SIR ALFRED GILBERT, M.V.O, R.A. (1854-1934): VICTORY

SIR ALFRED GILBERT, M.V.O, R.A. (1854-1934): VICTORY a dark patinated bronze figure, English, 1890s, the winged figure balanced on one foot on a globe set on a short turned socle, mounted on a stepped conical green marble base, bronze 16.5cm high, marble 8cm high Provenance: given by Alfred Gilbert to James Howard Ince (1857-1920); thence by family descent. The architect and painter, Howard Ince, designed Gilbert’s combined house / studio at 16 Maida Vale, built in 1893. For Ince’s watercolour of the house from the courtyard, see RIBA No. PB289/14(3). ‘Victory’ derives from the figure on the orb in Queen Victoria's hand on Gilbert's monumental Winchester Jubilee Memorial of 1887. Although now best known for 'Eros' (or more correctly Anteros) in Piccadilly Circus, this Victory figure became a sort of emblem for Gilbert. Cast for the artist in a variety of sizes and with varying attributes and bases of a mixture of hardstones and bronze, the figure was often given as a gift by Gilbert to his friends, including John Singer Sargent and Henry Irving; for the latter, see the figure held by the Victoria and Albert Museum, No.1050-1905.