Template:Did you know nominations/Fiona Peever


 * The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as |this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by Yoninah (talk) 13:03, 31 March 2019 (UTC)

Fiona Peever

 * ... that sculptors Siobhan Coppinger and Fiona Peever created a sculpture of Thomas Attwood, who apparently "left his plinth" and sat on the steps in Chamberlain Square, Birmingham, England? Source: Statues hither and thither, Thomas Attwood
 * Reviewed: Jörg Streli
 * Comment: (1) I am away from my PC, 8–-10 March, but will respond to questions on my return. (Update: I'm back!) (2) This biography was written in response to the Women in Red movement, however Fiona Peever works in collaboration with her husband at Lettering and Sculpture Limited - they work so much in collaboration that I cannot find any independent works by her (they probably exist but are not differentiated from collaborative works). Thus I had to create her biography plus a separate article about Lettering and Sculpture Limited, such that the two articles are really interdependent. In all fairness we really need an article about her partner Alec Peever as well, but I am leaving it up to others to do that. An alternative approach would have been to write a single article about the two sculptors and the studio, but that would deny Fiona the chance of being considered as an individual artist in her own right. Please excuse the long explanation, but it has been a difficult process to get this right. (3) Might the hook be considered for 1 April? I have not included an image because the hook seems more mysterious without it.

Created by Storye book (talk). Self-nominated at 19:07, 7 March 2019 (UTC).


 * I think if you want it on April Fools Day, you'll need a much more fool-ish hook. The current one just doesn't fit the brief.  The C of E God Save the Queen!  ( talk ) 15:54, 26 March 2019 (UTC)


 * ALT1 ... that sculptor Fiona Peever statue left his plinth and sat on the steps? Storye book (talk) 17:07, 26 March 2019 (UTC)


 * Symbol confirmed.svg Ineresting story on plenty of good sources, offline sources accepted AGF, no copyvio obvious. I don't care too much about the April Foll mystery, and think ALT1 misses half of the creators ;) - In the original hook, I don't think we need "sculptors". Is it just me who never heard the word "plinth" (but pedestal)? - In the article: can we speak about the sculpture in the lead in the present tense when it's no longer in position? - The genealogy is long, - too long? - I'd drop "notable" before works. We wouldn't mention them if not notable, right? - Thank you for the review of Jörg Streli whose chapel is pictured on the German Main page today, on his birthday. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 22:33, 26 March 2019 (UTC)

I agree with that the original hook isn't April fool's enough. Suggested alt:

ALT2: ... that a bronze statue by Fiona Peever and a colleague left its pedestal and sat down before disappearing, with only the pedestal now remaining? Gatoclass (talk) 01:58, 27 March 2019 (UTC).


 * The idea is cute, but I guess even on 1 April we'd get into trouble with ERRORS, because the statue never was on the pedestal. Try harder or leave it? --Gerda Arendt (talk) 08:43, 27 March 2019 (UTC)
 * I think we're entitled to a little poetic licence on April fool's, but in the unlikely event it got challenged at ERRORS, you'd only need to add "appears to have" to address that. Gatoclass (talk) 10:08, 27 March 2019 (UTC).
 * Symbol confirmed.svg approving poetic license ;) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 10:12, 27 March 2019 (UTC)
 * ps: I see a slight ambiguity if the statue and the colleague left, but that could be part of the license. Language question: is it a statue (vs. sculpture) if it doesn't stand but sits, reads and leaves? --Gerda Arendt (talk) 10:14, 27 March 2019 (UTC)


 * (Edit conflict: I had written the following before Gatoclass and Gerda replied). Storye book (talk) 10:27, 27 March 2019 (UTC)
 * ALT3: ... that a bronze statue co-created by Fiona Peever apparently stepped off its pedestal and sat down before disappearing, leaving only the pedestal behind?


 * Re ALT2 and ALT3. I like ALT2. In reality the statue was created to look as if it had done that, so adding apparently would make the hook correct. The misleading part, then, would be that "apparently" could mean "by all accounts" which makes it sound real, but it could also mean "seemingly" which better describes the reality of the artwork. Re the present tense in the header: the sculpture has been removed temporarily during building work, to protect it from damage. The council plans to replace it, so it still exists. The past tense would give the impression that it had been destroyed. The genealogy is almost the only truly personal public domain information that we have about Fiona as an individual. I always check the background of talented or high-achieving people, so see whether there is any indication of nature/nurture influence. It is a question we all ask, one way or another. In Fiona's case there is a family history of hard-working people, lacking benefit of higher education in a poor area of London - then after the family is joined by a successful accountant from outside the area, they are able to move to Richmond - a place of more comfortable living and better education then and now. Whether that gave her a better chance of education in one of the best art colleges in the UK (City & Guilds) we don't know. But British people understand the meaning of a move from blue-collar work to white-collar work, and a move from London's east end to Richmond. All we can do is give the basic facts, and to remove those facts would make the article poorer, I believe. Re the subheading "Notable works": I have removed "notable." Storye book (talk) 10:27, 27 March 2019 (UTC)


 * A statue represents a person or animal. A sculpture could represent anything animate or inanimate. So if you say "statue" it's most likely to represent a person. A plinth is a heavy base for a statue, or a square base for a column in architecture. A pedestal is a base for a sculpture, but "being put on a pedestal" can mean being admired by other people. There is a subtext in this artwork, in which the politician Attwood has become tired of being admired, and wants to get on with his good work instead, so he gets off his pedestal and sits down to read his notes. That is one of the ways in which the sculpture might be understood. I agree about the unnecessary ambiguity of ALT3, so I have inserted commas to correct that. Storye book (talk) 10:37, 27 March 2019 (UTC)


 * Symbol confirmed.svg ALT3, and prefer that! Thanks for explaining! --Gerda Arendt (talk) 08:57, 28 March 2019 (UTC)


 * Thank you Gerda and Gatoclass for sorting this one out! Storye book (talk) 09:46, 28 March 2019 (UTC)