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Statue of Edward Colston
The almost hunched, contemplative figure represents Colston in his maturity. For a likeness, the sculptor may have turned to Jonathan Richardson’s portrait of 1702, a version of which hangs in the Council House. The reclining figure by Rysbrack on Colston’s tomb in All Saints, Corn Street, may also have been useful. The monument shows a younger, more vigorous man, although Rysbrack may well have used the same source. Cassidy’s statue depicts Colston in early eighteenth century clothes […] Three of the side reliefs show apocryphal or symbolic scenes from Colston’s life. One shows Colston distributing alms in the street; another depicts mythical seahorses and tritons pulling an anchor; the third depicts the legend […] of a dolphin plugging a leak in one of Colston’s ships. […] It was this ‘incident’ that is said to have caused Colston to adopt the dolphin as his emblem. Stylised dolphins, with writhing tails and looking more like animated catfish, are at each corner of the pedestal. The fourth panel bears an inscription and the sculptor’s name. (Merritt & Greenacre 2011: 41)