
Tembo, Mother of Elephants - Toronto, Ontario
Posted by:
ras258
N 43° 38.876 W 079° 22.720
17T E 630755 N 4834047
A massive mother elephant being followed by her two babies, in Commerce Court Courtyard, Toronto.
Waymark Code: WMCD07
Location: Ontario, Canada
Date Posted: 08/23/2011
Views: 11
I ran into this fabulous sculpture today when I was downtown exploring. The last thing I was expecting to see when I was in the middle of downtown Toronto was an elephant family. These elephants are located in the Commerce Court Courtyard on the south side of King Street West.
The statue consists of three elephants, the mother and the two babies. The mother is on one platform and the two babies are behind her on a second and separate platform.
The plaque says these elephants are on loan from the L.L. Odette Fountadion, located in Windsor, Ontario. They have a site for this sculpture -
"Tembo
Derrick Stephan Hudson
Bronze, three pieces: mother elephant 9'1" high by 16' long and two babies 2 '3" high by 4' wide.
Tembo, a family of elephants, has been christened with the Swahili word for African elephant. The three elephants, cast at MST Bronze in Toronto, reflect the strength and loyalty of a mother for her children. The massive mother elephant stands solidly guarding her youngsters, providing protection and care. Weighing almost as much as 80 people or six automobiles, this enormous mother elephant is one of the largest bronze elephants in the world. The triangular shaped ears, sometimes said to resemble the continent of Africa, help to distinguish the subject as an African elephant. In reality, however, the ears of an elephant are like fingerprints - they are different each time and can even be used by scientists for identification."
L.L. Odette Fountation site: (
visit link)