Pankhurst now emerging from the past
STATUE OF SUFFRAGETTE LEADER BEING CREATED AHEAD OF VOTING CENTENARY
A LANDMARK tribute to suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst is taking shape ahead of a grand unveiling to mark the centenary of votes for women.
The suffragette will be the first woman apart from Queen Victoria to be commemorated with a statue in the city of Manchester.
The M.E.N. has been given an exclusive glimpse into the West Sussex studio of sculptor Hazel Reeves.
Hazel’s statue of Mancunian icon Emmeline is due to be unveiled in St Peter’s Square in the city centre on December 14 – marking the centenary of the first time women voted in a British General Election.
The images show the statue’s armature, an open metal framework on to which Hazel will mould more than half a tonne of clay.
After that, the design will go to a foundry so a rubber mould can be produced ahead of the statue being cast in bronze.
The finished statue opposite Manchester Central Library will depict Emmeline standing on a chair as if addressing a crowd, her arm outstretched in protest.
She will face out towards the Free Trade Hall, a venue for radical suffragette campaigning in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
In 1868, it hosted the first public meeting on the subject. The memorial was originally intended to be complete for International Women’s Day in March 2019, but the receipt of a major grant from government allowed the project to be brought forward.
Hazel said: “The metal frame that supports the clay has been pretty much completed. “I have just started to add the clay and it’s been a pleasure to get to this point. “We have got a tight schedule, but it’s all do-able.
“I want people to really feel that Emmeline is there on St Peter’s Hazel Reeves Square with one of her hands raised up demanding votes for women. It has to be believable and anatomically correct.”
Hazel has been working on the project using a live sitting model for authenticity.
The images also show the sculpture’s maquette, a miniature version of the full design, and a clay design of Emmeline’s head.
The idea for a new statue – which would be only the second of a woman in Manchester city centre, after Queen Victoria – came from Didsbury councillor Andrew Simcock, who set up the WoManchester project two years ago.
After a public vote on a shortlist of 20 legendary Mancunian women, Emmeline was selected as the iconic female most deserving of a permanent memorial.
Coun Simcock said he was delighted with how the statue is coming on. “I visited Hazel at her West Sussex studio and am delighted at progress on the Emmeline Pankhurst statue,” he said.
Comedian Victoria Wood is to be commemorated with a statue in Bury, while war-time entertainer Gracie Fields will be celebrated with a statue in her home town of Rochdale.