Valparaiso Val d’Osne Fountain
Public Art: Valparaiso Val d’Osne Fountain
Other names: Victoria Plaza Fountain, Neptune Fountain
Sculptors: Michel Joseph Napoleon Liènard (1810-1870) and Mathurin Moreau (1821-1912)
Description: This is a bronze copy of the original Val d’Osne Fountain. The 7m high, 4 basin fountain features statues of Neptune, Galatea, Amphitrite and Asis on the lower tier and 4 sea nymphs holding hands on the upper tier. There are 43 water jets.
Foundry: The Val d’Osne fountain was produced by the Val d’Osne Foundry, the biggest producing fine art foundry in France. The catalogue number was 554T.
Date Unveiled: Unknown
Location: The beautiful Valparaiso Val d’Osne Fountain can be found in Victoria Plaza, Valparaiso, Chile.
Acknowledgements: A special thank you to Abel Osorio from Chile for kindly providing the photographs and information.
History of the Val d’Osne Fountains: The Victoria Plaza fountain was produced by the Val d’Osne Foundry, the biggest producing fine art foundry in France during the mid-nineteenth century. At one stage they had over 40,000 objects in their catalogues. This particular fountain design won a gold award at the 1855 Paris World Fair, which would explain why so many copies of it were erected around the world. The sculptures were created by Mathurin Moreau, who worked in the factory from 1849 to 1879 and in which he produced over 100 statues. Some say his work revolutionised the mass production of high-quality models.
List of known Val d’Osne Fountains :
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Mendoza, Argentina
Launceston, Australia
Salvador de Bahia, Brazil
Quebec, Canada
Valparasio, Chile
Liverpool, England
Angers, France
Saint Quentin, France
Soulac sur mer, France
Troyes, France
Tacna, Peru
Lisbon, Portugal (2) Valencia, Spain
Geneva, Switzerland
Boston, USA (known as The Brewer Fountain)
Victoria Square: Victoria Square (Plaza de la Victoria) in Valparaiso has been a public place for more than 200 years and was named in honour of the Chilean victory in the war against the Peru-Bolivian Confederation.
The area was originally the location of a bullring but the sport was banned in 1823. In the early 19th century the bullring became a public square and it was named Orrego Square after the house of Vicente Orrego which was located on the grounds of the present Cathedral of Valparaiso.
In 1837 scaffolding was erected in the plaza for the hanging of Colonel Jose Antonio Vidaurre, Captain James Florin and others for the assassination of Minister Diego Portales during the mutiny of Punta Arenas.
Around the mid 19th century the area was renamed Plaza de la Victoria in honour of the 1839 victory at the Battle of Yungay.