On Robert Elms' BBC London radio show last week [November 2011] there was some discussion of the 'lost figures of Lewisham'. Back in the 1980s there was a clock in Lewisham shopping centre featuring these figures, which apparently were revealed on the hour.
The figures represented 'Characters of South East London' and were designed by the artist Sam Smith (1909-1983). Not sure exactly when the clock was removed, but on the radio show a couple of people came forward and revealed that they had independently salvaged a couple of the figures - if more can be found maybe there can be a reunion in the shopping centre!
The figures represented 'Characters of South East London' and were designed by the artist Sam Smith (1909-1983). Not sure exactly when the clock was removed, but on the radio show a couple of people came forward and revealed that they had independently salvaged a couple of the figures - if more can be found maybe there can be a reunion in the shopping centre!
Update: September 2015:
The tailor figure from the Lewisham set turned up on Channel 4's Four Rooms programme this week with Lewisham's Ellie-Mae Reilly selling it to a collector for £750. I was surprized how big it was, and that it was not just a figure but an automaton with an internal mechanism so it moved its head and scissors.
A couple of these figures turned up at Sidcup Auction in 2020, not sure where they went next. The right hand and head were still moving on the one with the tambourine, who looks a bit like Cilla Black.
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