Lot Essay
John Bell (1812-1895) was born in Suffolk and trained at the Royal Academy Schools. Bell exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1832 to 1877. His early work was received with great acclaim, and he consequently received several important commissions.
The theme of the enslaved maiden was a popular one during the middle of the 19th century. At the Great Exhibition of 1851 both Hiram Powers and Bell had exhibited sculptures on this theme; Hiram Powers his marble The Greek Salve and Bell his bronze Andromeda. Both sculptures were much praised, Bell's was described as: "very elegantly conceived, and has a charming simplicity of treatment."; it was subsequently bought by the Queen.
More than a decade later, Bell returned to the same idea and created The Octoroon in marble. It was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1868, number 932. The marble is now in Blackburn Town Hall, but the popular model was also produced in Parian. Bell modified the Andromeda in several ways; the maiden still stands naked with her head downturned, but depends less heavily on the Antique and reveals a more contemporary taste. The young slave girl is rendered more graceful and enlivened by small realistic touches. The long hair adds further texture to the figure and also allows one hand to move forward; the addition of the draped, be-flowered column and the movement of one leg forward and across are all features which create a more interesting and varied composition, while maintaining a linear elegance.
Bell had used the Coalbrookdale Company to cast his works in the past. Coalbrookdale had cast decorative elements for Bell, but above all they cast in bronze both the above mentioned Andromeda and his renowned Eagleslayer. Their cast of Andromeda was thus praised at the exhibition: "excellently rendered by the COALBROOK DALE COMPANY, .... As an example of casting, it may take rank with the best specimens in the exhibition.' Qualities which Coalbrookdale also rendered in the present cast, which is a fine and large bronze of an alluring and delicate image, and an interesting new addition to Bell's bronze works.
The theme of the enslaved maiden was a popular one during the middle of the 19th century. At the Great Exhibition of 1851 both Hiram Powers and Bell had exhibited sculptures on this theme; Hiram Powers his marble The Greek Salve and Bell his bronze Andromeda. Both sculptures were much praised, Bell's was described as: "very elegantly conceived, and has a charming simplicity of treatment."; it was subsequently bought by the Queen.
More than a decade later, Bell returned to the same idea and created The Octoroon in marble. It was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1868, number 932. The marble is now in Blackburn Town Hall, but the popular model was also produced in Parian. Bell modified the Andromeda in several ways; the maiden still stands naked with her head downturned, but depends less heavily on the Antique and reveals a more contemporary taste. The young slave girl is rendered more graceful and enlivened by small realistic touches. The long hair adds further texture to the figure and also allows one hand to move forward; the addition of the draped, be-flowered column and the movement of one leg forward and across are all features which create a more interesting and varied composition, while maintaining a linear elegance.
Bell had used the Coalbrookdale Company to cast his works in the past. Coalbrookdale had cast decorative elements for Bell, but above all they cast in bronze both the above mentioned Andromeda and his renowned Eagleslayer. Their cast of Andromeda was thus praised at the exhibition: "excellently rendered by the COALBROOK DALE COMPANY, .... As an example of casting, it may take rank with the best specimens in the exhibition.' Qualities which Coalbrookdale also rendered in the present cast, which is a fine and large bronze of an alluring and delicate image, and an interesting new addition to Bell's bronze works.