The Venus Fountain

The Venus Fountain in Sloane Square is a bronze fountain created in 1953 by sculptor Gilbert Ledward RA (1888-1960). The centrepiece is a kneeling figure of Venus holding a vase and pouring water from a conch shell. She is correctly proportioned in a classical pose with classical purity of line, yet also references the exotic 'Balinese type' figures that were depicted in sculpture during the interwar period.

The figure surmounts a large bronze vase-shaped basin decorated with a relief showing Charles II and Nell Gwynn seated by the Thames. In the scene, Charles II picks fruit from a tree while Nell Gwynn fans herself. An impish cupid with two arrows ready sits nearby, with a deer and hound running in the background and a swan swimming on the Thames.

The basin sits on a narrow three-step stone base within an octagonal stone pool lined with blue ceramic tiles. An inscription around the top of the basin reads "Sweet Thames run softly, till I end my song", taken from Edmund Spenser's 'Prothalamion' (1552-1599), a spousal verse written to honour a double marriage. The Kings Road was built during Charles II's reign, and to the west lay the house of his mistress, making the placement of a fountain to lovers on this route particularly apt. The inscription at the bottom reads 'GILBERT LEDWARD RA 1952' and 'PRESENTED BY THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF ARTS THROUGH THE LEIGHTON FUND'.

Ledward was born in Chelsea and began training at the Royal College of Art in 1905 under Edouard Lanteri. His fellow students included Charles Sargeant Jagger, Charles Wheeler and William McMillan—a generation occupying a transitional position between the late 19th-century New Sculptors and 20th-century modernists such as Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth. The fountain was originally intended to be ready for the coronation but installation problems delayed completion. It was inaugurated by Sir Gerald Kelly, President of the Royal Academy, in October 1953 and funded by the Royal Academy's Leighton Fund. The Venus Fountain represents a beautifully executed sculptural piece of considerable local and artistic significance from the immediate post-war period.