CARVED SANDSTONE FIGURE GROUP, BY SIR JOHN STEELL RSA (1804-1891)
PROVIDENCE WITH WIDOW AND CHILDREN, CIRCA 1832
Estimate: £1,500 - £2,500
Auction: Day 2 - Thurs 15th May from 10am | Lots 314 to 602
Description
modelled as the figure of Providence holding a large cornucopia issuing grain and fruit, flanked by the figures of a widow and children and a child holding a sheaf of wheat next to a founding stone with date MDCCCXV (Scottish Widows founded in 1815), together with two pediment corners, modelled as a plough surrounded with wheat and an anchor
IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR THIS LOT: This sculpture will be sold in situ and is not available to view at Lyon & Turnbull. Additional photographs and a condition report are available. Viewing can be arranged by appointment - please contact the department. The lot is currently situated approximately one hour's drive south east of Edinburgh. All removal costs will be the responsibility of the purchaser.
Dimensions
182cm high, 250cm wide
Provenance
Scottish Widows' Fund and Life Assurance Society, 5 St Andrew Square, Edinburgh from 1832
Removed to Scottish Widows' office, 141 Buchanan Street, Glasgow, circa 1860
Removed to 9 St Andrew Square, Edinburgh, circa 1970
The Late Donald Mackenzie and thence by descent
Sold in these rooms, Scottish Silver & Applied Arts, 16 August 2017, where purchased by the current owner's family
Footnote
John Steell (1804-1891) was born in Aberdeen in 1804, but moved to Edinburgh with his family in 1807. He entered into an apprenticeship with his father, who was a carver and gilder, and trained at the Trustees' School of Design. Just five years after going into partnership with his father in 1824 he resolved to become a sculptor and travelled to Rome. On his return in 1830, he was made a member of the Royal Scottish Academy. During the course of his career he became one of the most important and esteemed sculptors of nineteenth century Scotland, being made sculptor to the Queen in Scotland in 1838. He is known for several famous statues including the statue of Queen Victoria atop the RSA building on Princes Street, Edinburgh, the statue of Sir Walter Scott in the Scott Monument, also on Princes Street, and Edinburgh's Prince Albert Memorial monument in Charlotte Square, for which he received his knighthood in 1876.
In 1832 he was commissioned to design his first architectural piece, the current lot, which would adorn the entrance to the St Andrew Square, head office of the Scottish Widows' Fund and Life Assurance Society in Edinburgh. It was based on the decorative emblem that was used on the society's policy documents. The sculpture depicts Providence, who is the divine representation of the ability to make provision, with a cornucopia with fruit and vegetables spilling from it. To her left is a child holding a bulging sheaf of wheat. On the left of the sculpture sits a mourning widow, shawled and seated in a Madonna-like fashion, surrounded by her children who look up at her. On the right of the sculpture is a headstone, signifying the lost husband, with the date AD MDCCCXV (1815) inscribed on it, which was the year of the society's establishment.
In 1859 the society's offices were moved a few doors down and the sculpture was relocated to their Glasgow branch on Buchanan Street. From there it was removed some time before the building's demolition in the 1970s, at which point it was stored in the basement of the old Scottish Widows' building at 9 St Andrew Square. The sculpture was subsequently gifted to Donald Mackenzie who placed it in his garden, from whence it was sold by Lyon & Turnbull in 2017.