George John Vulliamy, the superintending architect of the Metropolitan Board of Water, created these electric lamps that stretch along the Thames in 1870. Although they are referred to as dolphins – possibly because they are supposed to be modelled on dolphin sculptures that are part of the Fontana del Nettuno in Rome – they are actually sturgeons.
They were put in place by the London Metropolitan Board of Water who decided they wanted electric lights to light the way long the newly created embankments of the Thames. There were several different designs submitted but these proved the most popular.
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