{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O115956"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O115956/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AX6932/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AX6932/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AX6932","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AX6988","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AX6883","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AX6866","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AX6858","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O115956/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O115956","accessionNumber":"A.75-1970","objectType":"Statuette","titles":[{"title":"The Eagle Slayer","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"This mechanically reduced version of the full-size figure by John Bell is inscribed on the side near the right foot: 'EXECUTED BY/ E.W.WYON/ AFTER THE ORIGINAL OF/ J. BELL/ FOR THE ART UNION OF LONDON/ 1846'. \r\n\r\nBell (1811-1895) first exhibited The eagle shooter at the Royal Academy in 1837, probably a plaster version. The subject was then shown again at an exhibition in Westminster Hall in 1844 as The Archer, or Eagle Slayer. The depicted scene is a shepherd shooting an arrow at an eagle which has just killed a lamb, shown lying at the shepherd's feet. After the 1844 exhibition the figure was bought by the Art Union, an organisation which reproduced contemporary works of art, the reproductions being then raffled and awarded as lottery prizes. Large-scale variants of Bell's figure were also made in other materials, including cast iron (shown at the Great Exhibition in 1851, and  subsequently entering the collections at South Kensington, now at the Museum of Childhood, Bethnal Green) and marble (shown at the 1862 Exhibition, and subsequently at Wentworth Woodhouse, Yorkshire, sold at Christie's in 1986). Reduced reproductions of what was deemed a suitable and popular subject indicate the ways in which sculpture was consumed and appreciated by audiences in Britain at this time. The Art Union widely distributed many contemporary sculptures, reproduced not only in bronze but also in Parian ware, enabling many middle-class owners to acquire such pieces in this reduced and reproduced form.","physicalDescription":"Statuette in bronze. A male figure stands with his legs apart and his left arm holding a bow aloft. His right arm is positioned to draw the bow. Between his feet there is a dead lamb.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Wyon, Edward William","id":"A9019"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"x40240"},"note":""},{"name":{"text":"Bell, John","id":"A28202"},"association":{"text":"after","id":"THES283471"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"bronze","id":"AAT10957"}],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"Cast bronze","categories":[{"text":"Sculpture","id":"THES48896"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"SCP","id":"THES48600"},"images":["2006AX6932","2006AX6988","2006AX6883","2006AX6866","2006AX6858"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"CA001","id":"THES388286"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Statuette","id":"x45409"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"England","id":"x28826"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1846","earliest":"1846-01-01","latest":"1846-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[{"object":{"text":"A.28-1959","id":"O102469"},"association":"Version"}],"creditLine":"Bequeathed by Lady MacNaghten","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Weight","value":"17.94","unit":"kg","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"63","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"EXECUTED BY/ E.W.WYON/ AFTER THE ORIGINAL OF/ J. BELL/ FOR THE ART UNION OF LONDON/ 1846","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":""}],"objectHistory":"Bequeathed by Lady Macnaghten in 1970.","historicalContext":"This is a mecahnically reduced version of the full-sized statue produced by John Bell, a cast iron version of which is in the Museum's collections. Another version executed in bronze by H.J. Hatfield in 1889 was sold at Christies, London on 4th November 1982, lot 54 and a marble version, auctioned by the Trustees of the Fitzwilliam Settlement, Cambridge, was sold at Christies, London on 15th July 1986, lot 95.","briefDescription":"Statuette, bronze, The Eagle Slayer, after John Bell by Edward William Wyon, England, 1846","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Bilbey, Diane with Trusted, Marjorie. <u>British Sculpture 1470 to 2000. A Concise Catalogue of the Collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum.</u>  London: V& A Publications, 2002. pp. 196. cat. no. 277"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Avery, Charles and Mash, M. 'The Bronze Statuettes of the Art Union of London', <u>Apollo</u>, CXXI, 1985, pp. 331-2."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Droth, Martina, Edwards, Jason, and Hatt, Michael, <u>Sculpture Victorious: Art in an Age of Invention, 1837-1901</u>, exh. cat., YUP, New Haven and London, 2015, pp. 259-261"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"man","id":"x35641"},{"text":"bow","id":"AAT36999"},{"text":"sheep","id":"x30093"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"<b>The eagle-slaying shepherd </b>\n\r\nThis shepherd is shooting at an eagle that killed his lamb. Funnily enough, he made the arrow using one of the eagle’s own feathers. \n\r\nLet that be a lesson to the eagle! \n\n<b><i>The Eagle Slayer</i> statuette </b>\r\nSculpted by John Bell, made by Edward William Wyon \r\n1846 \r\nEngland \r\nBequeathed by Lady MacNaghten \r\nMuseum no. A.75-1970 \n\n[Young V&amp;A, Imagine Gallery, Adventure, short object label]","date":{"text":"01/07/2023","earliest":"2023-07-01","latest":"2023-07-01"}}],"partNumbers":["A.75-1970"],"accessionNumberNum":"75","accessionNumberPrefix":"A","accessionYear":1970,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":["2019LN7300","2019LR2282","2019LP8831","2019LP7754","2019LT2201","2019LU6411","2019LU3805","2019LT8838","2019LT8620","2019LV2193","2019LW7460","2020MP0173"],"recordModificationDate":"2025-08-06","recordCreationDate":"2005-09-02","availableToBook":false}}