4 NOVEMBER 2000, Page 43

Statue in the park

From C.L. Kauffman Sir: Having been away during August and September, it is only now that I am catching up with past issues of The Spectator.

There is, in the 12 August issue, a letter from Mrs Caroline Kirk in which she casts doubt on the existence in Hiroshima's Peace Park of a statue similar to the one she saw at Coventry Cathedral. The statue does exist and is a twin casting of the one in Coventry; it was indeed commissioned by Richard Branson and is placed in a specially designed glass building in the park. It is the work of my cousin Josefina de Vasconcellos — 96 this week, and still working at her studio in the Lake District — and is called 'Reconcili- ation'. It was unveiled on 12 July 1995 in the presence of the mayor and mayoress of Coventry, as well as representatives of Coventry Cathedral. There is a photograph of the unveiling ceremony on page 104 of Linda Clifford's recently published book, Sculptor — Josefina de Vasconcellos.

C. L . Kauffman

Guildford, Surrey