The Governor Phillip Fountain, Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney
A fountain such as this one is a big, bold public statement, but at its heart it’s all about the water — and if you click here you’ll see a much larger version of the header image in which the spouting water has been frozen for an instance of time, bright and glittering like misshapen droplets of glass caught in a spotlight.
Jim from Sydney – City and Surrounds has already described the fountain perfectly, so I hope he doesn’t mind if I quote him: “The Governor Phillip Fountain is located in the Royal Botanic Gardens, close to Macquarie Street. It was created by the Italian sculptor Achille Simonetti and unveiled in 1897 to honour Captain Arthur Phillip, the first Governor of New South Wales. This magnificent 15.24 metre high fountain features a marble pedestal for the 4.5 metre bronze statue of Captain Phillip. The pedestal features three reliefs of Justice, Patriotism and Education. Below the pedestal are the reclining bronze figures of Neptune (Navigation), Agriculture, Cyclops (Mining) and Commerce. The four marble consoles are embellished with bronze plaques of Aboriginal people. Between the figures are four giant marble clam shells each surmounted by bronze prows of ships and twin giant sea serpents which feed water into the white marble basins.”
Sea serpents on the Governor Phillip Fountain, Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney
As much as I love those sea serpents, I would really prefer not to encounter one in real life!
October’s fountain theme is Stately.
That’s a fine fountain Kaz, and a great detail you featured.
Cheers,
Frank
LikeLike
Thanks, Frank. Though I can’t take much credit for the actual fountain. 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ha, I wouldn’t let that stop you, Kaz. It’s only a mountain of wet rock until someone takes the time to actually look at it.
Cheers,
Frank
LikeLike
Oh, well put! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh Kaz, what a beautiful close-up shot, not done with an iPhone, was it…..and what an impressive fountain, really does make a statement! Glad you have a lot of fountains to submit I am going to have to go through my archives (Turkey – unlikely, Morocco? Unlikely, Spain – perhaps, but I wasn’t photographing fountains back then.. China – Definite maybe, but again, I wasn’t taking fountain photographs and I have no idea where the digital images got to.. Mongolia – highly unlikely Portugal: lisbon, suspect definite yes, but where are the photographs, oh dear oh dear..) Stay tuned to see what I come up with 🙂
LikeLike
“Mongolia – highly unlikely” yes I agree! But they would be interesting if they existed.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Just googled Mongolia and fountains – found this fountain, not stately but definitely an impressive fountain:http://www.gofountain.com/product/music-dancing-fountain-located-in-the-city-of-ulan-bator–mongolia/
LikeLike
Very cool indeed!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Love the serpents with the water spouting from their nostrils! Well captured. I must have missed this one too!
LikeLike
To be honest, I’ve missed this fountain for years! It’s not on my usual routes through the garden. And from a distance, it looks like just another “dead white man on a plinth” type of thing, hardly likely to draw one in.
LikeLiked by 1 person