The Cave of the Golden Calf

Philip Hoare, in his book Oscar Wilde's Last Stand, provided the following description: Up in Regent Street young men wearing tight suits and nail varnish were sipping creme de menthe in the Cafe Royal, while down a dark cul-de-sac lurked a new and devilish sort of place where Futurists cavorted: a 'night club' profanely named 'The Cave of the Golden Calf'.

This 'low-ceilinged nightclub, appropriately sunk under the pavement', was decorated by Spencer Gore in Russian Ballet-inspired murals, with contributions by Jacob Epstein and Wyndham Lewis; Eric Gill designed the club's motif, a phallic Golden Calf, symbol of biblical dissipation and idolatry.

The club's self-advertised aim was to be 'a place given up to gaiety', its art-subversive interiors 'brazenly expressive of the libertarian pleasure principle ...' [...][3] Ezra Pound complimented Strindberg on her acumen.

The Cave went bankrupt in 1914, but its name lived on, and recently inspired a show at the Edinburgh Fringe and the 2010 Commemoration Ball at New College, Oxford.

The building became a post office and can be seen in the background of the cover of David Bowie's album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.