The Falconer (Simonds)

The bronze statue of The Falconer has stood on this natural rock outcropping since eighteen seventy-five, though it was never part of the original design for the park. It depicts a man in Elizabethan clothing, captured in the precise moment he prepares to launch his hunting bird into the air. The sculptor, George Blackall Simonds, was himself a dedicated practitioner of falconry and ensured the anatomical details of both the man and the bird reflected his personal expertise. An Irish-American businessman named George Kemp commissioned this specific casting after seeing the original while traveling in Europe, intending it to serve as a graceful addition to the landscape of the city.