This 'herm' pedestal, designed in the Grecian style and no doubt intended to support a poet's bust, is embellished with a poetic wreathed trophy comprising a laurel branch and quill-pen bound to a lyre

C. & R. Light published related designs for pedestals in 1881 (see: E. Toy, Pictorial Dictionary of British 19th Century Furniture Design, Woodbridge, 1977, p. 556)