DESIGNED BY JOHN BELL, MADE BY STUART AND SMITH OF SHEFFIELD FOR THE GREAT EXHIBITION, CIRCA 1851

John Bell 1811-1895, a prolific and famous Victorian sculptor was closely associated with Felix Summerly's Art Manufactures, founded by Henry Cole in 1847 to promote higher standards in the decorative arts. Bell's novel designs for the Great Exhibition of 1851 included an Hours clock; a matchbox in the form of a crusaders altar tomb; a chess set for Minton; the 'Victoria Regia Cot' executed in papier-mache; and a Cerberus doorstopper, manufactured by Stuart and Smith of Sheffield.