Charles Ignatius Sancho was born on a ship carrying enslaved Africans across the Atlantic in around 1729. He later became a celebrity in Georgian London and the first known person of African descent to vote in a Westminster election.
We have been working alongside the Sancho Memorial Appeal Committee to support a commemoration of the legacy of Ignatius Sancho through a new sculpture in Greenwich Park. We are very grateful to our friends and alumni who have donated to the campaign and made it possible.
Sculptor Christy Symington has now finished and successfully fired four corners of the ceramic. The central portrait is now drying ahead of three firing cycles.
The first firing is of the modelled clay, the second is glaze-firing with underglaze colours to make the under-colours come to life, and the third firing is for the gold lustre detail.
The colours, following Gainsborough’s portrait of Sancho, will be deep blue, red, brown, white, and gold details in lustre. The oval frame will be green.
The relief sculpture will sit above the existing plaque for Sancho, donated by the Friends of Greenwich Park in 2007, but it will be slightly smaller (about 62x62cm). It will be visible from the path to the Flower Garden.
The installers will need up to four weeks to provide support for the ceramic, as the Grade 2 wall built in the 1690s is not vertical. It has been repointed by the Royal Parks to make it stronger.
Christy considered making a sculpture in bronze, but the maintenance cost would be much higher than maintenance of a ceramic sculpture. Maintenance of a ceramic sculpture merely involves careful cleaning with soapy water, and the Memorial Committee has made a donation to the Royal Parks to cover this cost in perpetuity.
Richard Bourne, Secretary of the Ignatius Sancho Memorial Committee, says:
We would like to thank the University of Greenwich and all our donors and supporters who are waiting patiently to see what we expect will be an exciting public artwork and a new attraction in Greenwich Park.
This will be an enhanced ceramic memorial, inspired by Gainsborough’s portrait of Sancho, an indomitable polymath and Black pioneer. It will sit above the existing plaque adjoining Queen Caroline’s Bath.
Sculptor Christy Symington has overcome many artistic and technical challenges, requiring research and perseverance. We are confident that the memorial will bring joy and extra visitors to Greenwich Park when complete.
The Ignatius Sancho Memorial Committee will announce when the sculpture can be seen by the public, as well as a date for the formal unveiling.
