FIFTH WARDEN DISAPPEARS FROM MANSION HOUSE



Another view of the now vanished 'Fifth Warden'

Regular readers of this blog will recall that in December (see post of 8 December) we donated a bear to the Lord Mayor's Bear Necessities Appeal to take up residence in the Mansion House, along with bears from all the other livery companies.  At the time we decided to dress him as a warden of the Drapers' Company and Penny Fussell our archivist made a most fetching miniature version of our livery robes.

We were therefore most upset to be recently informed by the Lord Mayor's secretary that our bear has disappeared.  We have no idea as to how this could have happened and if any reader of this blog knows of, or has any theories as to, the whereabouts of this artificially furry little creature I would be pleased to know.

Meanwhile a replacement has been made by the Lord Mayor's staff although the new bear is without special robes.

I hope I can eventually report the safe return of our original 'Fifth Warden.'

LORD MAYOR'S CHRISTMAS TREE: A JOB FOR THE FIFTH WARDEN

Our fifth warden?  The Drapers' Bear about to depart from the Hall in full regalia to do duty in the Mansion House for the rest of the mayoral year.  I will try and not fall victim to Ruskin's 'pathetic fallacy' that humans project their own emotions onto animals or, even worse, fluffy little representations of animals.  Nevertheless he looks a little despondent, either because he is leaving the Hall or because of the huge weight of representational responsibility that now lies on his narrow and furry shoulders.
Photograph thanks to Penny Fussell 

Each year the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs choose charities.  This year they are Coram the children's charity, see www.coram.org.uk/  and RedR the international disaster and humanitarian relief group, see  www.redr.org.uk/

As part of the fund raising effort the Lord Mayor, Michael Bear, is pursuing a bear theme throughout the year.  Part of this is a Christmas tree in the Mansion House that will be decorated with furry little teddy bears.  Each bear will have a sponsor and all 108 livery companies have been invited to participate. 

We decided that the basic red jumper bearing the title Drapers' Bear did not do full justice to the Company and, anyway, red is not a Company colour.  Penny Fussell therefore made a beautiful set of warden's clothing, including hat, for him to wear.  The result is that we now have a 'fifth warden.'

Once the Christmas Tree is taken down the bears will spend the rest of the year in the Lord Mayor's office before being returned to their owners.