A monumental Scottish Georgian grey painted Royal Coat of Arms
Sir John Steell RSA, Edinburgh
first half 19th century
Signed J Steell / Edn.
height 59in (150cm); width 93in (236cm); depth 21in (53cm)Provenance: Property from a Collector, New York City.Footnote: Sir John Robert Steell RSA (18 September 1804 - 15 September 1891) was one of thirteen children born to John Steell senior (1779-1849), a carver and guilder, and Margaret Gourlay. Steell initially followed his father, training to be a carver himself, being apprenticed in 1818.
Working with his father, his first major commission came in 1827 when the North British Fire Insurance Company commissioned a huge timber statue of St Andrew to be placed on the outside of their office. His first work to attract international attention was Alexander taming Bucephalus carved in 1832-33 (cast in bronze in 1883, and now standing in the quadrangle of Edinburgh City Chambers). Around 1838 he was appointed as Sculptor to Her Majesty the Queen, a post which was later recognized as part of the Royal Household in Scotland. In 1840 he opened Scotlands first foundry dedicated to sculpture, on Grove Street in Edinburgh, to cast his model of the Duke of Wellington. Steell frequently exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy and the Royal Academy in London. He was knighted by Queen Victoria in 1876 following the unveiling of his statue The Prince Consort, an equestrian depiction of Prince Albert, which stands in the center of Charlotte Square in Edinburgh.
Steells best known pieces include the statue of Sir Walter Scott sitting with his dog Maida under the Scott Monument, carved 1840-46 from a single 30 ton block of Carrara marble; a stone statue of Queen Victoria on top of the Royal Scottish Academy, 1844 and a bronze equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington outside Register House in Edinburgh, 1852. Steel also produced several likenesses of Robert Burns, national poet of Scotland among many other works.

Signed to banner under unicorn. Worn condition overall. General marks, nicks, scratches, cracking, rubbing and losses, some elements retained. Re-decorated. Formerly polychrome painted Losses to painted decoration revealing old paint, white gesso and bare wood. Losses to elements overall, particularly lower portion including banner. Unicorn with losses to mane and horn loose. Would benefit from overall restoration.