Dolphin lamps

The dolphin lamp standards are a distinctive feature of London’s Thames Embankment, providing electric light along much of the riverside. Each lamp post is adorned with two stylized dolphins or sturgeons, which twist elegantly around the base, supporting a fluted column. At the top sits a globe of opaque white glass crowned with metal, casting a soft light. Many of these lamps are set on sturdy granite plinths.

The design of the lamp posts is credited to George John Vulliamy, while Charles Henry Driver, architect of the Victoria Embankment wall and river stairs, modelled them. Vulliamy took inspiration from the Fontana del Nettuno in Rome’s Piazza del Popolo, where intertwined fish sculptures add a dramatic touch to the fountain built in the early 1820s.

In the late 1860s, the London Metropolitan Board of Works, responsible for the city’s infrastructure, sought designs to light the newly built Thames embankments with electric lamps. Various designs were put forward, and several appeared in publications like *The Illustrated London News* and *The Builder* in March 1870. Vulliamy’s "dolphin" design was one of them, as was a playful design by Timothy Butler featuring children climbing around a cornucopia cast by the Coalbrookdale Company. Joseph Bazalgette, the Board’s chief engineer, submitted a more restrained classical design with lion’s feet inspired by ancient tripods, modelled by S. Burnett.

Vulliamy, who became the superintending architect to the Metropolitan Board of Works in 1861, also designed other elements for the embankment, including benches with cast iron ends shaped like sphinxes and camels, inspired by Cleopatra’s Needle.

Of the three lamp designs, Vulliamy’s dolphin lamps proved to be the most popular. Today, his design dominates both the Victoria and Albert Embankments. Bazalgette’s classical-style lamps were used along the Chelsea Embankment, while Butler’s cornucopia lamps were produced in small numbers, with just two remaining near the Chelsea Embankment.

Initially, the lamps were lit by electric Yablochkov candles, an early form of electric lighting. However, these proved inefficient and were replaced by gas lights by 1884. The lamps were eventually converted back to electric light in 1900. Many of the dolphin lamp posts are now Grade II listed, highlighting their historical and architectural significance.

In 1977, to mark Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee, more dolphin lamps were added along both the north and south banks of the Thames, continuing the tradition and charm of this iconic riverside lighting.