Lot Essay
William Calder Marshall, R. A. (1813-1894) was born in Edinburgh, studied first there, then from 1834 in London under Edward Hodges Baily (d. 1867) and Sir Francis Chantrey (d. 1841). After a short period in Rome he returned to London in 1839, where he became one of the leading Victorian sculptors in marble. Elected an Associate of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1842 and the Royal Academy in London in 1844, he became a full Academician of the latter in 1852 and was made a chevalier of the Légion d'Honneur in 1878.