Lot 205: Thomas Thornycroft (English, 1815-1885)A bronze equestrian portrait of Queen Victoria Fine English Furniture, Sculpture & Works of Art

the young queen riding side saddle on an Arab stallion, dark brown patination, raised on a naturalistic base, the base signed T. Thornycroft, Fecit, London 1853 andART UNION.of.LONDON 1854, 67cm wide, 15.5cm deep, 55cm high (26in wide, 6in deep, 21 1/2in high)

55cm high

This bronze was cast by the Art Union of London as part of an edition of fifty that were to be distributed as prizes between 1854 and 1859. The composition is derived from a life-size equestrian portrait of Queen Victoria that the sculptor made for the Great Exhibition of 1851. The full size statue was placed in the entrance hall to the Crystal Palace, which must have made a very impressive sight and surely demonstrated the great esteem the royal couple held Thornycroft and his work in. The pose of the full size statue was derived from an engraving that appeared in the Illustrated London News of 2nd July 1853, which showed Queen Victoria reviewing the troops at Chobham. It was produced with the approval of Queen Victoria, who arranged for her horse to be sent to the sculptor's studio several times during the process.The sculptor also produced a large bronze equestrian statue of similar form as a pendant piece for that of Prince Albert erected at St George's Plateau in Liverpool (where it remains today). Thornycroft is perhaps most famous for his large bronze group of Boadicea and her daughters on the Victoria Embankment by Westminster Bridge, and also produced the allegorical female figure of Commerce for the Albert Memorial. His son was Hamo Thornycroft.