Burnett Memorial Fountain, Memorial fountain in Central Park, Manhattan, United States
Burnett Memorial Fountain is a bronze sculpture group on a rough brown stone base near Fifth Avenue and the Museum of the City of New York in Central Park. It depicts Mary and Dickon from The Secret Garden: a seated figure holds a slender pipe or flute to the mouth, while a standing figure behind holds a shallow bowl aloft with both hands and has a small bird perched near one shoulder.
Bessie Potter Vonnoh completed the sculpture in 1936, and it was officially dedicated by Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia in 1937. Before reaching its current spot in the garden, the work spent several years in storage after its completion.
The bronze group shows Mary and Dickon from The Secret Garden, the 1911 novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett, who also wrote Little Lord Fauntleroy. The seated figure plays a pipe while the standing one lifts a shallow bowl, with a small bird near the shoulder. The sculpture stands near Fifth Avenue and the Museum of the City of New York.
The fountain stands near Fifth Avenue and the Museum of the City of New York, in the northern part of Central Park rather than in the Conservatory Garden. Approach it from the park paths along Fifth Avenue; the bronze group sits on a rough stone base among hedges and foliage.
Although the fountain honors Frances Hodgson Burnett, her name does not appear engraved on the sculpture itself. The connection to the author comes entirely through the figures she gave to her readers, not through any inscription on the bronze.
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