An Incredibly Dramatic Set Of Statues In Twickenham

On a recent visit to Twickenham, an area of London packed with history, I went to see a specific set of statues, found in the grounds of York House.

The collection is commonly known as ‘The Naked Ladies’ and, as well as looking extremely theatrical, they also have a dramatic history behind them.

York House

Firstly, the history of York House.

York House predominantly dates back to the 1630’s, built for Andrew Pitcairne, a courtier of King Charles I. It takes its name from the Yorke family who owned the land on which it was built. 

Over the next two centuries it was the home of a series of wealthy high fliers including Edward Montagu, the Earl of Manchester, famous sculptor Anne Seymour Damer and linguist Sir Alexander Johnston.

In 1864 the house was acquired on behalf of Phillipe comte de Paris, a pretender to the throne of France. 

In 1906 it passed into the hands of its final private owner, before it was acquired by the council in 1923, Indian financier and philanthropist Sir Ratan Tata.

The Statues

Sir Ratan Tata had the gardens of York House laid out in the style of an Italian Garden to entertain his guests and show off a certain set of statues he had recently acquired.

The set of statues comprises of eight women and two horses, made from Carrara marble. Together they create the dramatic scene pictured below.

The ladies are thought to probably represent eight’ Oceanides’, sea nymphs from Ancient Greek mythology.

No-one however knows for sure how they should be arranged because they were separated from their original instructions. They were likely produced by the Roman studio of Orazio Andreoni at the end of the 19th century.

They have therefore become known, rather literally, as just the ‘Naked Ladies’. The rockery and arrangement was designed for Tata by J Cheal and Sons.

How did Sir Ratan come to acquire them and why were they separated from their instructions?

Fraud and Cyanide

They were brought to Britain in the late 1800’s by financier and swindler Whitaker Wright.

Whitaker Wright initially made a huge amount of money promoting mining companies in the US. He then carved out a place for himself in high society in the UK and purchased the Lea Park Estate in Surrey, renaming it Witley Park. The statues were purchased to adorn Witley Park.

In 1900 he became involved with the construction of the expensive Baker Street and Waterloo Railway (now the Bakerloo line). He lost a lot of money, confidence from investors and his business empire collapsed. He started to move money from one of his companies to another with a series of loans to appear solvent.

When the truth got out, it led to panic and stockholders brought him to trial.

He was found guilty of fraud at the Royal Courts of Justice in January 1904 and sentenced to seven years in prison. He never saw out that sentence however as he committed suicide immediately afterwards in the court anteroom by taking a cyanide pill.

Wright’s estate was therefore sold off after his death from Witley Park. The set of statues was purchased by Tata for £600 and brought to Twickenham in 1909.

Due to the circumstances of their purchase, they did not come with any instructions and were probably split up from a larger group. A set of nymphs in a similar style went to Beale Park in Berkshire.

World War Two Camouflage

During the Blitz the authorities were concerned that the bright white marble would reflect the moonlight and be an identifiable landmark for the Luftwaffe. They therefore had them covered in a ‘grey sludge’ for the duration of the war.

You can read about efforts to camouflage a whole building in Stoke Newington here. 

Should you want to go and see the statues for yourself, they can be found here:

Thank you for reading, more of London’s quirky history below.