36°51′0.9″S 174°46′5.1″E / 36.850250°S 174.768083°E | |
Location | Albert Park, Auckland, New Zealand |
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Designer | Francis John Williamson |
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Height |
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Opening date | 1899 |
Designated | 11 November 1981 |
Reference no. | 633 |
A statue of Queen Victoria was erected at Albert Park, Auckland, in 1899. The second monument to Queen Victoria in New Zealand, the bronze statue was funded by public donations encouraged by Auckland politicians and the New Zealand Herald in celebration of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. Following applications from various British and New Zealand artists, the statue was commissioned to British portrait sculptor Francis John Williamson. It was one of nine variants of his 1887 statue erected at the Royal College of Surgeons, allegedly a favourite of the future Edward VII.
The statue is approximately 4.5 m (15 ft) tall including the granite pedestal, small compared to other statues of Victoria in New Zealand. Erected on the former location of the Albert Barracks, the statue was a central point for various imperial and patriotic observances, such as Empire Day, which gradually declined over the twentieth century. Later in the century, it became a frequent site for protests due to cultural associations with imperialism and colonialism.