Regarding the "Shoveler" in the Collinwood Foyer

[Bob_the_Bartender]

Hey, gang,

Excuse me if this has been brought up before, but does anyone know if there is any significance (or backstory) to that statue of the man with the shovel in his hands in the Collinwood foyer?

 I think that we got to see that man, sans the shirt, on the top of the table in the foyer for the entire run of the series.  Do you think that Mrs. Stoddard or Roger purchased the statue at some tony gallery in Boston or, possibly, in town at a local yard sale over at the Eagle Hill Cemetery caretaker's cottage?

And, just what is that enigmatic man shoveling (dirt, coal, or something "else," usually found in great "quantity" in rural areas)?

Perhaps that mesomorphic man is just as ubiquitous as that Count Petofi Hand-in-the-Box or that portrait of that 19th century man with the handlebar moustache were on "Dark Shadows"?  

Bob

[Brandon Collins]

Interesting topic, Bob.

I never really paid much attention to the statue, I guess because I was so used to it always being a background player that I completely ignored it. Did we ever see the statue in another place throughout the series of the show? For some reason I don't think we did, even if the statue wasn't on the table for some reason or another. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm mistaken.

[KMR]

I never, ever, gave any thought to that statue over the last 44+ years!  (I didn't start watching until 1967, the ending of the Laura storyline--wow, what an into to the series THAT was!)

Just a week or so ago I started watching from the beginning, to catch what I missed originally (and then re-watch everything else!). Now that darn statue takes my attention whenever it's on screen, which is quite often.  Now I'm going to be examining it constantly, trying to figure it out...

[Bob_the_Bartender]

Maybe that statue of that solitary shoveler was the Collins family's way of paying "tribute" to all of those gravediggers, who, for over the centuries, had toiled anonymously, digging SO many graves for the Collinses (either overtly or, more likely, secretly)?    

[Midnite]

Good one, Bob!

During the Q&A with Sy Tomashoff at last year's Burbank Fest, a fan inquired about this statue on the foyer table, but Sy didn't recall what figure had been placed there.  He promised to look at photos of it and have the answer at the next Fest, which garnered much applause.  Unfortunately, he's not [yet] confirmed as a guest in NY, but someone might want to get a photo of it to him (not hard to figure out how) either way.

[Gothick]

Isn't there a scene in the 1991 series early on where Liz comes to the Old House and brings some kind of statue, maybe an Art Nouveau dancing lady, to Barn as a present, saying she found it in the attic and thought the statue belonged in the OH?

I always thought that statue was a prop that somebody had turned up from one of the original sets... probably just me hallucinating again.

G.

[Brandon Collins]

The Collins family ought to pay tribute to gravediggers in some way because of all the work they did for them over the years. Most of the time, though, it seems like a servant of the family or a member of the family themselves was burying the people who died or were killed. And several times it was Angelique!

Maybe that's why she keeps coming back, because the gravedigger statue is calling to her!

[Bob_the_Bartender]

The Collins family ought to pay tribute to gravediggers in some way because of all the work they did for them over the years. Most of the time, though, it seems like a servant of the family or a member of the family themselves was burying the people who died or were killed. And several times it was Angelique!

Maybe that's why she keeps coming back, because the gravedigger statue is calling to her!

Maybe the Collinses maintained a map over the centuries, detailing just where everyone was "planted" in the grounds surrounding the great house of Collinwood?

Heck, can you imagine the many "problems" the various tradesmen would encounter (or uncover) over the years, as they tried to install water lines, sewers, gas lines, etc., to-and-from Collinwood, Matthew Morgan's cottage, the carriage house and the House-by-the Sea?  Oy vey!!!    

[DarkLady]

That would have been a great idea for a sequel! 

[loril54]

Maybe the Collinses maintained a map over the centuries, detailing just where everyone was "planted" in the grounds surrounding the great house of Collinwood?

Heck, can you imagine the many "problems" the various tradesmen would encounter (or uncover) over the years, as they tried to install water lines, sewers, gas lines, etc., to-and-from Collinwood, Matthew Morgan's cottage, the carriage house and the House-by-the Sea?  Oy vey!!!    

LOL