Dagger-sheath, cast in plaster, from a sketch designed by Alfred Stevens for Wostenholm & Son Ltd, English, ca. 1850

A seated female figure; below, a band of foliage.

Purchased from Mrs. Townroe, 48 Gertrude Street, London, together with a range of other objects by Stevens, for £25. Transferred to the Tate Gallery in 1952; returned to the V&A in 1975.

Mrs Townroe was the widow of Reuben Townroe, a pupil of Stevens, who was also involved in a number of projects connected with the decoration of the Museum. According to Towndrow [sic! different spelling] (see: Towndrow, K. R. 1939, p. 99) whilst Stevens was at Sheffield working for Messrs. Hoole & Co Ltd as Chief Designer between 1850 and 1857, he 'invited Reuben a promising art student, to learn the craft under his own instruction at the Green Lane Works. The boy was with Stevens most of the Sheffield period and gained a faculty in modelling and an unusual insight into the decorative use of metals'. A collection of 274 studies and sketches of Stevens was also acquired from Mrs Townroe in 1911, and are held in the Department of Prints, Drawings and Paintings. They include studies of many of Steven's best-known works also represented by sketch-models, including those for St. Paul's Cathedral, the Wellington Monument and the memorial to the 1851 exhibition.

This is a cast from a sketch for the central section of a dagger-sheath produced by Stevens for the Sheffield cutlers George Wostenholm & Son Ltd for the 1851 International Exhibition.

This is a cast from a sketch for the central section of a dagger-sheath produced by Stevens for the Sheffield cutlers George Wostenholm & Son Ltd for the 1851 International Exhibition.
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 Steven's work, and is perhaps best reflected in the Wellington monument.

A.89-1911