The Wallace Fountains Fete 150 Years in Paris

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The Wallace Fountains Fete 150 Years in Paris
What better anniversary to celebrate after this summer of heatwaves than 150 years of the iconic and beautiful Wallace Fountains which provide refreshing drinking water to Parisians and visitors alike all over the city? And Paris will be doing just that with a number of events planned for this September. Earlier this year, to mark the anniversary, one of the city’s 150 or so Wallace Fountains was moved from its original spot in the Place Denfert-Rochereau (14th arrondissement) to the courtyard of the Musée Carnavalet, the top history museum in Paris. Its prominence in this prestigious location will serve a historical purpose, but it will also be practical, dispensing drinking water to all who need it. Juliette Tanré-Szewczyk, from the museum’s heritage and conservation section, is keen to stress that the museum will remain true to the wishes of Richard Wallace, originator of the whole idea, that they should be both “utilitaire” and “décoratif.” Musée Carnavalet © OliverN5 at Creative Commons When Richard Wallace first conceived the idea in 1870, he was responding to a great need. During the Siege of Paris, aqueducts had been destroyed and ordinary Parisians were forced to pay high prices for dirty water drawn from the Seine. Wallace, a wealthy English baronet living in Paris, felt a moral obligation to provide safe, clean drinking water freely to all who needed it. He knew too that this would make the poor less reliant on alcohol, deemed safer to drink than river water, and so have health and social benefits. The first Wallace Fountain was installed 150 years ago this summer, on July 30th, 1872. Wallace took a personal interest in the design of the fountains; they should be tall enough to be seen from a distance, easy to maintain, low enough in cost to mean that a good number could be installed and, above all, practical. A steady stream of water should flow from them, thus ensuring it would never stagnate; the water should flow at a height dogs could not reach and the caryatids – sculpted female figures – holding up the basin should be close enough together to mean that horses could not use the fountain as a water trough. Photograph of Sir Richard Wallace (1818-1890) (Sir Richard Wallace, 1st Baronet) © Chantepie, The Wallace Collection, Public Domain He was determined that the fountains would be not just practical, but beautiful too.  They should embellir la ville, that is, embellish the city. In fact, they should be works of art and to that end he asked his friend, the sculptor Charles-Auguste Lebourg, who had worked on the Palais du Louvre and the Hôtel de Ville, to design them. Lebourg came up with four versions and the main one seen in Paris today has four caryatids holding up the dome from which the water flows into a basin, representing four virtues in keeping with Wallace’s philanthropic mission: kindness, simplicity, sobriety and charity. Have a look next time you pass a Wallace Fountain and you will notice that each of the four figures is slightly different. You may also see two of Lebourg’s other designs around the city, a slightly smaller version, intended to be cheaper to produce and a push-button version which is found in the city’s parks and gardens.
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Lead photo credit : Wallace Fountain in front of Shakespeare and Co © Eric Parker at Creative Commons

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Recently retired from teaching Modern Languages (French and German), Marian now has time to develop her interests in travel and European culture and history. She will be in Paris as often as she can, visiting places old and new, finding out their stories and writing it all up as soon as she gets home. Marian also runs the weekly podcast series, City Breaks, offering in-depth coverage of popular city break destinations, with lots of background history and cultural information. She has covered Paris in 22 episodes but looks forward to updating the series every now and then with some Paris Extra episodes.

Comments

  • Joan Berger
    2022-08-20 04:43:10
    Joan Berger
    where can we get a map of their placement? we have seen some of them and always wondered if was safe to drink the water.

    REPLY

    • Marian Jones
      2022-08-22 05:19:59
      Marian Jones
      I haven't been able to find a good map showing all the Wallace Fountains, but there is a very usable list at this link: https://wallacefountains.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/ChartWallaceFountains.pdf It lists them by arrondissement and gives the exact location for each one. It's actually from the Wallace Fountain Challenge, suggesting you find them all and tick them off as you go! And yes, the water is supplied by the Paris Water Company, and therefore quite safe to drink.

      REPLY