Sir John Steell RSA (Scottish, 1804-1891)?
Marble portrait bust of a Woman, on circular socle
signed on reverse socle: J STEEL RSA Sculp Edin 1861?
Condition report: chips and losses to nose and right cheek, chips to décolletage, weathered?
NOTE; John Steell was born in Aberdeen but raised in Edinburgh. He was the son of the woodcarver and gilder, John Steell, and the elder brother of the animal painter, Gourlay Steel.? John was apprenticed to his father as a woodcarver and also studied at the Trustees School of Design. In 1829 he spent several months studying in Rome.
In the 1820s Steell was elected an associate of the Royal Institution for the Encouragement of the Fine Arts in Scotland and became a member of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1829. In 1838 the honorary position of sculptor-in-ordinary to HM Queen Victoria for Scotland was created for him.? ?He was knighted for his services to Scottish art in 1876.? His notable subjects were HM Queen Victoria, HRH Prince Albert, Florence Nightingale, Walter Scott, Scottish and other aristocracy, public figures.