Lot Essay
John Bell's (d.1895) model of The Eagle Slayer was conceived in 1837 and exhibited in plaster at the Royal Academy in the same year. The sculpture next appeared, again in plaster, as No. 106 in the exhibition held by the Royal Fine Arts Commission in 1844. At this point Bell had already been commissioned by the Earl Fitzwilliam to executed a life-size version of the model in marble for Wentworth Woodhouse (Sold in these Rooms, 15 July 1986, lot 95). The bronze version of 'The Eagle Slayer' was one of the first bronze reductions to be offered by the Art Union in 1845. It was so popular that a full-size figure was shown at the Great Exhibition of 1844 and again in 1851, consequently it was repeatedly re-published throughout the latter half of the century.