Site: Charles II - Royal Exchange - lost (1 memorial)
EC3, Royal Exchange
For the new Royal Exchange, following its destruction in 1666 fire, this statue was commissioned by the Merchant Adventurers of Hamburg from Grinling Gibbons and placed at the centre of the courtyard.
Unveiled in 1684, just a year before the death of the king, it was highly praised but by 1789 it had become so badly damaged or weathered that a replacement (still at the Royal Exchange) was commissioned from John Spiller.
The image of the building comes from where it is captioned "... The courtyard of the Royal Exchange, London, ... the statue of Charles II in the centre, 1729 ...".
Note: Yet another statue of Charles II was commissioned following the 1666 fire, from John Bushnell, that was erected in a niche at the Cornhill entrance. Another niche there was filled with a statue of Charles I, also by Bushnell. These both survived the 1838 fire and now are to be found in the Old Bailey.
Sources include: Public Sculpture of the City of London by Philip Ward-Jackson.
