of the UK and Ireland, and in 1876 also became empress of India. Her reign of 63 years and 7 months, longer than any other British monarch at the time, is known as the Victorian era. It was a period marked by a great expansion of the British Empire. She was the last British monarch of the House of Hanover.
In 1840, Queen Victoria married her cousin, Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1819–1861), Their 9 children and 26 of their 42 grandchildren married into royal and noble families across the continent, tying them together and earning her the nickname ‘the grandmother of Europe’. Albert died at the early age of 42 in 1861, plunging Victoria into deep mourning, which lasted for the rest of her life.
Sculptor(s):Thornycroft, Thomas

(1815 – 1885) was an English sculptor and engineer. he spent four years as an assistant to the sculptor John Francis. In 1840 he married Francis’ daughter, Mary, who was also a sculptor.

Description:

There are two equestrian statues in the UK portraying Queen Victoria, both showing the young queen riding side saddle. Both statues form a group with an equestrian statue of Prince Albert.

This striking sculpture of the young Queen Victoria riding side-saddle was commissioned to match the one of Prince Albert already completed by Thornycroft and unveiled in 1866. The Queen’s hat is generously plumed, and, appropriately for this position outside St George’s Hall, she bears the St. George’s riband as a sash across her breast. The fine detail of the statue is most easily seen from below in the “embroidered” crown and scrolling, as well as the fringe, of the ceremonial saddle-blanket. In a description from the Art Journal, the horse is seen as “full of impatient action, which tells on the sway of the figure; an effect difficult to express well in sculpture”. The Queen holds what looks like a small sceptre, but is actually the handle of a riding crop, the rest of which has been lost. The drape of her voluminous skirt can be seen in the right-hand profile.