Bang up against the end of Thames House is Vintner's Place, a disgusting parody of classical architecture erected by the Vintner's Company in 1990. The designers were Whinney Mackay-Lewis & Partnership. Mr Whinney, Mr Mackay-Lewis and all the Partners should be ashamed of themselves. The building replaced an Art Deco office block of 1927 called Vintry House that stuck up through the sightlines to St Paul's, making its demolition a condition of redevelopment. The developers mercifully spared the portico to Vintry House and its lovely sculpture of a nude Bacchante with goats, carved by Herbert Palliser.
It is an interesting contrast with the nudes all over Thames House next door. She stands full frontal, her hands raised to hold bunches of grapes over her shoulder, which accentuates her nudity. The goats look up from below and doves look down from above, focusing the entire composition on one particular spot. Is it just me, or is this the sexiest sculpture in London?The model was Leopoldine Avico, one of the three Avico daughters of an Italian living on Soho, who were something of an institution at the Slade between the wars.
The composition is framed by a pair of swans, reminding us that the Vintner's Company is one of the three owners of all the swans on the upper Thames, the others being the Dyers and HM the Queen. Vintner's swans are traditionally marked with nicks on either side of the beak, the word 'nick' being corrupted to 'neck' in the pub sign 'Swan with Two Necks'.
Unfortunately, the Vintry House portal was crammed against the south facade of Thames House, concealing several of Richard Garbe's sculptures from view. All you can see from the street is a tantalising glimpse of some putti, one writing in an exercise book.