I'm pretty sure that our British friends will know all about Britannia. From what I've learned, Britannia was a goddess figure in the Roman empire several hundred years ago. Eventually, after the fall of the Roman empire, Britannia was used as a symbol of the British navy.
Now I have to wonder what is Britannia doing in Long Street, Cape Town? I'm pretty sure that this status must have it's origins in the time of British colonial rule of the Cape Colony. If you do happen to know what she's doing in Cape Town, please do let us know.
One thought on “The lady Britannia”
Philip Young
Could this be the figure that my Great Great Grandfather C.H. Mabey Snr made? My Great Grandfather C.H. Maybe Jnr. writes that, “In the studio in 1882 we were modelling a large figure of Brittania for South Africa and obtained one large block of Sicilian Marble and when finished and ready for transit a cable arrived informing us that they had no means of lifting it to its position, would we saw it into small pieces – terrible – but there was no alternative” C.H. Mabey Snr lived from 1835-1912 and his son C.H. Mabey Jnr from 1867 -1965 and were Sculptors, Modellers and Carvers in London. In their catalogue they mention as one of their works, ‘Colossal Marble figure, Brittania, Cape Town’ I would be most interested to follow this up. Is the statue made of Sicilian Marble and is there evidence that it was cut up into small pieces? I notice a break in the arm on the photograph. Can anyone else shed some light on this.
Philip Young
Could this be the figure that my Great Great Grandfather C.H. Mabey Snr made? My Great Grandfather C.H. Maybe Jnr. writes that, “In the studio in 1882 we were modelling a large figure of Brittania for South Africa and obtained one large block of Sicilian Marble and when finished and ready for transit a cable arrived informing us that they had no means of lifting it to its position, would we saw it into small pieces – terrible – but there was no alternative” C.H. Mabey Snr lived from 1835-1912 and his son C.H. Mabey Jnr from 1867 -1965 and were Sculptors, Modellers and Carvers in London. In their catalogue they mention as one of their works, ‘Colossal Marble figure, Brittania, Cape Town’ I would be most interested to follow this up. Is the statue made of Sicilian Marble and is there evidence that it was cut up into small pieces? I notice a break in the arm on the photograph. Can anyone else shed some light on this.