Friday Fountain Challenge: December

Snowshill Manor is a Cotswold manor house packed with extraordinary treasures collected over a life time by Charles Wade

In addition there is a lovely garden with lots of nooks and crannies to explore. And in one courtyard is this delightful huffing and puffing Green Man fountain.

I think he’d look rather splendid in my garden – I have a stone wall and I have the lichens to go with it!

If you’d like to join in with the fountain challenge then please pop over to Polianthus for the rules

This month is a free for all so if you have a fountain to share I’m sure she would love to see you.

Friday Fountain Challenge: December

One that failed to get posted during the year is this disturbing fountain from Prague.

This is in the Prague Castle Gardens and is of Hercules wrestling with a lion.

The sculpture of Hercules is made by architect Palliardi in the time of baroque flourish (1787-1797) and is in the garden on the bastion.

I don’t know about you, but I found this sculpture/fountain quite odd.

The courtyard also has some cute cherubs riding on lions so maybe this was the place where the royals kept exotic animals, including lions and tigers? Or is it all to do with Hercules and the twelve labours.

The first of Heracles’ twelve labours, set by King Eurystheus (his cousin) was to slay the Nemean lion. According to one version of the myth, the Nemean lion took women as hostages to its lair in a cave near Nemea, luring warriors from nearby towns to save the damsel in distress.

I suppose in a city where David Černý sculptures abound it probably isn’t weird at all.

If you’d like to join in with the fountain challenge then please pop over to Polianthus for the rules

This month is a free for all so if you have a fountain to share I’m sure she would love to see you.

Friday Fountain Challenge: December

I’m back in Switzerland for this first December fountain. The delightful “Le Vieux Carouge”, with its specific old French-Italian architecture, its abundance of fountains, courtyards, shuttered houses and bohemian vibe, doesn’t feel at all like you are in Geneva.

If you’d like to join in with the fountain challenge then please pop over to Polianthus for the rules

This month is a free for all so if you have a fountain to share I’m sure she would love to see you.

Friday Fountain Challenge: November

NT Barrington Court, Somerset – internal courtyard water feature

One water feature that seems to recur in our gardens, especially those managed by the National Trust, is a the classic European sculpture of a naked boy / cupid  with a dolphin / fish / sea serpent of some description or even in the case below, a swan. Often holding. sitting on, wrestling or otherwise engaged.

NT Barrington Court – boy and swan

Barrington Court

NT Batemans, East Sussex

NT Hidcote, Gloucestershire

Lost Gardens of Heligan, Cornwall – Italian garden

Lost Gardens of Heligan, Cornwall – Italian garden

NT Barrington Court – boy and swan

Another statue of Verrochio’s Winged Cherub Boy with Dolphin can be seen in Van Dusen Gardens in Vancouver, Canada.

NT Hidcote Bathing Pool

If you’d like to join in with the fountain challenge then please pop over to Polianthus for the rules

This month is the time to feature fountains from your own country. I’m sure she would love to see you.

Friday Fountain Challenge: November

Another fountain in a public garden, this time the Dingle in Shrewsbury. Formerly a stone quarry the Dingle is the result one of its gardeners – Percy Thrower – who was very famous in England for appearing in the TV programme ‘Blue Peter’ and who was the superintendent of Shrewsbury’s parks for 28 years.

There are seasonal floral displays (visit in spring for the azaleas) and water features including the central cast-iron Coalbrookdale fountain which dates from 1889. The cast-iron is decorated with lily leaves, scallop shells and dolphins. The ceramic figure is white, unglazed (similar to Parian ware) and shows a girl seated on a rock outcrop cushioned with a sheaf of corn. She is pouring from an urn into a cup, and has a basket by her left foot.

Presented by the Independent Order of ODD Fellows, Shrewsbury District 1889

If you’d like to join in with the fountain challenge then please pop over to Polianthus for the rules

This month is the time to feature fountains from your own country. I’m sure she would love to see you.

Friday Fountain Challenge: November

This unique and delightful water feature was made by Michael Johnson at The Copper Works, Newlyn and is located near the Sensory Garden in Penlee Park, Penzance.

I know, from a distance it doesn’t really look much does it? But come a little closer…

and admire those copper leaves

and the fluid shape of the basin from which the water gently flows…

and how beautifully it sits in its surroundings when viewed from the bench.

I wonder how much one would cost? I have just the spot for it.

If you’d like to join in with the fountain challenge then please pop over to Polianthus for the rules

This month is the time to feature fountains from your own country. I’m sure she would love to see you.

Friday Fountain Challenge: October

The Concorde Fountain – Paris

The Fontaines de la Concorde are two monumental fountains located in the Place de la Concorde in the centre of Paris. They were designed by Jacques Ignace Hittorff, and completed in 1840 during the reign of King Louis-Philippe. The south fountain commemorates the maritime commerce and industry of France, and the north fountain commemorates navigation and commerce on the rivers of France.

Twelve different sculptors worked on the statuary of the fountains, closely supervised by Hittorff, who made sure that the entire ensemble would be harmonious and balanced. A prominent feature of the design of both fountains was a mushroom-shaped cap above the central vasque. Water was to jet from the top of the cap and then cascade downward into a circular vasque, then down into a large circular basin below. The major figures of the fountains were made of cast iron, florentined, or painted with bronze and gold paint. The smaller figures of the tritons and nereids were made of bronze. In 1862–63, the fountains were restored, and the bronze and gold paint was replaced with a bronze coating. (Wikipedia)

If you’d like to join in with the fountain challenge then please pop over to Polianthus for the rules

This month she is looking for stately or ornate fountains. I’m sure she would love to see you.

Friday Fountain Challenge: October

A quick post from Barcelona with a stately fountain for Poli 🙂

The Cascades are in Parc Ciutadella close to the centre of Barcelona and also home to the zoo. Apologies for the quality of these images but the light was fading and I haven’t time to edit them as there are things to do and things to see and tapas to eat…

If you’d like to join in with the fountain challenge then please pop over to Polianthus for the rules

This month she is looking for stately or ornate fountains. I’m sure she would love to see you.

Friday Fountain Challenge: October

Witley Court in Worcestershire boasts a restored working fountain which represents Perseus and Andromeda and reaches the original high cascades when fired on the hour between 11 am and 4 pm.

If you’d like to join in with the fountain challenge then please pop over to Polianthus for the rules

This month she is looking for stately or ornate fountains. I’m sure she would love to see you.

Friday Fountain Challenge: October

One of my favourite fountains is in the Jardin Anglais in Geneva, Switzerland. This large bronze fountain with its superposed basins borne by naiads was the work of the Parisian sculptor Alexis André in 1862.

THE NAIADES were fresh-water Nymphs who inhabited the rivers, streams, lakes, marshes, fountains and springs of the earth. They were immortal, minor divinities who were invited to attend the assemblies of the gods on Mount Olympos.

Don’t you just love the rounded bellies and dimpled knees?

and the wonderful folds of the drapes; the texture of the rope.

If you’d like to join in with the fountain challenge then please pop over to Polianthus for the rules

This month she is looking for stately or ornate fountains. I’m sure she would love to see you.