Alfred Gilbert

Samuel Solomon Joseph, acquired from the artist on 15 July 1892;

By descent to his daughter, 1898;

Thence by descent until 2005;

Sotheby's, London, 13 November 2007, lot 168;

Where acquired by the present owner.

Alfred Gilbert conceived his figure of Victory in 1887 to surmount the orb held by the monarch in his Jubilee Memorial to Queen Victoria, Winchester. This was one of Gilberts most famous works, called "a masterpiece among masterpieces" in 1901 by Spielman, who singled out the "exquisite Victory" for especial praise. The Victory, edited as an independent work of art in bronze and silver and in various sizes, became one of Gilbert's best-known works, an emblem of his oeuvre. It was also a personal favourite, his gift of choice for friends such as the painter John Singer Sargeant.

It was also, of course, available for purchase. This particular figure was bought by Samuel Joseph, as recorded in his stock book: "1892 July 15th Alf. Gilbert R. A. Silver statuette "Victory" £100". Gilbert did envisage the Victory on a monumental scale at over four metres high, for the Boer War Memorial at Leicester, however, although a plaster model was made, the commission was never completed.

Gilbert's virtuoso skill as a bronze founder and goldsmith earned him the title of "the Benvenuto Cellini of this age" from Frederick, Lord Leighton, president of the Royal Academy. He also produced jewellery and his small statuettes often have a jewel-like quality emphasised by the use of precious materials such as the silver of the present figure. His reputation in his own time was such that Spielman quoted a fellow sculptor as saying: "I never see a work of Gilbert's but I feel I must take off my hat to it."

RELATED LITERATURE

M. H. Spielmann, Alfred Gilbert: His Life and Work, London, 1901, pp. 75–85; R. Dorment (ed.), Alfred Gilbert: Sculptor and Goldsmith, exh. cat., Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1986, nos. 33–34, pp. 128–129; R. Dorment, Alfred Gilbert, New Haven, Yale University Press (for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art), 1985, p. 78