Edinburgh, 9 Peffermill Road, Prestonfield Primary School

The Public Monuments and Sculpture Association (http://www.pmsa.org.uk/) set up a National Recording Project in 1997 with the aim of making a survey of public monuments and sculpture in Britain ranging from medieval monuments to the most contemporary works. Information from the Edinburgh project was added to the RCAHMS database in October 2010 and again in 2012.

The PMSA (Public Monuments and Sculpture Association) Edinburgh Sculpture Project has been supported by Eastern Photocolour, Edinburgh College of Art, the Edinburgh World Heritage Trust, Historic Scotland, the Hope Scott Trust, The Old Edinburgh Club, the Pilgrim Trust, the RCAHMS, and the Scottish Archive Network.

An elegant balanced group of mother and baby surmount a two-part 'lotus' pedestal, with a lotus flower small basin below. Around this a large shallow basin encircled by slabs, the whole fountain on a diagonal axis to the building, is the centrepiece of a sunken parterre in the inner square garden of the school. The mother stands, head erect, knees bent and feet together with elbows out, while her extended arms support her baby who is standing leaning back at a diagonal with his feet just above her knees. Her long narrow fingers hold the child around the ribs while his arms lie along her forearms. The child's head turns to his right, chin on shoulder. He has large (blank) eyes and a cherubic smile. The mother is long-necked, her hair drawn back in a chignon, her eyes almost closed looking down at her son. (She faces approximately north-west.) Her toes extend slightly beyond the top of the pedestal. A casting seam is clearly visible just below her waist. Inside the lotus flower basin, between the four water roses, are three bronze creatures (the fourth is missing): a frog (front right) climbing outwards, a snail (back right) dipping its head into the water, and a tortoise (back left) facing outwards.

In the 1930s the Education Authority of Edinburgh decided that the new schools should have beauty and colour as well as air and space. In a collaboration with Edinburgh College of Art, the City Architect went round schools with Principal Hubert Wellington of the College of Art. He was charmed with the enclosed garden at Prestonfield School and suggested the preparation of a design for a fountain. Tom Whalen was the first Fellow of the College in sculpture, and he designed the fountain.

In The Scotsman of 18 June 1935 the fountain is referred to as 'The Bath', and the group is described as 'a mother holding a child in the attitude of placing it in a bath, the infant being held at arms length.' However in the report of the unveiling in The Scotsman of 21 June 1935, it is called 'Mother and Child'.

Inscriptions : None

Signatures : None

Year of unveiling : 1935

Unveiling details : 20 June 1935. Unveiled by William McKechnie, Secretary of the Scottish Education Dept

Information from Public Monuments and Sculpture Association (PMSA Work Ref : EDIN0104)