Nose for Sale - Is it a Rick Buckley?

Paul Smith's antique shop in Albemarle Street currently have this handsome nose for sale.

 

The price tag is £550 and guesses at a 1960's US origin for the unsigned piece.

To my eye the piece is not stone but resin and seems remarkably like two of the famous Seven Noses of Soho (these were produced, in several sizes and in resin by Rick Buckley before being attached to buildings around Soho in the 1990's, see previous posts for more on them). The tentative attribution to a US artist is based on the fact that a Paul Smith buyer found this nose in Miami.

Now as someone who has devoted a lot of time to researching the noses and even leads guided tours around them, I would bet money this nose is a Rick Buckley ... but I have no proof. Can anyone help? Does anyone know if Rick Buckley produced free-standing noses for sale in addition to his building enhancements? Do you perhaps own a similar nose? Please drop me a line if you can shed any light on any of this.

The author of this blog is a qualified City of Westminster Tour Guide who runs unique walking tours throughout Westminster, including The Seven Noses of Soho, see tabs for details.

Senior Whitehall Source Reveals New Nose in Soho!

I was contacted this week by a Senior Whitehall civil servant regarding a new nose in Soho! Seriously I was, I am not making this one up!

For those of you who do not already know about the legend of Seven Noses of Soho please see this link to an earlier post Seven Noses of Soho Discovered . For those of you who are already afficianados, I present to you "The Roman Nose"

My Senior Civil Service source, who I shall refer to as Tony, leaked the information to me by email on Monday. His cryptic Latin clue took some unravelling but after a long slog through Soho I was thrilled to spot it myself. Naturally this new discovery has been incorporated in all my future "Seven Noses of Soho" walking tours.

So now there are confirmed sightings of eight noses but two of them lie just outside Soho. Is it possible that a ninth still remains within Soho's boundaries? If that were true then there really would be Seven Soho Noses. Any sightings or alternate theories gratefully received.

The Seven Noses of Soho Discovered

After many hours of tramping around Soho and the surrounding area, I have finally managed to locate all the "Seven Noses of Soho".

The Seven Noses of Soho and an Imposter

This could be a life-changing event for me, as the legend has it that anyone able to see all seven will "attain infinite wealth". Obsessive checking of my bank balance suggests that whilst the legend may be true, the effect is certainly not instantaneous.

Until this year I had never heard of the Seven Noses of Soho. As I discovered more of them, spoke to other observers, followed tip-offs and read more about them I became mildly obsessed with seeing them all and separating fact from fiction..

It all started in 1996, when a sculptor, Rick Buckley decorated several London buildings, mostly in Soho, with casts of his nose.The noses are still there, they have their own Facebook group, a film-maker made a short documentary about them and an awful lot of misleading information about them can be found on the net!

Locating all of them has taken quite some time. In addition to the Seven Noses, there is also an eighth nose-like object "The False Nose" and strong rumours of a mysterious ninth, "The Ghost Nose".

If you would like to see them all yourself and learn more about this intriguing bit of London folklore, I offer walking tours and can help you find them too. Please see the "Seven Noses of Soho Walking Tour" tab above for full details.

The Floral Street Ear. It's Different, but it's not a Nose.

Pleased to get this snap of the famous Floral Street Ear on a sunny day. I am still searching for all the (unrelated) Seven Noses of Soho. I won't blog about them (or stop looking) until I find them, it might be bad luck, after all infinite wealth is at stake.

The Floral Street Ear

The Floral Street Ear

The artist is Tim Fishlock, who apparently put similar ears all over London about a decade ago. I would be interested to hear of any other sightings.