Manual Ref* SUwaBU001 Show 3 images 199
Title*

Justice
County Suffolk   District Council Waveney District Council 
Civil Parish or equivalent Bungay  Town/Village* Bungay 
Road Market Place 
Precise Location On Butter Cross 
OS Grid Ref TM340897  Postcode NR35 
Previous location(s)  
Setting On Building  Access Public 
Artist/Maker Role Qualifier
Possibly John Cheere  Sculptor(s)   

Commissioned by

 Bungay Town council 

Design & Constrn period

 1754 

Date of installing

  

Exact date of unveiling

  

Category
Abstract Animal Architectural
Commercial Commemorative Composite
Free Functional Funerary
Heraldic Military Natural
Non-Commemorative Performance Portable
Religious Roadside, Wayside Sculptural
Temporary, Mobile Other  

Object Type
Building Clock Tower Architectural
Coat of Arms Cross Fountain
Landscape Marker Medallion
Mural Panel Readymade
Relief Shaft Sculpture
Statue Street Furniture War Memorial
Other Object Sub Type: Statue of Justice

Subject Type
Allegorical Mythological Pictorial
Figurative Non-figurative Portrait
Still-life Symbolic Other

Subject Sub Type
Bust Equestrian Full-length
Group Head Reclining
Seated Standing Torso
Part Material Dimension
Justice  Lead painted white  H. approx. 1.5 metres 

Work is
Extant Not Sited Lost

Owner/Custodian

 Bungay District Council 

Listing status
Grade I Grade II* Grade II Don't Know Not Listed

Surface Condition
Corrosion, Deterioration Accretions
Bird Guano Abrasions, cracks, splits
Biological growth Spalling, crumbling
Metallic staining Previous treatments
Other  
Detail: Cleaned and repainted in 2010 after many layers of paint had been removed

Structural Condition
Armature exposed Broken or missing parts
Replaced parts Loose elements
Cracks, splits, breaks, holes Spalling, crumbling
Water collection Other
Detail:

Vandalism
Graffiti Structural damage Surface Damage
Detail:

Overall condition
Good Fair Poor

Risk
No Known Risk At Risk Immediate
Signatures/Marks Date MDCLXXXIX on base (refers to rebuilding of ButterCross not the statue) 
Inscriptions Date MDCLXXXIX on base (refers to rebuilding of ButterCross not the statue) 

Description (physical)

 The recent cleaning has sharpened the inner modelling and silhouette of Justice, swaying with an elegant contrapposto, her drapery bunched at the side and held in her right hand. She holds the usual attributes of Justice, a sword in her right hand, and the scales, now blowing in the wind, in her left. The statue is set on top of the ButterCross in the market place which -as the date shows-had been rebuilt in 1689 following a disastrous fire in the centre of Bungay. The ButterCross is octagonal with Tuscan columns supporting the domed roof. The statue has the usual attributes of Justice - a sword held upright in her right hand and scales in the right. The listing in imagesofengland notes that: the columns are now supported on stone plinths but originally the area of the cross was raised on steps - the columns resting on wood bases - and in the centre was a prisoner's cage for temporary detention of delinquents, which was removed in 1836.The steps were removed in 1867, when an earlier dungeon was discovered underneath said to be the remains of the earlier cross destroyed by the fire of 1688 

Description (iconographical)

 The choice of a figure of Justice has to be understood in the light of the ButterCross's dual function - as a market and as the temporary prison for delinquents. The Town Reeve's Books record the purchase in 1754: 'For a curious statue representing Justice and letters - £29.13.8d. Ship freight £1.1.2d; Expenses for letters about the statue - 3.6d.' The accounts suggest that the statue was brought by river to Bungay since that part of the Waveney was still navigable for large craft and that it must have had an identifying inscription. This throws doubt on the claim made in the leaflet on the Walpole family that it was the gift of George 3rd Earl 2nd Baron Walpole (1730-1790). The statue has been attributed to Sir Henry Cheere - who worked in lead - but his younger brother John (d.1787) started with his more famous brother before taking over workshop and moulds for lead figures of John Nost in 1739. Lead sculpture formed a major part of his oeuvre and the Justice could well be by him. 

Photographs

 Date taken:  12/11/2006
Date logged: 

Photographed by:
Sarah Cocke

On Site Inspection

 Date:  12/11/2006

Inspected by:
Richard Cocke

Sources and References

 Info from Christoper Reeve Curator Bungay Museum 17/11/06; Gunnis, Rupert, Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1850, London, 1968 p.99; www.imagesofengland.org.uk 12/11/06; Author unknown, The Walpole Family in Norfolk A family History Mannington Hall nd 

Database

 Date entered:  19/11/2006

Data inputter:
Richard Cocke