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Origin and history

The Villemin Garden Fountain is a public iron cast iron fountain, made in a neo-baroque style. Originally set up on Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Martin in 1846, it was ordered by subscription from the inhabitants who wanted water points. This model, a precursor of Wallace fountains, is distinguished by its two tritons supporting a basin decorated with a child and dolphins, resting on a base with arms of Paris.

Sculpted by Marie Auguste Martin (or André Martin according to the sources) and melted at the smelters of Val d'Osne, this fountain was dismantled in 1876 during the redevelopment of the street. It was resettled in the 1970s in the garden of the former military hospital Villemin, which was established in the buildings of a Recollet convent. This garden became a public space in 1977, and the fountain, owned by the City of Paris, was listed as a historical monument in 1970.

This model was produced in series, with similar copies preserved in Orléans, Rio de Janeiro and Porto. The fountain of the Villemin Garden is the only vestige of the fifteen fountains originally erected in the Faubourg Saint-Martin under the prefecture of Rambuteau. Its iconography, mixing chimeric mascarons and marine motifs, reflects the eclectic aesthetic of the 19th century.

Mascarons, representing hybrid creatures between feline and plant, distribute water via a call button. An engraved turtle bears the signature of the sculptor and foundry. This detail, combined with the isolated island structure, makes it a rare testimony of the first cast iron fountains in Paris, marking a transition to modern urban facilities.

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