Eleanor Rigby (statue)
Eleanor Rigby is a statue in Stanley Street, Liverpool, England, designed and made by the entertainer Tommy Steele. It is based on the subject of The Beatles' song Eleanor Rigby, which is credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership.[1]
History
When Tommy Steele was performing in a show in Liverpool in 1981, he made an offer to Liverpool City Council to create a sculpture as a tribute to the Beatles. His fee for the commission would be three pence.[lower-alpha 1] The offer was accepted by the Council, as it would be expected to increase the tourist trade of the city, and they made a donation of £4,000 towards its cost. The statue took nine months to make, and it was unveiled by Tommy Steele on 3 December 1982.[1]
Description
The statue consists of a bronze figure on a stone bench. The bronze figure is 128 cm high, 120 cm wide, and 96 cm deep. It depicts a seated woman with a handbag on her lap, a shopping bag on her right, and a copy of the newspaper the Liverpool Echo on her left. Poking from the shopping bag is a milk bottle, and on the newspaper is a sparrow and a piece of bread. The woman is looking down at the sparrow.[1]
On the wall behind the figure is an inscribed plaque which reads as follows:
ELEANOR RIGBY
DEDICATED TO
"ALL THE LONELY PEOPLE..."
This statue was sculpted and donated to the City of Liverpool
by Tommy Steele as a tribute to the Beatles.
The casting was sponsored by the Liverpool Echo.
DECEMBER 1982
Notes and references
Notes
- ↑ This was an allusion to Steele's musical show and film Half a Sixpence.[1]
Citations
Coordinates: 53°24′25″N 2°59′12″W / 53.40694°N 2.98664°W