Near the corner of Owls Road on Sea Road, towards the top end of the Boscombe Art Trail, a small plaque set into the paving names a nearby metal sculpture: Tableau. It forms one of seven public artworks along the trail, a collection of sculptures placed along the route from the seafront up to Boscombe's shopping streets.
Two names for one sculpture
Dorset sculptor Andy Kirkby created the trail after being commissioned in 2010 as part of Boscombe's seafront regeneration scheme. Although the pavement plaque here reads "Tableau", the sculptor's own name for the piece is "Shelley's Feather", a nod to Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein, who had planned to settle in Boscombe with her son Percy Florence Shelley before she died; his house, Shelley Manor, was only finished after her death, and she was later interred at St Peter's Church in Bournemouth. This same gap between plaque and artist's title crops up elsewhere on the trail, where Kirkby separately named "Chemical Wedding" as "Sun Fish".
Seeing it for yourself
Since the sculpture sits on Sea Road, taking it in during a walk along the trail alongside Chemical Wedding, Optic and Murano is straightforward. As with the rest of the trail, it stands outdoors permanently and can be viewed free of charge at any time. Find more of the area's coast and culture in our guide to things to do in Bournemouth.
