Public Art in Central Christchurch

Industry and Concord

Category: Sculpture Title: Industry and Concord Primary artist(s): George Frampton (later Sir), (1860-1928) Execution date: c1882 Media: Terracotta Approximate dimensions: h 1.37m (x2) Location: Our City O-Tautahi (the old Municipal Chambers, corner Worcester Boulevard and Oxford Terrace) Setting: Set into the alcoves of the building on the South wall Owner / administrator: Christchurch City Council

Industry and Concord grace the alcoves on the southern facade of Our City O-Tautahi. The building, originally the Council Municipal Chambers, was opened in 1887, and constructed from the designs of Samuel Hurst Seager.

Five years earlier Christchurch was host to an international exhibition. The 1882 exhibition was a private venture organised by M. Jules Jourbert and R.E.N Twopeny. Temporary buildings were erected in Hagley Park to house the exhibits that had been gathered from various countries. During the fourteen weeks that the exhibition was open, many of the art works were sold to local collectors. Industry and Concord, the terracotta figures created by George Frampton, were bought by the Council at a cost of £20.

George Frampton was an English sculptor and member of the Royal Academy where he exhibited from 1884. Frampton is well known for his sculpture Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens. Throughout his career Frampton produced portrait and figure subjects, as well as memorials and reliefs in a wide range of materials.

The figures Industry and Concord were created while Frampton was in his early twenties. The two figures, representing harmony in the affairs of state and the virtues of utilitarian enterprise were viewed as an appropriate inclusion in Council's Municipal Chambers building.

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