When planning a new work, the sculptor usually made preliminary drawings and then a model. The models sometimes formed part of his contract with the patron. They could be rough or detailed, large or small, and were made in clay, terracotta, wood and wax.

This is the first sketch model made by Stevens for the bronze group depicting Valour and Cowardice on the Duke of Wellington's funeral monument in St Paul's Cathedral. The monument itself was not completed until 1912, thirty-seven years after Stevens's death.

A sculptor, designer and painter, Alfred Stevens (1817/18-1875) rejected contemporary distinctions between fine art and design. From 1850 to 1857 he was chief designer to Hoole & Co., Sheffield, where he produced award-winning designs for metalwork, majolica, terracotta ornaments and chimney-pieces. Perhaps his two greatest works were the decorations for the dining-room at Dorchester House, London (about 1856), for which he made countless drawings inspired by the Italian High Renaissance style, in particular the work of Michelangelo and the monument to the Duke of Wellington for St Paul's Cathedral, London, which was completed after his death. The two allegorical groups from this monument made a lasting impact on the New Sculpture movement.
The influence of the Italian Renaissance is evident in much of Stevens's work, and is perhaps best reflected in the Wellington monument.