This plaster panel is by Alfred Stevens (1818-1875). In the centre of the concave panel is Pluto in his chariot, of which the upper part is seen together with the horses' heads on the right. He grasps by the waist Proserpine who stretches her arms towards one of her maidens on the left; the latter looks back at her mistress while bending down to pluck a poppy. The upper edge of the panel is slightly raised towards the centre.

It is almost certainly a model for the Rape of Proserpine fireback for the 'Dog grate' designed by Stephens for Messrs Henry E. Hoole & Co Ltd of Sheffield in 1855.

Armstrong recorded that 'In his designs for fire-grates Stevens so happily combined bronzes, brass and steel that he gave those articles a place among the finest of modern decorative works...The whole of the work which he did for his Sheffield employers displays to perfection that union of grave with power, of beauty of line with depth and coherence of expression which should be the highest aim of the designer' [Armstrong, W., p. 12].

A sculptor, designer and painter, Alfred Stevens (1817 - 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.