The Full Story
The sculpture is set on a plinth on paving within a rose bed protected by railings. The plinth carries a bronze plaque on its west face, a shield in a wreath on its north face and a stylised rose on both the east and south faces. The sculpture is of a rearing muscular horse restrained by a standing male figure. The horse is sturdy and has a thick neck and shows similarity to the Baroque tradition of depicting horses. The male figure is depicted bare foot and with his shirt sleeves and trouser legs rolled up, identifying him as a worker or servant.
The man is holding the halter of the horse, restraining it. Based on the famous Dioskouri in Rome, the motif was revived in Renaissance painting, medals and bronze statuettes as a symbolic group signifying passion (the horse) restrained by reason (man).
Carte de Visite of Joseph Edgar Boehm
This sculpture is by Joseph Boehm, a Hungarian sculptor and favourite of Queen Victoria. Captain Bird bought the statue when his father's house 'Tudor Grange' was sold after his mother's death. Sir Alfred Frederic Bird was son of the inventor of the famous custard powder. Sir Alfred was born in 1849 and accidentally killed in a London accident in 1922. He was Conservative MP for Wolverhampton from 1910 and made a notable collection of statuary at Tudor Grange.
In the 1944 sale catalogue it was described as 'Exceedingly Fine Life Size Bronze Statue of Prancing horse with man by J. E. Boehm, 1874, on stone pedestal, having Tudor Rose and Shield Ornaments'.
Captain Bird donated the statue, plinth and £500 pounds for the cost of its removal to the Solihull Urban District Council in the spring of 1953.
The Captain and Mrs Bird met with the Chairman and officers of the council in Malvern Park to select the site for the statue in May of that year. However it was decided at the Parks Allotments and Cemeteries Committee in the September that the allotments near the chosen site were not 'satisfactorily cultivated' or attractive so the decision was made to level the allotments and incorporate the land into the park. The statue was formally presented to the Council at a short ceremony on Tuesday 15 December 1953. (The majority of information used in this description was sourced from pmsa.org.uk)
Did you Know? In February 2012, metal thieves used tools to remove the right foreleg and tail from the horse. Following a fundraiser backed by Solihull News, local residents raised over £1700 to help pay for repairs to the much loved statue; the repair work was completed later that year. The metal thieves, on the other hand, have never been brought to justice.