High Street West, Market Woman

HER Number:
10929

District:
N Tyneside

Site Name:
High Street West, Market Woman

Place:
Wallsend

Map Sheet:
NZ26NE

Class:
Gardens Parks and Urban Spaces

Site Type: Broad:
Sculpture

Site Type: Specific:
Sculpture

General Period:
20TH CENTURY

Specific Period:
Mid 20th Century 1933 to 1966

Form of Evidence:
Structure

Description:
1966 by Hans Schwarz. A green-black bronze female figure, 2.6m high, holding a backet containing chickens on her head. The statue stands in a flower bed to one side of the Forum shopping centre. Commissioned by J. Seymour Harris and Partners, developers of the shopping centre. Originally sited on a low brick base it was moved to its current location in 1993. The figure is a female Roman-era peasant, the site lying close to the east end of Hadrian's Wall. The statue was deliberately rough, hand-finished and has a patchy nature to the colour, to give an impression of age. The stoicism of her pose contrasts with the flapping hens in the basket. Reasons for being listed: aesthetic quality, material, historic interest (Schwarz draws attention to the subjugation of the local population by Emperor Hadrian) and contribution to the public realm. LISTED GRADE 2

Easting:
429904

Northing:
566386

Grid Reference:
NZ429904566386

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
Ian Ayris, Peter Jubb, Steve Palmer and Paul Usherwood, 1996, A Guide to the Public Monuments and Sculpture of Tyne and Wear, p 86; Paul Usherwood, Jeremy Beach and Catherine Morris, 2000, Public Sculpture of North East England, p 213; https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1437357; Hans Schwarz obituary www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/hans-schwarz-36602.html