The figure depicts Ariel from Shakespeare's The Tempest.

Henry Hugh Armstead R.A. (1828-1905). He studied at the R.A. under Bailey, Leigh and Carey, and exhibited there from 1851 until his death. He was an extremely versatile artist having worked successfully as a designer, silversmith, engraver and wood carver, as well as being an accomplished sculptor in bronze and marble. Many of his sculptures were reproduced by the Art Union of London. Much of his work was architectural, but his many commissions included allegorical groups for the Albert Hall, figures of David, Moses and St Paul in Westminster Abbey and the statue of Henry VI for the fountain at Cambridge.