AN ENGLISH WHITE MARBLE PORTRAIT BUST OF QUEEN VICTORIA, by Matthew Noble, the youthful monarch shown crowned and turned slightly to the left, wearing a cloak over her embroidered bodice and pearl pendants at her ears, on waisted circular socle, signed and dated M. NOBLE. SC. 1856 and inscribed VICTORIA (fleur-de-lys and Maltese Cross ornamentation lacking from crown), mid 19th Century

Matthew Noble (1817-1876) was born in Yorkshire, but studied sculpture under John Francis in London. He exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1845 to 1876, and came to prominence in particular with his Wellington Monument for Manchester of 1856. The present bust of Queen Victoria is one of Noble's most celebrated works. The original was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1854 and is in the Royal Collection at Buckingham Palace. A second version is in the Great Hall in Manchester Town Hall, the present appears to be an unrecorded third, reputedly exhibited in the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool. The popular model was also produced in Parian by Copeland.