Peter Pans Statue

Charming statue of one of the best characters in the English language . I saw it for the first time on a very snowy day and it gave it a real " fairy story " look . I hope that one day we can have statues of other fictional people . The Peter Pan statue is , for me , a triumph of the imagination over the mundane .

He stands in a leafy glade about half way along the west bank of the Long Water, blowing his horn and surrounded by fairies. One of the most popular tourist attraction statues in London. It is a bronze by Sir George Frampton.
This statue was placed in Kensington Gardens in 1912. Author James M Barrie wanted it to retain its magic appeal so arranged for it to be installed in the dead of night!
Carol Weight (said to be the last great Victorian) artist and teacher at the RA said Kensington was the home of the fairies.
It is said to stand on the place that Pan landed when he flew out of his nursery window into legend. it had then to appear mysteriously and by magic. A statement appeared in “The Times”.

“There is a surprise in store for the children who go to Kensington Gardens to feed the ducks in the Serpentine this morning. Down by the little bay on the south-western side of the tail of the Serpentine they will find a May-day gift by Mr J.M. Barrie, a figure of Peter Pan blowing his pipe on the stump of a tree, with fairies and mice and squirrels all around. It is the work of Sir George Frampton, and the bronze figure of the boy who would never grow up is delightfully conceived.”

It has held magic and wonder for generations of children and other, like me, who never grew up.