Friday 23 October 2015

Idea Store, Gladstone Place E3

The trendily-branded Idea Store was built as the Passmore Edwards Public Library in 1901, to a charming Queen Anne style design of Samuel Russell.
When the library was done over in 2007, the original front door was replaced by a new one further along leaving it looking somewhat redundant, but it is worth seeking out because it is surmounted by a flamboyant carving of a man and a woman in fanciful old-timey costumes holding up a shield with the Passmore Edwards name. 
The work is attributed to Henry Fehr, and indeed the flowing lines and almost Art Nouveau look are characteristic of him. As he was also Russell's favourite artist, the attribution seems pretty secure.

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