The Victorian terracotta relief of the Spirit of Banking on the facade of 
Barclays in Wimbledon High Street has suddenly become topical, even satyrical. It shows Lady Banking holding a tray full of money in her lap. A cherubic saver is emptying his purse into it, and she is gaily dropping coins into the wee money bag of an angelic entrepreneur. So very different from the methods of today's corporate bandits.Unfortunately, the man who made the mould got the first N in BANKING round the wrong way, an easy thing to do when you are working back-to-front, and presumably when the mistake was noticed it was felt it was not worth the expense of making a new one.
Perhaps the mistake wasn't noticed! It all adds to the charm, anyway - a lovely find.
ReplyDeletePerhaps it was noticed at the factory (where reversed Ns and Ss must have been the usual apprentice foul-ups)and was sent out anyway. I can imagine the conversation between the workman and the foreman: "Just bung it on the cart, Joss, the ignorant stuck-up bankers will never notice."
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