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ICI - 2 - Mendeleeff

Inscription

Mendeleeff

Site: Imperial Chemical House - 9 portrait keystones (10 memorials)

SW1, Millbank, 9, Imperial Chemical House

For an idea of what this area used to be like see this . It was all redeveloped following the 1928 flood. This block was designed by Sir Frank Baines and built in 1929-31 as HQ for Imperial Chemical Industries Ltd (ICI). Aka 'Nobel House' it is now, 2016, occupied by Ofgem, the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets. The frontage boasts 9 portrait keystones of chemists and ICI directors: Cavendish is on the Horseferry Road frontage, Mendeleeff on the junction corner, the other 7 are on the river side, left to right: Lavoisier, McGowan, Nobel, Alfred Mond (ICI), Ludwig Mond, Priestley, Liebig. Each 5th floor keystone decorates an integrated window arrangement with the identifying name on the 4th floor balcony. In his book on London statues Osbert Sitwell reports a journalist  writing that these "masks" are "four times life-size" but he also writes that they are "seven storeys above the ground" so we have to allow for some exaggeration.

On the 5th floor are four magnificent statues by Charles Sergeant Jagger. See for photos. As well as these keystones Fagan did most of the other sculpture on the building, including the massive bronze entrance doors.

2017: We watched the 1947 film "Mine Own Executioner" which uses a few London locations. We recognised that of the last scene - a suicide at the top of a building - and thought it might be this one. But it's actually the MI5 building immediately to the south of Lambeth Bridge, Thames House, which was built by ICI at the same time as IC House and not used by MI5 until 1994.

There are two more portrait keystones on Nobel House, behind this building.

  has a useful assessment of this building, with photos of the sculptural work.

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This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
ICI - 2 - Mendeleeff

Subjects commemorated i

Dmitri Mendeleev

Born Siberia. Earlier versions existed but in 1869 he published the first wid...

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This section lists the subjects who helped to create/erect the memorial on this page:
ICI - 2 - Mendeleeff

Created by i

William Bateman Fagan

Born Bermondsey. Andrew Behan's researches have found that when he was baptis...

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This section lists the other memorials at the same location as the memorial on this page:
ICI - 2 - Mendeleeff

Also at this site i

Faraday on the ICI building entrance doors

Faraday on the ICI building entrance doors

These doors are in the centre of the river frontage of the building. Mapping...

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Nearby Memorials

Wall of the Ancestors - middling

Wall of the Ancestors - middling

SE8, George Beard Road, Aragon Tower, north-east (riverside) wall of

According to the plaque these are, clockwise from top left: Dave O'Hara, Tommy Martin, Sir Francis Drake, Metrina. Wall of the Ancestors...

4 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
Old Westminster Library - head 1 - Spenser

Old Westminster Library - head 1 - Spenser

SW1, Great Smith Street

We first thought Francis Bacon but he normally has more hair, and, so far, all the heads are literary rather than scientific.

1 subject commemorated
Hitchcock bust

Hitchcock bust

N1, Poole Street, Gainsborough Studios

There's a suggestion in the sculpture that the face is actually a mask.

1 subject commemorated, 37 creators
04 Croydon - Francis Bacon

04 Croydon - Francis Bacon

CR9, Katharine Street, Croydon Public Library

Built in 1892 by Charles Henman Jr. this heavily decorated group of buildings makes up Croydon's Municipal buildings complex. The buildin...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Queen Victoria - Mill Street

Queen Victoria - Mill Street

W1, Mill Street

High up on a narrow street, this is the best photo we could manage. Her Maj. peers out of a roundel at fourth floor attic level on the Mi...

2 subjects commemorated