Objects in Focus: ‘The Four Continents’ Statues

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Alice Beagley, in collaboration with Bank of England colleagues from different cultural backgrounds

Inside the Bank of England, a group of four figures representing the continents of Europe, Asia, America and Africa stand guard over the entrance into one of the Bank’s internal courtyards. Created in 1801, they are made of Coade stone, a type of hard-wearing ceramic which was used frequently in architectural decoration during the late Georgian period (around 1770 through to the 1830s).

Unlike natural stones, objects made of Coade stone are very weather-resistant. The material could also be cast into a variety of exquisitely detailed architectural decorations and sculpture, contributing to its popularity and widespread use across the country. 

This set of sculptures reflects its wider historical, economic and cultural contexts with startling clarity. During the 1700s and 1800s, many areas within Asia, America and Africa were invaded, occupied, looted and influenced by British and European forces as they expanded their respective empires. 

There is no evidence to suggest that Eleanor Coade (the woman who managed the Coade stone manufactory) directly invested in or made profit from activities relating to colonialism or enslavement, but many of her customers did. Coade’s clients included companies and individual merchants whose wealth originated from trade in tea, coffee, sugar, tobacco, cotton, spices and – in the era of chattel slavery – human lives. Trade goods were produced by forced labour and enslavement in several parts of the world. The wealth generated from exploitative and extractive activities shaped the UK’s economy and infrastructure. It remains visible in the built environment today, having shaped municipal buildings around the country. 

One such example is a Coade stone sculpture of Minerva on top of Liverpool Town Hall, dating from extensive repairs made in 1802. This was near the height of Liverpool’s connection to the Transatlantic Slave trade, which generated huge civic wealth for this port city. 

Another link to colonial trade can be seen at the Twinings flagship store on London’s Strand, a tea house established in 1706. The Coade stone sculptures of two men wearing traditional Chinese clothing were commissioned in 1787, when tea was growing more readily available, and vast quantities were shipped to Europe from China. The figures served as a visual shorthand to indicate tea’s origins, but can be seen as racially stereotyped today.

The sculptures were created when most people had little opportunity to meet people from other cultures, relying on drawings or descriptions which might tend towards exaggeration or sensationalism. This brings us back to the Four Continents, here at the Bank of England. The depictions of four figures to represent entire continents are simplistic, a stereotyped representation of otherness.  

Working on the display Mrs Coade’s Stone at the Bank of England Museum created an opportunity to reflect on what this means for such a work, located inside a modern workplace. It led to group discussions with Bank of England colleagues from different cultural backgrounds, to reflect on how the sculptures are perceived today. 

There are only a few locations within the building where the sculptures are visible, due to their position in one of the Bank’s internal courtyards. Glimpsing and learning about the sculptures for the first time continues to surprise people who work here.

The sculptures each personify a place, in the tradition of ancient Greek and Roman art. There are other allegorical figures around the Bank in the same tradition, the most common being Britannia, representing Britain and adopted as a symbol of the Bank. These are almost always female figures who are idealised and romanticised. 

From left to right: the sculptures represent the continents of Europe, Asia, Africa and America

(Monica A. Walker Vadillo).

 

For some, the figures initially appear dreamy and idyllic at first glance, but their context here is a statement about the Bank’s place in the world. In the period these sculptures were made, the Bank of England was deeply connected with the business of empire through its work and the financial services it provided, the management of government debt, and even the business interests of many of its officials. 

Some colleagues who took part in the reflections were both surprised and pleased to see the continents being represented. And whilst it was not felt that the sculptures were depicted as ‘equal’ to each other, they did not appear starkly inferior either. 

Reflections on how the sculptures reflected the reach of the British empire and economy did emerge later however, with differences signalled through clothing, hair, weapons, crowns, bare chests and posture. These details identified which continent each figure was intended to represent, but they also raised questions about stereotypes, hierarchy and visual representations of different cultures. The bare-chested, warlike depictions of Africa and America can be read as primitive or uncivilised, revealing how non-European cultures were perceived and portrayed through an imperialistic lens. The gendered imagery could also be interpreted as dominance over the continents, when considering the rate of colonial expansion throughout the 1700s and 1800s, and the lack of agency that most women of the time would have had. 

Another participant noted that the statues had been rearranged when the Bank was rebuilt in 1925, by which time the British Empire had reached its greatest extent. They were salvaged from the old Bank and placed on either side of a figure of Britannia. The Bank’s architect of the time, Sir Herbert Baker, would not have been ignorant of the symbolism in placing Britain at the centre of a global order. 

Below: The first photograph from the 1920s shows how the sculptures were positioned before architect Herbert Baker rebuilt the Bank. The second image shows the sculptures in their current position with Britannia in the middle. 

Today, it is better understood that using idealised women’s bodies in such symbolism, and portraying cultures as stereotypes, reinforces historical biases and shapes our perceptions of identity, gender, cultural heritage - and history. Lived experience brings these into even sharper focus. 

Interpreting these sculptures was not straightforward - participants did not dismiss the sculptures’ artistic value, but they questioned whether appreciation alone is sufficient; as one colleague succinctly observed - “it is possible to appreciate the sculptures as an art form without other connotations, but it is not responsible to do so.” 

Improving awareness of our heritage requires us to consider art, history and discomfort at the same time. The sculptures are more than just historic decorations: by being placed in dialogue with many different discourses, they reveal how empire, wealth, cultural representation and institutional identity remain entangled.