Vita's "grey leaden statue of a Vestal Virgin", shown in the photograph above, was cast in 1935 from a walnut statue by the Yugoslavian sculptor, Thomas Rosandic, which is in Sissinghurst's long library. Like the tree that sheltered her, the lead Virgin was originally placed in another part of the garden, and only found her final location when the White Garden was created. She is the White Garden's principal ornament; her only competitor being a large gray Chinese Jar.
The Chinese jar, shown in the photograph above, was bought by Harold in Egypt, and probably dates from the seventeenth century. Similar jars were used to protect Chinese exports such as oil and ginger while they were being transported on trading ships. The jar has been at the crossing of the garden's two main walks since it was placed there in 1937. It was originally shaded by almond trees, into which climbing roses were trained. The roses were so vigorous that they probably hastened the death of the trees, and when the last almond trees were removed in 1970, a wrought iron arbor was erected over the jar. The shape of the arbor, which was designed by Nigel Nicolson, perfectly echoes the Perpendicular Gothic arches of Sissinghurst's entry gate and tower. It was never painted, because it was decided that the climbing roses would make repainting too difficult, so its rusty color is intentional. The original plan was to train two of the established climbing roses over it, but once the almonds were removed, the roses grew so exuberantly that they threatened to swamp the arbor with their foliage. The smaller of the climbing roses was removed and the survivor, Rosa mulliganii, is carefully trained over the arbor so that the elegant shape of the arches are not softened too much.
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