Statue of Charles II, Royal Hospital Chelsea Christopher Wren and construction continued from 1682 to 1691. The statue of Charles was commissioned by Tobias Rustat, a member of the king's court and was designed by Grinling Gibbons in about 1682. Gibbon's fee was £500. The statue originally stood elsewhere and was moved to the Royal Hospital after Charles's death in 1685. Annually, on 29 May, Oak Apple Day, the traditional day for the celebration of the Restoration in 1660, the statute is wreathed with oak leaves. The statue is of brass and was originally gilded in bronze. It has been re-gilded subsequently to commemorate the Golden Jubilee
Oak apple due to the superficial resemblance and the preponderance of the oak marble gall in the wild. Other galls found on oak trees include the oak artichoke gall and the acorn cup gall, but each of these has its own distinctive form. Some common oak-apple-forming species are the "Biorhiza pallida" gall wasp in Europe, "Amphibolips confluenta" in eastern North America, and "Atrusca bella" in western North America. Oak apples may be brownish, yellowish, greenish, pinkish, or reddish. Oak galls have been used in the production of ink since at least the time of the Roman Empire. From the Middle Ages to