This past week has seen statues of controversial historical figures under attack around the globe. It is surprising it has taken so long. Hopefully the statues can be used for educational purposes by being placed into museums, accompanied by accurate historical accounts of what these people really did. The statues are an important reminder of an inglorious part of history. There is a possibility, however, that any statue or monument could become a target. One problem with statues is that they are quite vulnerable unless they are atop towering columns, like Nelson in Trafalgar Square.
Nothing looks more forlorn than a statue with an arm or leg missing. One statue that has particularly suffered is Copenhagen's Little Mermaid, who first lost her head back in 1964. Since then she has been blown up or defaced in every conceivable manner. Even sporting heroes are not spared. A statue of the great England footballer Stanley Matthews at his birthplace near Stoke, showed Matthews dribbling the ball. Almost inevitably the ball was cut off and stolen.
Memorials can also be targeted in humorous fashion. Owing to the coronavirus, thousands of statues have found themselves wearing face masks. And in Glasgow, it is rare day when the Duke of Wellington's statue doesn't have a traffic cone as a hat. It has almost become a tradition and tourists complain bitterly if the Duke doesn't have a cone on his head.
Statuesque lady
The personage arguably with the most statues around the world is Britain's Queen Victoria. In addition to 78 monuments in the United Kingdom, there are roughly 50 Victoria memorials overseas, including two in Thailand.
Victoria had a thing about memorials. When it was suggested that Queen Anne's statue be moved from outside St Paul's in 1897 she reacted with undisguised indignation: "Move Queen Anne? Most certainly not! Why, it might some day be suggested that my statue should be moved, which I should much dislike."
Her best-known statue in Thailand was first unveiled at the British Legation on Charoen Krung Road in 1903. In 1922 she was moved to the Phloenchit location, home of the British Consulate and later British Embassy. The statue experienced a quiet life until World War II when the Japanese took control of the consulate. Senior army officers wanted to smash up the statue, but the Japanese cultural attache intervened, crated up the statue and moved it to a remote part of the grounds. He even arranged for the crate to have peepholes so she could see out.
Royal selfie
After the war, Victoria's statue returned to its original position. It remained there until 2007 when the embassy sold off a chunk of land and she was moved to a different spot behind the ambassador's residence.
But now all the land has been sold, along with it Victoria's statue. The land is to become a mall and apparently the statue will play a central role once it is completed. Victoria could even become a major attraction in a rather unfamiliar environment.
Many Thai people believe the statue brings good luck and Victoria could find herself starring in countless "selfies" in coming years.
Elephant express
The lesser-known Victoria statue is in Chiang Mai at the Foreign Cemetery, near the Gymkhana Club.
The bronze statue arrived in Chiang Mai in 1903 after a very long journey from London.
According to an informative article by Pim Kemasingki in Citylife Chiang Mai, the statue first landed in Rangoon and was transported overland through the Shan states to Chiang Mai by primarily rafts and elephants.
It originally stood at the British consulate but was moved to the Foreign Cemetery in 1978 when the consulate closed.
One hopes the elephants were suitably rewarded for safely delivering their precious royal cargo.
Working class heroes
One recent statue that was well received is that of author George Orwell, unveiled at the BBC in 2017. The words on the wall behind the statue were intended to be a preface to Animal Farm, but were never published.
Even so, they are worth repeating: "If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they don't want to hear."
Fans of the Bangkok Post's comic strip are probably aware there is a statue of Andy Capp in Hartlepool, home of his creator Reg Smythe. The statue is appropriately next to a pub, the Harbour Refuge, with Andy in a familiar pose.
How tickled he was
At Paddington there is a very cute bronze sculpture of Paddington Bear. In the Guardian obituary for the bear's author Michael Bond, the statue is described as, "one of the few memorials in London to inspire genuine affection."
Another station statue is at Liverpool's Lime Street, featuring the late English comedian Ken Dodd holding a "tickling stick". For readers unfamiliar with "Doddy", he would start his stage act with "Firstly, I would like to say how tickled I am", before pointing at a lady in the audience and asking "have you ever been tickled missus?" Now that deserves a statue.
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