Burnett Memorial Fountain

Sculptor: Bessie Potter Vonnoh (1872-1955)
Date: 1926-1936; Placed in Park: 1936
Donor: The Children's Garden Building Committee
Material: Bronze

Friends of Frances Hodgson Burnett, the author of the children's classics The Secret Garden (1909) and Little Lord Fauntleroy (1906), wanted to memorialize her after her death in 1924 with a storytelling area in Central Park. The Conservatory Garden, which reopened to the public in 1936, was chosen as the perfect site for the memorial. It is believed that the two figures, a reclining boy playing the flute and a young girl holding the bowl, represent Mary and Dickon, the main characters in The Secret Garden. The bowl is a functioning birdbath where small birds drink during three seasons of the year.The sculpture stands on the edge of a small concrete pool that features a variety of water lilies.

To read the Parks Department's historical sign, click here.

Location

• Conservatory Garden, south garden, 104th Street and Fifth Avenue.  Main entrance at 105th Street and Fifth Avenue

In the late 1970s, the sculpture was in need of extensive restoration. The boy's arm and flute, the girl's left arm, the bowl and the bird were missing. A majority of the restoration work was completed in 1980. In 1994 the Central Park Conservancy recast the two birds, repaired the sculpture, and repaired the plumbing for the birdbath.