Šoti Park is tucked in behind the Scottish Club in Tallinn. (Šoti means Scottish in Estonian.)
Because it is the club’s garden the park is only open when the club is open. At this time of year that means 6.00 pm. I managed to have it unlocked at 12.30 pm yesterday because my flight was leaving at 4.00 pm.
The park has four bronze busts on granite plinths. They can be summarised as Penicillin, Bond, Burns and Boats. Here they are.
Fleming, I wondered if it would be Ian, Connery and Burns earn their places by virtue of being Scottish. I don’t know why the plinth says Edwyn Sinclair Alexander but I think the inversion and creation of a double barrelled surname came later. His grandchildren call themselves Alexander-Sinclair. He played an important part in the War of Independence and deserves a post to himself. He will get it tomorrow.
Busts have advantages over life-size bronzes. Of course they are cheaper and can concentrate on the head, the most expressive part of the body. Today a full figure, hot cast bronze costs around £100,000. Before the artist’s pay can be considered there is the cost of bronze and the expense of casting such a large piece at a foundry.
The last time I was at Chatsworth, in 2013, was the first time I had seen the new gold window frames. They looked really gorgeous gleaming in the sun, although to get the best effect a lot of windows are needed and a grand enough house to carry it off. I will not try to try to recreate the effect at home. But I digress. I also saw fourteen busts on plinths in the garden. They are by Angela Conner, an apprentice of Barbara Hepworth, and had been collected by Andrew, the 11th Duke of Devonshire. In 2011 they were installed as a group in the garden, You will want to know the subjects he chose:
- Lady Emma Tennant
- Harold Macmillan
- Sir Tom Stoppard
- Lord Rothschild
- Sir Roy Strong
- Sir Patrick Leigh-Fermor
- Sir John Betjeman
- Andrew, 11th Duke of Devonshire
- Deborah, Dowager Duchess of Devonshire
- HM The Queen
- HRH The Prince of Wales
- Self-portrait
- Lucian Freud
- The Earl of Burlington 1976
Either I wasn’t very good at taking photos in 2013, or old ‘phones had crap cameras.
An alternative to commissioning a life-size bronze is to opt for a relief. Tallinn airport is named in honour of Lennart Meri whose life featured in 1 Pangari
When we were in Tallin in 2013, a restaurant had outside seating in this garden. I no longer remember the name of the restaurant, only that the grilled pork neck was very good.