Cunarder Man discussed the Statues that were in the Columbia Restaurant for a while. This is the story of the Four Elements - and the mystery Fifth Element!
‘THE FOUR ELEMENTS’
Fire, Earth, Air and Water
While in Paris in 1964 Dennis Lennon noticed two remarkable carved figures while passing the Balenciagas windows. He made enquiries about who the artist was and was advised that it was Madame Janine Janet. At that time she was starting his designs for QE2 and thought that it was be “marvellous” to have Janet’s work on the ship. He went to her studio where he saw further examples of her skill and materials available. It occurred to him that an appropriate subject would be the four elements a ship always had to fight and asked her if she could interpret fire, earth, air and water in the form of four figures covered in semi precious materials found in the sea.
She agreed to make a maquette to show Cunard and the first one in coral was sent to London for review. Sir Basil Smallpeice and Lord Mancroft agreed with the idea and Janet was commissioned at a cost of £4,000.
The statues took a year to make and Janet collected material (shells, coral, mother of pearl etc) from all over the world. The triangular faceted mother of pearl came from China. The statues were placed on show in Paris to great acclaim prior to being installed on QE2 in the Grill Room on specially-lit (from above and below) bases.
Each statue stood around five foot high and were placed in each corner of the central section of the Grill.
The Architectural Review wrote in 1969:
“Their quality is delightful and ephemeral, the equivalent of the eighteenth-century musical serenade – but Boccherini not Mozart”.
There was a rumour that a fifth statue, Venus, had been commissioned but this was never placed on board.
1972
When the Grill Room was eliminated by the expansion of the Columbia Restaurant the statues were removed. Two (Air and Water) were placed in front of the forward bulkhead on the buffet counter in the centre of the Columbia Restaurant. This is were they remained until (at least) the 1984 refurbishment of the Columbia.
Earth was placed as the centrepiece of the new One Deck Bar (known as Club Atlantic after 1974) where it remained until that bar was closed in 1976 / 1977. Fire went into storage.
Over the years a combination of “ill judged alterations” (Dennis Lennon words) and light fingered souvenir hunters damaged them.
In 1985 the statues were returned to Janet at her studio in France for restoration.
After this work, Janet claimed that they were “even more beautiful than they were when they were first made… and they are absolutely perfect”
1985
During QE2’s five day wet-dock period in Southampton (8 – 13 December 1985) the four statues were returned to the ship and once again displayed in the Princess Grill where they remained until the ship’s retirement. In order to protect them glass screens where fitted at the base of each statue.
A FIFTH ELEMENT?
I have seen correspondence from 1985 talking about a fifth element - VENUS - being commissioned as a centrepiece for the Queens Grill. The statue was commissioned but it does not seem to have made it onto QE2. This year I asked the only Senior Manager from that period still alive and he "vaguely recalls" the statues but can't remember what happened with it!!
Statue in Princess Grill on QE2 by
Rob Lightbody, on Flickr
QE2 Princess Grill Statue by
Rob Lightbody, on Flickr
QE2 Princess Grill Statue by
Rob Lightbody, on Flickr
Topic: The Four Elements by Janine Janet (Read 12371 times)