An 11-foot statue located just north of Conservatory Water at East 74th Street, Alice in Wonderland is one of Central Park’s most beloved sculptures.

John B. Moore Alice in Wonderland in Central Park.

Commissioned in 1959 by philanthropist George Delacorte, the sculpture was constructed by José de Creeft. In honor of Delacorte’s late wife Margarita, the statue was also built so that children could visit and experience the wonder of Lewis Carroll’s classic story. Thus, atypical of most sculptures, children are invited to climb, touch and crawl all over Alice and her friends. In fact, through the decades thousands of hands and feet have literally polished parts of the statue’s patina surface smooth.

The design for the bronze sculpture was patterned off of the original illustrations of John Tenniel that were used in the first published edition of the book. The obvious centerpiece of the work, Alice, who depicts the face of Creeft’s daughter, Donna, is pictured sitting on a giant mushroom reaching toward a pocket watch held by the March Hare. Peering over her shoulder is the Cheshire Cat, surrounded by the Dormouse and the Mad Hatter -- a caricature of George Delacorte. Also part of this cast of characters is the White Rabbit.

Engraved into the sculpture, in a granite circle surrounding the work, is a line for Margarita Delacorte’s favorite poem, “The Jabberwocky,” also by Lewis Carroll: “'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe.”