Westland London

Description

A massive aluminium heraldic spread eagle, with three Ducal coronets on it's breasts and wings the original emblem, without the three crowns was used by the Barclays Bank Group from the early 18th century. The three crowns were added in the 1930's to differentiate it from those emblems used for centuries in varying forms by royal households, countries and other establishments.
English, 1930's.

Notes: When in 1728 the Barclays Bank company moved into the premises known as The Black Spread Eagle on Lombard Street in central London they adopted as their emblem the sign of a Black Spread Eagle which had been left by the previous unknown tenants of the building. The premises later became 54 Lombard Street. Barclays present day blue emblem, first introduced in the 1960's and adopted in 1970, is based on the old earlier logo as shown on the hanging Bank sign below.

Casting of monuments and works of art in aluminium was first used by Alfred Gilbert in 1893 for his statue of Eros (famously misnamed, the figure is in fact Anteros, his twin brother), the Greek God of requited love, which is poised on top of the memorial fountain to Lord Shaftsbury in the middle of Piccadilly Circus in London's West End.

Height: 72" , 183 cms
Width: 57 1⁄8" , 145 cms
Depth: 7 7⁄8" , 20 cms