The original design of Centennial Park featured a total of 31 terracotta figures and statues. They were used to accentuate points of intersection and to add interest along the drives and in and around garden areas.
Only three of the original statues remain, two of which are these terracotta statues, ‘Sunrise’ and ‘Sunset’, on sandstone columns in the Rose Garden.
These two statues which sit atop nine-metre high sandstone columns were manufactured by the famous Luxembourg pottery company, Villeroy and Boch in 1888, ‘Sunrise’ is a standing female figure with a baby boy on a half orb, while ‘Sunset’ is a life size female figure draped in a cloak from the back of the head to the feet.
The nine metre high Corinthian sandstone columns on which they stand have their own story to tell. Originally flanking the front entrance to the William Street Wing of the Australian Museum the fluted columns were dismantled and moved to Centennial Park where they were then used as the base for these statues.
