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John Bell (1811-1895) 'Armed Science', a heroic female figure wearing a spiked antique helmet and demi-armour, with a short s

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Lot 896

John Bell (1811-1895) 'Armed Science', a heroic female figure wearing a spiked antique helmet and demi-armour, with a short sword at her side and holding a sponge or rammer for canonry, signed J BELL Sc, marble, 225cm high; on a plinth base, 84cm 225cm (88in) Provenance: Provenance: Commissioned in 1853 by Robert Adair, Lord Waveney, for his home Flixton Hall in Suffolk, a copy of his commission for the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich. John Bell (1811-1895) was a British sculptor. He was born at Hopton Hall, Suffolk before moving to London aged 16 to study drawing, and eventually sculpture, at the Royal Academy. He was a sculptor of considerable success during his lifetime. He first exhibited at the Royal Academy aged 21 and continued to do so for 47 years. He exhibited at the Great Exhibition of 1851 including his cast iron model of the Eagle-Slayer, (now at the V&A Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green). Queen Victoria bought his work, Andromeda, from the Great Exhibition which is now set in the fountain gardens of Osborne House, Isle of Wight. Arguably his most famous sculpture is the marble group representing "America" on the Albert Memorial in London. Stylistically, Bell's influences were deeply rooted in England. He lived at a time when, following the French Revolution and Napoleonic wars, there was little contact with Paris and Rome. His chief influence was the sculptor Francis Chantry who had never crossed the English Channel. Bell also wrote that he was inspired by John Flaxman, friend of William Blake, and his sketches and drawings reflect this influence in their style. Bell lived and worked at a time of great tension and debate between the advocates of classicism and the new Gothic revival lead by artists such as Pugin. The Gothic revival was not so accommodating for a sculptor, but Bell found he could use the industrial revolution to his advantage, creating some of the first ever sculpture to be cast in iron and by designing for the Coalbrookdale Company, including the Deerhound Hall Table. In 1855, Bell exhibited the statue, Armed Science. The subject was conceived and commissioned by Robert Adair, Lord Waveney, who served with the Suffolk Regiment during the Crimea and wished to commemorate his education at the Royal Artillery Barracks at Woolwich. The statue was placed in the Officers' Mess Hall, but has since been moved to Larkhill, Wiltshire. The female figure, clad in armour, holds a sponge or rammer for canonry. Waveney was so pleased with Bell's interpretation of his statue that he commissioned further copies to be made, including one for his estate in Ballymena, County Antrim and this statue for the gardens of his house, Flixton Hall in Suffolk. general weathered condition; see photos for more details of localised bruises and losses

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