The Naked Ladies

The Naked Ladies are a Grade II listed[1] statue complex on a rockery and water cascade in the gardens of York House, Twickenham, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England.

They subsequently passed by default into public ownership, and suffered some vandalism, but have been restored and remain to this day on view in the corner of a municipal garden.

There have been various theories as to the intended subject matter, with Pearl Fishers, Pegasus, Naiads and the birth of Venus all having been suggested in addition to the usual attribution as Oceanids.

[2] Sir Ratan had bought York House from the Prince Philippe, Duke of Orléans in 1906, and by the end of 1909 he had had the Riverside gardens redesigned in the Italian style and the statues installed.

Sir Ratan was for several years a noted host for London High Society, with King George V among the guests at his garden parties.

[4] As a result of local government reorganisation in the 1960s Twickenham became part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, but the town hall remains at York House and the gardens continue to be open to the public.

The statues have gone through at least one major restoration to remove graffiti and the wartime grey cement, and reverse the effects of vandalism by replacing lost fingers, pearls and even a hoof.

Colour photograph, zoom shot through trees of two nude female statues on a rockery, one sitting, the other in a strange pose
The statues were installed without benefit of instruction from the designer as he spoke no English.
Colour photograph, rear view of marble statue of lady holding a pearl.
Another suggested name for the statues was the Pearl Fishers, but today only one lady still has a pearl.
Colour photograph of rockery from the side showing three ladies facing forward and up with their right hands raised
Side view of ladies in unusual poses
The colour photograph presents a series of lawns leading up to a statue complex. Hedges partially divide these lawns into three sections. The division closest to the camera contains flower beds, while the middle portion holds a circular pond – visible as a stone edge, the far lawn leads up to the statue complex.
The Naked Ladies towering over the riverside lawns
a grassy lawn in front of a statues complex several people sunbathe or sit in the midground facing in the background a group of white statues that are significantly larger than the people. In the foreground a black bird is walking away from the whole tableau
The larger than life statues are now in a public park