The ‘York House Gardens Statues’ are located in the riverside part of York House Gardens, carved in the much prized Italian Carrara white marble. They were sculpted in the early nineteenth century by the Roman studio of Orazio Andreoni.
They are set in a majestic tableaux scene around a pond with the old church in the background.
The figures are positioned in a broad semi-circle upon rocks, with your eye being drawn towards the highest and central sculpture of horses and chariot bursting through some gates upon the scene.
It is as carefully composed as a renaissance painting, full of vigour and each figure is a marvel of expressive form, fashioned in a soft marble.
The figures represent the Oceanides, or sea nymphs of Greek mythology. Venus is riding a pair of Hippocampus surrounded by seven white marble nymphs.
The Statues came to York House in 1909, bought for £600 by Sir Ratan Tata, the Indian merchant prince and philanthropist.
In 1918 Sir Ratan died and York House was sold to Twickenham Council.
More information on the sculptures and York Gardens can be found on:
The London Borough of Richmond should feel very proud in restoring these figures in 2007 and preserving this wonderful setting. We left these beautiful sculptures in such a delightful Italian-styled garden and walked around the corner to the White Swan pub.
The local Twickenham Brewery have named one of their beers after these statues, Naked Ladies “A beer with good body and luscious aroma.”
