It’s the detail ……... always the detail

Now I have no problem with modern buildings.  

The beauty is often in the clear simple design, matching glass and steel to create open and light seeking buildings.

But the Victorians and the Edwardian's were past masters of offering up a style of architecture which embellished even the most mundane buildings with interesting features.

And so, it is with this one, which stands on the corner of Rutland Street and Colton Street in Leicester.

I guess many people will pass it each day and not even notice the two stone figures on either side of the front door or the smaller creatures just above the pillars.

I have no idea what the building once was, but I rather think the clue might be in the figure which looks like the God Mercury, and his companion who has the appearance of Medusa, who was one of the Gorgons.

But I am baffled at the inclusion of a ship and a locomotive.

That said some one will know.

We were in Leicester for the weekend, taking a rented factory conversion round the corner on Charles Street, so as tourists the building on Rutland Street caught my fancy, but as yet the origins of the building completed in 1875 eludes me.

The cynics will point out that many such figures could be bought as a job lot, but I still like them.

Location; Leicester

Picture; It’s the detail ……... always the detail, Rutland Street, 2023, from the collection of Andrew Simpson