In 1911, the sculptor George Frampton was commissioned by an anonymous donor to create a monumental sculpture of Peter Pan to be placed in Kensington Gardens. The spot chosen was next to the Long Water where Peter lands his bird-nest boat in the first book in which the character appears, Sir J M Barrie's “The Little White Bird”.  

The mysterious donor is revealed

In fact, the anonymous donor was the author himself. He had the bronze erected in secret on 29 and 30 April 1912, so that it would seem to have magically appeared and placed a notice in The Times on 1 May 1912;

“There is a surprise in store for the children who go to Kensington Gardens to feed the ducks in the Serpentine this morning, Down by the little bay on the south-western side of the tail of the Serpentine they will find a May-day gift by Mr J M Barrie, a figure of Peter Pan blowing his pipe on the stump of a tree, with fairies and mice and squirrels all around. It is the work of Sir George Frampton and the bronze figure of the boy who would never grow up is delightfully conceived.”

Frampton’s Romantic Vision of Peter Pan

In Frampton's model Peter Pan is lifted up on a swirling rock or tree trunk populated by fairies, and woodland animals - rabbits, squirrels and mice, the magical and natural characters and animals who helped raise him. Standing in a natural and childlike pose, he raises his pipe to his mouth and plays to the spirits of the children who play in the park. Frampton’s lifelike representation of Peter Pan and his surroundings is in the style of the Romantic era and fashioned in defiance and contrast to the pervading avant-garde movements of the time.

Blending Art and Play

The commission, and the artist’s intent, was to please and delight the children who might visit. As well as his skill at working the group in the round and allowing it to be viewed from every angle, he also used the naturalistic base to perform a functional purpose. At three corners the ‘rock’ extends gently to provide footrests for children (of all ages) to reach up and stand on the piece and admire it close-up. In 1912, Frampton took a walk through the park and noticed that children playing with the animals were slipping on the mud surrounding the base. He wrote to park authorities;

"I wonder whether it would be possible to take away the mud which now surrounds the base and put in its place a crazy pavement with rock plants. During my visit to Peter yesterday morning, I saw quite a number of his little friends slip down on the mud in trying to go up to embrace their favourite animals […] I hope you will not think me a nuisance."

The paving duly followed and subsequently children of all ages have climbed, played and enjoyed the tactile and visual treasure. An undated press clipping that survives at The National Archives describes the statue’s rabbit as the ‘most-loved animal in London’ and a park representative related how ‘thousands’ of children have visited it;

 "The first thing they do is go up to the base of the statue and put their arms round the rabbit, and then they walk solemnly round to visit their other pets. I think they love the mice the next best. Oddly enough, they do not take so much notice of the fairies, but the squirrel on other side is a great favourite and they even have a word for the snail."

Global Reach and Enduring Popularity

The group attained instantaneous worldwide acclaim and casts of the monument are to be found in Brussels, New Jersey, Toronto and Perth, Australia. Parts of the original plaster model are in the Victoria and Albert Museum, and it features on stamps issued in New Zealand in 1945.

The large sculpture is cast number three of the edition of eight full scale versions cast by the Morris Singer Foundry from 1987 onwards from the bronze in Sefton Park for the Fine Art Society by exclusive agreement with Liverpool City Council.

Although Barrie did not have consent from The Royal Parks to install the sculpture that night in 1912, in 1987 it was granted Grade 1 listed status. It features on national and international lists of London’s most popular and beloved statues and remains one of Frampton’s most well-loved works.

The adventures of Peter Pan

The fantastical island of Neverland, filled with fairies, mermaids, pirates, and Peter Pan, a boy who wouldn’t grow up, was first introduced by author J.M Barrie in his 1904 play “Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up”. Forum Auctions were delighted to sell a first edition of the play for £7,560, this particular copy includes an endearing inscription from the author “To my dear Jane Pan from her loving admirer and uncle and servant J. M. Barrie. Aug 31, 1930, Stanway”.

“Jane” was the lifelong nickname given to Sylvia Jocelyn Llewellyn Davies, the mother of Jack Lewellyn Davies, who along with his four brothers were principal inspirations for Peter Pan and the Lost Boys. Jane was named after her grandmother, who was a close companion of Barrie's whose death would lead to the author becoming the guardian of her four sons.

Kensington Gardens was a fitting location for the sculpture as it is the setting of Barrie’s 1906 work "Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens". The story depicts Peter Pan as a baby, who hears that children grow up, alarmed by this, he flies out of his nursery. He settles in Kensington Gardens surrounded by fairies, talking birds, and other magical creatures. Eventually, he misses his mother and flies home to find the window shut and another baby in his place, he realises that he can never return home, he is stuck between two worlds, unable to be part of the human world or the fairy world.

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