Dent's Fountain
Cantonese: 顛地噴泉
Dent's Fountain, view from the City Hall, with Queen's Road Central and Beaconsfield House in the background
Year1864 (1864)
TypePublic fountain
MediumStucco, stone
ConditionDemolished
LocationVictoria, Hong Kong
Coordinates22°16′48″N 114°9′34″E / 22.28000°N 114.15944°E / 22.28000; 114.15944

Dent's Fountain, also known as the City Hall Fountain, was a fountain in front of the first generation of Hong Kong City Hall (1869 -1933) on Queen's Road Central[1] in Victoria, Hong Kong. It was donated to the people of Hong Kong by merchant John Dent of Dent & Co. in 1864[2] but was not installed until the completion of the City Hall in 1869.[3] It was demolished in 1933 due to construction of the third generation Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Building.[4]

Design

Hong Kong City Hall, with Dent's Fountain at the middle, Victoria Harbour in the background.

The fountain was located at the centre of the public space in front of the Old City Hall on Queen's Road Central, it served as the architectural focal point of the symmetrical facade of the City Hall.

The fountain was built with stucco, the centre had 4 caryatids supporting a basin,[5] on the top of the basin there was a kneeling figure of a child.[6] On the parameter, the fountain area was guarded by 4 couchant stone lions at 4 corners, each facing to the principal points of the compass. A plaques bore an inscription that the fountain was "presented to the Colony by Mr. John Dent in 1864".[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Dent's Fountain, Hong Kong". Historical Photographs of China. University of Bristol. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  2. ↑ "City Hall and Dent's Fountain, Central District". hkmemory.hk. Leisure and Cultural Services Department. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  3. ↑ City Hall & Dent's Fountain c. 1925
  4. ↑ "Dent's Fountain, Queen's Road, Hong Kong". Historical Photographs of China. University of Bristol. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  5. ↑ Jarrett, Vincent aka "Colonial" (1933–1935). Old Hong Kong. Vol. 1. Hong Kong: South China Morning Post. pp. 279–80.
  6. ↑ "City Hall Fountain, Active for First Time in Many Years". Hongkong Telegraph. Hong Kong. 13 April 1929.
  7. ↑ Jarrett, Vincent aka "Colonial" (1933–1935). Old Hong Kong. Vol. 1. Hong Kong: South China Morning Post. pp. 279–80.
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